On October 26th 2023, we will host a one-day event to share key findings from a British Academy funded project entitled “New Geographies of Language in Minority Language Sociolinguistics”. This project has sought to reframe minority language sociolinguistics epistemologically and methodologically by rethinking key assumptions and methods which have shaped the field.

The event will be hosted by Prof Bernadette O’Rourke at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities (IASH) in collaboration with the University of Glasgow.

A key aim at this one-day event will be to explore new directions in minority language sociolinguistics and to interrogate old and new assumptions around language, territory and nativeness in language revitalisation studies. An important focus of our discussion will be on examining the challenges that a post-structuralist position presents for policy makers and minority language advocates.

International experts will contribute to this discussion on the day as well as researchers from different parts of Europe, including policy makers and language planners.

One of the main questions which we will seek to address is: How do we use post-structuralist critique and theory in a way that is useful for the struggles of minority language speakers on the ground and policy responses to these struggles?

The programme can be found here.