Rights to Language: Equity, Power, and Education

Rights to Language: Equity, Power, and Education brings together cutting-edge scholarship in language, education, and society from all parts of the world. Celebrating the 60th birthday of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, it is inspired by her work in minority, indigenous, and immigrant education; multilingualism; linguistic human rights; and global language and power issues. Rights to Language situates issues of minorities and bilingual education in broader perspectives of human rights, power, and the ecology of language. The rich mix of papers serves to underline that the issues are comparable worldwide, that many disparate topics can cross-fertilize each other, and that our understanding of the issues can benefit from coverage that is global, reflective, and committed. A Web site with additional resource materials to this book can be found on http://www.cbs.dk/staff/phillipson/

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface. F. Sanchez, Tove. Part I: Language: Its Diversity, Its Study, and Our Understandings of It.K. Vuolab, Such a Treasure of Knowledge for Human Survival. L. Maffi, Linguistic and Biological Diversity: The Inextricable Link. J.A. Fishman, G.S. Fishman, Rethinking Language Defense. J. Branson, D. Miller, Maintaining, Developing, and Sharing the Knowledge and Potential Embedded in All Our Languages and Cultures: On Linguists as Agents of Epistemic Violence. A. Hassanpour, The Politics of A-Political Linguistics: Linguists and Linguicide. A-R. Lindgren, Language Emancipation: The Finnish Case. D.P. Pattanayak, Linguistic Pluralism: A Point of Departure. L. Liukka, Birch--Wind--Looks. P. Dasgupta, Culture, Sharing, and Language. C.M. Beutel, "Spirit of the Earth." Part II: Rights: Language Rights, Their Articulation, and Implementation.N. Rassool, Language Maintenance as an Arena of Cultural and Political Struggles in a Changing World. C. Hamelink, Human Rights: The Next Fifty Years. F. de Varennes, Tolerance and Inclusion: The Convergence of Human Rights and the Work of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas. P. Leporanta-Morley, Unity in Difference--Belonging. T.A. van Dijk, Discourse and Access. P. Mühlhäusler, Language Rights for the Language of Norfolk Island. I. Druviete, The Latvian Language Law Debate: Some Aspects of Linguistic Human Rights in Education. E. Annamalai, Use of Language Rights by Minorities. M. Fettes, (Un)Writing the Margins: Steps Toward an Ecology of Language. Part III: Equity: Justice for Speakers of All Languages.N. wa Thiong'o, Writing for Diversity. F. Grin, F. Vaillancourt, On the Financing of Language Policies and Distributive Justice. U. Ammon, Towards More Fairness in International English: Linguistic Rights of Non-Native Speakers. M. Oda, Linguicism in Action: Language and Power in Academic Institutions. A-K. Menk, Equality of Opportunity and Assimilation. Or: We German Left-Wing Do-Gooders and Minority Language Rights. I. Municio-Larsson, Science and Policy--When Does Science Matter? J. Lainio, From Historical Shame to Present Struggle. M. Kontra, Which Contacts Breed Conflicts? M. Hussain, Exclusion as Discursive Practice and the Politics of Identity. Part IV: Power: Policies for Multilingualism.A. Martel, Paradoxes of Plurilingualism. For Better? For Worse? And Beyond? M. Clyne, Promoting Multilingualism and Linguistic Human Rights in the Era of Economic Rationalism and Globalization. J.J. Smolicz, M.J. Secombe, Language Resilience and Educational Empowerment: Philippines and Australia. N. Alexander, Language Policy and Planning in South Africa: Some Insights. Z. Desai, Mother Tongue Education: The Key to African Language Development? A Conversation With an Imagined South African Audience. S.K. Taylor, Common Practice and Linguistic Human Rights: A-Team v. B-Team Coercion or the Co-Construction of "Utopia." L. Huss, Creating a Bilingual Family in a "Monolingual" Country. H. Gaski, The Reindeer on the Mountain, The Reindeer in the Mind: On Sámi Yoik Lyrics. Part V: Education: Affirming Diversity, Confirming Rights.M. Jokinen, The Linguistic Human Rights of Sign Language Users. P. Toukomaa, The Linguistic Problem Child Has Many Names. M. Peura, Creating a Successful Minority School. I. Lanstyak, Bilingual Versus Bilingual Education: The Case of Slovakia. K. Heugh, Giving Good Weight to Multilingualism in South Africa. B. Brock-Utne, Education for All--In Whose Language? O. García, Language: A Diversity Category Beyond All Others. J. Cummins, "This Place Nurtures My Spirit": Creating Contexts of Empowerment in Linguistically-Diverse Schools. D. Wink, J. Wink, Dual Language Models and Intergenerational Inspirations. R. Phillipson, Integrative Comment: Living With Vision and Commitment.

Review :
"In addition to what is described as its 'cutting-edge scholarship', the book deserves our attention because it challenges our preconceptions of scholarly texts....in the spirit of celebration the book, so-to-speak, 'walks-the-talk' by using a variety of texts....the collection of academic papers, poems, stories, imagined conversations, etc, presented in this volume will prove a source of strength and inspiration for all those involved in addressing issues of linguistic inqeuality and the promotion of multi-lingualism; be they scholars, policy-makers, educators or just interested individuals. The book is timely and also provides a provocative challenge to some of our assumptions about language, linguistic rights, education of minorities, multi-lingualism, the place of ex-colonial languages in developing nations et al." —Imperuim "Robert Phillipson's Rights to Language: Equity, Power, and Education is a significant addition to the literature on language, education, and language rights. The contributors all bring into focus the various facets of the scholarly work being undertaken. The text includes a useful index and a whole serves as an effective portrait of where we now stand." —Educational Studies "The book fully accomplishes the objective of providing a clear picture of the issue of linguistic human rights. I would recommend it for those who are new to the topic, as it is so clear and broad....Robert Phillipson has done an admirable great job of editing this book as it clearly reflects the spirit led by Tove Skutnabb-Kangas." —TESL-EJ "...a Festschrift to mark Skutnabb-Kanga's sixtieth birthday. It parades a star-studded list of contributors, particularly in the field of sociolinguistics....the reader is presented with a range of topics and views that reflect Skutnabb-Kangas's lifelong interests in language rights and minority education." —Language in Society "Unique in the field, encompassing linguistics, language rights, bilingual education, sociology, and critical approaches to education, all with a global perspective....Because it is so inclusive, this book represents cutting-edge scholarship in international linguistics and education. Bringing together scholars in such a wide variety of disciplines is certain to broaden the parameters of many disciplines which are by definition quite narrow....Rights to Language is not simply a tribute to the extraordinary career of Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, but a solid contribution to the field." —Sonia Nieto University of Massachusetts "I strongly recommend this book....In addition to honoring Tove, it will contribute to the field as well.... Skutnabb-Kangas has framed the conversation, as it were, and these scholars have elucidated it....Rights to Language will move scholars to the next level and begin to generate the kinds of conversations that are needed if we are to create change in the twenty-first century." —Natalie Kuhlman San Diego State University