Policy and politics of language revitalization in Latin America and the Caribbean

Language policy and politics directed toward Indigenous languages in Latin America and the Caribbean have been dominated by colonial assimilation tending toward eradication (Mannheim, 1991). External forces and internalized stigma erode intergenerational transmission, contributing to ongoing language shift and loss (Hornberger, 1996). Recent decades have seen shifts in official policy toward recognition of indigeneity, multiculturalism, and linguistic diversity. Nonetheless, states continue to undermine material conditions for Indigenous social and linguistic self-determination (Gustafson, 2009). Ongoing coloniality-the racist and patriarchal legacy of rule based on the extraction of resources and the control of Indigenous peoples’ territoriesthus sets the stage for the current politics of revitalization, where the most promising efforts emerge from grassroots movements and translocal networks.