%0 Journal Article %A Donskoi, Vladimir %T Systemic theory of language competition %D 2006 %J Journal of Language and Politics %V 5 %N 2 %P 277-298 %@ 1569-2159 %R https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.5.2.09don %K systemic theory %K language death %K language contact %K language ecology %K sociology of language %K linguistic imperialism %I John Benjamins %X After Robert Phillipson argued in Linguistic Imperialism (1992) that the present spread of English throughout post-colonial societies is a specific form of Western imperialism, a vigorous academic debate ensued. It revolved around several interrelated questions: How do different languages interact in the global arena?; Is such language competition a manifestation of imperialism or of globalisation?; What are the social implications of language growth and of language decline/death?; etc. The present article is a critique of the debate and an attempt to develop a positivist, systemic, macro-level theory of language competition, which would offer a general framework for dealing with the issues in question. %U https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/jlp.5.2.09don