The next webinar in the LAGB race and social justice committee Activism in progress series will be on Wednesday 12th March at 2pm. The presenter is Ruanni Tupas and the title is ‘Combatting inequalities of multilingualism online’. Further details and the abstract are below. The link to register for the webinar is here:
https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/a0c9f8b7-0f53-4bb7-a624-ed1406b19d49@51a9fa56-3f32-449a-a721-3e3f49aa5e9a
Please feel free to share with anyone who is interested. All welcome!
Best wishes,
Laura (on behalf of the LAGB sub-committee for race and social justice in linguistics)
Combatting inequalities of multilingualism online
Ruanni Tupas
In my talk, I examine how digital platforms can be harnessed to challenge linguistic prejudice and promote multilingual equity, and I do so in the context of pop music in the Philippines. Rooted in colonial histories, the systemic devaluation of Philippine languages as mere dialects perpetuates educational and social inequalities. By engaging with online communities, particularly through social media and fan-driven activism, I show how digital spaces serve as arenas for contesting linguistic hierarchies. It explores strategies such as advocacy-driven content creation, collaborations with cultural influencers, and interactive discussions that mobilize public engagement. Ultimately, I argue that online activism provides a critical space for disrupting entrenched inequalities of multilingualism. To prepare for the talk, please watch the following music video by ALAMAT, as a take off point for my discussion on colonialism/coloniality and linguistic inequality: https://youtu.be/_5Y_mTfBh3o
