2. A second principal objective is to give special consideration to the analysis and further development of the political economic basis of the critical perspective on illiteracy. In doing this, the study will: (a) probe the reasons for the present 13 ineffectiveness of this perspective In Canadian adult basic educators, (b) augment the perspective with assumptions drawn from Marxist political economy, and compare it with the liberal perspective in terms of its capacity to explain the dynamics of class inequality and poverty, and, (c) make use of its assumptions to develop a critical history of adult basic education in Canada---one which can serve as a source of guidance for adult basic educators in the present period of crisis and contention.

Assumptions of the Study

The major assumption of the present study is that reading and writing are complex social practices which touch on many levels of our social existence in a literate society like Canada, and cannot be understood in terms of their effect on any one level alone. For example, from one point of view, reading and writing together constitute a "technology of the mind", a highly sophisticated set of skills involving the manipulation of "visible language", which can be considered through psychological concepts like cognition and intelligence, and physiological ones like perception.24 From another point of view, since reading and writing make use of language-a system of symbols which serves as the medium of expression of meaning, indeed of human consciousness itself---they are closely bound up with cultural and ideological phenomena.25 On a third level, reading and writing constitute part of the "means of production", i.e. they form "tools" in. the process of production, distribution and exchange of goods and services in a predominantly literate society like Canada, and so interweave with economic practices. 26 On a fourth level, the political, writing forms one part of the "network of power", in Poulantza's terms. For example, he points out that "in a certain sense, nothing exists for the capitalist State unless it is written down....27

Because of the complexity of the interweaving of literate communication with social processes at these four levels, we must adopt a 'holistic' framework in order to understand it. Similarly, we cannot reduce the meaning and significance of literacy to any single level; for example, we cannot see it solely in psychological and physiological terms as the possession of a cognitive skill (i.e. a purely technical matter). We must keep in mind that literacy possesses irreducible economic, political and ideological dimensions as well.

Limitations of the Study

Two major limits have been placed on the present study. First, the study primarily deals with the larger economic, political 'and ideological aspects of illiteracy, and touches very little on more specifically educational issues. For example, there is little discussion of what might be called the phenomenology of illiteracy--i.e. the psychological, emotional, and sociological aspects of it in everyday life. As well, there is little consideration of the questions of methods, materials, subject matter, etc. of the literacy or adult basic education class or project. However, even if I have largely excluded these issues, this does not signify that I believe they are less important, or that they are not amenable to critical analysis. In fact, the present study can be seen as an attempt to clarify the framework of assumptions upon which the study of more specifically educational problems can proceed.