Journal of Language and Politics : (), –.  ./jlp...pet  – / - – © John Benjamins Publishing Company Strategies of reframing language policy in the liberal state A recursive model John E. Petrovic & Aaron M. Kuntz Te University of Alabama Political liberalism is frequently invoked in policy debates in the Western world even as Interpretation and application of the individual tenets vary. Drawing upon recent invocations of liberalism among policy leaders and groups, this article seeks to tease out some of the interpretational diferences of liberalism, noting how liberalism is invoked to support radically diferent language policy agendas. Te authors discuss the importance of understanding liberalism as a cognitive frame that shapes relations of meaning with both productive and reductive consequences especially vis-a-vis what they term “language-positive liberalism.” Te authors argue that three specifc strategies of political engagement emerge from such understanding. Building on the work of Stroud (2010), the authors ofer a model that highlights the recursive nature of political and sociolinguistic discourses. Keywords: Political liberalism; sociolinguistics; cognitive framing; language rights; language planning; discourse; multilingualism; folk linguistics; language variety “Civilisation is, before all, the will to live in common. A man is uncivilised, barbarian in the degree in which he does not take others into account.” (Ortega y Gasset 1932, p. 83) . Introduction Liberal political theory has roots in natural law, notably outlined in Locke’s Second Treatise on Civil Government. For Locke, all people are born equal in the state of nature and, therefore, enjoy certain natural or, in later language, unalienable rights. Among these, as exemplifed in the US Declaration of Independence, are,