The Routledge Handbook of Sociolinguistics Around the World

This comprehensive volume offers an unprecedented global survey of sociolinguistic research, drawing on diverse languages and social contexts across every continent. With over thirty chapters authored by regional experts, it provides English-language readers access to cutting-edge studies examining how language intersects with society, culture, and identity worldwide. The collection breaks new ground by systematically mapping sociolinguistic phenomena from Africa to Asia, Europe to the Americas, creating the first truly international reference of its scope.

What distinguishes this handbook is its deliberate decentralization of Western academic perspectives, allowing local scholars to present research rooted in their own linguistic landscapes. Students and researchers will find invaluable the nuanced understanding of how language variation, policy, and change manifest differently across global contexts. By bridging geographical and theoretical divides, this collection fundamentally expands what it means to study language in society, making it essential reading for anyone seeking to understand sociolinguistics as a genuinely worldwide discipline.