The Rise of English : Oxford University Press : 9780190625610 : 0190625619 : 23 Mar 2022 : "Is English a bridge or a barrier to economic advancement and social mobility as it spreads worldwide? To what extent do domestic and global politics determine those outcomes? Who are the winners, losers, and resisters? How are France and China using the"soft power" of language to overtake English and to what ends? What role do globalization, a knowledge-based economy, and neoliberalism play in these developments? Using education as its lens, this book critically unpacks these and related questions in asweeping journey across four continents through diverse political and historical settings. It begins in Europe with the European Union and its promotion of multilingualism, and with controversies over English-taught courses and programs in universities in the name of internationalization. It then moves to the post-colonial world where disputes over English in the schools reveal longstanding grievan