The workings of discrimination: Gender-inclusive language between acceptance and opposition

 

Guest editor: Federica Formato (University of Brighton)

 

This call for papers is aimed at collecting contributions for a special issue of the Journal of Language and Discrimination (https://journal.equinoxpub.com/index.php/JLD/index) to be published in Autumn 2024. The topic of this special issue revolves around discriminatory practices, beliefs, and ideologies opposing gender inclusivity in language. Here, inclusivity is mostly referring to ways in which speakers have attempted to or have been successful at breaking the (grammatical) feminine/masculine binary, ideas around linguistic normativity, and the so-called ‘anti-gender’ ideology or gender war.

Papers can focus on linguistic changes aimed at achieving gender inclusivity, for instance,  lexical items, (new) morphological inflections, etc., The editors will also consider papers on how institutions, specific speakers, the media, and politics (or a combination of these) actively engage in demystifying, demonizing, and attacking linguistic inclusive practices. The papers need to discuss relevant literature and appropriate methods/methodologies and be solidly grounded in theoretical underpinnings. Analysis of dataset/s can be quantitative or qualitative (or mixed methods).  The special issue will consist of 6-7 papers, all possibly dealing with different languages or contexts.

All abstracts, no longer than 500 words (references excluded) and in English, should include information about the context(s), the dataset/s, the methods, and/or theoretical framework/s, and should be sent to f.formato@brighton.ac.uk  by 28th February 2023. Informal inquiries are also welcome.

For information about submissions and contributions see the journal’s guidelines: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4ejwas4f11n6tk1/2021%20JLD%20Author%20Guidelines.pdf?dl=0

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Important dates:

Abstract deadline: 28th February 2023

Notification of acceptance: 31st March 2023

Full paper: 15th December 2023

Notification: 1st April 2024

Final submission: 1 July 2024

Publication date: October 2024