English

If we are to believe the major myths and tales, travel is part of the human adventure. Whether man embarks for good or toward a promised land (Abraham or Moses), experiences numerous tribulations before returning to his point of origin (Ulysses), takes to the road to seek wisdom through multiple encounters (Buddha) or goes off to discover terra incognita (Christopher Columbus or Marco Polo), he enriches his perception of the world.
In an era when travel is part of our daily life, Wang Yipei, writer and specialist in Western literature, very sensibly evokes the Chinese approach in which the themes of internal exile and migrations are omnipresent. Olivier Bleys, a young novelist and traveler, offers his Western perspective on the theme of travel through literature and the history of civilizations.

Year of publication: 2002

Is George W. Bush responsible for America’s international isolation?

Why did the United States declare ’war on terror’, and what does this war mean for the future of the world?

Another American Century answers these questions with a sweeping and penetrating study of the United States since the end of the Cold War. Nicholas Guyatt reveals the economic, diplomatic and military dimensions of American foreign policy, and investigates what Americans say and believe about their relationship with the rest of the world. A major new chapter discusses September 11^th, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the motives and ideas behind America’s ’war on terror’.

Available in English: “Another American century?” ; Zed Books Publishing

Year of publication: 2004

With the collaboration of Jean LIBERMAN

The decoding of the new terrorism, which hit the USA with full force for the first time, shows that it is inseparable from the transformation of the world and the establishment of a type of global power that is more inhuman than ever. In effect, the worldwide neoliberal economic policy implemented by the financial sphere has completely distorted the human promises of globalization. Misery, mass exclusion and humiliation are the counterpart of the accelerated commoditization of a growing proportion of human activities. Kamikaze fanaticism, bred among destitute peoples, cannot be separated from the financialization of the world, its network-based information-sharing and its “dirty money” financing that is built into the system.

Ignoring this diagnosis, the neo-liberal leadership, in particular the United States, still refuses to take the well-known measures that would drain the breeding ground of hyperterrorist barbarity.

As the fallout from the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) continues, John Madeley explores some key questions about the free trade that it advocates: Will free trade in food help or hinder the abolition of world hunger? Who benefits first? The poor? Or the transnational corporations? Will free trade help Third World farmers find new international markets? How can countries – North and South, rich and poor – protect their farmers?...

In English: “Hungry for Trade”, Zed Books Publishers

Year of publication: 2002

Farmers around the world are being pressured by half a dozen giant corporations to grow genetically engineered crops. What are the possible downsides for them, particularly for those hundreds of millions of farmers living in developing countries? On their environment? On their health? On their independence? On their traditional export crops? On their access to the marketplaces of their own countries? This important book comes out of a dialogue between farmers’ representatives and experts.

Available in English: “Brave New Seeds” ; Zed Books Publishers

Year of publication : 2004

Europe is arising. For the last fifty years, step by step, a new geographical space and political entity have been forming. Among the sites of memory devoted to the recent history of Europe, the Jean Monnet Foundation, in Lausanne, has a number of archives with rare texts that allow people to follow and better understand how the idea of the European Union gained momentum across the years, both before and during World War II. Its documents are the core of this collection. The texts presented in this volume are used to shed new light on the “European institutional machinery.” This angle shows that the construction of modern Europe was not necessarily “technocratic,” but rather, like any original project, the result of trial and error, hesitations, conflicts that are often forgotten today, and a real dynamic.

Year of publication: 2001

Is the theme of passion the core locus of cultural difference between East and West? Western civilization sees in passion a founding experience, emotionally, aesthetically and spiritually fundamental. Yet the East is more skeptical, reflecting Buddhist wisdom, which invites people to free themselves from passion to achieve awakening.
In a chronicle embodied in contemporary China, Ye Shuxian chooses to talk about loving passion. Codified in traditional China and repressed under the Cultural Revolution, the feeling of love is expressed more strongly today.
Michel Sauquet shows all the richness and ambiguity of the word passion in European culture: it sustains life and suffering; it absorbs, builds and destroys. Loving passion, passion of the artist as best exemplified by the character of Rimbaud; mystical passion exalted by the music of Bach.

Year of publication: 1999

For centuries, human cultures have rooted themselves in stone and monuments for utilitarian or artistic purposes, reflecting the power of kings or the greatness of gods. When first learning about Chinese architecture, what could be better than a guided visit to several emblematic monuments, such as the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven and the Summer Palace? This is what Yang Xin provides, in a text full of detailed description. We are taught how Chinese architecture is a total art, rooted in the axes of thought: relationship with nature, permanent negotiation between the yin and yang, the empty and full, the sky and the earth. On the other side, Dom Angelico Surchamp, eminent specialist in Roman art, sets forth a panorama of the history of Western architecture, showing the gradual evolution of the temple, church and dwelling house. Little by little, space becomes organized around key values. More than the simple struggle between man and the elements or between man and material, the art of building translates a vision of the world.

Year of publication: 1999

So few people know Chinese culture, yet many are familiar with Peking duck and fried rice. Gong Gang happily explains how much, in China, the idea of beauty melds inseparably with the idea of goodness, in an association that may appear strange to a Westerner. Drinking tea, for example, invokes particular values, of clarity and limpidity, according to a broader definition of the five senses. For Paul Ariès, the issue is more controversial. Recalling the origin of good taste in the West, expressed particularly in culinary art and in restaurants, which arose in the early 19^th century with characters such as Brillat-Savarin, Mr. Ariès is alarmed by globalization and its threat to this table culture. “Can good taste coexist with modernity?” An exchange of views that will delight culinary enthusiasts.

Year of publication: 1999

In partnership with the Tunis Book Fair and the Union of Tunisian Publishers, and thanks to the support of the Fondation de France and the French Institutes of Tunisia and Lebanon, the Alliance organised a day focusing on public book policies in the Arab world on Thursday 30 March 2017.

Publishers from Algeria, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia presented a panorama of book public policies in their respective countries: Chilean and French publishers spoke on what is being implemented in their countries – a dialogue and exchange between professionals and public authorities, between continents, between cultures.

This day was initiated in the context of the Bibliodiversity Observatory and the mapping of public book policies in Latin America and the Arab world, on-going at the Observatory.

Call for proposal – looking for an author

The Alliance aims to produce an unprecedented study about freedom of publishing, listening to independent publishers about the following questions:
• What are the different infringements of freedom of publishing that independent publishers confront in their countries?
• How do they face these threats in their daily professional life?
• How do the publishers resist, preserve, and defend their freedom of publishing? How do they circumvent censorship?
• Are publishers more vulnerable today than they used to be? Have there been some significant changes in recent years?
• From the point of view of the publishers, is there a limit to freedom of publishing (and freedom of expression)?
The study will be written in French. If you are interested in conducting this study, please send your proposal to the Alliance team before 13 March 2017.}

The sixth ordinary session of the Conference of Parties->https://en.unesco.org/creativity/convention/governing-bodies/conferences/6th-ordinary-session] to the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (Paris, UNESCO 12 - 15 June 2017) has approved the Operational Guidelines on the Implementation of the Convention in the Digital Environment.

Read the operational guidelines in English here.

Read the text of the Convention.
Read the Operational Guidelines of the Convention here.

The International Alliance of independent publishers demands that Turkish authorities immediately release publishers, authors and journalists currently detained. It is necessary to guarantee freedom of speech and publishing in Turkey. The Alliance joins the Turkish Publishers Association’s condemnation of the summary closure of publishing houses and media as a clear human rights violation, and urges the Turkish authorities to rescind those summary closures.

Read issue 4 of the journal Bibliodiversity.

Organised by Afrilivres Association, through the support of its partners and the support of OMEL (Malian book publishers organisation), the first edition of the African Languages Book Fair will convene professionals, academics, institutions, NGOs, and the general public for 3 days of discussions, sharing, exhibition, and sale of books in African languages. An unprecedented and unique event, not to be missed!

Extract from the Communiqué by the Alliance for a call for freedom of speech and publishing in Bangladesh, 10 November 2015:

For several months, authors, bloggers, publishers and booksellers have been the victims of violent and deadly attacks in Bangladesh.

The International Alliance of independent publishers, representing 400 independent publishers from 45 countries in the world, condemns these murderous attacks and assault on freedom of speech and publishing. The Alliance also reaffirms the essential role needing to be played by public authorities, in Bangladesh and throughout the world to enable the emancipation of its citizens, and to guarantee a public space conducive to dialogue and peace. Plurality and diversity of ideas constitute the foundation of democracy. It is urgent that the Bangladeshi government protects and supports actors in the book industry, thus safeguarding the foundations necessary for their work and freedom of speech.

Publishing in Persian language presents a comprehensive and current overview of publishing in Persian language, in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, but also in the diaspora in Europe and the United States.
Articles, penned by Ali Amiri, Beytolah Biniaz, Masoud Hosseinipour, Farid Moradi, Laetitia Nanquette and Dilshad Rakhimov, enable an understanding of editorial markets through historical, economic, political and cultural perspectives.
This study sheds light on the work and publishing list of several independent publishers in Persian language, and thus enabling professional and intercultural exchanges.
Publishing in Persian language is available in Persian and English, and openly accessible on the Website of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers, in PDF, ePub and MOBI formats.

Summary of the study:
• Introduction, Beytolah Biniaz
• History of publishing in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Panorama of independent publishing in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Structure of the book market in Iran, Farid Moradi
• Cultural exchanges and translations between Iran and France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States, Laetitia Nanquette
• Persian language publishers in Europe, Farid Moradi
• Publishing in Afghanistan, Ali Amiri
• Panorama of publishing in Tajikistan, Dilshad Rakhimov
• Publishing in Persian language in Uzbekistan, Farid Moradi and Masoud Hosseinipour

Publishing in Persian language, “État des lieux de l’édition” collection (Reports on the publishing world), International Alliance of independent publishers, 2015.
ISBN: 978-2-9519747-7-7 (Persian version)
ISBN: 978-2-9519747-8-4 (English version)

Publishing in Persian language was made possible through the support of the Prince Claus Fund. We thank all contributors, publishers, and professionals who participated to this collective endeavour –and particularly Sonbol Bahmanyar for the coordination of the study.

Indigenous publishing is integral to national identity and development: cultural, social, and economic. Such publishing reflects a people’s history and experience, belief systems, and their concomitant expressions through language, writing, and art. In turn, a people’s interaction with other cultures is informed by their published work. Publishing preserves, enhances, and develops a society’s culture and its interaction with others. In Africa, indigenous publishers continue to seek autonomy to pursue these aims: free from the constraints of the colonial past, the strictures of economic structural adjustment policies, the continuing dominance of multinational publishers (particularly in textbooks), regressive language policies, and lack of recognition by African governments of the economic and cultural importance of publishing. African publishers seek to work collectively, to harness the digital age, and to take their place in the international marketplace on equal terms, Africa’s own voice.

This article, by Walter Bgoya and Mary Jay, was originally published in Research in African Literatures, vol. 44, no. 2, Summer 2013, 17-34, published by Indiana University Press.