These two books are indeed similar in that they cover
related topics, have overlapping contributors, and bear the
unmistakable stamp of the linguistic rights duo, Tove
Skutnabb-Kangas and Robert Phillipson. Rights to language
is a Festschrift to mark Skutnabb-Kangas's sixtieth birthday.
It parades a star-studded list of contributors, particularly
in the field of sociolinguistics; however, as with most books
of this genre, the contributions are uneven in quality and scope.
The 47 chapters in the book are contributed by 51 authors, and,
according to the editor, 20 other invited scholars were unable
to contribute. This ambitious goal – to include as many
of the honoree's friends as possible – has had the
unfortunate effect of making several authors produce brief,
less than adequate expositions of their topics.