Enabling Consumer and Entrepreneurial Literacy in Subsistence Marketplaces

This book is the result of several years of research, curriculum development, and testing of a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program for l- literate, low-income adults in India. Whereas there has been considerable att- tion on micro nancing in recent decades, we describe an educational program that focuses on enabling generic skills about the marketplace and complements these important efforts. We conducted research aimed at understanding lives and m- ketplaces in subsistence contexts in urban and rural parts of a state in South India. We used the research as a basis for developing a consumer and entrepreneurial literacy educational program. This program uses the “know-why” or an und- standing of marketplaces as a basis for the know-how of being an informed buyer or seller. Despite the dif culties with abstract thinking that low-literate indivi- als 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. Such understanding can enable individuals to embark on a path to lifelong learning. A detailed explanation of the evolution of this work follows.