Global English: Neither a “Hydra” nor a “Tyrannosaurus Rex” or a “Red Herring” but an Ecology of Approaches Towards Social Justice

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reflect about the possibility of viewing Global English as an arena to use an ecology of approaches towards social justice. The discussion afforded here problematizes approaches that are purely recognition oriented, such as decolonial perspectives based on race, while also questioning the use of redistribution approaches based on class only and that do not consider critical perspectives. Drawing on the work of decolonial authors mainly from Latin America, four vignettes from the author’s experience are brought to illustrate the discussion. The argument advanced in the paper is that an ecology of approaches is needed to tackle recognition issues involved in language use but if the aim is to address redistribution, that is, social justice, language researchers have to incorporate new questions and perhaps approaches engaging to a much greater extent with the underlying causes of social injustice that correlates with the spread of English.