English

Fruit d’une enquête remarquable de trois ans ayant mené la journaliste et documentariste Marie-Monique Robin à parcourir quatre continents (Amérique du Nord, du Sud, Europe et Asie), Le monde selon Monsanto raconte l’histoire méconnue mais choquante de ce géant de l’agroalimentaire – le premier producteur mondial d’OGM (organismes génétiquement modifiés) – et dévoile que son nouveau look « vert » n’est pas moins nocif que son passé empreint de BCP et teinté d’agent orange.
Marie-Monique Robin révèle que, suite à sa longue histoire de fabrication de produits chimiques dangereux et herbicides létaux, Monsanto s’affiche désormais comme une société promouvant les « sciences de la vie », apparemment convaincue des vertus du développement durable. Toutefois, Monsanto contrôle aujourd’hui la majorité des souches de maïs et soja génétiquement modifiées – un ingrédient présent dans plus de 95 pour cent des ménages américains – et ses alarmantes astuces politiques et légales cherchant à maintenir ce monopole font l’objet de préoccupations à l’échelle planétaire.

Le livre accompagnant le documentaire du même nom, Le monde selon Monsanto, a suscité l’engouement et la controverse en France, en Europe et en Amérique latine lors de son lancement, et changera certainement votre perception de la sécurité alimentaire et du contrôle privé des réserves alimentaires mondiales.

Marie-Monique Robin est une journaliste et cinéaste française lauréate de nombreux prix. En 1995, elle a reçu le prix Albert-Londres décerné aux journalistes d’enquête en France. Elle est réalisatrice et productrice de plus de trente documentaires et reportages d’enquêtes filmés en Amérique latine, en Afrique, en Europe et en Asie. Elle vit à l’extérieur de Paris.

George Holoch a traduit plus de vingt livres, dont Notes on the Occupation (The New Press). Il vit à Hinesburg, au Vermont.

Date de publication : 2010 ; 384 pages

Back from Tunis, where the Arabic-language network meeting was held, the Alliance publishes the first outcomes of this meeting. Here you will find the network’s translation and joint co-publishing projects, the next steps towards the development of the Arabic-language network, the creation of specialised training, etc.

The International Alliance of Independent Publishers calls on all international solidarity organisations to mobilise in Haiti. The Alliance will do do its outmost to support Haitian book professionals in the long-term, particularly librarians, publishers and booksellers, by joining forces with existing and future stakeholders in Haiti.

The importance of culture should be considered in the reconstruction process. In the Haïtian context, where symbolism has a special place, reinventing Haïti also involves supporting the arts and culture, particularly books and authors that promote the people’s complex and fascinating identity. A people cut off from its culture is a dead people.

Rodney Saint-Éloi, author and publisher member of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers

Four years after the International Assembly on Independent Publishing in Paris in July 2007, we are delighted to be bringing together the Arabic-language network of the Alliance in Tunisia, during the Tunis International Book Fair.

The Alliance organizes a round table open to professionals, focussing on publishing and cultural diversity, at the heart of the Tunis International Book Fair on Monday 26 April at 4.00 pm.

The Afrilivres Association elected – during its Extraordinary Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, 16 March 2010 via an online forum – a new Committee. For the Alliance, the results of this AGM constitute the beginning of a restructuration of the Pan-African Association. The communiqué issued jointly by the two associations calls on institutions and all friends of Afrilivres to express their renewed confidence.

For more information : www.afrilivres.net

Pour accéder aux catalogues jeunesse, cliquez ici et ici.

Ces ouvrages sont disponibles à l’Alliance, contactez-nous par téléphone ou par email pour tout renseignement ou toute commande.

The notion of fair speech expands the idea of ‘free speech’ to incorporate the concept of justice. Indeed, in a context of media concentration, dominant powers (whether political, economic, religious, ideological, etc.) are the most represented and heard (because they are powerful or loud). Fair speech fosters speech equity for other voices that are often marginalised and/or censored to be heard. Fair speech therefore promotes an equitable access to expression (for example for women, historically marginalised groups, etc.), enabling an authentic diversity of voices. This concept was created by Betty McLellan in Unspeakable (Spinifex Press, 2010, Australia) and promoted by Susan Hawthorne in Bibliodiversity : A Manifesto for Independent Publishing (Spinifex Press, 2014, Australia).

The International Alliance of Independent Publishers calls on all international solidarity organisations to mobilise in Haiti. The Alliance will do do its outmost to support Haitian book professionals in the long-term, particularly librarians, publishers and booksellers, by joining forces with existing and future stakeholders in Haiti.

The importance of culture should be considered in the reconstruction process. In the Haïtian context, where symbolism has a special place, reinventing Haïti also involves supporting the arts and culture, particularly books and authors that promote the people’s complex and fascinating identity. A people cut off from its culture is a dead people.

Rodney Saint-Éloi, author and publisher member of the International Alliance of Independent Publishers

Ousmane Sy retrace ici son parcours, celui d’un passeur hors normes, passeur entre l’action et la réflexion, entre l’Afrique et le monde, entre le passé et l’avenir. Dans cet ouvrage à la plume vive, sans appel, nourrie d’expériences personnelles, Ousmane Sy construit de véritables alternatives : une décentralisation authentique, une réforme radicale de l’État, une intégration régionale construite par les peuples, le refondation de l’aide internationale. C’est un véritable projet pour le Mali et pour l’Afrique qu’il nous propose.

Ousmane SY est docteur en développement économique et social. Il a été chercheur à l’Institut d’économie rurale et chargé de programme du PNUD au Mali, puis il a piloté la Mission de décentralisation et des réformes institutionnelles au Mali, avant d’entrer au gouvernement comme ministre de l’Administration territoriale et des collectivités locales, ce qui lui offre l’occasion de traduire dans l’action politique ses travaux techniques. Il a créé par ailleurs son propre centre d’expertise et de conseil, le Centre d’expertises politiques et institutionnelles en Afrique (CEPIA). Depuis 2002, il coordonne l’Alliance pour refonder la gouvernance en Afrique.

Préface de Pierre CALAME

Date de publication : 2009, 224 pages, 14 X 21,5 cm, ISBN : 978-2-84377-149-1

The Spanish-language network and the Portuguse-language network of the Alliance met in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) from 25 till 27 November 2009, during « la Primavera dos livros ». These meetings allowed both networks to build their respective initiative programme for 2010-2011 but also to strengthen the « regionalisation » of the Alliance, through an inter-network meeting.

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.