Publication of “Global Language Justice”
Global Language Justice Publication Flyer
Anupama Rao and Lydia Liu, with Charlotte A. Silverman recently edited and published Global Language Justice. This publication was a direct result of the Mellon Sawyer Seminar in Global Language Justice, one of ICLS’ initiatives.
More than 40 percent of the world’s estimated 7,100+ languages are in danger
of disappearing by the end of this century. As with the decline of biodiversity,
language loss has been attributed to environmental degradation, developmental-
ism, and the destruction of Indigenous communities. This book brings together
leading experts and younger scholars across the humanities and social sciences
to investigate what global language justice looks like in a time of climate crisis.
Examining the worldwide loss of linguistic diversity, they develop a new concep-
tion of justice to safeguard marginalized languages.
Global Language Justice explores the socioeconomic transformations that both
accelerate the decline of minoritized languages and give rise to new possi-
bilities through population movement, unexpected encounters, and technological
change. It also critically examines the concepts that are typically deployed to
defend linguistic diversity, including human rights, inclusiveness, and equality.
Contributors take up topics such as mapping language communities in New York
City or how Indigenous innovation challenges notions of linguistic purity. They
demonstrate the need to reckon with linguistic diversity in order to achieve a
sustainable global economic system and show how the concept of digital vitality
can push language justice in new directions. Interspersed with their essays are
multilingual works by world-renowned poets and artists that engage with and
deepen the book’s themes. Integrating ambitious theoretical exploration with
concrete solutions, Global Language Justice offers vital new perspectives on the
place of linguistic diversity in ongoing ecological crises.
