GrantsA pervasive structural feature of globalization is that flows of information tend to occur predominantly in one direction—from the countries of the wealthy “core” (the West or the North) to the “periphery” of poorer countries in the East and South. Although South-South or East-East exchange of knowledge may often be of far greater social and intellectual value, economic and infrastructural factors make such exchange difficult. This is most obvious in the mass media, but it is also the case in more specialized forms of communication such as journal and book publishing.
The OSI Information Program is helping to address this imbalance by providing selective support for East-East or South-South translations in situations where there is a severe need. Through the Next Page Foundation, OSI provides limited and carefully targeted support for translations and publishing. Currently, such funding is being provided in two regions: the Arabic world, and Eastern Europe across the new “EU divide.”
The aim of the Arabic translation project is to promote thinking and discussion in the Arabic-speaking world on open society issues outside of an Occidental framework, by supporting translations of books related to themes such as pluralism, secularism and religion, human rights, governance, civil society, and democracy in the context of underdevelopment and globalization. Funding is focused on making available in Arabic some of the best work by thinkers from contiguous countries and regions such as Turkey, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent. The content and scope will be decided by a group of leading Arabic scholars and publishers.
The "EU divide" project provides partial funding for translations among the languages of Eastern Europe. The Information Program will also continue support for a smaller, long-term project to develop Romani-language publishing. All funding is channeled through the Next Page foundation.
View contact information for this initiative.
