Why Sociolinguistics and Human Rights?
Sociolinguistics involves, among other things, the comparative study of the range of existing social situations defined in part by language. Sociolinguists attend to the role of language in constructing social context and institutions, as well as to the myriad ways in which language structures, and patterns of language use, reflect social realities. This broad view encompasses sociolinguistic typologies i.e. linguistic ecologies in social space and is grounded in an understanding of the nature of speech communities. Because of this, because we are committed to describing patterns and understanding principles behind the recurring ways in which language and social structure interact, it seems clear that the discipline should be able to contribute to the theoretical and practical fields of human rights. Its equally obvious that there is much linguists as a group despite a number of very active individuals dont know about human rights as an area of study and action, and that many people wh
