Dr Sebastian Muth
Lecturer in Business DiscourseResearch Overview
My research focus lies on linguistic anthropology, critical sociolinguistics and language policy in a variety of social and political contexts. This includes ethnographic and discourse-analytical research at the intersection between language and political economy. My work investigates the commodity value of languages and speakers within neoliberalism and the reproduction of social inequalities through language. I’m currently focusing on the relation between language and mobility in healthcare. Another part of my work addresses language ideologies in post-Soviet countries, in particular in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. I have also extensively worked on linguistic landscapes of communities in political transformation.
Career Details
Before joining Lancaster University as a Lecturer in Business Discourse in 2018, I worked for four years as a post-doc and coordinator of the doctoral program at the Institute of Multilingualism/ University of Fribourg, Switzerland. Prior to that I worked as a lecturer/research and teaching assistant in English linguistics at Greifswald University, Germany as well as at universities in Moldova and the United States.
Research Interests
Language as commodity/ language and political economy
Language and global health mobility
Language management in healthcare and healthcare interpreting
Language policy in post-Soviet countries
Linguistic landscapes
External Roles
I regularly review manuscripts for academic journals, among them the International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, the International Journal of the Sociology of Language, the Journal of Sociolinguistics, Language Policy, Multilingua, Nationalities Papers, Linguistic Landscape and Social Semiotics.
PhD Supervision Interests
I am interested in supervising doctoral research projects that take a critical perspective on the interrelation of language and political economy. This includes projects that address questions on the commodification of languages and speakers, language, work and mobility (in particular in healthcare), the management of linguistic resources, as well as branding and organisational styling within corporations. In addition, I am interested in supervising doctoral research projects that investigate language ideologies/the politics of language in society as well as research in linguistic landscapes, for instance in education contexts.
Selected Publications
Policing for commodification: turning communicative resources into commodities
Muth, S., Del Percio, A. 05/2018 In: Language Policy. 17, 2
Special issue
Policing for commodification: turning communicative resources into commodities
Muth, S., Del Percio, A. 05/2018 In: Language Policy. 17, 2, 7 p.
Editorial
'The ideal Russian speaker is no Russian’: Language commodification and its limits in medical tourism to Switzerland
Muth, S. 05/2018 In: Language Policy. 17, 2, p. 217-237. 21 p.
Journal article
The commodification of Russian
Muth, S., Ryazanova-Clarke, L. 2017 In: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 20, 4
Special issue
The commodification of Russian around the world
Muth, S., Ryazanova-Clarke, L. 2017 In: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 20, 4, p. 381-384. 4 p.
Journal article
Russian as a commodity: medical tourism and the healthcare industry in post-Soviet Lithuania
Muth, S. 2017 In: International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism. 20, 4, p. 404-416. 13 p.
Journal article
Commodification of Russian/Kоммодификация русского языка
Muth, S. 2017 In: Russian Journal of Linguistics. 21, 3
Special issue
Russian Language Abroad: Viewing Language through the Lens of Commodification/Русский язык за рубежом: взгляд на язык сквозь призму коммодификации
Muth, S. 2017 In: Russian Journal of Linguistics. 30 p.
Editorial
War, language removal and self-identification in the Linguistic Landscapes of Nagorno-Karabakh
Muth, S. 2014 In: Nationalities Papers. 42, p. 63-87. 25 p.
Journal article
Language removal, commodification and the negotiation of cultural identity in Nagorno‐Karabakh
Muth, S. 2015 In: Conflict, Exclusion and Dissent in the Linguistic Landscape. Palgrave p. 77-100. 24 p. ISBN: 9781137426277. Electronic ISBN: 9781137426284.
Chapter
Informal signs as an expression of multilingualism in Chisinau: how individuals shape the public space of a post‐Soviet capital
Muth, S. 2014 In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2014, 228, p. 29-53. 25 p.
Journal article
Linguistic landscapes on the other side of the border: signs, language, and the construction of cultural identity in Transnistria
Muth, S. 2014 In: International Journal of the Sociology of Language. 2014, 227, 22 p.
Journal article
Language, power and representation in contested urban spaces: the linguistic landscapes of Chisinau and Vilnius
Muth, S. 2013 Universitätsbibliothek Greifswald. 294 p.
Doctoral Thesis
Street art as commercial discourse: commercialisation and a new typology of signs in the cityscapes of Chisinau and Minsk
Muth, S. 2016 In: Negotiating and contesting identities in linguistic landscapes . London : Bloomsbury ISBN: 9781472506177.
Chapter
Ruralscapes in post‐Soviet Transnistria: ideology and language use on the fringes of a contested space
Muth, S. 2015 In: Dimensions of linguistic landscapes in Europe. Frankfurt am Main : Lang p. 199-232. 34 p.
Chapter
The Linguistic Landscapes of Chisinau and Vilnius – LL and the representation of minority languages in two post‐Soviet capitals
Muth, S. 2012 In: Minority Languages in the Linguistic Landscape. Palgrave p. 204-224. 21 p. ISBN: 9780230272446.
Chapter
The linguistic landscapes of Chisinau – Forms and functions of urban public signs in a post‐Soviet setting
Muth, S., Wolf, F. 2010
Conference contribution/Paper
Book Review: Ethnicity, nationalism and conflict in the South Caucasus: Nagorno-Karabakh and the legacy of Soviet nationalities policy
Muth, S. 2014 In: Nationalities Papers. 42, 5, 3 p.
Book/Film/Article review
Book review: “The Language of Organizational Styling”, by Lionel Wee, 2015, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Muth, S. 06/2016 In: Journal of Sociolinguistics. 20, 3, 5 p.
Book/Film/Article review
All Publications
FACTOR: Forensic linguistics, Cybersecurity and Technology Research (Organisational unit)
Membership of committee
- Culture and Communication Research Network (CULCOM)