ABSTRACT
In Chapter 1 we explored two key areas of contemporary debate with which this volume engages: firstly, the complex nature of relationships between the local and global, and secondly, what counts as ‘new’ in the study of literacies. Through the chapters and editorial commentaries, these themes have been explored in greater depth, drawing on varied theoretical perspectives and detailed analyses of everyday literacies in different contexts to illuminate how individuals and groups—at different ages within and outside formal education—are making meanings in the changing communicative context. In these chapters we have ‘looked down’ (Kwa, 2002) into the detail to understand how different flows—technological, economic, cultural and aesthetic—play in and through practice. Here, we ‘look up’ again to consider the implications of such work for how we think about literacies and how we might best prepare children and young people for the future.
