Worlds apart? Ethnographic reflections on “effective literacy” and intrahousehold externalities

Maddox, Bryan (2007) Worlds apart? Ethnographic reflections on “effective literacy” and intrahousehold externalities. World Development, 35 (3). pp. 532-541. ISSN 0305-750X

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Abstract

The model of effective literacy developed by Basu and Foster [Basu, K., & Foster, J. (1998). On measuring literacy. Economic Journal 108, 1733–1749] argued that there are benefits to nonliterate people in belonging to a household with at least one literate member. Their measure of proximate illiteracy sought to capture such gains as an alternative to the conventional literacy “rate”. The model has since been refined, extended, and applied in a number of contexts. This paper examines how ethnographic research might further inform the concept. The literature on effective literacy has largely focused on intrahousehold externalities. Drawing on ethnographic examples from Bangladesh, the paper illustrates such externalities. It also argues following Basu and Foster [Basu, K., & Foster, J. (1998). On measuring literacy. Economic Journal 108, 1733–1749], that the analysis of proximate illiteracy can be extended to examine interhousehold sharing, and the significance of close networks of friend and kin.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: mid:14007 dc:ueastatus:post-print formatted dc:ueahesastaffidentifier:0311170000014
Uncontrolled Keywords: bangladesh,effective literacy,ethnography,gender relations,intrahousehold,literacies,proximate illiteracy,south asia
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Depositing User: Vishal Gautam
Date Deposited: 01 Mar 2007
Last Modified: 01 Feb 2024 02:08
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/16339
DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.05.002

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