Linguistic Justice Beyond Distribution

Scholars working on linguistic justice have been primarily concerned with the fair distribution of social benefits and burdens, in light of the presence of different linguistic groups within the state. However, exclusive focus on distribution fails to capture the non-distributive ways in which members of some linguistic groups are wronged. To address these wrongs, it is necessary to expand our understanding of linguistic justice to cases that do not revolve around distribution. This paper highlights the importance of focusing on the non-distributive side of linguistic justice. I begin by identifying some cases of linguistic injustice that cannot be addressed by approaches that focus exclusively on the distribution of linguistic benefits and burdens: the violation of the right of members of marginalized linguistic groups to use their language of choice in their private communication, and the imposition of the terms and definitions of one linguistic group on others. I also show how these cases of linguistic injustice are shaped by power inequalities between different social groups. Last, I consider some ways in which non-distributive linguistic injustice can be addressed.