There are no official data, but it is estimated that four million adults in Germany have little or no reading, writing and numeracy skills, so that they are known as "functionally illiterate". This is a fact which was long ignored. In this contribution, literacy activities and research in Germany are analysed through a human rights-based…

Traditionally women have been signified to be "for others", never for themselves. This conceptualisation is also present in the discourses about literacy. The traditional discourse justifies women's literacy based on the need to improve family health, well-being, educational access, and so on. Thus, it is seen as a tool for other ends…