In pursuit of epistemic authority in public intellectual engagement: the case of language and gender
Erdocia, IkerORCID: 0000-0003-2459-1346 and Soler, JosepORCID: 0000-0002-2813-0101
(2023)
In pursuit of epistemic authority in public intellectual engagement: the case of language and gender.
Multilingua: Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication
.
ISSN 0167-8507
Public intellectual life is an area of inquiry that has not received a great deal of attention within the field of sociolinguistics. This article investigates the performative dimension of public intellectual engagement in the area of language and gender and, more specifically, how epistemic authority about gender-neutral language is constructed in public intellectual contributions in Catalonia, Spain. Adopting Arendt’s notion of truth claim and the Foucauldian concepts of regimes of truth and epistemic sovereignty, we empirically examine the mechanisms of reception and validation of the public engagements of one highly visible linguistic scholar. Our study shows the ways in which this intellectual figure strives to be recognised as having exclusive scientific authority about language. We argue that pursuing the allegedly impartial standpoint of epistemic authority about gender and language inevitably advances the interests of specific political actors and large media corporations of a conservative strand that fervently oppose gender-neutral language.
Metadata
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
public intellectual engagement; epistemic authority; language and gender; gender-neutral language
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Dublin City University.
ID Code:
29207
Deposited On:
17 Nov 2023 09:56 by
Iker Erdocia Iniguez
. Last Modified 17 Nov 2023 09:56
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