The Galician language conflict is a centuries-long competition between a dominant (Castilian Spanish) and a non-dominant (Galician) language. Galicia went through its ‘golden age’ at the very beginnings of Spanish history, before experiencing a millennia long decline until Galician was relegated to use in the home [Beswick, 2007: 58-59; D’Emilio, 2015: 362-64, 430]. Through the 19^th century Rexurdimento (‘Resurrection’) and 20th century Irmandades de Fala (‘Brotherhood of Speech’) and Xeración Nós (‘The Generation of Us’), a burgeoning culture arose around the language, including newspapers and literature that promoted usage of Galician and its preservation [Beswick, 2007: 63-65, 67-68]. The destruction during, and oppression after, the Spanish Civil War reversed decades of Galician cultural progress. This reversal, however, proved to be relatively brief, as the 1981 Statute of Autonomy of Galicia, coupled with future acts to normalize and strengthen the protections granted by the national government to the now autonomous community, finally cemented the position of this regional language after centuries of unease, oppression, and loss [Share, 1986: 557; Xunta de Galicia, 2009; D’Emilio, 2015: 915].  

Today, the Galician language is diminished and endangered by the region’s dependence on the Spanish state, and a large monolingual Castilian population living in Galician cities, many of whose identity is now equal parts Spanish and Galician. Economically, Galicia’s development trails that of the Basque Country and Catalonia, two of the most prosperous regions in Spain, partly on account of its remote location and rural history, and so has struggled to keep up with these other regions in the protection and promotion of their language and culture. Although neofalantes, new speakers of Galician, have taken up the language and efforts such as Radio Galicia and inclusion of Galician in the education system have been implemented, Galicia has not seen the same magnitude of development and promotion of its language as have other autonomous language communities within the Spanish state [O’Rourke & Ramallo, 2015 pg. 148; O’Rourke, 2018; CRTVG, n.d.]. Still, Galician linguistic development has continued despite setbacks such as the difficulty they’ve had in encouraging its use among the younger generation. The language conflict in Galicia, therefore, centers on the struggle for the revival and maintenance of a language that, over the centuries, had suffered decay in a rural region with high outmigration.  

Catalan is historically spoken in several Western European countries and regions, including Catalonia, the French Department of Western Pyrenees, Andorra, Eastern Aragon, Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, and Alghero (Sardinia). The conflict between Castilian Spain and Catalonia can be dated to the first Catalonian rebellion against Spanish rule in the mid-17^th century and then traced through the rise of Catalonian nationalism in the 19^th and 20^th centuries. The conflict between their languages, Castilian Spanish and Catalan, can be classified contemporarily as a competition between dominant and non-dominant languages, but historically the conflict was geopolitical. The geopolitical conflict can be summarized as two nation building projects that have clashed for centuries: that of a Catalonia with aspirations of independence and that of a Spain with an agenda for unity.  

Catalonia has historically been at odds with the Castilian state, whose efforts to unify Spain and instill nationalism through the vehicle of Castilian (i.e. “standard”) Spanish threaten Catalonia’s identity. Catalan was first infringed upon following the War of Spanish Succession, when the Bourbon monarchy signed the Nueva Planta decrees (1707-1716), enforcing Castilian as the sole official language of Spain and reducing the cultural and linguistic footprint of Catalan [Guibernau, 2000; Narotzky, 2019]. Throughout the following centuries Catalan repression continued, and by the 20^th century the use of Catalan was strongly regulated by the Bourbons who required the use of Castilian in all public accomodations and in education. This repression grew first under Miguel Primo de Rivera and then by the Falangist regime that ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War (1936- 1939), leading to a system where Catalan was fully banned from public use. The post-Franco Spanish constitution of 1978 recognized the right of self-government for all nationalities and regions [Constitute, n.d.], resulting in a renewed Catalonian push for independence  centered around their language and culture [Guibernau, 2000; Narotzky, 2019]. 

Modern expressions of this linguistic tension are reflected in a heightened attention to elements of Catalan history and culture that highlights the Renaixença (Catalan Renaissance) of the1830s-80s, popular music, and sports rivalries such as Futbol Club Barcelona vs. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol [Bisht, 2018; Eaude, 2011]. Above all else, however, Catalonian separatists have consistently relied upon their language, Catalan, to frame their expression of political and cultural independence. 

South Africa has been home to a variety of languages since the fourth century C.E., when various Bantu groups migrated to the region and encountered the native Khoisan people. Centuries later, the Dutch and the English imperial powers added further conflict as they prioritized their own respective tongues over Bantu languages. The imperial countries also experienced conflict between themselves. The British drove speakers of Afrikaans (a derivative of Dutch) inland, but they could not eradicate the language, and the British-Boer wars eventually led to the formation of the state of South Africa in 1900. Forty years later, the National Party came to power and segregated black Africans partly due to their languages in an attempt to re-tribalize the country in the apartheid system. This lasted until 1996, when a new constitution changed the nation from bilingual (Afrikaans and English) to a multilingual state with eleven official languages, finally recognizing indigenous Bantu languages. The country still struggles to find a political and cultural balance with so many languages and their charged history, particularly in the education system.