The Power of Voice in Transforming Multilingual Societies

The Power of Voice in Transforming Multilingual Societies Synopsis

This volume aims to capture evidence of marginalized voices in various contexts globally and show how speakers seek to reclaim their voices and challenge power relations. The chapters reveal how speakers actively confront inequities in society such as the unequal distribution of resources. Through bottom-up initiatives and conscious involvement in language use, documentation and the development of language domains, speakers can address issues of language-based marginalization, (re)establish linguistic human rights and reclaim their linguistic and cultural identity. Chapters in the volume explore commitments to democratic participation, to voice, to the heterogeneity of linguistic resources and to the political value of sociolinguistic understanding. Drawing upon the framework of linguistic citizenship, they link questions of language to sociopolitical discourses of justice, rights and equity, as well as to issues of power and access within a political and democratic framework.