Book review : April Baker Bell, Linguistic Justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy, New York: Routledge, 2020. 148 pp. ISBN: 9781138551022 £34.99 (pbk)

Mevawalla, Zinnia (2022) Book review : April Baker Bell, Linguistic Justice: Black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy, New York: Routledge, 2020. 148 pp. ISBN: 9781138551022 £34.99 (pbk). [Review] (https://doi.org/10.1177/14687984221091446)

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Abstract

Those of us doing social justice work in early years spaces will be all too familiar with the counter-arguments that emerge when we emphasise the need to critically engage with the power of language. Whether this is in the context of disability (e.g., challenging ableist language use in terms like ‘special needs’), or in understanding and challenging racism – as is the overarching focus of this book. We hear comments such as “language is the very least of the problems that marginalised and minoritised communities contend with.” Such pervasive discourse implies that a focus on language is somehow less valuable, and indeed, separate, from the oppressions experienced by those ‘othered’ in our social hierarchies. April Baker Bell’s book provides an in-depth, insightful, well-theorised and (perhaps most importantly) an accessible consideration of language as a site of power, struggle, belonging and joy – ultimately highlighting how and why, language does matter.

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