The Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights

A groundbreaking new work that sheds light on case studies of linguistic human rights around the world, raising much-needed awareness of the struggles of many peoples and communities

The first book of its kind, the Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights presents a diverse range of theoretically grounded studies of linguistic human rights, exemplifying what linguistic justice is and how it might be achieved. Through explorations of ways in which linguistic human rights are understood in both national and international contexts, this innovative volume demonstrates how linguistic human rights are supported or violated on all continents, with a particular focus on the marginalized languages of minorities and Indigenous peoples, in industrialized countries and the Global South.

Organized into five parts, this volume first presents approaches to linguistic human rights in international and national law, political theory, sociology, economics, history, education, and critical theory. Subsequent sections address how international standards are promoted or impeded and cross-cutting issues, including translation and interpreting, endangered languages and the internet, the impact of global English, language testing, disaster situations, historical amnesia, and more. This essential reference work:

• Explores approaches to linguistic human rights (LHRs) in all key scholarly disciplines
• Assesses the strengths and weaknesses of international law Covenants and Declarations that recognize the LHRs of Indigenous peoples, minorities and other minoritized groups
• Presents evidence of how LHRs are being violated on all continents, and evidence of successful struggles for achieving linguistic human rights and linguistic justice
• Stresses the importance of the mother tongues of Indigenous peoples and minorities being the main teaching/learning languages for cultural identity, success in education, and social integration
• Includes a selection of short texts that present additional existential evidence of LHRs

Edited by two renowned leaders in the field, the Handbook of Linguistic Human Rights is an ideal resource for undergraduate and graduate students of language and law, sociolinguistics, applied linguistics, language policy, language education, indigenous studies, language rights, human rights, and globalization.