Introduction

Abstract

Language is a central concern in contemporary conversations surrounding social justice, as evident in issues as diverse as bilingual education, racial epithets, gendered pronouns, immigration discourses, sports team mascots, and signage in public spaces. Developed as a collaborative effort by members of the American Anthropological Association’s Language and Social Justice Task Group, this volume presents case studies of language and social justice in a range of contexts spanning five thematic areas: race discourse, education, health, social activism, and law and policy. The case studies illustrate with striking detail the meaningful relationships among language, social action, and broader social change. The chapters cover a diverse set of topics in a range of global contexts, and provide concise overviews of key concepts, debates, and approaches in the examination of language and social justice. Each case can be read on its own or together with others in sets of complementary essays on a common theme or, as we hope, the volume as a whole. Essays are deliberately brief in order to facilitate access to a broad range of examples and for use in teaching. Taken together, these case studies powerfully demonstrate how language provides a crucial vantage point from which to (re)imagine, understand, and contribute to the achievement of social justice.

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