This is an analysis of the promises and contradictions surrounding contemporary minority language policy. It draws on theoretical and real-world perspectives and interviews with key players within European institutions together with field work undertaken principally in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Canada.

1. The Mask of Piety 2. Managing Official Language Legislative Regimes 3. European Legislative Frameworks and Comparative Language Acts. 4. The Embedded Nature of Language Legislation. 5. From Act to Action: Policy Implications and Recommendations 6. Official Language Strategies in Comparative Perspective 7. The Logic of Best Practice Language Strategy 8. Official Language Commissioners 9. The Mask of Piety and the Faltering Polity

Colin H. Williams is Research Professor and Director of the Language, Policy and Planning Research Unit in the School of Welsh, Cardiff University, UK. He also holds Visiting Professorships at Aberdeen and UHI universities in the UK and the University of Primorska, Slovenia, and Western Ontario, Canada. He is a former member of the Welsh Language Board and serves as an advisor to government agencies in Europe and North America. His previous publications include Called Unto Liberty, Linguistic Minorities in Democratic Context and, as editor, Language Revitalization, Language and Governance, and with H.S. Thomas (joint editor) Parents, Personality and Power.