Review of Christie, F. & A. Simpson, eds (2010) Literacy and Social Responsibility: Multiple Perspectives

This timely volume assembles current perspectives on literacy and social responsibility from the point of view of scholars and practitioners in language and literacy education and social work. The authors provide theoretical and practical explanations of why literacy is such an urgent factor for overcoming social disadvantage and for providing all groups in our society the opportunity to enjoy lives enriched by the opportunities literacy affords. While the discussions are situated in an Australian context, each of the ten chapters references global research and examples, thus reinforcing the ubiquity of the challenges and the urgency of building literate communities in the 21st century. Readers should not be misled by the title into thinking this is a book about the importance of being “literate at social responsibility”, as the subtitle suggests, the book provides multiple perspectives about why the provision of access to literacy …