Toward a Big Tent Linguistics

Abstract

Linguistics has a documented history of divisiveness and remains poorly understood by the general public. Nevertheless, linguistics also has great unrealized potential for positive impact on global society, hand in hand with scholarship. This chapter argues for an inclusive big tent linguistics that will help the discipline achieve its potential, and the authors outline three sources of current exclusion: socialization into gatekeeping what counts as linguistics, with legitimacy tied to outdated opinions of what is more scientific, rigorous, rational, or prestigious; epistemic injustice, including a tendency for hero-worship of lone geniuses of the field; and a pattern of ignoring power imbalances in interactions, such as the demand for civility, often from the discipline’s least powerful members. The authors discuss the origins of these problems, some recent events that exemplify them, and suggest ways that all linguists, inclusively defined, can contribute to helping our scholarly community achieve a more uplifting culture.