Penelope Eckert is the Albert Ray Lang Professor of Linguistics and Anthropology at Stanford University. She is author of Jocks and Burnouts (1990), Linguistic Variation as Social Practice (2000), co-editor of Style and Sociolinguistic Variation (Cambridge, 2002) with John R. Rickford and co-author of Language and Gender (Cambridge, 2013) with Sally McConnell-Ginet.

Linguistic styles particularly variations in pronunciation, carry a wide range of meaning - from speakers' socio-economic class to their mood or stance in the moment. This book examines the development of the study of sociolinguistic variation, from early demographic studies to a focus on the construction of social meaning in stylistic practice. It traces the development of the 'Third Wave' approach to sociolinguistic variation, uncovering the stylistic practices that underlie broad societal patterns of change. Eckert charts the development of her thinking and of the emergence of a theoretical community around the 'Third Wave' approach to social meaning. Featuring brand new material alongside earlier seminal work, it provides a coherent account of the social meaning of linguistic variation.