English

What does fair trade mean today? Who are the main stakeholders? What is its future? So many questions which this book sets out to answer by way of seven experiments on site in various regions of the worls. In the course of this journey, the reader will visit a small organisation of coffee producers in Chiapas, a quinoa farm in Bolivia, and India to explore less traditional forms of fair trade.
This book reveals the many facets of an ever-growing movement, seeking the human face behind the consumer, the community behind the producer and to redefine the social and political links among those long reduced to disembodied economic players. Beyond the sterile criticism levelled against it in recent years, but without lapsing into an idealised discourse, the authors provide food for thought on the issues raised by fair trade compared with appeals for fairer international trade and the possibilities of an alternative market based on other values.

Corinne GENDRON is a tenured professor in the Department of Strategy, Social and Environmental Responsibility at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) and holds the Chair of Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development. She has written many books and articles on fair trade as well as sustainable development and social responsibility. She is regularly called on as an expert by private and public organisations in Quebec and internationally.

Socio-economist specialising in economic solidarity and fair trade, Arturo PALMA TORRES is currently an expert associate at CRIDA (France) and consultant at the Brazilian Ministry of Agrarian Development. He is a member of the movement for economic solidarity in France and the international network ALOE (Alliance for a Plural, Responsible and Supportive Economy).

Holder of a Masters Degree in Environmental Science, Véronique BISAILLPON is the coordinator of the Chair of Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development of the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM).

Year of publication: 2009, 274 pages, 14 X 21,5 cm, ISBN: 978-2-84377-148-4

Ousmane Sy describes his journey, that of a negotiator extraordinaire, moving between action and reflection, between Africa and the world, between the past and the future. In this work from his lively and unapologetic pen dipped in personal experience, Ousmane Sy sets out real alternatives: an authentic decentralisation, a radical reform of the state, regional integration achieved by the people, the relaunch of international aid. What he offers us is a real project for Mali and Africa.

Preface: Pierre CALAME

Year of publication: 2009, 224 pages, 14 X 21,5 cm

On Monday 12 October 2009, the Alliance brought together the five language network coordinators and six members of the Board. This meeting, prepared in advance by the permanent staff, was an opportunity to address several core issues for our movement. A French version of the minutes in full – including the verbatim of this long and exciting day of work – was sent to the participants. They wished however to have a communiqué, summing up the main points discussed and decisions taken together, drawn up in three languages for circulation among all members of the Alliance.

A man – despite being a staunch opponent of animism – confides to a former party comrade: “I was bewitched by my paternal uncle”. Another, Likibi, is tried for having prevented the rain from falling on his village: accused of being a fetishist, he is executed. A factory watchman praises the communist Revolution without understanding a single word; his zeal will have fatal consequences for him. With bitter irony and a tone of detachment, this collection of eight short stories describes the collapse of new African states and the disillusionment that followed independence. So many portraits of men and women that Emmanuel Dongala succeeds in depicting convincingly and with humanity. The style is faux naïf, the situations sometimes bizarre... and even if the author indulges in flights of fancy – related to his passion for jazz – the overall impression remains pessimistic behind the bittersweet humour of the writing.

Born in 1941, Emmanuel Dongala grew up in Congo-Brazzaville and now lives in the United States. He is the author of many novels, including “Les petits garçons naissent aussi des étoiles” (“Boys Also Come From Stars”) and “Johnny Chien Méchant” (“Mean Dog Johnny”), publishing by Serpent à plumes.

Year of publication of the pan-African version: 2009, 204 pages, 11,5 X 19 cm

A corpse in a bunker: that of the Head of state, N’Zo Nikiema. A mystery: the murder of little Kaveena, only daughter of the late president’s mistress. Colonel Asante Kroma, chief of police, will have to disentangle the dark mysteries of a system he was part of. “Kaveena”, a long monologue, clear-sighted and desperate, speaks relentlessly of Africa bruised at the hands of local and foreign politicians, brutal, greedy, merciless. A brave novel that pulls no punches.

Born in 1946, the Senegalese author Boubacar Boris Diop has achieved renown as a major contemporary African writer. He has written several novels, including “Murambi, Le livre des ossements” published by Stock in 1997 and “Doomi Golo”, written in Wolof (Papyrus, 2003) and published in France by Philippe Rey publishing en 2009.

Year of publication of the pan-African version: 2009, 382 pages, 11,5 X 19 cm

In view of the worrying situation in Iran and the attacks on freedom of expression, the publishers of the Alliance wish to express their solidarity with their Iranian colleagues. They demand the right to publish freely and call for increased cultural and editorial exchanges with Iran.

The Alliance language network coordinators will meet in Paris on Monday 12^th and Tuesday 13d of October 2009. This meeting comes further to a request formulated by the publishers at the International Assembly of Independent Publishing (July 2007), who wished that the coordinators could meet the members of the Alliance’s Board.

Language network coordinators:

• Nouri Abid, Tunisia (Med Ali), coordinator of the Arabic-language network;
• Marc Favreau, United States (The New Press), coordinator of the English-language network;
• Guido Indij, Argentina (la marca editora), coordinator of the Spanish-language network;
• Serge D. Kouam, Cameroon (Presses universitaires d’Afrique), coordinator of the French-language network;
• Cristina Warth, Brazil (Pallas), coordinator of the Portuguese-language network.

In the context of globalization, how is it possible for humanity to reconcile its economic needs with the inescapable fact the natural resources are limited ? That is the question asked by Pierre Calame in this book.

This book bears the “Le Livre équitable” (Fair Book) label, which symbolizes this solidarity between publishers – solidarity also indirectly mobilizing readers: because this book is sold for 25 € in France, it can be bought half this price in Republic of Guinea.

Year of publication : 2009,
608 pages,
14 X 21,6 cm

As the official campaign for the next European elections is being launched, the Alliance has decided to get involved in a positive fashion by formulating three proposals that would be very simple to implement.

These proposals have furthermore been published on the website http://challengeforeurope.blogactiv.eu, with dozens of others, on the initiative of the Charles Léopold Mayer Foundation in the framework of its “What kind of Europe do we want?” program. Let us hope this impressive corpus of proposals will be a profitable inspiration to the EU’s future elected representatives!

Publishers & Books, a monthly specialized magazine, produced and published by the African Observatory of Professional Publishers (OAPE). Articles are in French and/or in English.

See here the first issue (June 2018);

And below the second issue (July 2018) and the third issue (August 2018).

Consult here the training material produced by Denis Jacquerye, typographer (Dalton Maag Ltd), as part of the workshop on digital publishing and African languages, held in Conakry (Guinea Conakry) from 20-23 November 2017.

STATEMENT
August 8, 2018

The International Alliance of Independent Publishers (IAIP), a network of 553 publishers worldwide, expresses its shock and dismay at the late-night abduction and detention of acclaimed photographer and human rights activist, Shahidul Alam, in Dhaka. Shahidul Alam has been a partner-colleague of the IAIP, in which context we have interacted with him on many occasions.

We believe that the charges against him under Section 57 of the ICT are an attempt to intimidate him by using a draconian law to stifle his right to free speech. He has been held without due legal process, and we have received disturbing reports of brutal treatment meted out to him in detention.

The right of peaceful protest, and the defence of that right, are fundamental to democracy and to upholding the rule of law. The IAIP extends its support to, and expresses solidarity with, Shahidul Alam, and reiterates its commitment to the freedom of expression in Bangladesh as well as in the rest of the world.

See here the film make by New Internationalist (UK) in support with Shahidul Alam.

Authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians and readers form what is commonly known as a “book ecosystem”, an expression that reflects the interdependence between actors in the book field. However, over the past few years, the discussions, both globally and in Europe, about re-defining the intellectual property rights, and the evolution of practices in the digital era, led to division that gradually distanced these stakeholders, with the risk of weakening the solidarity that unites them.
Fortunately, new conversations have started, more specifically about the cultural rights, opening a space where this topic can be debated and addressed from a new angle with focus on issues related to the balance of rights. Starting from the idea that fundamental rights are inseparable, it seems possible to understand author rights, cultural rights and social rights as a coherent whole. The challenge is to find an approach that would stop opposing the book professionals, to re-establish coalitions towards the conquest for new rights.
Due to their specific position, independent publishers could play an important role in framing this collective discussion in the book sector.

Lionel Maurel
A Law Degree holder, Lionel Maurel is currently a librarian at the University Paris Lumières Library. Author of the S.I.Lex blog, he specialises in Intellectual Property, Digital Law, and Cultural Law. Involved in the Commons movement, he co-founded the collective SavoirsCom1 (“Common Knowledges”) and is a member of the Strategic Orientation College of La Quadrature du Net.
Picture: thesupermath. CC-BY-SA. Source: Wikimedia Commons, remix by Guénaël Boutouillet

Read the full text!

“Publishing in African Languages: A Review of the Literature”, by Hans M. Zell, to read here !

This literature survey is an attempt to bring together some of the literature on an important and challenging, and one could well say neglected aspect of the African book sector, that of publishing in African languages, an area that greatly impacts literary production in many ways. It aims to make a small contribution to the ongoing debate about publishing of indigenous language materials, how the profile of indigenous language publishing might be enhanced – and how publishing in African languages could be conducted as a societally beneficial, sustainable, and profitable commercial activity.

Following an introductory overview of current publishing in African languages – and a discussion of its many barriers to success – it lists a total of 170 records, covering the literature (in English) published since the 1970s and through to early 2018. Fully annotated and/or with abstracts, it includes books, chapters in books and edited collections, reports, journal articles, Internet documents, theses and dissertations, as well as a number of blog postings.

To be published in African Research & Documentation. Journal of SCOLMA -The UK Libraries and Archives Group on Africa, no. 132, 2018.

© Hans Zell Publishing Consultants 2018

An unprecedented study to be published in July 2020, initiated and coordinated by the Alliance!

A sociological survey conducted by Anne-Marie Voisard, Quebec researcher (MA on strategic lawsuits against public participation and legal repression of freedom of speech from the University of Montréal) and written by Philippe Chibani-Jacquot; a historical introduction by Jean-Yves Mollier, French historian.

Since the creation of the Alliance, publishers – custodians of freedom of speech alongside journalists, authors, bloggers, booksellers, artists… – have been the whistleblowers on instances of censorship occurring in some countries. Over the past few years, we have noticed some new forms of attack on freedom of speech. In several contexts, pressures and limitations exercised on public speech are increasing. After the wave of freedom expected during the revolutions in the Arab world, the series of attacks in Africa, Europe, and in the Arab world, destabilised freedom of speech: a loss of sense, of bearings that brings us to question spaces of freedom, the reach of words and the power of the medium.

The freedom of publishing is a “category” of freedom of speech that can take different forms through various supports. The freedom of publishing pertains to the liberty to choose an author, to select or commission manuscripts, publish them, disseminate and distribute them, and put them on the market – all these activities are at the heart of publishers’ work. The threats to the freedom of publishing are precisely what the Alliance seeks to examine in this study.

In different geopolitical contexts, threatened by different forms of censorship, the Alliance’s independent publishers are committed to circulate texts and ideas, to amplify voices, even if sometimes they are in minority, to participate in building critical thinking and emancipation. It is their responsibility, both professional and civic.

Read here the presentation of the study, of the authors, the methodology...

Read here the report of the workshop on “African Book Industry”, organized by the Global Book Alliance (USAID) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) in Abidjan (Ivory Coast) in January 2018.
The workshop brought together 79 key stakeholders in the African Book Publishing Industry from 22 African countries.
More information here.

Publishers from the Alliance condemn the banning of the book El desarme, la vía vasca d’Iñaki Egaña (copublished by Txalaparta, Gara journal, and Mediabask media), during its promotion on Basque radio-television.

Read here the proceedings of the colloquium on “Children’s Literature in Africa” (in French), organised by Ganndal, Conakry, November 2017.

Read the “Conclusions of the Symposium on the Challenges of the Promotion and Distribution of Books in African Languages”, organized by Ganndal publishing in Conakry (Guinea Conakry), 27-28 November 2017.