The Power of Voice in Transforming Multilingual Societies

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.

Julia Gspandl is a sign language researcher and sociolinguist in the Plurilingualism Research Unit at the University of Graz, Austria. She was part of the scientific team for the UNESCO 2021 World Report of Languages.

Christina Korb is an affiliated researcher in the Plurilingualism Research Unit at the University of Graz, Austria. Her research interests include urban multilingualism, educational linguistics and language policy.

Angelika Heiling attained her MAs in the fields of English and American Studies and Gender Studies at the University of Graz and University of Aberdeen. She is currently employed at treffpunkt sprachen – Plurilingualism Unit and pursues her PhD on the sociolinguistic situation of a translocal family with a Southern African background. Her main research interest lies in critical sociolinguistics with a focus on urban multilingualism, migrant and minority language contexts.

Elizabeth J. Erling, PhD, works at the University of Vienna, Austria. Her research explores issues of equity in language education, particularly with regard to multilingual students from a migration background.