Language conflict in Brussels: political mind-set versus linguistic practice

Abstract

AbstractBrussels has a long history of language conflict. The traditional Dutch-French language disputes that characterized large parts of the nineteenth and the early twentieth century resulted in a specific pacification model based on the institutionalization of the language cleavage between the Flemish and the Francophones. However, due to processes of immigration and the current multilingual nature of the population this model is put under pressure. The traditional political discourse based on the identification of the population with one of the two traditional communities no longer corresponds to the reality of everyday life. Rather than being used as the prime concept of identification with one of the traditional language groups, languages are used in a much more instrumental way in today’s Brussels. This article discusses the effect of this evolution on the traditional Dutch-French language conflict associated with Belgium’s capital city.