at Google ScholarTitle data
Alber, Erdmute ; Kölbl, Carlos:
Literacy and illiteracy.
In: Sidhu, Ravinder K. ; Cheng, Yi'En ; Waters, Johanna L.
(ed.):
Elgar Encyclopedia of the Sociology of Education. -
Cheltenham
: Edward Elger Publishing
,
2025
. - pp. 193-196
ISBN 9781035315666
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781035315673.00055
Abstract in another language
Illiteracy has long been seen, and sometimes still is seen, in scientific and political discourse as something that belongs to ‘illiterate’, ‘oral’, ’traditional’, and ‘underdeveloped’ societies and individuals, and something that has to be overcome. However, all attempts to ‘eradicate’ illiteracy via mainstreaming Western notions and practices of education and literacy show that illiteracy does not actually disappear at all but is, on the contrary, coproduced by efforts to alphabetize the world. In any case, dichotomies distinguishing ‘illiterate’ from ‘literate’ societies and ‘illiterate’ from ‘literate’ persons do not do justice to the complexities of the phenomenon. Rather, we regard it as much more fruitful to depart from the relatedness of multiple (il)literacies and reject the idea of fixed entities. Therefore, we focus on diverse processes of ‘(il)literacizing’, that is, processes of actively becoming (il)literate, being made (il)literate, and being socially and discursively constructed as (il)literate in and outside the classroom.
Further data
| Item Type: | Entry in an encyclopaedia |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Keywords: | (Il)literacy; (Il)literacizing; History of science; Relationality; Multiplicity; Life course |
| Institutions of the University: | Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Psychology > Chair Psychology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Carlos Kölbl Faculties > Faculty of Cultural Studies > Chair Social Anthropology > Chair Social Anthropology - Univ.-Prof. Dr. Erdmute Alber |
| Result of work at the UBT: | Yes |
| DDC Subjects: | 300 Social sciences 300 Social sciences > 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology |
| Date Deposited: | 11 Dec 2025 06:11 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2025 06:11 |
| URI: | https://eref.uni-bayreuth.de/id/eprint/95419 |