BUILDING GLOBAL CITIZENRY THROUGH TEACHING ABOUT POVERTY

BUILDING GLOBAL CITIZENRY THROUGH

TEACHING ABOUT POVERTY

BUILDING GLOBAL CITIZENRY THROUGH

TEACHING ABOUT POVERTY

Farida C KhanProfessor of Economics

Co-Director, Center for International Studies

Farida C KhanProfessor of Economics

Co-Director, Center for International Studies

Poverty MeasuresPoverty Measures

$1 a day$2 a dayPercentage below poverty line

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are needed to see this picture.

The higher the bar, the greater the proportion of people in poverty

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are needed to see this picture.

Where is poverty to be found?

What percent is poor in each nation?

If poverty is hunger, how well do nations provide food for their people?

What do we understand by these numbers?

What do we understand by these numbers?

Cultural definitionsHistorical experiencesEconomic processesVisual understanding?

Cultural definitionsHistorical experiencesEconomic processesVisual understanding?

ImagesImages

Here’s what we might see:http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=6Nf1j-CtnxM

Or this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=LFgb1BdPBZo

Here’s what we might see:http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=6Nf1j-CtnxM

Or this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=LFgb1BdPBZo

How should images be used?

How should images be used?

To clarify the magnitude of the problems?

Might they create misunderstandings about societies?

To enable students to appreciate their circumstances?

Might they instill static ideas about certain regions that are poor?

To clarify the magnitude of the problems?

Might they create misunderstandings about societies?

To enable students to appreciate their circumstances?

Might they instill static ideas about certain regions that are poor?

How should information be provided?

How should information be provided? Not too abstract?Not too dehumanizing?To generate interest?To maintain respect for

humanity?To overcome

objectification?

Not too abstract?Not too dehumanizing?To generate interest?To maintain respect for

humanity?To overcome

objectification?

POSSIBLE MODELS to IMPART INFORMATIONPOSSIBLE MODELS to IMPART INFORMATION

Technical ModelsHistorical ModelsCultural ModelsMix of the above?

Technical ModelsHistorical ModelsCultural ModelsMix of the above?

Technical ModelsTechnical Models

Source: World Bank, UNDP, IMF, NGOs

Human Development Index (UN): development indicators include income poverty, life expectancy, literacy & schooling

Millennium Development Goals (UN)http://www.endpoverty2015.org/

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml

Source: World Bank, UNDP, IMF, NGOs

Human Development Index (UN): development indicators include income poverty, life expectancy, literacy & schooling

Millennium Development Goals (UN)http://www.endpoverty2015.org/

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/poverty.shtml

Millennium Development Goal 1

ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY & HUNGER



Target 1:Halve, between 1990 and

2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

* Conflict leaves many displaced and impoverished


2015, the proportion of people whose income is less than $1 a day

* Conflict leaves many displaced and impoverished




ERADICATE EXTREME POVERTY & HUNGER Target 2:Achieve full and productive

employment and decent work for all, including women and young people

* Low-paying jobs leave one in five developing country workers mired in poverty

* Half the world’s workforce toil in unstable, insecure jobs

Target 2:Achieve full and productive

employment and decent work for all, including women and young people

* Low-paying jobs leave one in five developing country workers mired in poverty

* Half the world’s workforce toil in unstable, insecure jobs






2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

* Rising food prices threaten limited gains in alleviating child malnutrition


2015, the proportion of people who suffer from hunger

* Rising food prices threaten limited gains in alleviating child malnutrition

Breaking the Link Between Poverty and Per Capita

Income

Breaking the Link Between Poverty and Per Capita

IncomeKerala and Sri LankaHans Rosling Video: http://www.ted.com/

index.hp/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

NGOs and delivery of basic services (Grameen Bank and micro-credit)

Kerala and Sri LankaHans Rosling Video: http://www.ted.com/

index.hp/talks/hans_rosling_reveals_new_insights_on_poverty.html

NGOs and delivery of basic services (Grameen Bank and micro-credit)

Historical Model

Historical Model

What has been our thinking about other countries?

Mercantilism: State interest and colonization

Liberalism: “Stationary economies”

Advent of development economics in 1940s/50s

What has been our thinking about other countries?

Mercantilism: State interest and colonization

Liberalism: “Stationary economies”

Advent of development economics in 1940s/50s

W.W Rostow: Stages of Growth, R. Nurkse: Balanced Growth, etc.

Suggests that there are underdeveloped/traditional and developed societies in a spectrum

Traditional societies included slave systems of early Greece and Rome; peasant societies in India, Egypt, China

Confluence of development and time

W.W Rostow: Stages of Growth, R. Nurkse: Balanced Growth, etc.

Suggests that there are underdeveloped/traditional and developed societies in a spectrum

Traditional societies included slave systems of early Greece and Rome; peasant societies in India, Egypt, China

Confluence of development and time

Historical Model

Historical Model

Dependency and World Systems theorists (60s/70s):

Development and colonization causes underdevelopment

Modern models of growth create system of dependence and debt that worsen poverty

Dependency and World Systems theorists (60s/70s):

Development and colonization causes underdevelopment

Modern models of growth create system of dependence and debt that worsen poverty

Historical Model

Historical Model

1980s/90s:Neo-liberal policies - increase

growth through market policies to trickle down

Kuznets curve? (growth inequality)

State provision of goods and services

Juxtaposition of images of rich and poor

Sense of entitlement but actual conditions worsened in some places

1980s/90s:Neo-liberal policies - increase

growth through market policies to trickle down

Kuznets curve? (growth inequality)

State provision of goods and services

Juxtaposition of images of rich and poor

Sense of entitlement but actual conditions worsened in some places

Historical Model

Historical Model

Economic crises such as rising prices, reduced credit, global recession

Climate change and environmental degradation

Economic crises such as rising prices, reduced credit, global recession

Climate change and environmental degradation

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

NGOSNGOS

Micro-creditAdvocacyProjects

Micro-creditAdvocacyProjects

Cultural ModelCultural Model

Pre-modern Cultural contingency

Cultural differences; civilizational differences;

Policies based on understanding of a unified nature - how much do anthropologists inform understanding of poverty?

Pre-modern Cultural contingency

Cultural differences; civilizational differences;

Policies based on understanding of a unified nature - how much do anthropologists inform understanding of poverty?

Other regions in the world - multiplicities of indigenous peoples

How have cultures contended with colonization and modernity

Other regions in the world - multiplicities of indigenous peoples

How have cultures contended with colonization and modernity


Marshall SahlinsMarshall Sahlins"Hunters and gatherers have by force of

circumstances an objectively low standard of living. but taken as their objective, and given their adequate means of production, all the people's material wants usually can easily be satisfied (a common understanding of 'affluence'). ... The world's most primitive people have few possessions, but they are not poor. Poverty is not a certain small amount of goods, nor is it just a relation between means and ends; above all it is a relation between people. Poverty is a social status. As such it is an invention of (modern) civilization."

"Hunters and gatherers have by force of circumstances an objectively low standard of living. but taken as their objective, and given their adequate means of production, all the people's material wants usually can easily be satisfied (a common understanding of 'affluence'). ... The world's most primitive people have few possessions, but they are not poor. Poverty is not a certain small amount of goods, nor is it just a relation between means and ends; above all it is a relation between people. Poverty is a social status. As such it is an invention of (modern) civilization."

NATURE HITS BACK?We see the environment as what

we “use” but our daily habits, interactions, architecture changes the environment.

Environmental degradation goes hand in hand with the homogenization and unification of cultures and the desire to consume in a single manner.

NATURE HITS BACK?We see the environment as what

we “use” but our daily habits, interactions, architecture changes the environment.

Environmental degradation goes hand in hand with the homogenization and unification of cultures and the desire to consume in a single manner.


TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS 1. Keep the connection between micro

and macro: case studies should be used for generalizations

2. Focus on a single region or country or have the student do so

3. Have the student tie this in with his/her language class, literature, science

4. Learning more about a place will generate love and ownership

5. Have the student do a creative project;a video, narrative, poem, song – encourage action

TEACHING TIPS TEACHING TIPS 1. Suggest that the student should make

a pen friend in the country 2. Encourage Study Abroad to

destinations other than Western Europe

3. Teach about heroes that fought poverty

4. Explain global resource scarcity and the impossibility of a global American lifestyle

5. Encourage involvement with a NGO or charity organization; encourage the act of giving to make a difference

Documents

BUILDING GLOBAL CITIZENRY THROUGH TEACHING ABOUT POVERTY