Diversity matters: widen representation in your reading

It is important to acknowledge that a significant portion of academic material originates from a limited group of publishers, predominantly based in the United States and the United Kingdom. This re-inforces a predominant Western-centric worldview.

Additionally, mainstream publishing often privileges individuals already established within academic institutions, leading to the underrepresentation of certain groups, especially global majority academics. 

There are alternative publishers that you can consult if you are looking to broaden the origin of your recommended readings. There are also bookshops and websites that specialise in promoting literature written by authors with specific demographics. These can help you to identify wider reading on your topic.

Some examples are listed below.

• African Books Collective - an African-owned not-for-profit company created to distribute African books, books by African writers and African scholarship.
• Alliance of Radical Booksellers - this organisation has a list of member booksellers. These booksellers must be “informed by socialist, anarchist, environmental, feminist or anti-racist concerns” and must “stock or sell books which inspire, support or report on political and/or personal change in the global, national or local sphere”.
• Directory of Open Access Books - provides a searchable index to peer-reviewed monographs and edited collections published under an open access licence, with links to the full texts of the publications at the publisher’s website or repository. The Open Access movement aims to reduce publication costs, speed up dissemination of research and increase visibility of research – barriers often faced by academics from the Global South.
• Hogarth Representation - specialists in the book market if every country in Sub-Saharan Africa. They visit all the African countries in the Sub-Saharan Region on specific book-buying trips.
• Hurst Publishers - an independently owned and run non-fiction publisher, based in London but publishing globally. Their core subjects include current affairs, international relations, history, Islamic studies, politics, sociology, anthropology, war, and conflict studies.
• Jacaranda Books - an independent bookshop and publisher dedicated to promoting and celebrating diverse literature.
• Mary Martin - an international bookseller that brings together books from different countries around the world. There is the option to search by country as well as by subject, and they maintain catalogues of books published from individual countries.
• MIPP Books - a supplier of publications from Russia, post-Soviet countries, Baltic States, Transcaucasia, Africa and the Middle East. Their advanced search function allows you to select language. 
• New Beacon Books - a bookshop and publisher specialising in African and Caribbean literature. Also contains lists of books written by Black British and African American authors.
• Orient BlackSwan - a major publishing house in India.
• Peepal Tree Press - a leading publisher of Caribbean and Black British writing.
• Unbound - this publisher uses a crowdfunded model to publish books. They “bring to life a bold and diverse catalogue of books that other publishers might overlook, like books on niche and cult topics, daring takes on important issues, and fresh ideas from new and underrepresented authors.”
• Saqi - an independent publishing house of trade and academic books on the Middle East and North Africa.