This conference theme will explore links between literacy, illiteracy and social justice in relation to national, donor agency and international policy. We would welcome papers on national or international strategies, documentation and research on literacy inequalities, the analysis projects of literacy measurement, or more sociologically or historically oriented analysis of literacy inequalities and social change. How are these themes shaped by contrasting notions of rights and social entitlements, or by ethical approaches to inequality and social justice?  What rationales are provided for notions of minimal thresholds or concepts of adequacy? How might these be re-figured to incorporate diversity of literacy meanings and practices? We would welcome critical discussion of literacy assessment and measurement methods, and papers that focus on literacy inequalities within particular social groups – for example, gendered perspectives, ethnic and linguistic minorities, people with disability, or inequalities linked to caste, social class and social movements.

Keynote speakers:

Prof. Brian Street, Kings’ College London: ‘Literacy Inequalities: the power to name and define’.

Prof. James Collins, Department of Anthropology, University at Albany, USA: ‘Literacy as social reproduction and social transformation: The challenge of diasporic communities in the contemporary period’.