Political Economy and Sociolinguistics: Neoliberalism, Inequality and Social Class

Political Economy and Sociolinguistics explores how the study of political economy intersects with language and society. It looks at themes key to both of them and their shared areas of interest. Firstly, this is a book about political economys relevance to sociolinguistics - its history and what it offers which is useful to research examining the interrelationship between language, society and culture. Second, it is about how sociolinguists have engaged with political economy in their work over the past several decades. It critiques this work, especially the use of key terms and concepts which derive from core discussions in political economy, such as capital, ideology, marketisation, commodification and neoliberalism. It revisits an issue introduced by Nancy Fraser which Block has discussed in recent years in work on social class: namely, how to reconcile an interest in redistribution with an interest in recognition. This book offers a way forward for future studies where political economy and sociolinguistics intersect.