Beyond Economic Interests: crical perspecves on adult literacy and numeracy in a globalised world (2016)


Edited by: Keiko Yasukawa and Stephen Black Cost: £28.00


Publisher: Sense Publishers, Amsterdam Pages: 254 ISBN 978-­‐94-­‐6300-­‐442-­‐8 Reviewed by Lyn Te Lyn Te has been involved in adult literacies since 1979 as a praconer, policy maker and researcher. She is currently Professor Emerita at the University of Edinburgh and Professor of Community Educaon at the University of Huddersfield. Email: l.te@hud.ac.uk


This book’s aim is ‘to crique the one-­‐dimensional discourse of literacy and numeracy as human capital’ drawing mainly on researchers working in Australia and New Zealand and it fulfils its aim admirably. The eleven authors from the southern hemisphere bring crical perspecves on adult literacy and numeracy from diverse sites of research: policy, classrooms, workplaces, cultural instuons and communies. In addion there are four contributors from the UK that provide wider internaonal perspecves in order to situate the southern hemisphere contribuons within internaonal discourses.


The book is organised into three parts: part 1 provides a theorecal framing of the role of powerful internaonal surveys, especially those of the OECD, in promong globalisaon (3 chapters); part 2 provides a diverse series of accounts of how globalisaon is impacng on adult literacy and numeracy pracces but also how resistance and agency has been exerted in local contexts (7 chapters); part 3 illustrates different ways in which collecve acvism has challenged the dominant discourse of an individualised skills-­‐based deficit model of literacy and numeracy and suggests alternave futures (4 chapters).


Part 1 of the book is concerned with directly analysing and criquing the global trends and dominant human capital discourse emanang from the OECD. Each of the three chapters considers different ways in which the OECD surveys such as ALL and PIACC standardise ‘the assessment of populaons across naons despite variaons on languages and cultural contexts’ (xi) in ways that allow countries to be compared in league tables. These league tables are then used by countries ‘to analyse their populaon’s performance in relaon to their naonal producvity agendas, which themselves are influenced by global trends’ (ibid.). This results in the privileging of the economic interests of industry over other socio-­‐cultural benefits of educaon and training, and this in turn becomes a globalising phenomenon.


In part 2 the authors start from the theorecal posion that context is inseparable from the meanings that people acquire in their everyday lives, which is a social pracce approach that is historically and culturally conngent. Together these seven chapters suggest that what is happening at the coalface of literacy and numeracy pracces is ‘movated by interests and possibilies much broader and richer than the economic interests of industry and the naon state’ (xii). The authors in this secon also show how praconers and learners can nearly always find spaces and places to pursue ‘learning that maers for the lived experiences of adults and their communies’ (xiii) and thus disrupt the dominant human capital discourse.


Part 3 aims to provide the resources that will ‘help parcipants in the field to develop a crical perspecve … and imagine alternave futures’ (xiii) through an exploraon of different sites of crical acon. Throughout the importance of collecve effort on the ground by the field of adult literacy and numeracy praconers and researchers is emphasised in order to make a difference in and for the lives of people and their communies. We are also reminded that this will take moral and polical courage and I am sure that readers will be only too aware of this in these troubling mes. This secon includes a case study of RaPAL (Duckworth & Hamilton) that discusses the significance of research and pracce in adult literacy in the UK and will be of parcular interest to our readers.


Overall I found this a very interesng and smulang book. It shows how there are spaces ‘to speak truth to power’ that we can all ulise to disrupt the dominant human capital discourse. It also gives us the theorecal and praccal resources to draw on in our endeavour to pursue the learning that maers to adults. There is something for everybody whether you are a praconer, policy maker or researcher and I wholeheartedly recommend it.


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