Why interrogate literacy?
In conference after conference, declaration after declaration, LITERACY has been projected as necessary for Development and Progress. It is promoted as a universal good, a powerful and value-neutral tool, which can only stand to benefit all those who imbibe it. For those promoting literacy campaigns or pursuing projects to eradicate illiteracy, even slightly doubting this sacred cow may be tantamount to heresy. But given its complex and multiple dimensions, we feel it is timely and appropriate to investigate literacy its core assumptions, impacts, values and what it represents.
