Gender, language, & global processes

[Niko Besnier]

Dear all

I want to initiate a new thread on the topic of gender, language, & 
global processes.  The self-serving reason being that I am working on 
my little contribution for the first issue of our journal, Gender & 
Language, focusing on this topic.  If you remember, the articles in 
the first issue focus on important and under-explored issues in 
language & gender, so that's the background I'm working with.  Under 
the label "global processes" I want to include transnationalism in 
its different forms (e.g., migrations, remittances, seasonal labour, 
multiple allegiances), as well as more canonical global processes.  I 
also want to emphasize the local experience of global processes, 
e.g., that of call-center workers in Bangalore who are expected to 
learn American or British accents as a condition for employment in 
the global service industry, even though they may never have the 
first-hand experience of moving.

As you may know, anthropologists have long been concerned with these 
processes and experiences, but linguistic anthropologists and 
sociolinguists have been slower at catching on to the wealth of 
insights that one can gain about (a) gender, (b) language, and (c) 
globality from a focus on the intersection of the three.

What works have you found useful at this intersection?

Looking forward to hearing about works I may not know.

Niko

Niko Besnier
Professor of Cultural Anthropology, University of Amsterdam
Adjunct Professor of Anthropology, University of Hawai'i at Manoa