Objectives at the crossroads: Critical theory and self-determination in indigenous language revitalization

What is it about?

Language revitalisation (of interest to critical sociolinguists) is closely related to Indigenous self-determination (of interest to political theorists and international law). This paper examines whether these two fields have a common goal re language revitalisation in Indigenous contexts.

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Why is it important?

The paper argue that Indigenous self-determination when applied to matters of language can alienate Indigenous individuals and limit their own linguistic emancipation. Instead, self-determination may be idealised for the group level, but critical sociolinguistics may have goals more relevant to individual lives.