OPTIONAL THEME:
KNOWLEDGE AND POLITICS:
TEN MOST PRESSING WORLD PROBLEMS
The Indian Ocean, just east of the island of Madagascar, as seen from the Gemini-6 spacecraft. Photo: NASA
READY, FIRE… AIM!
This lively class activity assumes minimal prior political knowledge. With zero warning or opportunity for research, students are required to collaborate and reach some live consensus on value judgments about urgent and complex global issues.
Whatever each student’s level of political engagement in their lives so far, the moment they plunge into the activity they will be confronted with the urgency and relevance of politics on the global stage. Like it or not: they are already in medias res—inextricably embodied and embedded in the thick of the action! The intention here is rapidly to set the frame for students exploring meta-questions about their own relationship to local, national and global politics, as knowers and thinkers.
CLASS ACTIVITY
Jump right into this progressive activity without preliminary discussion.
1. Working alone (8 minutes)
Think very carefully; then list the 10 most pressing problems in the world.
2. Working in pairs (5 minutes)
[If there is an odd number of students make a triad.]
Students collaborate on combining their lists. There can only be 10 problems on the final collaborative list. To save time students should simply make edits to what they mutually decide is the stronger of the two lists.
3. Keeping pairs intact, working in groups of four (4 minutes)
[If there is an odd number of pairs form a sextet.]
Again students collaborate on combining their lists. There can only be 10 problems on the final list. Again make edits on the strongest list. A spokesperson should be appointed for each group.
4. Working in two large groups (3 minutes)
[Combine intact fours and sextets to make roughly evenly sized groups.]
Again students argue and collaborate on combining their lists. There can only be 10 problems on the final collaborative list. Again make edits on the stronger lists. A spokesperson should be appointed for each group. Only the spokespersons can speak at this stage.
5. Whole class initial consolidation. (3 minutes)
For the last time, the same spokespersons collaborate on combining the lists. Again, there can only be 10 problems on this final, whole class list. Non-spokespersons are silent witnesses at this stage. They will have a chance speak later.
6. Whole class holistic discussion
Spokespersons become the silent witnesses for this stage of the activity. Appoint a student to lead this discussion. When the class is settled; write the final list of 10 problems on an erasable whiteboard (or digitally on a Smart Board). The leader should ask if the class is broadly comfortable with the collaborative list. Then he/she should solicit any “runners up” that were eliminated during the earlier stages of the activity but did not make the list. Allow 3 “runners up” only. Write them down below the main list. The leader should facilitate ordered discussion to determine whether or not a “runner up” should replace a problem in the main list.
GENERATIVE QUESTIONS
What were the constraints for this activity? Did the constraints enhance or detract from getting to a satisfactory final product?
To what extent do individuals have the power to resolve any of these problems?
Is finding solutions to the problems on your list helped or hindered by political disagreements within countries?
Which problems would require nation states to think beyond their borders in order to find collaborative solutions?
To what extent is specialized expertise necessary to solve these problems?
Did any aspect of religious or indigenous knowledge make the list?
So, in your view, what is the single most pressing problem in the world today?
In July 2017 claims of corruption grew louder resulting in protests against South African president Jacob Zuma.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, talks to the US president, Barack Obama, at Elmau castle in Germany during a G7 summit. 8 June 2015. Photo source: Michael Kappeler/EPA.
CLASS ACTIVITY: WORLD DEMOCRACY INDEX
Begin by a class viewing of the Economist Democracy Index 2019 video.
The four categories for the 167 countries rated in the survey:
Full democracies
Flawed democracies
Hybrid regimes
Authoritarian regimes
The five measures used for the ratings:
Electoral process and pluralism,
Functioning of government,
Political participation,
Democratic political culture
Civil liberties
Visit Next allow a timed six minutes to allow students to explore the interactive Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index graphic in pairs. When the time is up, unleash free discussion by asking:
What did you find and what are your thoughts?
The following generative questions may or not be necessary to round off discussion:
Given the conventions of evidence and analysis the human sciences, to what extent are the four ratings and the five measures used to calculate them legitimate?
Graphic from the Economist Intelligence Unit World Democracy Index 2019.
IS THE ECONOMIST A BIASED SOURCE?
Invite students to decide for themselves. Here is how The Economist itself answers the FAQ, “Is The Economist left- or right-wing?”
“Neither. The Economist’s starting-point is that government should remove power and wealth from individuals only when it has an excellent reason to do so. When The Economist opines on new ideas and policies, it does so on the basis of their merits, not of who supports or opposes them. The result is a position that is neither right nor left but a blend of the two, drawing on the classical liberalism of the 19th century and coming from what we like to call the radical centre.”