37.1630, Reviews: Ecolinguistics, Social Justice and Sustainability: Mohamed Mliless, Mohammed Larouz, David Stringer, Diego Luis Forte, George M. Jacobs, and Meng Huat Chau (eds.) (2025)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1630. Sat May 02 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1630, Reviews: Ecolinguistics, Social Justice and Sustainability: Mohamed Mliless, Mohammed Larouz, David Stringer, Diego Luis Forte, George M. Jacobs, and Meng Huat Chau (eds.) (2025)

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Date: 02-May-2026
From: Sahar Shirali [shiras89 at zedat.fu-berlin.de]
Subject: Anthropological Linguistics, Applied Linguistics, General Linguistics, Sociolinguistics: Mohamed Mliless, Mohammed Larouz, David Stringer, Diego Luis Forte, George M. Jacobs, and Meng Huat Chau (eds.) (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-3305

Title: Ecolinguistics, Social Justice and Sustainability
Subtitle: Voices from the Global South
Series Title: Bloomsbury Advances in Ecolinguistics
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
           http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/
Book URL:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/ecolinguistics-social-justice-and-sustainability-9781350523807/

Editor(s): Mohamed Mliless, Mohammed Larouz, David Stringer, Diego
Luis Forte, George M. Jacobs, and Meng Huat Chau

Reviewer: Sahar Shirali

SUMMARY
The book Ecolinguistics, Social Justice, and Sustainability: Voices
from the Global South is part of the Bloomsbury Advances in
Ecolinguistics series and consists of an introduction and 10 chapters,
with references at the end of each chapter, and an index.
Chapter 1, Advances, challenges, and opportunities for ecolinguistics
in Latin America, by Mariana Roccia, presents a critical overview of
the ecolinguistics growth within the Latin American context. The
chapter notes that, although the field has received significant global
attention, it has remained relatively marginal in Latin America,
despite the region's ecological richness and social complexity. Roccia
argues that this gap is paradoxical considering Latin America’s long
history of environmental exploitation, colonial past, and
socio-economic inequalities, which indicate the region’s potential for
ecolinguistic research.
Providing an overview of the literature on ecolinguistics in Latin
America, the chapter highlights key scholarly contributions, including
Brazilian approaches such as ecosystemic linguistics, while also
questioning whether relevant research in the region has gone
unrecognized due to labeling practices or the dominance of English in
academic publishing. The main challenges identified are limited
institutional support, linguistic barriers, and a lack of regional
collaboration. The chapter also mentions promising opportunities,
especially in engaging with indigenous knowledge, local languages, and
ecological challenges specific to the region.
The chapter advocates for research in ecolinguistics that is locally
rooted and interdisciplinary to develop the field in Latin America. It
seeks to foster scholarly dialogue and encourages the development of
practical, context-relevant approaches that address both environmental
and social justice issues.
Chapter 2, Investigating the discrepancies between environmental
education and students’ environmental practices: A mixed-method
approach by Hassane Razkane, El Ayachi El Baghdady, Adil Youssef
Sayeh, and Mohamed Yeou, investigates the gap between students’
environmental knowledge and their behaviors. The authors declare that,
despite the considerable expansion of environmental education to
promote sustainable behavior, students often do not apply this
knowledge in their daily ecological practices. This gap reveals a
significant limitation in current educational approaches.
The study uses a mixed-method design including a questionnaire and
semi-structured interviews to explore Moroccan middle school students’
perceptions, motivations, and behaviors regarding the environment.
Drawing on thematic data analysis and a social perspective, the
results indicate that most respondents are aware of their
environmental impact. The findings further demonstrate that family and
community exert substantial influence, whereas peer groups have a less
significant effect. Consequently, the study recommends that
educational programs should extend beyond schools to include
households, such as through family environmental education workshops,
home sustainability challenges, community-based projects,
environmental education events and festivals, and school-home
partnerships.
Chapter 3, The integration of ecolinguistics in the EFL context in
higher education in Oman to raise students’ motivation and
environmental awareness by Iman Jabbar Abbas and Ouarda Khouni,
examines how the curricula of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) can
incorporate ecolinguistics insights. The chapter suggests that
language education plays a crucial role in fostering environmental
awareness by integrating ecological content within teaching materials
and classroom practices.
Adopting a quantitative approach, the study uses a questionnaire to
explore the perceptions of foundation-level students (n=200) at the
University of Technology and Applied Sciences in Oman. Data analysis
reveals that approximately two-thirds of students respond positively
to integrating ecolinguistics, reporting enhanced motivation and
engagement when environmental content is incorporated into language
learning. Furthermore, many respondents not only support the
integration but also suggest specific methods, including
extracurricular interactive activities, workshops, field trips, and
the use of narrative and descriptive texts addressing environmental
issues.
The authors conclude that embedding ecolinguistics enhances language
learning outcomes and cultivates critical awareness of environmental
challenges. The chapter offers both theoretical and practical
contributions by providing a framework for incorporating
ecolinguistics into EFL settings. Ultimately, the authors suggest that
language education is an effective means of fostering environmentally
responsible learners and promoting sustainable, critical thinking in
higher education.
Chapter 4, Children’s books for enjoyment, language learning and the
Sustainable Development Goals by Chenghao Zhu, Meng Huat Chau, Hisham
M. El-Tahawy, Jasper Roe, and George M. Jacobs, studies the role of
children’s literature in promoting language development and ecological
awareness. The authors contend that children’s books serve as both
instruments for entertainment and language acquisition and effective
means for fostering critical thinking on social and environmental
issues.
Using ecolinguistic theory, specifically Stibbe’s concept of the
stories we live by (2021), the chapter depicts how narratives
influence children’s worldviews, their values, and behaviors. Through
an analysis of the children’s book Thirst by Varsha Bajaj (2022),
which addresses the experiences of slum-dwellers, the authors show how
literary texts can introduce themes such as environmental
sustainability, water scarcity, and social justice. Highlighting the
interdependence of ecological and human concerns, the discussion
further associates these themes with the United Nations Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs).
The chapter concludes by outlining practical pedagogical strategies
for integrating children’s literature into language education,
encouraging educators to use stories to develop ecoliteracy and
ethical awareness. Finally, it asserts that children’s literature can
contribute to developing environmentally conscious and socially
responsible individuals from an early age.
Chapter 5, Integrating ecolinguistic perspectives of Outstanding
Universal Values of subak in English learning: A mental model analysis
by I Gusti Agung Sri Rwa Jayantini, Sang Putu Kaler Surata, and Ronald
Umbas, explores how ecolinguistic principles can be embedded in
language education via the inclusion of local cultural knowledge. The
chapter centers on Bali’s subak system, a traditional irrigation
method recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage cultural landscape,
and emphasizes the importance of incorporating ecological, cultural,
and spiritual values into English-language instruction. The
interaction between people and nature is identified as the central
value of subak.
The chapter investigates the mental models of the Balinese younger
generation that reflect ecolinguistic knowledge through their ideas
about the environment. The study employed an innovative methodology
involving over 119 students and 10 teachers from secondary schools in
Bali, who created drawings of subak and participated in interviews
about their artwork. These drawings were analyzed using the mental
model theory (Johnson-Laird, 1983). Data collection included drawing
activities, student-listed English vocabulary, teacher-composed short
paragraphs, and interviews addressing environmental awareness and
cultural practices. This approach facilitated the integration of an
ecolinguistic perspective into English learning. Consistent with Tri
Hita Karana, the local philosophy emphasizing harmony among humans,
nature, and spiritual forces, the findings illuminate how youth and
educators conceptualize their environment and cultural heritage, and
how ecolinguistic awareness can be more effectively incorporated into
English-language instruction.
The findings indicate that incorporating ecolinguistic and cultural
insights into English instruction improves students’ ecological
awareness. The chapter also offers practical implications for
developing teaching materials that embody ecocultural values,
resulting in the enrichment of both language acquisition and
environmental consciousness.
Chapter 6, Representation of ecotourism in Morocco: An ecolinguistic
analysis of YouTube videos by Mohamed Mliless, Mohammed Larouz, and
Mohamed Louza, investigates the discursive construction of ecotourism
on digital platforms, focusing specifically on YouTube.
By analyzing the linguistic and visual strategies employed in this
digital content, the chapter examines how language, visuals, and
multimodal elements shape perceptions of nature, tourism, and
sustainability in Morocco. The authors analyze selected YouTube videos
produced by independent content creators and Moroccan tourism sources
from a socio-semiotic and discourse-analytic perspective. Even though
ecotourism may promote environmental awareness, it also has the
capacity to represent nature as a source of benefit. In some
representations, sustainability and respect for local knowledge and
ecosystems are highlighted, whereas in others, consumerist and
extractive ideologies are promoted. The chapter underscores the
significant impact of digital media on the public's view of the
environment and tourism practices. It follows by promoting
ecolinguistic analysis as a practical method in revealing implicit
layers of such digital discourse. Consequently, the authors call for
more responsible and ethically bound strategies in ecotourism
discourse that consider environmental protection as well, and not
merely the marketing visions.
Chapter 7, Colonial thought, eco-industrialism and speciesism in the
discourse of Argentina’s food production control agency by Diego L.
Forte, presents a critical ecolinguistic analysis of institutional
discourse on food production in Argentina. The chapter delves into the
use of language by the national agency SENASA in public
communications, reflecting dominant ideologies that prioritize
industrial productivity over ecological and ethical considerations.
The author applies ecolinguistics as the main theoretical framework
for analyzing econarratives (Stibbe, 2015) and Lim and Tan-Chia (2023)
for multimodal transposition to examine representations of animals and
natural resources in official communications. The analysis
demonstrates that animals are frequently depicted as passive objects
or commodities, whereas humans are portrayed as controllers and
superior agents. This discursive pattern implies speciesist beliefs
and corresponds to eco-industrialist logic, which prioritizes economic
efficiency and production over ecological balance and animal welfare.
The narrative constructs a colonial point of view where the
instrumentalization of non-humans for commercial purposes is
normalized, and their agency is erased. By normalizing this hierarchy
between humans and nature, institutional discourse contributes to the
persistence of unsustainable and ethically problematic practices.
In conclusion, the chapter advocates for a reconsideration of
institutional discourse, urging the adoption of more ecologically
sensitive and ethically inclusive representations of human-nature
relationships that challenge common industrial and colonial paradigms.
These issues are relevant not only to linguists and discourse
analysts, but also to all individuals committed to ecological
development.
Chapter 8, Ecological Identity in Kenya by Philip W. Rudd and Peter
Githinji, examines the construction of ecological identities through
language, focusing on Swahili discourse in the context of climate
change. The chapter adopts a combination of critical discourse
analysis and systemic-functional grammar (Halliday & Matthiessen,
2014) to analyze how discourse constructs reflect ideologies and
contribute to the formation of unequal power relations.
Using data from Swahili-language newspaper articles from 2019 to 2023,
the authors investigate frames, lexicogrammar, and discourse to
identify representations of nature, humans, and environmental issues.
Their findings show that ecological identity is shaped by recurring
frames emphasizing human-ecosystem interdependence. Some discursive
patterns also indicated a scarcity of depictions of non-human
identities, suggesting an anthropocentric perspective that prioritizes
human interests over ecological concerns.
The authors argue that, considering the key role of language in
shaping public perceptions of climate change and environmental
responsibility, discourses should be promoted that highlight
ecological interconnectedness and encourage identities supportive of
sustainability. They conclude that valuing all living entities is
essential to fostering an ecologically beneficial identity.
Chapter 9, A biographical approach to decolonial ecolinguistics:
Learning from the margins about endangered ecologies in Senegal by
Monika Christine Rohmer and Mouhamed Abdallah Ly, explores how
marginalized voices can shed light on the implicit layers of
ecolinguistic research from a decolonial lens. The chapter applies a
biographical approach and delves into the lived experiences of
individuals connected to endangered ecological environments in
Senegal, particularly within peri-urban forest regions. In Senegal,
the relationship between language and ecology is shaped by
(post-)colonial interactions.
Through the examination of Ibrahima Diop’s life story, the chapter
illustrates how local knowledge, practices, and narratives provide
alternative perspectives on the relationship between humans and nature
that challenge prevalent Western-centric ecological discourses. The
analysis indicates that valuable ecological knowledge possessed by
local marginalized communities is often dismissed or silenced in
mainstream research.
The chapter suggests that decolonial ecolinguistics must prioritize
such less-heard voices to better understand and tackle ecological
crises and develop more inclusive, context-sensitive approaches. It
highlights the need to move beyond abstract theoretical frameworks and
engage directly with the lived experiences of the locals. The authors
advocate for a shift toward more participatory, ethically grounded
ecolinguistic research that understands the value of marginalized
communities in addressing environmental challenges.
Chapter 10, An ecolinguistic analysis of the role of civets in
Indonesian civet coffee by Ingrid A. Gavilán Tatin, George M. Jacobs,
Meng Huat Chau, Chenghao Zhu and Aditya Alam Soeta Bangsa, studies how
language shapes perceptions of animals within the context of the civet
coffee industry, and investigates how civets are represented in
discourse related to tourism, marketing, and consumption.
Using an ecolinguistic approach inspired by Stibbe (2021) and a
discourse-analytic framework, the authors analyze the representation
of civets and civet coffee in two leading Indonesian newspapers from
April 2008 to September 2023. The goal is to observe the role of
language in the relationship between humans, other species, and the
physical environment. The findings indicate that civets are frequently
portrayed as commercial objects, and exploitation of non-human life is
depicted as a normal practice. Such representations minimize the
importance of animal welfare and contribute to the normalization of
practices that may harm civets.
The chapter asserts that such discourses imply patterns of
anthropocentrism and mistreatment of non-human species. By
representing animals as tools for human benefit, language contributes
to reinforcing imbalanced relationships between humans and animals and
masks ethical concerns; therefore, the authors advocate for more
critical and ethically informed representations of animals in media
and commercial discourse.
EVALUATION
The book makes a significant contribution to understanding
ecolinguistics in the Global South by covering diverse topics and a
wide geographical scope, spanning from Argentina in Latin America to
Morocco, Kenya, and Senegal in Africa, Oman in the Middle East, and
Indonesia in East Asia. Despite increasing concerns about climate
change and the multifaceted socio-economic issues in the Global South,
linguistic studies focusing on the ecological aspects of these issues
have remained marginal in the region (Zhang, 2022). Chapters offer
diverse scholarly articles on recent advances and challenges of the
field, starting with a discussion on the importance of incorporating
indigenous knowledge in environmental research and policymaking, while
advocating for the development of local voices that amplify the
ecological needs of Latin America in Chapter 1.
The book dedicates Chapters 2 to 5 to emphasizing the significance of
effective environmental education (Ahmat Zainuri et al. 2022) and to
urging revision of the design and methods of current pedagogical
strategies to raise empathy, responsibility, and agency toward the
environment. In line with UNESCO’s call to integrate Global
Citizenship Education (GCE) into curricula to consider environmental
education (Jacobs et al., 2016), the book argues that incorporating
indigenous knowledge systems into education is essential for promoting
sustainable practices and preserving cultural and ecological heritage.
It further suggests drawing inspiration from human-nature
relationships and embedding ecocultural knowledge into teaching
materials.
On the implication side, the book offers insightful suggestions
regarding ecolinguistic research as a means of advancing social
justice. It highlights the importance of socio-semiotics and discourse
analysis in environmental research and policymaking, as well as the
value of connecting with the locals in Chapter 6. It also encourages
readers to expand their view beyond a purely linguistic lens to an
inclusive, multispecies perspective committed to ecological
development in Chapter 7. In line with putting the findings into
practice, Chapter 8 calls for greater awareness of language use and
implicit bias in media, which can negatively affect environmental
sustainability and social justice in the Global South. One of the
book’s impressive and thoughtful points appears in Chapter 9, which
discusses the inclusion of less-heard voices in ecolinguistics,
thereby contributing to the decolonization of this discipline. Chapter
10 insightfully concludes by advocating more attention to animals’
welfare and resistance to the injustices imposed on non-human species.
REFERENCES
Ahmat Zainuri, N., Abd-Rahman, N., Halim, L., Chan, M. Y., & Mohd
Bazari, N. N. (2022). Measuring po-environmental behavior triggered by
environmental values. International Journal of Environmental Research
and Public Health, 19(23).
Bajaj, V. (2022). Thirst. Penguin.
Halliday, M., & Matthiessen, C. (2014). Halliday’s introduction to
functional grammar (4th ed.). Routledge.
Jacobs, G. M., Jiexin, T., & Joyce, M. J. (2016). The presentation of
animals in English as an additional language coursebooks. Language &
Ecology.
Johnson-Laird, P. N. (1983). Mental models: Towards a cognitive
science of language, inference, and consciousness. Harvard University
Press.
Lim, F. V., & Tan-Chia, L. (2023). Designing learning for multimodal
literacy. Routledge.
Stibbe, A. (2015). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories
we live by. Routledge.
Stibbe, A. (2021). Ecolinguistics: Language, ecology and the stories
we live by (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Zhang, R. (2022). The year’s work in ecolinguistics 2021. Journal of
World Languages, 8(1), 141-163.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Sahar Shirali (she/her) is a graduate researcher in Interdisciplinary
Studies of the Middle East at Freie Universität Berlin. Her academic
background spans sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, and more
recently, digital gender studies, where she has engaged in the
computational analysis of online gender-based harassment. Her research
focuses on AI ethics, the discourse of gender in digital spaces, and
the application of computational methods to examine sociolinguistic
power dynamics, particularly within less-visible communities.



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