Political Economy and Sociolinguistics: Neoliberalism, Inequality and Social Class

Description

Shortlisted for the BAAL Book Prize 2019 This book explores how political economy intersects with sociolinguistics, specifically how neoliberalism, inequality and social class mediate language in society issues. After the preface, in which the author sets the scene for the content of the book, Chapter 1 is an extensive, though selective, review of sociolinguistics research which has been framed as political economic in orientation. The chapter concludes that such research generally contains little in the way of thorough and in-depth coverage of the key ideas and conceptual frameworks said to undergird it. With this consideration in mind, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are organised around in-depth discussions of, respectively, political economy as a general disciplinary frame; neoliberalism as the variegated variety of capitalism dominant in the world today; and stratification, inequality and social class, as phenomena intrinsic to capitalism, which in the neoliberal era have come to the fore as key issues. Drawing directly on the background provide in Chapters 2-4, Chapters 5 and 6 explore two distinct political economy-informed lines of research, on the one hand, the 'neoliberal citizen', and on the other hand, 'discursive class warfare'. The book ends with an epilogue addressing issues arising around political economy in sociolinguistics.

David Block is ICREA Research Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Lleida, Spain. His main interests are the impact of political economic, sociological, anthropological and geographical phenomena on multimodal practices of all kinds, including social movements, multiculturalism, bi/multilingualism and the acquisition and use of languages.

Political Economy and Sociolinguistics: Neoliberalism, Inequality and Social Class is written in Block's readable style and is suitable for graduate student level research and above. Through the initial three theoretical chapters which dissect the principle concepts of the book, Block succeeds in providing a strong foundation for the analyses that follow. The accessible case studies and succinct discussions will be of use to educators wishing to demonstrate to students of all levels the prevalence and depth of the discursive construction of neoliberalism, inequality, and 'classtalk' in 'western' societies. It will also be of interest to linguists hoping to integrate political economy in their research, particularly those seeking a history and a firm theoretical foundation in the area. This book is particularly necessary at this juncture in time, when market rule appears absolute, and with the rise of far-right parties and groups across Europe and North America ... The book calls for increased collaboration between linguists interested in political economy and economists of language, bridging the ontological and epistemological differences in each field. * LINGUIST List * This represents an important project which could both fill a gap and chime with the growing interest in political economy in language disciplines. Given that the author is a leading writer in the field, the book will undoubtedly sell well and may possibly become something of a landmark piece in the 'political economy' turn in sociolinguistics. -- Marnie Holborow, Associate Faculty, School of Applied Language and Intercultural Studies (SALIS), Dublin City University, Ireland