The Making of Literate Societies

The closing essay, by Ingrid Jung and Adama Ouane, addresses policymaking on the basis of the contributions made in the various chapters. This essay is also a good summary of the major themes of the book--current assumptions on the benefits of literacy; the relations of thought and knowledge; the contribution of literacy to democratic participation and social cohesion; the relation of literacy to increasing material wealth and work productivity; the link of literacy to the rule of law; and the relevance of literacy to the promotion and empowerment of individuals and communities. This instrumentalism refocuses the conceptualization of literacy and related phenomena throughout the volume. For example, based on the contributions of the volume, Jung and Ouane note of orality that, rather than seeing it as limited and/or inadequate, researchers might look further into its value and use in a particular society and also into orality as a foundation on which literacy can be built. Of local knowledge and knowledge systems, they argue for greater exploration of their value as bridges to the instrumental value literacy can bring. They note the potential undermining of the value of local languages (and their contents and surrounding social process) in an effort to promote literacy, and, based on the collected studies, they propose policy based on "inclusivity and integration, valuing both the identity formation provided by local languages and at the same time participation in mainstream literate practices" (p. 325). On societal literacy itself they make a number of points. "[L]iteracy takes root in societies where there is a demand for literate practices and competencies" (p. 326). They note the various patterns of literacy development spurred by Catholicism, Protestantism, and in the Muslim world. They note the connections between economics and literacy beginning with record keeping, moving through trade, and even related to child labour laws. They also note the potential for corruption to undermine the social contract and the rule of law and, indeed, for the perversion of literacy into the standardization of persecution. To their claim that "[s]ocietal literacy... can be achieved only by a policy that focuses on social justice" (p. 330) they later add, "[T]he goal is not to use literacy as a means of central domination but as an instrument that individuals and groups can exploit in the pursuit of specific social, cultural, economic, and political goals" (p. 333).