Decolonizing Linguistics

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. It is free to read at Oxford Academic and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Decolonizing Linguistics, the companion volume to Inclusion in Linguistics, is designed to uncover and intervene in the history and ongoing legacy of colonization and colonial thinking in linguistics and related fields. Taken together, the two volumes are the first comprehensive, action-oriented, book-length discussions of how to advance social justice in all aspects of the discipline. The introduction to Decolonizing Linguistics theorizes decolonization as the process of centering Black, Native, and Indigenous perspectives, describes the extensive dialogic and collaborative process through which the volume was developed, and lays out key principles for decolonizing linguistic research and teaching. The twenty chapters cover a wide range of languages and linguistic contexts (e.g., Bantu languages, Creoles, Dominican Spanish, Francophone Africa, Zapotec) as well as various disciplines and subfields (applied linguistics, communication, historical linguistics, language documentation and revitalization/reclamation, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, syntax). Contributors address such topics as refusing settler-colonial practices and centering community goals in research on Indigenous languages; decolonizing research partnerships between the Global South and the Global North; and prioritizing Black Diasporic perspectives in linguistics. The volume's conclusion lays out specific actions that linguists can take through research, teaching, and institutional structures to refuse coloniality in linguistics and to move the field toward a decolonized future. Cover Decolonizing Linguistics Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Introduction: Decolonizing Linguistics Part 1: Decolonizing Linguistics and the Academy 1. Manifestations of Colonialism in Linguistics and Opportunities for Decolonization Through Refusal 2. Racialization, Language Science, and Nineteenth-​Century Anthropometrics 3. The Colonial Geography of Linguistics: A View from the Caribbean 4. We Like the Idea of You But Not the Reality of You: The Whole Scholar as Disruptor of Default Colonial Practices in Linguistics 5. Apolitical Linguistics Doesn’t Exist, and It Shouldn’t: Developing a Black Feminist Praxis Toward Political Transparency 6. Unpacking Experiences of Racism in European Applied Linguistics 7. Centering Race and Multilingualism in French Linguistics 8. Decolonizing (Psycho)linguistics Means Dropping the Language Gap Rhetoric Part 2: Decolonizing Methods of Teaching and Research 9. From Gatekeeping to Inclusion in the Introductory Linguistics Curriculum: Decolonizing Our Teaching, Our Psyches, Our Institutions, and Our Field 10. Decolonizing Historical Linguistics in the Classroom and Beyond 11. Towards a Decolonial Syntax: Research, Teaching, Publishing 12. Decolonising Methodologies Through Collaboration: Reflections on Partnerships and Funding Flows from Working Between the South and the North 13. Open Methods: Decolonizing (or Not) Research Methods in Linguistics 14. Revitalizing Attitudes Toward Creole Languages Part 3: Decolonizing Research by Centering Community and Activism 15. Solidarity and Collectivity in Decolonizing Linguistics: A Black Diasporic Perspective 16. Growing a Bigger Linguistics Through a Zapotec Agenda: The Ticha Project 17. Decolonizing Creolistics Through Popular Culture: The Case of Dancehall 18. Prioritizing Community Partners’ Goals in Projects to Support Indigenous Language Revitalization 19. Promoting Decolonized Classrooms Through an Introductory Linguistics Course for Future Teachers in Alaska 20. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Language Activism from Community Colleges: Linguistics Meets Communication Studies Conclusion: Decolonizing Linguistics Intro Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Preface Introduction: Decolonizing Linguistics Part 1: Decolonizing Linguistics and the Academy 1. Manifestations of Colonialism in Linguistics and Opportunities for Decolonization Through Refusal 2. Racialization, Language Science, and Nineteenth-Century Anthropometrics 3. The Colonial Geography of Linguistics: A View from the Caribbean 4. We Like the Idea of You But Not the Reality of You: The Whole Scholar as Disruptor of Default Colonial Practices in Linguistics 5. Apolitical Linguistics Doesn't Exist, and It Shouldn't: Developing a Black Feminist Praxis Toward Political Transparency 6. Unpacking Experiences of Racism in European Applied Linguistics 7. Centering Race and Multilingualism in French Linguistics 8. Decolonizing (Psycho)linguistics Means Dropping the Language Gap Rhetoric Part 2: Decolonizing Methods of Teaching and Research 9. From Gatekeeping to Inclusion in the Introductory Linguistics Curriculum: Decolonizing Our Teaching, Our Psyches, Our Institutions, and Our Field 10. Decolonizing Historical Linguistics in the Classroom and Beyond 11. Towards a Decolonial Syntax: Research, Teaching, Publishing 12. Decolonising Methodologies Through Collaboration: Reflections on Partnerships and Funding Flows from Working Between the South and the North 13. Open Methods: Decolonizing (or Not) Research Methods in Linguistics 14. Revitalizing Attitudes Toward Creole Languages Part 3: Decolonizing Research by Centering Community and Activism 15. Solidarity and Collectivity in Decolonizing Linguistics: A Black Diasporic Perspective 16. Growing a Bigger Linguistics Through a Zapotec Agenda: The Ticha Project 17. Decolonizing Creolistics Through Popular Culture: The Case of Dancehall 18. Prioritizing Community Partners' Goals in Projects to Support Indigenous Language Revitalization 19. Promoting Decolonized Classrooms Through an Introductory Linguistics Course for Future Teachers in Alaska 20. An Interdisciplinary Approach to Language Activism from Community Colleges: Linguistics Meets Communication Studies Conclusion: Decolonizing Linguistics