The Power of Voice in Transforming Multilingual Societies - Paperback

by Julia Gspandl (Editor), Christina Korb (Editor), Angelika Heiling (Editor)

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.

Author Biography

Julia Gspandl is a sign language sociolinguist in the Plurilingualism Research Unit at the University of Graz, Austria. She was recently awarded the Theodor-Körner-Preis 2022 for her research project on the languaging competencies of deaf migrants in Austria.

Christina Korb is an affiliated researcher in the Plurilingualism Research Unit at the University of Graz, Austria. She is currently working on a research project concerning educational opportunities among the Slovene minority in Styria.

Angelika Heiling is assistant to the Head of Research in the Plurilingualism Research Unit at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research is on critical sociolinguistics with a focus on urban multilingualism, migrant and minority language contexts.

Elizabeth J. Erling was recently awarded an Elise Richter Fellowship and is leading a research project on understanding the disparities in English language education in Austria at the University of Vienna.