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After everything that's happened with @sapinker and the letter to the Linguistic Society of America, I'm excited to share with you a preprint copy of a journal article submitted for peer review:
"Who speaks for us? Lessons from the Pinker letter"
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
"Who speaks for us? Lessons from the Pinker letter"
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
The findings are troubling. Not only are Pinker and his supporters spreading demonstrably false claims about the letter, its signatories, and the LSA itself, but that these claims are being repeated uncritically by a great many media outlets.
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
As a result of the media’s one-sided coverage, Pinker’s narrative has been faithfully reproduced on Wikipedia. Due to Wikipedia’s policies excluding original research and self-published content, only those articles published in traditional media....
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
...effectively those relaying Pinker’s narrative, as described above—are legitimate sources for citation. As a result, a list of TOL detractors is included in the Wikipedia entry for Steven Pinker because they were listed in a Mother Jones synopsis.
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
By harnessing metaphors of authoritarianism, siege, and battle, those in Pinker’s corner weaponized decades of rhetoric against the signatories. Such catastrophizing evinces a sense of danger, coupled with his self-victimization, encourages fans to rush to his defense.
We believe this is about the question of who should see to it that our colleagues are represented fairly, inwards as well as outwards: the LSA as an organization, its PR committee, senior linguists, junior linguists, or all of us as a community.
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
https://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/005381
Questions? We made an FAQ as well. https://who-speaks-faq.carrd.co/
