I'll be giving a talk two weeks from now for the Forum for Non-Violent Alternatives. Registration is via the QR code below for anyone who'd like to come along.

The arguments against language reclamation haven't changed much in the nearly 20 years I've been working in this field: "It costs too much." "People are choosing to abandon their languages, so let them." "They have no practical use." "It's just sentimental nostalgia." Fuck All That, a thread:

Sometimes It’s O.K. to Let a Language Die

When cultural preservation comes at the expense of speakers’ decisions, sometimes it's O.K. to let a language die.

newyorker.com

I'm really grateful for this generous review of my book, The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet, from Samar Sinha from Sikkim University. Link to follow below for anyone who would like to read the full review, which includes some good critical engagement with my arguments.

a lot of white dudes (sorry 🤷‍♀️ nearly all are just factually white-presenting dudes) are ready to die on the hill of “language death CAN be voluntary god damn it!!” some of these men seem to be from SIL, some are academics in non-linguistics fields, some it’s hard to tell 4/

If you’ve seen this article, you may be sitting with anger, pain, or just exhaustion at dealing with another helping of colonial nonsense. We feel a responsibility to speak back when these colonizing narratives show up, yet again, in such a prominent venue. endangeredlanguages.com/story/respon...

The New Yorker@newyorker.com · 2w ago

The idea that we have a special duty to prevent the death of languages is instantly compelling to anyone who loves languages. But is it true? www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

Withdrawal of formal support for language and cultural education is already risks turning minority languages into “kitchen languages” something @geraldroche.bsky.social has written eloquently about (link below). The new law would potentially go further www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501... /8

The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet by Gerald Roche | Paperback | Cornell University Press

In The Politics of Language Oppression in Tibet, Gerald Roche sheds light on a global crisis of linguistic diversity that will see at least half of the world's languages disappear this century. Roche....

cornellpress.cornell.edu

🧵: This new law, in keeping with previous ones lines the HK National Security Law, asserts that the PRC can extraterritorialize its jurisdiction over speech and actions related to its national unity. Essentially it’s stating that it can police how people abroad speak about ethnic policy. /1

Eli Friedman@elifriedman.bsky.social · last mo.

This law is a real nightmare, creates a legal grounding for the state's assimilationist colonial campaigns

In response to the current inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, my colleagues and I made a submission focusing on linguistic racism. Link for the full submission in the next post.

The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is being updated and relaunched, and any institution, entity, group, or community anywhere in the world that works for the defense, promotion, and equality of languages ​​can register to participate in the process: www.dudling.org/en/participa...

The Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights is being updated and relaunched, and any institution, entity, group, or community anywhere in the world that works for the defense, promotion, and equality of languages ​​can register to participate in the process: www.dudling.org/en/participa...

Very grateful to Gerald for leading the linguistics team at La Trobe on this submission to the inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It's important for linguists to use what we know about language to advocate against linguistic racism.

Gerald Roche @geraldroche.bsky.social · last mo.

In response to the current inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, my colleagues and I made a submission focusing on linguistic racism. Link for the full submission in the next post.

In response to the current inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, my colleagues and I made a submission focusing on linguistic racism. Link for the full submission in the next post.

this is what I think of when I write to you saying "I hope this email finds you well"

An autistic rights advocate I know is raising funds for a good cause. Please support if you can, or share if you aren't able to donate at the moment. givewheel.com/fundraising/...

love this critique of corporate wellness initiatives from the early 20th century - today we would have an app for that

Hello, if your instinct is to organise an all-white panel about the rise of the far right, have you considered ... not? Please just go sit down and eat your toast

"It was certainly unfortunate to name such a beautiful bird after a mass killer." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

What’s in a name? The renaming of the pink cockatoo is no small thing in Australia’s violent history | Andrew Stafford

This beautiful bird’s former name represented colonial dominance – and told us nothing about the species

theguardian.com

Apologize to your children when you fuck up. Which you will a lot. Work on doing better. Show them the process. Let them see your humility and your work.

Frankie Huang 黄碧赤@ourobororoboruo.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I’m so sick of former bird app takes, I want to hear everyone’s parenting hot takes

Glad to be able to submit this testimony in support of proposed changes to strengthen the Language Access Act in DC. Local measure like this are more important now that the executive order declaring English the US's official language has undermined language access

Some inspiration to start your week, from Emmanuel NGUÉ UM: "A Future of Language Freedom" www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wos0...

Emmanuel NGUÉ UM | A Future of Language Freedom

YouTube video by Endangered Languages Project

youtube.com

What happens when we lose a language is that people have their human rights violated and their self-determination denied. They experience in justice and are harmed in multiple ways. So much more is at stake than culture, tradition, and knowledge. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

China is winning its language war in Tibet. thediplomat.com/2025/03/chin...

China Is Winning Its Language War in Tibet

Tibet is one of the most linguistically diverse places in the world. Many of those languages are at risk of extinction.

thediplomat.com

What happens when we lose a language is that people have their human rights violated and their self-determination denied. They experience in justice and are harmed in multiple ways. So much more is at stake than culture, tradition, and knowledge. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

If you think everyone deserves an equal chance to live a long healthy life, please, at least, sign a petition opposing the cuts to the NDIS. www.change.org/p/protect-th...

Sign the Petition

Protect the NDIS: Don’t cut the supports people need to live ordinary lives

change.org

This is social murder: the creation of conditions in which people "can neither retain health nor live long." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The reemergence of Engels’ concept of social murder in response to growing social and health inequalities

In 1845, Friedrich Engels identified how the living and working conditions experienced by English workers sent them prematurely to the grave, arguing …

sciencedirect.com

Cuts to the NDIS will push thousands of autistic people in Australia back into a state of heightened vulnerability. More autistic people will commit suicide. More autistic people will be exposed to increased chances of premature death.

Autistic people rely on that safety net to protect us from the ubiquitous structural factors that expose us to violence, undermine our mental health, erode our wellbeing, and constantly push us to an early death.

What this shows is that austerity measures erode the safety net - the thing that helps keep us alive - for autistic people and our families.

These include: reduction in the level of unemployment support for autistic people; increased economic burden for parents of autistic children; reduced funding for supported living centers; and increased barriers to receiving a disability allowance.

This brief report from Autism Europe outlines some of the impacts of austerity on autistic people in the UK, Spain, Greece, and Italy. www.autismeurope.org/wp-content/u...