Language, this book argues, is political from top to bottom, whether
considered at the level of an individual speaker's choice of language or
style of discourse with others (where interpersonal politics are
performed), or at the level of political rhetoric, or indeed all the way
up to the formation of national languages. By bringing together this set
of topics and highlighting how they are interrelated, the book will
function well as a textbook on any applied or sociolinguistic course in
which some or all of these various aspects of the politics of language
are covered. The chapter headings include: *How politics permeates
language (and vice-versa)*Language and nation*The social politics of
language choice and linguistic correctness*Politics embedded in
language *Taboo language and its restriction*Rhetoric, propaganda and
interpretation*Power, hegemony and choices