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Language without Rights is a book-length critique of the concept of language rights. Synthesizing insights from a variety of disciplines, including linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, sociology and political philosophy, Wee demonstrates how the appeal to language rights faces a number of conceptual and practical problems, particularly because the discourse of rights is fundamentally inconsistent with the socially variable nature of language. The book also explores an
alternative that is more in tune with the complexities of language in social life by suggesting that issues involving language are better managed within a model of deliberative democracy. Language without Rights is a book-length critique of the concept of language rights. Synthesizing insights from a variety of disciplines, including linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, sociology and political philosophy, Wee demonstrates how the appeal to language rights faces a number of conceptual and practical problems, particularly because the discourse of rights is fundamentally inconsistent with the socially variable nature of language. The book
also explores an alternative that is more in tune with the complexities of language in social life by suggesting that issues involving language are better managed within a model of deliberative democracy.
List of contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1.: Introduction
- 2.: On Boundary Marking
- 3.: Language and Ethnic Minority Rights
- 4.: Beyond Ethnic Minorities
- 5.: Ethnic Diversity and Nationalism
- 6.: Migration and Global Mobility
- 7.: Language Education and Communication in the Workplace
- 8.: Language, Justice, and the Deliberative Democratic Way
- 9.: Culture Without Rights?
- Bibliography
- Index
About the author
Lionel Wee is Associate Professor of English Language and Literature at National University of Singapore
Summary
Language without Rights is a book-length critique of the concept of language rights. Synthesizing insights from a variety of disciplines, including linguistic anthropology, sociolinguistics, sociology and political philosophy, Wee demonstrates how the appeal to language rights faces a number of conceptual and practical problems, particularly because the discourse of rights is fundamentally inconsistent with the socially variable nature of language. The book also explores an alternative that is more in tune with the complexities of language in social life by suggesting that issues involving language are better managed within a model of deliberative democracy.
