A translation into the common language, prepared by an interconfessional committee including Vian Talil et al.

The contributors to this collection approach the subject of the translation of cultures from various angles. Translation refers to the rendering of texts from one language into another and the shift between languages under precolonial (retelling/transcreation), colonial (domestication), and postcolonial (multilingual trafficking) conditions.

This volume offers a synthetic approach to language variation and language ideologies in multilingual communities. Although the vast majority of the world’s speech communities are multilingual, much of sociolinguistics ignores this internal diversity. This volume fills this gap, investigating social and linguistic dimensions of variation and change in multilingual communities. Drawing on research in a wide range of countries (Canada, USA, South Africa, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), it explores: connections between the fields of creolistics, language/dialect contact, and language acquisition; how the study of variation and change, particularly in cases of additive bilingualism, is central to understanding social and linguistic issues in multilingual communities; how changing language ideologies and changing demographics influence language choice and/or language policy, and the pivotal place of multilingualism in enacting social power and authority, and a rich array of new empirical findings on the dynamics of multilingual speech communities.

Mak bilong God em bikpela ki we yu nidim long opim dua long mekim gut long laip na mekim wok ministri stret. Planti manmeri bin traim long mekim wok bilong God long gutpela bel na i no save go longwe long wanem, ol i no luksave olsem em “Yu no inap mekim wok long strong bilong ami o long strong bilong yu yet. Nogat. Strong bilong spirit bilong mi bai i stap wantaim yu, na long dispela strong tasol bai yu mekim wok” [Sekaraia 4:6] Dispela gutpela buk, “Yu mas kisim Mak/anointing” bilong Bisop Dag Heward-Mills bai skulim yu long hau long yu mas kisim mak bilong God! Larim laikim bilong mak bilong God kirap long bel bilong yu insait long dispela buk!

In Critical Christianity, Courtney Handman analyzes the complex and conflicting forms of sociality that Guhu-Samane Christians of rural Papua New Guinea privilege and celebrate as “the body of Christ.” Within Guhu-Samane churches, processes of denominational schism—long relegated to the secular study of politics or identity—are moments of critique through which Christians constitute themselves and their social worlds. Far from being a practice of individualism, Protestantism offers local people ways to make social groups sacred units of critique. Bible translation, produced by members of the Summer Institute of Linguistics, is a crucial resource for these critical projects of religious formation. From early interaction with German Lutheran missionaries to engagements with the Summer Institute of Linguistics to the contemporary moment of conflict, Handman presents some of the many models of Christian sociality that are debated among Guhu-Samane Christians. Central to the study are Handman's rich analyses of the media through which this critical Christian sociality is practiced, including language, sound, bodily movement, and everyday objects. This original and thought-provoking book is essential reading for students and scholars of anthropology and religious studies.

Alena Ledeneva invites you on a voyage of discovery, to explore society’s open secrets, unwritten rules and know-how practices. Broadly defined as ‘ways of getting things done’, these invisible yet powerful informal practices tend to escape articulation in official discourse. They include emotion-driven exchanges of gifts or favours and tributes for services, interest-driven know-how (from informal welfare to informal employment and entrepreneurship), identity-driven practices of solidarity, and power-driven forms of co-optation and control. The paradox, or not, of the invisibility of these informal practices is their ubiquity. Expertly practised by insiders but often hidden from outsiders, informal practices are, as this book shows, deeply rooted all over the world, yet underestimated in policy. Entries from the five continents presented in this volume are samples of the truly global and ever-growing collection, made possible by a remarkable collaboration of over 200 scholars across disciplines and area studies. By mapping the grey zones, blurred boundaries, types of ambivalence and contexts of complexity, this book creates the first Global Map of Informality. The accompanying database is searchable by region, keyword or type of practice, so do explore what works, how, where and why! Praise for The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality ‘The Global Encyclopaedia of Informality represents the beginning of a new era in informality studies. With its wealth of information, diversity, scope, theoretical innovation and artistic skill, this collection touches on all the aspects of social and cultural complexity that need to be integrated into policy thinking.’ Predrag Cveti?anin, Centre for Empirical Cultural Studies of South-East Europe, Belgrade, Serbia ‘This is a monumental achievement – an indispensable reference for anyone in the social sciences interested in informality.’ Martin Holbraad, Professor of Social Anthropology, UCL, and editor-in-chief of Social Analysis ‘This impressive work helps us understand our complex times by showing how power develops through informal practices, mobilizing emotional, cognitive and relational mechanisms in strategies of survival, but also of camouflage and governance.’ Donatella della Porta, Director of Centre of Social Movements Studies, Scuola normale superiore, Firenze, Italy ‘An impressive, informative, and intriguing collection. With evident passion and patience, the team of 250 researchers insightfully portrays the multiplicity of informal and often invisible expressions of human interdependence.’ Subi Rangan, Professor of Strategy and Management, INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France ‘This compendium of terms used in different cultures to express aspects of informal economy provides a unique supplement to studies of a major (yet understated by academic economics) social issue. It will be of key significance for in-depth teaching of sociology, economics and history.’ Teodor Shanin, OBE Professor and President of the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences ‘Modern states have sought to curb, control and subdue informality. The entries in the Global Encyclopaedia demonstrate the endurance of informality over such efforts. More recently, the rise and political success of anti-establishment movements in so many parts of the world is a wide-ranging challenge and delegitimisation of national and transnational formal institutions of governance. Understanding the perceived shortcomings of formal institutions and the appeal of anti-establishment movements must at least in part be informed by a study of informality and its networks. This Encyclopaedia is essential reading if we wish to understand and engage with these challenges of our age.’ Fredrik Galtung, Chairman, Integrity Action