Abstract
Unlike mathematical binaries (0/1 or off/on), social binaries are situated, chronotopic social constructions. That is, they are born from, and are relevant in, a particular time-space and social moment. These binaries can therefore be highly localized (e.g., campanilismo, sports rivalries, family feuds, etc.) or more generalized (e.g., rich/poor, white/non-white, male/female). Importantly, they can also be contested at various levels and can shift throughout history. Language and other human actions are fundamental in upholding or undoing social binaries, which are powerful images with important consequences that provide fertile ground for sociolinguistic investigation.
This paper addresses the impact of social binaries and their utility for sociolinguistic research by examining the division of Italian secondary schools into lyceums (classical education) and vocational-technical education. This division not only demands that Italian youth associate themselves with either the classe dirigente (ruling class) or the classe operaia (working class) at the age of 13, but it also shapes student selection, evaluation, opportunity, and identity. This paper draws on a year-long ethnographic study of Italian schools to present circulating discourses and narratives about “good students” and “bad students”, as well as their associations with ethnicity, class, language, and gender, to examine the impact of the lyceum/technical binary among Italian youth and educators.
This paper argues that it is the responsibility of the researcher to investigate not only how participants draw on social binaries in structuring their realities, but also to investigate how these social binaries are generated, imposed, and maintained, as well as whether they are ephemeral or enduring, or contested or taken-for-granted by participants. To understand whether we can or should move beyond binaries in sociolinguistic knowledge production, we must consider the work that binaries do in meaning-making for both our research participants and for us as analysts.