Unsettling race and language: Toward a raciolinguistic perspective

TLDR

The article introduces a raciolinguistic perspective that theorizes the historical and contemporary co‑naturalization of language and race. The authors aim to understand how race and language categories have been co‑naturalized and to envision their denaturalization as part of a broader project to contest white supremacy. They outline five key components of the perspective: colonial co‑naturalizations, perceptions of difference, regimentations, intersections and assemblages, and contestations of power formations. Keywords: race, language ideologies, colonialism, governmentality, enregisterment, structural inequality.

Abstract

Abstract This article presents what we term a raciolinguistic perspective , which theorizes the historical and contemporary co-naturalization of language and race. Rather than taking for granted existing categories for parsing and classifying race and language, we seek to understand how and why these categories have been co-naturalized, and to imagine their denaturalization as part of a broader structural project of contesting white supremacy. We explore five key components of a raciolinguistic perspective: (i) historical and contemporary colonial co-naturalizations of race and language; (ii) perceptions of racial and linguistic difference; (iii) regimentations of racial and linguistic categories; (iv) racial and linguistic intersections and assemblages; and (v) contestations of racial and linguistic power formations. These foci reflect our investment in developing a careful theorization of various forms of racial and linguistic inequality on the one hand, and our commitment to the imagination and creation of more just societies on the other. (Race, language ideologies, colonialism, governmentality, enregisterment, structural inequality)*