This book examines literacy for sustainable development in the age of information. It begins by discussing the relationship between literacy and hegemony, social policy, national language policy, colonial relations, and postcolonial realities. Also discussed in the introduction are views and definitions of literacy and considerations in mapping a typology of literacy. Part 1 explores the theoretical frameworks of literacy and the disparate ways literacy has featured in academic discourse. Part 2, which focuses on older literacy discourses and practices within the framework of the nation-state, contains chapters devoted to the following issues: (1) literacy as a social practice in terms of its relationship with institutions, political systems, structures, and processes within the nation-state; (2) historical links between literacy and social development; and (3) lessons from the mass literacy campaigns that featured in the drive for modernization in the 1970s. Part 3, which considers the impact of globalization on literacy concepts and definitions, addresses the following topics: (1) technological and cultural transformations; (2) changing definitions of "text" within the information society; (3) conceptualizing literacy, knowledge, and power in the information society; and (4) moving toward "communicative competence" for democratic participation in the information society. (Ten tables/figures are included. The bibliography lists 317 references.) (MN)