Language Policy Implications of ‘Global’ English for Linguistic Human Rights

The chapter begins by conceptually clarifying ‘world’ or ‘global’ English and international languages. It explains the complexity of the European Union's language policies, and the coverage of language in its Charter of Fundamental Rights. A historical narrative documents the linguicidal dominance of English in the British Isles, its export to other continents, the myth of terra nullius , territorial dispossession that was followed by cultural and linguistic dispossession worldwide. It summarises policies for establishing English in India, Africa and elsewhere to further the interests of the UK and USA, financial implications, and ‘global’ English myths. Libertarianism, the privatisation of public services, is consolidated through commerce and education, exemplified by schools in Sweden becoming a jackpot for international capital. It is arguable that the expansion of China worldwide can undermine US dominance and the concomitant strength of English. Learning English cannot justify seeing it as a linguistic human right.