About the Book
This book presents a qualitative study of language learners in the Global South who overcame insurmountable odds to acquire English language. Drawing on rich data from successful non-elite, or Subaltern learners, it explores the intersection of leadership development and English acquisition, and documents their identity reconstruction and metamorphosis.
The authors provide a detailed overview of the position of English in the modern world, as well as the unique historical relationship between the language and South Asia. They then examine the determination of marginalized individuals to acquire English and introduce the term Liberative Motivation to define the desire to break out of restrictive class/caste-based silos. Filling a crucial gap in the narrative of English in South Asia, they explore the influence that English acquisition has on Subaltern identity, leadership, and self-esteem. The participants’ stories are deeply moving and evidence that for the Subaltern, dignity, respect, inclusion and an educated identity are near impossibilities without knowing English. In response, the authors present The ‘Subaltern Self-Determination and English Acquisition Framework’ to encapsulate the interplay of factors in the Subaltern’s journey towards English, and argue that denial of English education borders on the denial of a basic human right in our present reality.
A unique account of the learning experiences of Subaltern populations, this is an essential read for scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students with interests in Subaltern studies, English language acquisition, identity and leadership, and human rights.
Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1: The Imperviousness of English Chapter 2: South Asia’s Tryst with English
Chapter 3: Liberative Motivation – The Desire to be Fully Human Chapter 4: Farewell to Living without Identity Chapter 5: When the Subaltern Speaks in English, she is Heard! Chapter 6: English—the Intersection when Elites and Non-Elites meet as Equals Chapter 7: Has English Become a Human Right?
About the Author :
Aamir Hasan holds a Master’s degree from Harvard and a PhD from Western Michigan University in Education. He possesses years of professional experience working at private elite and public non-elite schools, as well as at the tertiary level. He has also worked extensively with refugees and is passionate about teaching English to marginalized and displaced people. His doctoral research focused on leadership development among underserved English learners in the Global South. Aamir believes in servant leadership and is developing a non-profit English-for-All that aims to provide free English lessons, especially speech ability, to vulnerable populations across the globe. He can be reached at aah835@mail.harvard.edu or at info@englishforall.org
Nadeem Hussain is a PhD in Public Policy candidate at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He has co-authored two books, The Economy of Modern Sindh: Opportunities Lost and Lessons for the Future and Agents of Change: The Problematic Landscape of Pakistan K-12 Education and the People Leading the Change, both published by the Oxford University Press (OUP). Nadeem writes on a range of subjects covering governance, poverty, inequality, and social change. His research interests include public finance, political economy, institutions, economic growth, and private sector development. He contributes op-eds to leading English newspapers.
Review :
Lest they betray the interests of the very people they fight for, South Asian language activists who advocate displacing English in favor of indigenous languages should clearly consider the arguments presented in this important book. Counterintuitively, the authors demonstrate how English proficiency can actually enhance respect for and strengthen the vitality of mother tongues. They rightly insist that as the primary language of science, research, and international communication, English unlocks access to a vast repository of human wisdom and experience. This access is particularly liberating for non-elite South Asians, especially women who face limitations in terms of mobility and exposure to diverse perspectives. By investing in English acquisition, individuals can leverage ties to global knowledge for revitalizing society and hugely enhance their own social mobility.
Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy, Physicist and columnist
In this groundbreaking and deeply humane work, Hassan and Hussein illuminate how English acquisition becomes a powerful vehicle for social mobility, identity transformation, and leadership development among South Asia's non-elite populations. Through rich narratives and careful analysis, they reveal how access to English has become inseparable from access to dignity, opportunity, and full participation in global society. This meticulously researched book makes an invaluable contribution to our understanding of language, power, and social justice - essential reading for educators, policymakers and scholars interested in linguistic equity and social transformation in the global South.
Dr. Carola Suarez-Orozco, HGSE
This book makes a persuasive case for learning and using English agentively by people in South Asia for their leadership and development efforts. The authors articulate how Subaltern people can resist English from within, by diversifying its norms and values for empowering purposes. They inspire us to engage in critical education and activism from their own experiences at the community level.
Dr. Suresh Canagarajah, Penn State
Through heart-wrenching tales and razor-sharp analysis, Hasan and Hussein offer a never-before-seen look into the fraught reality of learning English for the non-elites in South Asia, whose struggles and triumphs constitute a powerful counter-narrative to the often-elitist position of undermining English under the banner of promoting mother tongues. Policy makers take heed!
Dr. Hansun Zhang Waring, Teachers College
In Language-liberation-leadership, Hasan and Hussein offer a powerful reimagining of English language education in the Global South. Drawing on field work across six South Asian countries, they challenge deficit narratives and show how Subaltern learners are reclaiming English as a tool for resistance, dignity, and self-determined leadership. Through community-rooted pedagogies grounded in indigenous, onto-epistemologies, this work disrupts colonial hierarchies and centers belonging. A vital contribution to decolonial and critical pedagogy, this book is essential for educators and policy makers envisioning English classrooms as a space of humanization, resistance, and radical hope.
Dr. Sarina Chugani Molina, University of San Diego
This is a beautifully written and ambitious book that provides a wide-ranging account of the experiences of non-elite learners of English from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. It shows powerfully the ways in which language is entangled with social structures and, specifically, how the use of English by elites in South Asia has served to reproduce inequalities by both caste and class. It will be of significant interest to scholars from a wide range of disciplines - including education, sociology and youth studies.
Rachel Brooks (University of Oxford) President, British Sociological Association
In South Asia, millions of learners without access to quality English education or environments for practice rely on their agency to learn the language. In doing so, they redefine their identities, fight for access to leadership, and dismantle the societal class structures that have long used English to maintain privilege. In Hasan and Hussein’s rich qualitative analysis, we can hear the voices of subaltern, non-elite individuals for whom learning English is far more than simply adding another language to their repertoire. While Language - Liberation - Leadership is a must-read for specialists in sociology, linguistics, public policy, and development, many of its chapters are highly accessible and will be of interest to the general public.
Christina Sanz, Georgetown University
It may seem counterintuitive to argue that fluency in English is critical to the life chances of non-elite South Asians whose native languages are still the lingua franca of everyday life. In this volume, Hasan and Hussein skillfully trace the development of English language usage in South Asian settings, blending a macro historical account with interviews of aspiring leaders. They make the case that oral fluency in English is both the knowledge of the powerful and powerful knowledge. English opens doors of opportunity for non-elites to exercise leadership, and provides access to new ways of thinking that promote novel identities and positive self-esteem.
Aaron M. Pallas, Dept. of Sociology, Colombia
