Language Conflict and National Development: Group Politics and National Language Policy in India

This is the first systematic study of language conflict in a developing society and of its consequences for the integrational processes of nation building. Jyotirindra Das Gupta maintains that language rivalry does not necessarily impede national integration, but can actually contribute to the development of a national community.

He explains that the existence of a multiplicity of language groups in a segmented society is not, in itself, indicative of the prospects for successful integratio...