"Linguistic immersion" and political conflict in contemporary Catalonia

Abstract

This article focuses on linguistic policies in the educational system. It traces the tactics employed by the Catalan nationalist movement in its surprisingly successful pursuit of the goal of a Catalanised educational system. It documents the evolution of a particularly ambitious linguistic revitalisation program, a program that can be considered both intensive and extensive, and that has been implemented with dedication and ideological commitment in the last decades by different Catalan governments. It simultaneously analyses the significant political and constitutional controversies surrounding these policies, and closes with an exploration of the current pro-independence move of the Catalan government.