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This edited collection brings together established academics and emerging scholars to test and put into practice current ideas in linguistic anthropology, a field that is growing quickly. Its chapters examine real, everyday speech in Indonesia, a region of the Global South that has received little scholarly attention despite its importance. The studies are written to show how sophisticated linguistic anthropological analysis works, and they remain clear enough for undergraduates while still offering graduate students and senior researchers new perspectives. Throughout, the contributors question many common assumptions.

The range of locations and research methods across the chapters goes beyond many recent volumes on language diversification during rapid social change. Although each chapter studies specific details, the volume as a whole reveals broader patterns. It offers an unusual view of how daily language use connects with social transformation and the continuing work of nation-building.