Language and Power

In this second volume, Book III looks at another irreal language, that of games/sports, and discusses how it functions metaphorically (and in other ways) to serve power's interests (including such formulations as language games and, in general, understanding "life" as a "game").

Book IV offers an analysis of language as multiple forms of oppression (racism, sexism, classism, ageism, speciesism [humanism]}. It reveals how such a language is constructed, both in formal as well as in individual language. It also shows how power is a consequence of structured inequalities built into language itself, producing, in its "wake," languages of resistance.

Book V brings together a number of themes, including play, language as commanding, institutional power, and proper names.