Alexander Duchêne’s contribution to the “Sociolinguistics Frontiers” series traces the ways in which multilingualism has been understood and valued by scholars and beyond. Duchêne shows how the work of sociolinguistics dramatically shifted the image of multilingual speakers and societies as a problem for nation-states to something to be celebrated, even as an indicator and contributor to social justice for minority language speakers. He then goes on to argue that this validation and recognition of multiple languages can divert attention away from broader inequalities, especially socioeconomic ones, that multilingualism is unable to address.
Alexandre Duchêne
Alexandre Duchêne is full professor of sociolinguistics at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland) and codirector of the Institute of Multilingualism, which is run jointly by the University of Fribourg and the University of Teacher Education, Fribourg. His research is situated at the intersection between linguistics and social science and is concerned with the role of language in the production of difference and social inequality.