Language, culture and society.

The main focus of the article is the exploration of social and linguistic processes related to masculinity, identity formation, and power dynamics across various global contexts. It discusses four ethnographic studies that examine how language and communication shape and reflect power, difference, and inequality in specific locales, including rap battles in Kathmandu, online identity debates in the Philippines, police narratives in the United States, and the labor of beach vendors in Brazil. Each study highlights the interplay between local histories and global patterns of domination, revealing how struggles over identity and authority are deeply rooted in broader structures of inequality. Collectively, these contributions emphasize the significance of language in both enacting and contesting social hierarchies, while also inviting further comparative analysis across diverse cultural settings. [Extracted from the article]