Mainstream literacy discourse since the OECD studies in the 90s has been dominated by crises of falling standards and their economic implications for individuals and States. The social and political consequences of unmet liteacy needs have received only marginal attention and considerations of the affective dimensions of equality in relation to literacy remain embryonic. Neo-liberal, situated and even critical theories of adult literacy have made little impact on basic educational inequalities. The deconstructionist approach of New Literacy Studies has attracted only limited attention and made no impact on the structural inequalities that continue to reproduce educational disadvantage. Despite much rhetoric, funding for adult literacy research and adult learning programmes remains relatively low and participation rates continue to be stubbornly unrepresentative of measured need. This paper will explore the transformative potential offered by an egalitarian theory of literacy that contextualises causal, consequential and emancipatory aspects of literacy within a wider equality project. Using the equality framework developed in the Equality Studies Centre in University College Dublin, a rationale will be given for linking literacy and equality. In particular, ongoing ethnographic research exploring the impact of affective aspects of inequality on marginalised groups in Irish society will be presented.