Abstract
The first part of this chapter outlines the basic elements of a Gramscian framework for studying the political economy of languages, focusing especially on English as a global language. It draws on Gramsci’s views on diversity and unification, on passive revolution and on linguistic insecurity. These views are discussed as part of Gramsci’s critique of the abstract nature of liberal, Enlightenment concepts of universal progress and cosmopolitan civilization, as well as in terms of their application to the present, with particular reference to the language policy of the European Union. The second part of the chapter uses Italy as a case study. In this country, as in much of the EU, knowledge of foreign languages – of English, in particular – is perceived as a tool to gain access to material and non-material resources. The available evidence, however, shows that a confident command of English is typically achieved by those Italians who already had better access to relevant resources, including relevant forms of geographic mobility. Cultural barriers and social inequality limit the beneficial aspects of global languages, even when favourable educational policies are in place. In conclusion, this chapter suggests that abstract claims about the possibility and benefits of fully mastering foreign languages may increase the risk of individual insecurity and frustration, further reducing popular support for European integration and paving the way for populist nationalism.
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Notes
- 1.
Available online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6m_dUzacS0
- 2.
Gramsci especially had in mind the situation in Italy and France in the run-up to the First World War, as well as during the war (see Rapone 2011, Chaps. 4 and 5).
- 3.
To a large extent, this has already been done by Peter Ives. Except for Ives (2006, 2009, 2015), however, the existing literature on EGL pays inadequate attention to Gramsci’s writings. Even those who use Gramsci in this field (e.g. Phillipson 1992; Sonntag 2003; May 2012) underestimate his deep and far-reaching interest in language. Moreover, the empirical analysis of EGL in a particular time and place is beyond the scope of Ives’s mainly theoretical interests, whereas my discussion engages precisely with analytical sociolinguistic data.
- 4.
- 5.
For details of this familiarity, see Carlucci (2013).
- 6.
See McSmith (2015) for recent findings by the UK’s Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, showing that British top firms and other ‘elite employers’ prefer ‘well-travelled candidates with the right accent’.
- 7.
On how ‘[a]ssortative mating’ can ‘reinforce the traits that bring the couple together’, see Economist (2015a). The result, the magazine argues, is that on average the ‘elite is producing children who not only get ahead, but deserve to do so’, even in countries such as the USA which have always been a bastion of social mobility. See also Economist (2015b).
- 8.
- 9.
This approach to linguistic insecurity is different from the one taken by many of today’s sociolinguists (most notably William Labov). Gramsci focuses on the social and political passivity that linguistic insecurity can generate, rather than its strictly linguistic functioning. For an interesting discussion of this and other related notions, largely in keeping with Gramsci’s views, see Bourdieu (1991).
- 10.
According to many commentators, the results of the recent referendum on Britain’s EU membership have confirmed this trend. The present chapter, however, was drafted several months before the referendum.
- 11.
The proportion of primary school pupils studying English reached 60.94% in 1999–2000. In 2003, English became compulsory for all children from their first year of primary education. In contrast, recent Italian governments have not consistently implemented the official EU policy of support for multilingualism – especially the principle that all Europeans should learn two foreign languages.
- 12.
- 13.
In the period considered, secondary school certificate holders and university graduates participating in adult education and training greatly outnumbered participants with lower educational qualifications. Italy also exhibited very low participation rates in on-the-job training, whose availability and quality, moreover, tended to be higher for employees with higher educational qualifications (Gallina 2006).
- 14.
In 2007, Italy’s educational equality deficit was described as follows: ‘17% of higher education students’ fathers in Italy hold a higher education qualification themselves, while this is only the case for 10% of men in the same age group as students’ fathers. The strongest selectivity into higher education is found in Portugal, with a ratio of 3.2. In Austria, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, students are about twice as likely to be in higher education if their fathers hold a university degree as compared with what their proportion in the population would suggest’ (OECD 2007, p. 9).
- 15.
For more recent (but no less sobering) data, see Van Mol (2014).
- 16.
See also the European Commission’s website, where employability is cast into relief as one of the fundamental reasons for learning ‘two languages other than [the] mother tongue’ (http://ec.europa.eu/languages/policy/strategic-framework/index_en.htm).
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Carlucci, A. (2017). Language, Education and European Unification: Perceptions and Reality of Global English in Italy. In: Pizzolato, N., Holst, J.D. (eds) Antonio Gramsci: A Pedagogy to Change the World. Critical Studies of Education, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-40449-3_7
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