All of the above: New coalitions in sociocultural linguistics¹

Abstract

As the history of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology shows, a sharp distinction between these fields and others concerned with the sociocultural investigation of language is untenable given their significant common ground. The article describes the current state of relations between sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology, and similar approaches to language, culture, and society. It then locates theoretical, methodological, thematic, and political points of commonality and explores emerging areas of productive dialogue among these closely overlapping research traditions. Two analytic examples, one focused on race talk in sociolinguistic interviews with European American youth and the other on ideologies of English among sexual and gender minorities in India, illustrate the benefits of bringing together different branches of sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology.