Literacy and Globalization: Reading and Writing in Times of Social and Cultural Change

Using literacy practices in the newly independent post-apartheid Namibia as a lens through which to examine the effects of globalisation, this broad case study looks at issues surrounding tourism, state control and the new forces of consumerism. By placing literacy at the centre of an investigation into social and cultural change as experienced by individuals, Papen shows that in times of change, reading and writing are always implicated in structures of power and inequality. The book considers language practices that can exclude some members of Namibian society and also looks at the strategies used by local people to accommodate and even embrace the onward march of global English and the influx of foreign visitors, practices and modes of commerce and interaction.

Uta Papen is Senior Lecturer in Literacy Studies at the Department of Linguistics and English Language at Lancaster University and a member of the Lancaster Literacy Research Centre. Her main research fields are social and cultural aspects of literacy and cross-cultural studies of literacy and literacy education. She also studies the role of written texts in health care settings and in relation to pregnancy. Publications include Adult Literacy as Social Practice: More than Skills (Routledge 2005) and The Anthropology of Writing (2011, co-edited with D.Barton).