Cross-border Languages in Southern African Economic and Political Integration

Bibliographic Data

ID2137706
AuthorsFinex Ndhlovu (0000-0002-9263-0725, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume72
Issue1
Pages19-40
Publication date2013-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueAfrican Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-0184 • E-ISSN: 1469-2872
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00020184.2013.776196
OpenAlexW2068978483
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited27

Although the subject of southern African regional integration has attracted the most attention from a political, economic and trade perspective, it has remained least understood or researched sociolinguistically. This article deals with the questions about the role of the state and local community agency in the formation and legitimation of identities. It provides a counter-narrative on the subject of cross-border languages and their intersection with cross-border activities in contemporary southern Africa. Various ways by which southern African cross-border languages can be positively deployed to enhance regional economic, political and cultural integration are discussed and illustrated. The main argument is that the recognition and mainstreaming of cross-border languages promises to provide a foundation for a regional integration framework that accommodates all stakeholders including people involved in informal cross-border activities. In conclusion the article posits that the incidence of multiple cross-border languages in southern Africa is another form of bonding and bridging social capital relevant to the realisation of an inclusive and broad-based regional integration project. Keywords: regional integrationsouthern Africacross-border languagesAfrican languagescross-border trade Notes Southern Africa is understood here to be coterminous with the geographical region covering the following Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This definition of southern Africa best suits the intentions of this article as it situates the discussion of cross-border languages and cross-border trade within the context of strong socio-cultural, political and economic linkages among the peoples of these countries dating back to pre-colonial times. ACALAN is an acronym for the African Academy of Languages, which falls under the Social Affairs Commission of the African Union. See for example, Rowlands Citation(1998); Oucho (Citation2006, Citation2007); Ramutsindela Citation(2005); and Grant and Søderbaum Citation(2003). The bibliography is found at www.queensu.ca/samp/sampresources/migrationdocuments/bibliography.html. It is important to note that levels of acceptability as cross-border languages vary among these languages depending on their respective levels of social capital value, which determines sizes of speaking populations and ability to attract second language speakers. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996

African studies · Geography · Languages of Africa · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies · Linguistics, Language Diversity, and Identity · Multilingual Education and Policy

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