Description:
This book offers a fresh perspective on the social life of multilingualism through the lens of the important notion of linguistic citizenship. All of the chapters are underpinned by a theoretical and methodological engagement with linguistic citizenship as a useful heuristic through which to understand sociolinguistic processes in late modernity, focusing in particular on linguistic agency and voices on the margins of our societies. The authors take stock of conservative, liberal, progressive and radical social transformations in democracies in the north and south, and consider the implications for multilingualism as a resource, as a way of life and as a feature of identity politics. Each chapter builds on earlier research on linguistic citizenship by illuminating how multilingualism (in both theory and practice) should be, or could be, thought of as inclusive when we recognize what multilingual speakers do with language for voice and agency.
Brief description:
Ana Deumert is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Cape Town. Her research program is located within the broad field of sociolinguistics and has a strong transdisciplinary focus. Her current work explores the use of language and art, especially sound and music, in global political movements as well as the contributions decolonial thought can make to sociolinguistic theory. Recent publications include Colonial and Decolonial Linguistics - Knowledges and Epistemes (2020, with Anne Storch and Nick Shepherd), and From Southern Theory to Decolonizing Sociolinguistics (2023, with Sinfree Makoni). She is a recipient of the Neville Alexander Award for the Promotion of Multilingualism (2014) and the Humboldt Research Award (2016).
Review Quotes: In a world divided by nations, institutional racism and sexism, and other forms of colonial injustice, Stroud's concept of Linguistic Citizenship allows us to rethink what it means to belong to and through language, to have agency and voice. This pathbreaking book is a must-read for anyone interested in linguistic justice, multilingualism and language and nationalism.