Epistemic Groundings for the Role of Literacy in Sus- tainable Development at the Level of Local Governance GORDON O. ADE-OJO University of Greenwich, United Kingdom MIKE ADEYEYE Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria Received 18 February 2011; received in revised form 21 September 2011; accepted 18 November 2011 ABSTRACT This paper examines the significance of our understanding of the con- cept of literacy within the context of its role in development at local governance level. It argues that there are different understandings of literacy which require us to make a choice in terms of our epistemic preferences. While such preferences are seen to be informed by our allegiance to conflicting paradigms in the contexts of sustainable development, education and literacy, the paper submits that the different paradigms are not mutually exclusive. It argues that it is important that the choices made are consciously registered because it will necessarily become instrumental in our choices within other conflicting paradigms. Although the pa- per does not advocate the supremacy of any of the available options, the authors suggest that understanding the rationales underpinning these choices is essential for those interested in development at local governance level in order for the vi- sion of the what and how of development to be properly articulated and evaluated. Keywords: Literacy, Sustainable development, Local governance, Development programme Occasional Papers in Education & Lifelong Learning: An International Journal Volume 5, Nos. 1—2, 2011, pp. 53—65