Literacy work in the reign of human capital

In recent years, a number of books in the field of literacy research have addressed the experiences of literacy users or the multiple processes of learning literacy skills in a rapidly changing technical environment. In contrast, this book addresses how literacy workers are subject to the relations between new forms of labor and the concept of human capital. It is about how literacies become forms of value, producing labor in everyday life both within and beyond the workplace itself. As Evan Watkins shows, apprehending the meaning of literacy work requires an understanding of how literacies have changed in relation to not only technology but also to labor, capital, and economics. The emergence of new literacies has produced considerable debate over basic definitions as well as the complexities of gain and loss. At the same time, the visibility of these debates between advocates of old versus new literacies has obscured the development of more fundamental changes. Most significantly, Watkins argues, it is no longer possible to represent human capital solely as a kind of long-term resource. Like corporate inventoryand business management practices, human capital - labor - now also appears in a "just-in-time" form, as if a power of action on the occassion rather than a capital asset in reserve. -- from back cover.