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Gumperz and Social Justice
Author(s) -
Heller Monica
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of linguistic anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.463
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1548-1395
pISSN - 1055-1360
DOI - 10.1111/jola.12026
Subject(s) - sociology , sociolinguistics , social justice , selection (genetic algorithm) , epistemology , social inequality , state (computer science) , economic justice , inequality , social science , linguistics , political science , law , philosophy , algorithm , artificial intelligence , computer science , mathematical analysis , mathematics
J ohn G umperz's work was characterized by a concern for social justice. This article traces some of the ways this concern manifested itself through such concepts as “key situation,” and in research foci on moments of social selection in powerful state institutions. It reviews some critiques of G umperz's approach to the problem of how social difference is tied to social inequality, and some of the productive responses to those critiques, anchoring G umperz's work as a major contribution to critical sociolinguistics.