David M. Block Allen

David M. Block Allen

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Humanities

I am ICREA Research Professor in Sociolinguistics in the Departament d'Humanitats, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where I am a member of the Grup de Recerca en Espais Interculturals, Llengües i Identitats (GREILI) and the Grup de Recerca en Aprenentatge i Ensenyament de Llengües (GR@EL; Facultat de Traducció). I am Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences (UK); Visiting Professor at University College London, Institute of Education; and editor of the Routledge book series Language, Society and Political Economy. I joined ICREA in September 2012 after 16 years at University College London Institute of Education, where I was Professor of Languages in Education. Prior to that, I worked in Barcelona for 18 years, teaching English in centres such as ESADE, and teaching Applied Linguistics at the Universitat de Barcelona and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. I completed my PhD at the University Lancaster (UK) in 1995. 

Research interests

In recent years, I have focused primarily on the dominant form of capitalism in the early 21st century (AKA neoliberalism) and the inequality and class warfare it has wrought from a sociolinguistic perspective. My most recent work examines four different aspects of contemporary society: (1) neoliberalism, ineqaulity and class; (2) politicial discourses in the toxic information environment in which we live; (3) the internationalization and Englishization of higher education worldwide as part of the broader neoliberalization of societies; and (4) new ways of framing discussions of the construct ‘identity’ in the early 21st century.

Selected publications

- Block D 2023, Interviews in applied linguistics: Autobiographical reflections on research processes, Routledge, London.
- Block D 2023, 'Language practices and processes among Latin Americans in Europe: Some closing thoughts on authenticity and belonging', In Márquez-Reiter R & Patino-Santos A Eds Language Practices and Processes Among Latin Americans in Europe, London: Routledge, London, 251-261.