Introduction: Regimes of language and the social, hierarchized organization of ideologies

Abstract

This introduction seeks to problematize the notion of regimes of language with respect to how the term regimentation is used in the other social sciences, and with respect to language ideologies. It argues that regimentation, a term possibly more useful than regimes, strengthens the position already developed in semiotic anthropology that ideologies are not mere ideas but should also encompass social action, by focusing not only on ‘the rules of the [linguistic] game’ but also the strategies that guide social action.