Poverty reduction is deeply implicated in structures of politics, economy, culture, and technology, from the global down to local levels. Irrespective of the particular political ideology of a nation and of the specific strategy of mobilization, adult and life-long education can and must play a significant role in reducing poverty, including…

After an analysis of eight mass literacy campaigns (USSR 1919-39; Vietnam, 1945-77; China, 1950-58; Cuba, 1961; Burma, 1960-1981; Brazil, 1967-80; Tanzania, 1971-81; and Somalia, 1973-75), a campaign strategy for a mass literacy campaign is proposed. A potentially successful mass literacy campaign has to be both an educational and a political…

A two-pronged theory underlying literacy campaigns suggests that (1) the prevailing ideology of a society will determine the objectives of the literacy campaign as well as the language of justification used by the development elite in the promotion of adult literacy; and (2) the ideology, as expressed in the political culture of a society, will…

Recent studies conducted in developing nations throughout the world have made it possible to formulate a political theory of literacy for development that clarifies relationships between development ideologies and literacy policies and thus provides a greater understanding of the choices and decisions made by policymakers and planners. Depending…

Mass literacy, largely the product of the nineteenth century European industrial revolution, may be considered in three facets. First, its sociology: human relationships are different when individuals can refer to permanent, written records than when they rely on a person-to-person transferral of information. Literacy also makes possible more…

There have been few, if any, significant changes in educational policy regarding the provision of adult literacy education in India over the past two decades. The changes that have taken place in India's adult literacy programs have occurred in the realm of technology rather than ideology, thereby supporting a continuity in the existing…

Organizing adult education must be done within the context of development policy. Cultural filters should be used in considering theory and research knowledge. A sensitive use of cultural filters also applies to learning from practice. An assumption is that there should be interfacing and interlinking structures of primary education and adult…