Programme 2012

Besides the focus on developing a reading and writing culture, the Conference will also reflect in the ‘Freirian’ sense, on the need to understand the world in which we live so that we can engage in purposeful social action. This needs to be contextualised historically within the struggles of working people for education and the mass literacy campaigns that were undertaken when progressive governments came to power in countries like Cuba. At the heart of these popular demands and campaigns, was the need to empower the poor, the peasants and the marginalised, to take control of their lives and bring about social change. The literacy campaigns did not only teach people how to read and write, but mobilised them to understand the world and become social agents and control their lives. The theme therefore, ‘Reading the word and the world’ has a multiplicity of meanings relevant to building the social justice movement in South Africa and beyond. The Conference will include reflections on the literacy movement in South Africa from the point of movement building in the current context.
Contact Details: Portia Mosia 011-3369190 /0843773009