Gumperz and Social Justice

J ohn G umperz's work was characterized by a concern for social justice. This article traces some of the ways this concern manifested itself through such concepts as “key situation,” and in research foci on moments of social selection in powerful state institutions. It reviews some critiques of G umperz's approach to the problem of how social difference is tied to social inequality, and some of the productive responses to those critiques, anchoring G umperz's work as a major contribution to critical sociolinguistics.