Decolonising Multilingualism: Struggles to Decreate (Writing without Borders): 1 - Hardcover

Alison Phipps

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1788924053 ISBN 13: 9781788924054

Publisher: Multilingual Matters, 2019

Synopsis

This book presents the first ever comprehensive overview of national laws recognising sign languages, the impacts they have and the advocacy campaigns which led to their creation. It comprises 18 studies from communities across Europe, the US, South America, Asia and New Zealand. They set sign language legislation within the national context of language policies in each country and show patterns of intersection between language ideologies, public policy and deaf communities' discourses. Each chapter, grounded in scholarship by deaf scholars, describes a deaf community's expectations and hopes for legal recognition and the type of sign language legislation achieved. The chapters also discuss the strategies used in achieving the passage of the legislation, as well as an account of barriers confronted and surmounted (or not) in the legislative process. It will be of interest to language activists in the fields of sign language and other minority languages, policymakers and researchers in deaf studies, sign linguistics, sociolinguistics, human rights law and applied linguistics.

About this title

Review

Decolonising Multilingualism is a beautifully written, deeply personal and intimate account of what it means to decentre and give up power. None of us can step outside our histories, our skin colour, the structural inequalities that position us in ways that are both privileged and uncomfortable. But by engaging with, and reflecting upon, how these contexts and power relations influence our work with others, this little book is both liberating and challenges us to do better.

--Heaven Crawley, Coventry University, UK

Freire says the role of the colonised is to decolonise the coloniser - Alison Phipps shares her personal journey of such experiences that not only decolonise her but also reveal the hurts and pains of the colonised communities and the gentle wisdom of the lands that offer unconditional healing. These could be stories about courage and vulnerability, but for me I see them as doing what needs to be done: to whakatika (rectify wrongs), with aroha (unconditional love), and discover truth is held in what truly matters - whakapono (faith).

--Piki Diamond, Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand

This is a very timely contribution by Alison Phipps. We live in unprecedented times of divisions. Walls and barriers are raised to keep people and nations apart. People who have so much in common including shared languages. In this book, Alison reminds us of the connecting power of languages and multilingualism. She talks about the languages and traditions left behind by those forced to flee their homes and the rich heritage of languages they can bring to their adopted homes.

--Sabir Zazai, CEO of Scottish Refugee Council, UK

About the Author

Alison Phipps is UNESCO Chair in Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts, and Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow, UK. She writes and publishes widely in both academic publications and the media, and is a respected activist and campaigner for humane treatment for those seeking refuge.

Edition details

• Publisher: Multilingual Matters
• Publication date: 2019
• ISBN 10: 1788924053
• ISBN 13: 9781788924054
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 112