Reemphasizing ethnoraciality in the equation: an ecolinguistic study on Indonesia’s language policy

As the ongoing ecolinguistics conversations about what constitutes language environments seem to overlook race and ethnicity, this article aims to reemphasize ethnoraciality in the examination of language policy, connecting the symbolic and sociocultural ecology of language. Language policy, which usually goes alongside language planning in the literature, requires more emphasis on criticality and ecological context. It also needs to attend to languages besides English and non-European contexts. Thus, this article aims to enrich the conversations in ecolinguistics and language policy by situating ethnoraciality in the examination of language policy in Indonesia. Content analysis was employed to analyze Indonesia’s provincial language policies as the primary data source. To support the primary data analysis, secondary data were collected, including the ethnographic demographics of Indonesia’s ethnic groups in each province. This article argues that ethnoraciality should not be overlooked in ecolinguistics and language policy research. Ethnoraciality enriches the observation in the ecolinguistic field in a way that helps explain how people are identified and managed by language policies, and how these policies are formulated and operated in relation to ethnoracial identity. In addition, situating ethnoraciality in the inquiry is a way to exhibit a critical stance that provides an avenue for advocating for underrepresented voices and observing submerged linguistic situations.