Political Economy and Sociolinguistics : Neoliberalism, Inequality and Social Class

Shortlisted for the BAAL Book Prize 2019 This book explores how political economy intersects with sociolinguistics, specifically how neoliberalism, inequality and social class mediate language in society issues. After the preface, in which the author sets the scene for the content of the book, Chapter 1 is an extensive, though selective, review of sociolinguistics research which has been framed as political economic in orientation. The chapter concludes that such research generally contains little in the way of thorough and in-depth coverage of the key ideas and conceptual frameworks said to undergird it. With this consideration in mind, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are organised around in-depth discussions of, respectively, political economy as a general disciplinary frame; neoliberalism as the variegated variety of capitalism dominant in the world today; and stratification, inequality and social class, as phenomena intrinsic to capitalism, which in the neoliberal era have come to the fore as key issues. Drawing directly on the background provide in Chapters 2-4, Chapters 5 and 6 explore two distinct political economy-informed lines of research, on the one hand, the 'neoliberal citizen', and on the other hand, 'discursive class warfare'. The book ends with an epilogue addressing issues arising around political economy in sociolinguistics. Cover Half Title Series Title Copyright Contents Preface 1 A short history of political economy in sociolinguistics Introduction Political economy in sociolinguistics The ‘English divide’ Language in the workplace Economics of language Language and tourism Critical Discourse Studies (Critical Discourse Analysis) Where this is leading 2 Political economy: Background and approach Introduction Why political economy? The human dimension Marxist political economy and the field of economics An alternative to neoclassical economics The international dimension An ontological and epistemological consideration Conclusion 3 Neoliberalism: Historical and conceptual considerations Introduction Neoliberalism as the focus of attention in contemporary political economy The rise of neoliberal thought The influencers: von Mises, Hayek and Popper The rise to power of the MPS spirit The neoliberal thought collective and beyond Conclusion 4 Stratification, inequality and social class Introduction Stratification Inequality Social class: Marx, Durkheim, Weber and Veblen From Bourdieu to the constellation of dimensions model Class as lived experience Quantifying and categorizing social class Conclusion 5 The neoliberal citizen: Conceptualizations and contexts Introduction The neoliberal citizen Rational choice theory (RCT) The rise of the entrepreneur and self-branding The neoliberal citizen in French as a foreign language textbook Entrepreneurs revisited; the 2013 Spanish law supporting entrepreneurs Horizon 2020 A neoliberal citizen in the flesh Conclusion 6 Inequality, class and class warfare: Discourse, ideology and ‘truth’ Introduction Inequality, class struggle and class warfare Critical Discourse Studies CDS and class warfare The setting: The PP, the PAH and escraches The response to escraches The struggle continues Corrupt discourse ‘Post-truth’? Conclusion Epilogue Notes Preface Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Epilogue References Index "This book explores how political economy intersects with sociolinguistics, specifically how neoliberalism, inequality and social class mediate language in society issues. After the preface, in which the author sets the scene for the content of the book, Chapter 1 is an extensive, though selective, review of sociolinguistics research which has been framed as political economic in orientation. The chapter concludes that such research generally contains little in the way of thorough and in-depth coverage of the key ideas and conceptual frameworks said to undergird it. With this consideration in mind, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are organised around in-depth discussions of, respectively, political economy as a general disciplinary frame; neoliberalism as the variegated variety of capitalism dominant in the world today; and stratification, inequality and social class, as phenomena intrinsic to capitalism, which in the neoliberal era have come to the fore as key issues. Drawing directly on the background provide in Chapters 2-4, Chapters 5 and 6 explore two distinct political economy-informed lines of research, on the one hand, the 'neoliberal citizen', and on the other hand, 'discursive class warfare'. The book ends with an epilogue addressing issues arising around political economy in sociolinguistics."--Bloomsbury Publishing. This book explores how political economy intersects with sociolinguistics, specifically how neoliberalism, inequality and social class mediate language in society issues. After the preface, in which the author sets the scene for the content of the book, Chapter 1 is an extensive, though selective, review of sociolinguistics research which has been framed as political economic in orientation. The chapter concludes that such research generally contains little in the way of thorough and in-depth coverage of the key ideas and conceptual frameworks said to undergird it. With this consideration in mind, Chapters 2, 3 and 4 are organised around in-depth discussions of, respectively, political economy as a general disciplinary frame; neoliberalism as the variegated variety of capitalism dominant in the world today; and stratification, inequality and social class, as phenomena intrinsic to capitalism, which in the neoliberal era have come to the fore as key issues. Drawing directly on the background provide in Chapters 2-4, Chapters 5 and 6 explore two distinct political economy-informed lines of research, on the one hand, the 'neoliberal citizen', and on the other hand, 'discursive class warfare'. The book ends with an epilogue addressing issues arising around political economy in sociolinguistics-- Provided by Publisher David Block. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 193-215) And Index.