Post-Unit Thinking Pedagogies

This book offers alternative theoretical approaches and pedagogies that challenge the worldview that divides things/people into bounded categories/units perceived to be internally homogeneous, what it calls "e;unit thinking"e; built on the nation-state ideology. Unit thinking is problematic not only because it is inaccurate but also because it encourages an imposition of the "e;ideal model"e; (e.g., the standard language) onto people and a hierarchization based on their proximity to the "e;ideal"e; (e.g., devalued "e;dialects"e;). This book explores an alternative approach-"e;post-unit thinking"e;-by drawing on the notions of "e;fetish"e; by Slavoj Zizek and Integrationist Linguistics by Roy Harris and suggests pedagogies in fields that capitalize on "e;learning from difference."e; Theoretically, this discussion of (post) unit thinking is of interest to researchers seeking alternatives to post-structuralist discussions of the politics of difference. This book is also a practical resource for practitioners in study abroad, service learning, and world language education.