Critical inquiries in the sociolinguistics of globalization is a collection of ethnographic studies conducted by different scholars in various locations around the world. The book comprises eight articles where authors present a contribution in the debate on the sociolinguistics of globalization. Although it is written from the perspective of sociolinguistics, it may be of interest to students of other relevant disciplines, such as applied linguistics and sociology.

Some chapters of the book should be highlighted for their relevance to the world's present linguistic scenario in countries considered as peripheral. In chapter 4, ‘Language, scale and ideologies in the national in Khazakistan’, Kara Fleming develops an important discussion on the definition of global and local in different scales of reference. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, Khazakistan had to establish a new national identity and new relationships with other nations. Given this context, language took a key symbolic role, regarding status of speakers of Kazakh, Russian, and English. These languages compete in the role of authentic national identity. Although Khazakistan wants to present itself as a multicultural and multiethnic state, there are divisions constructed between ethnic groups, such that ethnic Kazakhs considered themselves ‘pure’ and ‘authentic’, especially in linguistic terms.

Sender Dovchin presents ‘The politics of injustice in translingualism’ (chapter 5). In this vivid article, the author discusses the phenomenon of discrimination based on one's linguistic background. According to Dovchin, with today's globalization, there is a lack of public understanding and large gaps in academic knowledge concerning what ‘linguistic discrimination’ means in contrast to other more established ‘discriminations’ based on one's skin color, ethnicity, religion, and gender. While translingualism has been celebrated because of its hybridity, fluidity, and creativity, the other side of the coin has been less than bright. The author exemplifies these claims presenting some poignant examples of Mongolians being discriminated against because of the way they spoke English or Russian outside Mongolia. Within the country, there is also linguistic prejudice against people from the rural areas.

In chapter 6, ‘Translingualism as resistance against what and for whom?’, Jerry Won Lee investigates English textbooks used in South-Korean schools. He analyses dubious practices and outcomes of resistant translingualism within these English language materials. Following critical discourse analysis as his theoretical approach, the researcher is interested in the way discourse manipulates social cognition and how texts construct ‘socially shared representations—such as attitudes or ideologies—about important social issues’ (Teun A. van Dijk, Discourse and manipulation, Discourse & Society 17(2):368). With this study, he is able to demonstrate that cultural artifacts like language textbooks have the potential to transmit social values and assumptions, which privilege the Western culture, especially American, to the detriment of non-Western cultures.

In summary, this book does a good job in focusing on the sociolinguists of globalization. One of the strengths of the volume is that it contains not only the theory but also the analysis of actual language in different settings.