REVIEWS Language in Society 32 (2003). Printed in the United States of America DOI: 10.10170S0047404503215050 Jan Blommaert (ed.), Language ideological debates. (Language, Power and Social Process, 2.) Berlin & NewYork: Mouton de Gruyter, 1999. Pp. xiii, 447. Hb $74.00, pb $25.00. Reviewed by Eric Hoenes Del Pinal Anthropology, University of California, San Diego San Diego, CA 92093 ehoenes@weber.ucsd.edu This volume contributes to the study of language ideology by focusing on the historical processes through which ideological positions about the relationship of language and society are produced and reproduced. Specifically, the contributors seek to contextualize the ways that language ideologies are contested in partic- ular, often well publicized debates about language and its relationships to society. While ostensibly about linguistic issues, these debates, at one level or another, also address questions of power and national identity. In the introduction to this volume, Jan Blommaert argues that much of the study of language ideology (and of language in general) has tended at worst to ignore the historical dimension of language, or at best to treat it as epiphe- nomenal. Given that the study of language ideology is explicitly concerned with the real, material ways in which language and ideas about language affect social life, there is a great and, Blommaert suggests, unfulfilled need to con- textualize historically the processes by which these ideologies are produced and modified, and, if they are successful, implemented as policies. To these ends, this volume presents eleven case studies to show us how language ideol- ogies are discursively formed and re-formed in the public arena by real social actors. The studies are loosely grouped according to geographical region. The first section comprises three essays dealing with modern European states and the case of Quebec. Next are two essays about bilingual education policy in the United States. The third section tackles two cases of emerging but socioeconomically and geopolitically strong states, Israel and Singapore. The fourth and final sec- tion is made up of three studies of developing states in Africa. I am a bit perplexed by the decision to group the cases in this manner, because it is clear that important ideas and themes emerge across cases and extend beyond geographical or geo- political boundaries. Given this, I will discuss the essays according to some com- mon themes that emerge across sections. Blommaert suggests in his concluding remarks that, at some level, all of the debates present in this volume concern nation-building projects (p. 427). Most Language in Society 32, 715–752. Printed in the United States of America © 2003 Cambridge University Press 0047-4045003 $12.00 715