Current academic discussions and public debates frequently focus on the importance of defending languages against various kinds of dangers. Many focus on defending institutionalized languages against multilingualism, or conversely defending minority languages against the incursion of larger ones. This book challenges such a view, to argue that the discussions in question are not about language itself, but rather that we are witnessing, on the terrain of language, ideological struggles which are centrally about the position of nation states and of minorities in the new globalized world order. Covering a wide-range of languages from different sociolinguistic perspectives, this book is essential reading for academics interested in language endangerment and sociolinguistics.