Language and Social Justice in Practice

From bilingual education and racial epithets to gendered pronouns and immigration discourses, language is a central concern in contemporary conversations and controversies surrounding social inequality. Developed as a collaborative effort by members of the American Anthropological Association’s Language and Social Justice Task Force, this innovative volume synthesizes scholarly insights on the relationship between patterns of communication and the creation of more just societies. Using case studies by leading and emergent scholars and practitioners written especially for undergraduate audiences, the book is ideal for introductory courses on social justice in linguistics and anthropology.

Language and Social Justice in Practice Editors: Netta Avineri, Laura R. Graham, Eric J. Johnson, Robin Conley Riner, Jonathan Rosa Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction: Reimagining Language and Social Justice By Netta Avineri, Laura R. Graham, Eric J. Johnson, Robin Conley Riner, Jonathan Rosa Section I: Language & Race Section Introduction and Critical Questions Chapter 1: “Never Tell Me How to Say It”: Race, Language Ideologies, and Harm Reduction in Secondary English ClassroomsBy Julia DanielsChapter 2: Identifying “Racists” While Ignoring Racism: The Case of the Alleged Slur on George Zimmerman’s 911 TapeBy Adam Hodges Chapter 3: Contesting Representations of Migrant “Illegality” through the Drop the I-Word Campaign: Rethinking Language Change and Social Change?By Jonathan RosaChapter 4: Communicating and Contesting IslamophobiaBy Mariam Durrani Chapter 5: Languages of Liberation: Digital Discourses of Emphatic BlacknessBy Krystal Smalls Section II: Language & Education Section Introduction and Critical Questions Chapter 6: Issues of Equity in Dual Language Bilingual Education By Kathryn Henderson, Lina Martín-Corredor, & Genevieve Caffrey Chapter 7: Colorado’s READ Act: A Case Study in Policy Advocacy against Monolingual NormativityBy Kara Mitchell Viesca & Luis PozaChapter 8: Dual Language Education as a State Equity StrategyBy Kathryn Lindholm-Leary, Martha Martinez, & Rosa Molina Chapter 9: Ubuntu Translanguaging and Social Justice: Negotiating Power and Identity through Multilingual Education in TanzaniaBy Monica Shank Chapter 10: A Critical Interrogation of the “Language Gap”By Eric Johnson Section III: Language and Health Section Introduction and Critical Questions Chapter 11: Language, Justice, and Rabies: Notes from a Fatal CrossroadsBy Charles BriggsChapter 12: Ethics, Expertise, and Inequities in Global Health Discourses: The Case of Non-Profit HIV/AIDS Research in South AfricaBy Steven Black Chapter 13: Interpreting Deaf HIV/AIDS: A DialogueBy Mark Byrd & Leila Monaghan Chapter 14: Language as Health: Healing in Indigenous Communities in Guatemala through the Revitalization of Mayan LanguagesBy David Flood, Anita Chary, Peter Rohloff, & Brent Henderson Section IV: Language & Social Activism Section Introduction and Critical Questions Chapter 15: Mascots, Name Calling, and Racial Slurs: Seeking Social Justice through Audience Coalescence By Netta Avineri & Bernard Perley Chapter 16: The Language of Activism: Representations of Social Justice in a University Space in Argentina By Suriati Abas & James DamicoChapter 17: California Latinx Youth as Agents of Sociolinguistic JusticeBy Mary Bucholtz, Dolores Inés Casillas, & Jin Sook LeeChapter 18: Pronouns and Possibilities: Transgender Language Activism and Reform By Lal Zimman Chapter 19: (De)Occupying LanguageH. Samy Alim Section V: Language, Law, & Policy Section Introduction and Critical Questions Chapter 20: A’uw?-Xavante Represent: Rights and Resistance in Native Language Signage on Brazil’s Federal HighwaysBy Laura R. Graham Chapter 21: The Universal Declaration of Linguistic RightsBy Joyce Milambiling Chapter 22: “Linguistically Isolated”: Challenging the U.S. Census Bureau’s Harmful ClassificationBy Ana Celia Zentella Chapter 23: Immigrants Facing Linguistic Barriers in the U.S. Justice System: Case Studies from North Carolina By Dominika Baran & Quinn HolmquistChapter 24: Communicating Humanity: How Defense Attorneys Use Mitigation Narratives to Advocate for ClientsBy Robin Conley Riner & Elizabeth Vartkessian

Netta Avineri is Associate Professorof Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages/Teaching Foreign Language (TESOL/TFL) at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey. Laura R. Graham is Professor of Anthropology at the University of Iowa. She served as Chair of the American Anthropological Association’s Committee on Human Rights and is founding Chair of the Association’s Committee on Language and Social Justice. Eric J. Johnson is Associate Professor of Bilingual/ESL Education at Washington State University Tri-Cities. Robin Conley Riner is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Marshall University. Jonathan Rosa is Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Education, Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity, and, by courtesy, Departments of Anthropology and Linguistics, at Stanford University.