ABSTRACT

In this chapter, the author is interested in strategies of disentangling regarding language practices, where the aim is to sustain perceptions of order and control. He looks at how that which linguistically intersects is kept separate. He argues for a view of fixed multilingualism as form of disentanglement and that of flexible multilingualism as one of entanglement. Both entanglements and distanglements exist in states of flux relative to each other, with transitions from one to the other always potentially occurring. The author examines the case of parallel language ideology in Sweden as a way of concretizing his discussion, focusing on educational institutions rather than organizations in general. In 2006, the Nordic ministers for education and culture collectively issued a declaration on the importance of reinforcing the status of the local languages vis-a-vis the growing use of English.