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Dear colleagues,

We are very happy to announce the release of the book, "Enabling Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces" by Springer in an education series in alliance with UNESCO (http://www.springer.com/education/book/978-1-4020-5768-7 ). This book describes research on low-literate, poor buyers and sellers in subsistence marketplaces, the consequent development of an innovative marketplace literacy educational program that enables consumer and entrepreneurial literacy, and implications of the research and the educational program for business, education, and social enterprise.  Our subsistence marketplaces perspective reflected in this work represents a micro-level approach to studying buyer, seller, and marketplace behavior (http://www.business.uiuc.edu/~madhuv/submktinitiative.html ).  This perspective complements macro-level economic and mid-level business strategy approaches (e.g., the base of the pyramid approach) to studying poverty by focusing on the behavioral fundamentals that underlie the marketplace interactions of the poor. I am very proud to mention that my coauthors, Gajendiran and Venkatesan are from the subsistence contexts we studied, and combine decades of experience in development work.  They have been core members of the research team and central to the creation and delivery of the marketplace literacy program,

Previous work has focused on at least two key elements that individuals living in subsistence need to participate in marketplaces, financial resources (e.g., microfinancing) and market access.  We focus on a third key element, marketplace knowhow.  We conducted research aimed at understanding life circumstances and marketplaces in subsistence contexts in urban and rural parts of South India.  We used the research as a basis for developing a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program which assumes that our audience cannot read or write.  This program uses the "know-why" or an understanding of marketplaces as a basis for the know-how of being an informed buyer or seller.  Despite the difficulties with abstract thinking that low-literate individuals may experience, we enable deeper understanding of marketplaces by leveraging the social skills that participants bring to the program and relating educational content back to their lived experiences.  We use a variety of methods such as picture sorting, simulated shopping, and role plays.  We believe such understanding can enable individuals to place themselves on a path to lifelong learning. 

The book also discusses implications of the research and the educational program for non-profit organizations, for research and practice in education, for business research and practice, and for academic and applied research.  Following extensive piloting and assessment, the program is being scaled through large social enterprises with plans for implementation in other countries and contexts (www.marketplaceliteracy.org) .

Contents:

Introduction by the Series Editors

Preface

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1 Basic Research on Low-Literate, Low-Income Buyers and Sellers

Chapter 2 Developing a Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Educational Program

Chapter 3 Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program – Marketplace Literacy

Chapter 4 Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program – Consumer Literacy

Chapter 5 Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program: Entrepreneurial Literacy

Chapter 6 Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program: Entrepreneurial Literacy

Chapter 7 Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy Program: Societal Responsibility and Other Miscellaneous Issues

Chapter 8 Implications for Non-Profit Organizations

Chapter 9 Implications for Education

Chapter 11 Implications for Basic and Applied Research

Author Index

Subject Index

Madhu Viswanathan
Department of Bus. Admin. (Marketing) and Coordinated Sciences Laboratory, University of Illinois
61 Wohlers Hall, 1206 South Sixth Street, Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217-333-4550; Fax: 217-244-7969; email: mviswana@uiuc.edu