This edited volume brings together ten compelling ethnographic case studies from a range of global settings to explore how people build defined not by of a language, but primarily by language ideologies and symbolic practices the language. The authors examine themes of agency, belonging, negotiating hegemony, and combating cultural erasure and genocide in cultivating meaningful . Case studies include Spanish and Hebrew in the USA, Kurdish in Japan, Pataxó Hãhãhãe in Brazil, and Gallo in France. The afterword, by Wesley L. Leonard, provides theoretical and on-the-ground context as well as a forward-looking focus on . This book will be of interest to interdisciplinary students and scholars in applied linguistics, linguistic anthropology and migration studies.