Geneva Smitherman, Word from the mother: Language and African Americans. New York: Routledge, 2006. Pp. xiii, 172. Hb $80.00.

Intended for specialists and general readers alike, this book draws upon linguistics and cultural studies to describe African American Language (AAL). Smitherman details the linguistic, cultural, and social forces AAL is both embedded in and embeds.

Miyako Inoue, Vicarious language. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006. Pp. xi, 323. Pb $24.95.

Japanese Women's Language (JWL) is not a new topic of research in the social sciences, but Miyako Inoue's Vicarious language is an original contribution to the field. According to Inoue, women's language references linguistic forms distinguishing the speech of women and brings with it certain connotations of “femininity” such as politeness or nonassertiveness. In line with other current research, Inoue asserts that JWL is not part of the linguistic repertoires of many women.

Laada Bilaniuk, Contested tongues: Language politics and cultural correction in Ukraine. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2005. Pp. xiv, 230. Pb $ 24.95, Hb. $59.95.

This is a comprehensive ethnographic study of an immensely complex language situation in the post-Soviet Ukraine. Bilaniuk discusses subtle matters, such as language ideologies, the struggle over status, compromise strategies, and highly stigmatized mixed varieties called surzhik, in a manner that makes the book accessible to nonspecialists in the field of sociolinguistics.

Karim Murji and John Solomos (eds.), Racialization: Studies in theory and practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Pp. 307. $39.95.

The 13 papers in this edited volume, written by noted scholars of race and ethnicity (mainly sociologists) from the United States and United Kingdom, center on racialization – the “processes by which racial meanings are attached to particular issues” (p. 3). In their introduction, Murji and Solomos consider the term's origins and evolution and briefly review the development of race theory.

Publications received.