By James Griffiths. London Zed Books, 2021, 251 pp. £20.00. Isbn978 1 78699 966 5. Available as e-book.
Over the past 500 years, virtually all economic livelihoods, religions and languages came under the control of one empire or another. Speak not aims to showcase the impact that colonial priorities had on languages and their instrumental value for the identity of contemporary societies. This commendable undertaking adds to the literature highlighting the constitutive role that centuries of imperial rule have played in the modern world. The approach will be familiar to readers of Samir Puri's The great imperial hangover (London: Atlantic Books, 2020) or Peter Frankopan's The new silk roads (London: Bloomsbury, 2018).
James Griffiths aptly demonstrates how the loss of linguistic diversity is rooted in imperial and gatekeeping efforts to differentiate and silence societies on the margins of empire. Hence, language revitalization becomes imperative for the representation and cultural belonging of those whose access to politics was previously curtailed. The author argues that the path to language regeneration requires political will and entails a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches. The former reflects on the education agendas of colonial governments, whereas the latter illustrates the role of civil society and minority movements. The result is an accessible contribution that avoids an exclusive focus on colonial administrations. Instead, it grounds the narrative in the lives and testimonies of key players in the language movements examined.