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1 Introduction. - Theoretical Framework. - The Policy of Mother Tongue Education. - European Language and Education: State-Building in France and Britain. - 2 Language and Education in Africa under Mission and Colonial Influence. - Missions and the Transcription of African Languages. - Colonial Education Policy - Divergent Ideologies. - Selective Training and Restriction of the "Masses". - Mission and Colonial Language Influence in Senegal, Ghana, and Cameroon. - Conclusion. - 3 Language Choices in Independent African States. - Education and Literacy at Independence. - Independence Policies - Theory and Practice. - Continuing External Influence - la Francophonie and the Commonwealth. - Policy Inertia. - Understanding Leader Preferences. - 4 Opportunities for Policy Change: Ideas, Materials, and Advocacy Networks. - An Altered International Perspective. - Changed Causal Ideas. - Contradictory Anglophone Voices. - Expanded Domestic Possibilities. - Opportunities for Policy Change in Senegal and Ghana. - Conclusion. - 5 Incentives for Policy Change: Ruler Strategies for Maintaining Power. - Democracy and Multilingual Education. - Bargaining: Demographic and Subnational Variation. - My Explanation. - Economics as a Contributing Factor. - Incentives for Policy Change in Senegal and Ghana. - Conclusion. - 6 Language, Education, and "Democratization" in Cameroon. - Education Policy in the Early Independence Period. - Opportunities for Policy Change. - Material Opportunities. - Ideational Opportunities. - Ruler Incentives for Policy Change. - Electoral District Manipulation. - Restricting Voting Access. - Constitutional Recognition of Minority Rights. - Alternative Explanations. - Conclusion. - 7 Language and Contention: Violence and Participation in Contemporary African Politics. - Language, Nationalism, and Violence. - Language Literacy and Political Mobilization. - Written Language and Attachment (Senegal and Ghana). - Written Language and Mobilization in a Democratic Se

How do governments in Africa make decisions about language? What does language have to do with state-building, and what impact might it have on democracy? This manuscript provides a longue durée explanation for policies toward language in Africa, taking the reader through colonial, independence, and contemporary periods. It explains the growing trend toward the use of multiple languages in education as a result of new opportunities and incentives. The opportunities incorporate ideational relationships with former colonizers as well as the work of language NGOs on the ground. The incentives relate to the current requirements of democratic institutions, and the strategies leaders devise to win elections within these constraints. By contrasting the environment faced by African leaders with that faced by European state-builders, it explains the weakness of education and limited spread of standard languages on the continent. The work combines constructivist understanding about changing preferences with realist insights about the strategies leaders employ to maintain power

The choice of indigenous versus European languages in education should be a hotly contested issue. Surprisingly, in much of Africa it is not. African states have dramatically increased their use of local languages in education over the last decade. This increase, however, has not proceeded from vocal demands on government by various language groups. Instead, it is the result of two more subtle factors: the changed attitude of a former coloniser and the work of language NGOs on the ground. These two forces have altered governments' perceptions about the utility of African languages in their education strategies. Because this political process works through persuasion, rather than bargaining, it allows choices about language in education to be less contentious than popularly assumed, separating this process from the violent ethnolinguistic conflict that is so often associated with Africa.