The essays in this new volume examine definitions and conceptions of language in a wide range of societies around the world. Beginning with an introductory survey of language ideology as a field of inquiry, the volume is organized in three parts. Part I, "Scope and Force of Dominant Conceptions of Language," focuses on the propensity of cultural models of language developed in one social domain to affect linguistic and social behavior across domains.

Part II, "Language Ideology in Institutions of Power," continues the examination of the force of specific language beliefs, but narrows the scope to the central role that language ideologies play in the functioning of particular institutions of power such as the law, mass media, and nationalism. Part III, "Multiplicity and Contention among Ideologies," emphasizes the existence of variability, contradiction, and struggles among ideologies within any given society.

It will greatly interest linguistic anthropologists, social and cultural anthropologists, sociolinguists, and historians, as well as cultural studies, communications, and folklore scholars.