This is a thematic issue on the relation between multilingualism and social inclusion. Due to globalization, Europeanization, supranational and transnational regulations linguistic diversity and multilingualism are on the rise. Migration and old and new forms of mobility play an important role in these processes. As a consequence, English as the only global language is spreading around the world, including Europe and the European Union. Social and linguistic inclusion was accounted for in the pre-globalization age by the nation-state ideology implementing the 'one nation-one people-one language' doctrine into practice. This lead to forced linguistic assimilation and the elimination of cultural and linguistic heritage. Now, in the present age of globalization, linguistic diversity at the national state level has been recognized and multilingual states have been developing where all types of languages can be used in governance and daily life protected by a legal framework. This does not mean that there is full equality of languages. This carries over to the fair and just social inclusion of the speakers of these weaker, dominated languages as well. There is always a power question related to multilingualism. The ten case studies in this thematic issue elaborate on the relation between multilingualism and social inclusion. The articles in this issue refer to this topic in connection with different spaces, including the city, the island, and the globe; in connection with different groups, like Roma in the former Soviet-Union and ethnic Albanians in Macedonia; in connection with migration and mobility of Nordic pensioners to the south of Europe, and language education in Scotland; and finally in connection with bilingual education in Austria and Estonia as examples of successful practices including multilingualism under one and the same school roof. Keywords

In 20–30 years Denmark will, just like the rest of the eu, be in need of an increasing number of highly skilled workers from outside the eu to sustain its welfare society. While the eu has adopted a common Blue Card aiming at making it possible for foreign workers to live and work in most of the eu, Denmark has, due to its opt-out in Justice and Home Affairs, chosen its own Green Card Scheme. This article looks into this choice and compares the recent Danish attempt to attract high skilled workers with the Blue Card directive. It analyses the differences and similarities between the two schemes and investigates why initiatives to attract highly skilled workers have not been successful at either the Danish nor the European level.

The effective impact of international law on national civil rights protection is dependent on being implemented in a modality that allows for the actual use of international rules in domestic courts. With particular reference to the Danish case, this article investigates the effects of lack of ratification for the placement of civil rights in the ranking of sources of law, the issues arising from a dualist approach to international law, and the impact of judicial restraint in resolving conflicts of rights in practice. The study’s focal point is the legal rules and modalities for reception of international standards which can be, in any national legal context, more or less suitable for an appropriate protection of civil rights. The article’s enquiry aims to help revive a debate on these modalities for reception which in practice have a great impact on the effective realisation of civil rights, especially in judicial settings.

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