This edited collection investigates the linguistics of globalisation, geopolitics and gender in workplace cultures in a range of different contemporary international settings. The chapters examine how issues of globalisation, gender and geopolitics affect professionals in different workplace contexts, including domestic workers; IT professionals; teachers, university staff; engineers; entrepreneurs; CEOs of different corporates including locally based businesses as well as multinationals; farmers; co-operative leaders; NGO leaders; bloggers; healthcare assistants and caregivers.
Taking different sociolinguistic approaches to exploring language and the geopolitics of gender at work in Dubai, Kuwait, Kenya, Uganda, Morocco, Nigeria, Malaysia, Turkey, Belgium, Switzerland, New Zealand, Uganda, the UK and the USA, each chapter focuses on a range of salient geopolitical issues which often have global applicability, but which may also be subject to more localised socio-cultural variation. The chapters critically discuss issues of gendered language, perceptions and representations of workplace cultures, discrimination, the role of gendered stereotyping and deeply ingrained socio-cultural myths about gender and the importance of examining the intersections of identity – all of which continue to persist as barriers to equality and inclusion in workplaces worldwide.
Despite the variation and diversity in professions and geopolitical contexts captured across the chapters, remarkably similar issues of gender discrimination and persisting inequalities are identified and critically discussed, thus pointing to the global nature of these issues.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.
List of contributors Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Globalisation, Geopolitics and Gender: Key Issues for Professional Communication. Louise Mullany & Stephanie Schnurr Chapter 2. “A financially independent woman is a gift to any nation”. Exploring the sociolinguistics of family and work in leadership stories around the world Stephanie Schnurr Chapter 3. Narratives of identity and gendered leadership in East African workplaces: Intersectionality, global development goals and challenging boundaries Louise Mullany & Peter Masibo Lumala Chapter 4. “Gender equality discourse is the glass ceiling we hit here”. Women’s academic leadership narratives in a gender-sensitive university context in Turkey Hale Işık-Güler & Yasemin Erdoğan-Öztürk Chapter 5. Women’s Empowerment, employment and exclusion. Discourses in economic competitiveness initiatives in Malaysia Melissa Yoong Chapter 6. A reversed gender bias? Exploring intersectional identity work by Belgian women with a Turkish or Moroccan migration background Catho Jacobs, Dorien van De Mieroop & Colette van Lar Chapter 7. The battle heads underground. Unrecognised bias in everyday workplace talk Janet Holmes & Meredith Marra Chapter 8. “It doesn’t matter if you’re female or male it’s the same thing.” Re-gendering the notion of work in agile workplaces in Switzerland, the UK and the USA Joelle Loew Chapter 9. Performing discipline in UK primary school classrooms. Challenging essentialist beliefs about teacher gender Joanne McDowell Chapter 10. Gender, politics and national identity stereotypes. Constructing legitimate professional identities in the UK House of Lords Victoria Howard Chapter 11. Epilogue. Geopolitical lenses (and mirrors) in workplace language research Brian King Index
Louise Mullany is Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Nottingham, UK. She specialises in investigations of language, gender and equality in professional settings in global contexts, including businesses, politics, healthcare and the mass media. She has published books, numerous articles and book chapters in these areas. Stephanie Schnurr is Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Warwick, UK. She has published widely on various aspects of leadership discourse and gender in different professional contexts. Stephanie is the author of Leadership Discourse at Work (2009, Palgrave), Exploring Professional Communication (2013, Routledge), and the co-author of Language and Culture at Work (2017, Routledge) and The Language of Leadership Narratives (2020, Routledge).
