ABSTRACT
This chapter defines existential sociolinguistics and explains how this paradigm, through one of its principles, the political legitimacy of linguistic minority rights (PLLMR), encourages governments and policy makers to engage in more humane language policies. The PLLMR entails the recognition and appreciation of the existence and usefulness of all languages in all domains of society, including in higher education spaces, toward the integration of all human beings, all languages, and all cultures as resources for better intercultural relations. Using the theoretical framework of human dignity, integrational linguistics, and existential philosophy, as well as philosophical reflection (Harris, 1998; Marcel, 1963), the chapter answers the question: how can existential sociolinguistics, through its principle of the PLLMR, help manage human, cultural, and linguistic diversity in multicultural/multilingual societies? It argues that awareness of the inseparability of the treatment of languages from the treatment of human beings urges governments, policy makers, and ordinary citizens to implement the PLLMR to secure sociolinguistic justice and human dignity. In so arguing, this chapter contributes to a politico-moral argument in decolonizing the language of scholarship not only in higher education but also in all intercultural relations.
