Multilingualism in Luxembourg

(Dis)empowering Cape Verdean migrants at work and beyond

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4178296
AutoresBernardino Tavares (0000-0001-5954-9143, University of Fribourg , Fribourg , Switzerland, autor de correspondencia)
Año2020
Volumen2020
Número264
Páginas95-114
Fecha de publicación2020-08-27
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Journal of the Sociology of Language (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0165-2516 • E-ISSN: 1613-3668
EditorialWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/ijsl-2020-2095
OpenAlexW3041094350
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas36

This paper explores the entanglement of language with issues such as discrimination and the reproduction of social hierarchies. It unpacks this interplay to show how the use and abuse of language serve as the main mechanism of inclusion, exclusion and limitation of migrants in the labour market, contributing to certain migrant groups and their descendants remaining in the bottom stratum of society. It investigates how language use can both empower and disqualify migrants, creating ethnic pools of work. This paper draws on interviews with a successful middle-aged Cape Verdean man, Pedrinhu, to illustrate this language impact. He came to Luxembourg at a young age and his sports skills helped him to be fast-tracked to acquire Luxembourgish citizenship. He talks about his migration trajectories, his sociolinguistic life and his job interactions with Cape Verdean workers at a private employment enterprise where he now holds a high position. He seeks "to empower" Cape Verdean migrants, challenging some of the institutionalised linguistic demands of the state employment agency he collaborates with; at the same time, he is aware of the reproduction of inequality and the ethnic stratification of his enterprise. The paper concludes by highlighting the ambivalences of multilingualism and empowerment interventions in accessing resources, such as work, in the condensed migration contexts of Luxembourg

Citizenship · Empowerment · Ethnic group · Immigration · Inequality · Multilingualism · Pedagogy · Political science · Social science · Social stratification · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies · Migration, Racism, and Human Rights · Multilingual Education and Policy