the
path to development |
Level 3 |
Theme M |
Throughout history there have been movements
of peoples all over Europe with a constant meeting and
mixing of different groups, races and cultures. Thus the
multi-cultural dimension of our present societies in not
a recent phenomenon. However, today we under threat from
racism, xenophobia, anti-semitism and intolerance.
The victims of racism and xenophobia are
usually immigrants and refugees and consequently it is
often argued that the rise in racism and xenophobia is
the result of the global economic crisis and that the
problem is therefore an economic one. This may be part
of the argument, but it is not the only one. There are
clear links between the dominant model of economic development
and immigration and refugee movements but ethnocentrism
and aggressive nationalism may also be a cause of immigration.
This activity helps players understand
how international economic relations between North and
South forces people to leave their country of origin and
how wealthy European countries contribute to the displacement
of people by perpetuating the imbalance of North/South
relations.
Issues addressed
• North-South relations and
the imbalance governing them.
• The interdependence between
people and countries in the North and the South.
• Development models and their
consequences.
• Economic relations as one
contributory factor in the development of racism and xenophobia.
• Solidarity, equality, world
history.
Aims of the activity
• To develop an understanding
that the imbalance in North-South relations is one of
the factors which forces people to seek better living
conditions in other countries.
• To understand the interdependence
between countries and peoples.
• To understand racism and
xenophobia as part of a global problem.
Time
Two hours in total. 75 minutes for the
game and 45 minutes for the debriefing and evaluation.
Group size:
Minimum 4 people, maximum 40
Preparation
Equipment needed for each team:
• Game board (a photocopy enlargement
will do very well).
• Four round counters (made
of cardboard, about 2 cm in diameter), one yellow and
the three others of different colours e.g. brown, green
and blue.
• One dice.
• Photocopy and cut up the
sheet of action cards. If possible place them in a little
box.
• Seventy dried beans, pieces
of macaroni or similar to serve as tokens (to represent
resources).
Instructions
• Divide the participants into
four teams. They can play as individuals, if the group
is small.
• To share out the counters
between the groups: put the counters in a hat and ask
someone from each team to take one. This ensures that
it is pure chance which team plays with which colour.
• Share out the beans. Give
the team playing yellow seven beans and the teams playing
with brown, green and blue tokens 21 beans each (this
distribution corresponds roughly to the distribution of
natural resources between the countries of the North and
South).
• Ask one member of each team
in turn to throw the dice to see who starts playing first.
• Read out the rules of the
game
• Check that everyone knows
what to do, then let the games begin.
Debriefing and evaluation
At the end of the game ask each team to
look back at the route they took, the squares they stopped
on and what happened there.
If there are any squares that no team
landed on read out the action card to see what would have
happened.
Follow on with a discussion about how
the players felt and what they learnt:
• How did it feel to be 'yellow'?
How did it feel to be "brown", "green"
or "blue".
• Are there any similarities
between this game and reality?
• Where is it exaggerated?
• Do the problems and issues
raised occur in reality?
• Who does the "yellow
counter represent? And the other ones?
• Can we say that those represented
by the yellow counter are only present in the North?
• Are those represented by
the other counters found only in the South?
• Who benefits, both in the
North and in the South, from the present world system?
• Can we talk of a "dominant
development model" which can serve as the best one
for all situations, countries and peoples?
• What are the characteristics,
according to this game, of the present "dominant
development model"? Is this a feasible "model"
in the sense that it can suit in practice all men and
women, all peoples on this planet? In the future, would
a sustainable development model be possible? What might
it be like?
• What are the links between
this situation and attitudes of racism and discrimination?
Is it fair to say, for instance, that immigrants come
to our countries to take our money and resources?
Tips for the facilitator
When playing with groups, the game works
best if there is a minimum of four people and a maximum
of eight per group.
On square 49, the group playing yellow
may change the rules in any way they like. It is assumed
that they will want to change the rules for their own
advantage. They could make the other teams go back
to the start, take all their beans, make the other teams
miss the next 3 goes. If they decide to change the rules
to make things fairer you should point out that politically
this is a very difficult thing to do as they will have
to convince the electorate. It will be a very unpopular
policy and they will have to explain how they intend to
implement it while avoiding great social unrest at home.
Suggestions for follow up
Make a list of things you can do to improve
the economic situation in the South e.g. buy fair-traded
goods, campaign for political change.
Make a list of things you can do to improve
the situation at home e.g. participate in the development
of local community projects, support small local businesses,
boycott firms which behave unethically.
Consider just how much you really know
about the issues raised in this game. Do you find that
it's hard to obtain accurate, independent information
and that news reports often don't tell the whole story?
You can explore this further in two activities 'Media
biases' and 'Making the news'.
The group may like to think about peace
as an essential part of development. The activity 'Living
in a perfect world' in Compass leads to reflection
about three aspects of being at peace: inner peace, peace
with others and peace with the environment.
Rules of the game
Explain that there are games in which
the rules are not the same for everybody. That is what
happens in this game too. The advantages and disadvantages
on the path to development are different for the different
teams. This may seem unfair, but we have not invented
the rules of this game, we copied them, as faithfully
as possible, from reality. Chance determines who plays
with which colour counter. In reality, this is not determined
by chance, but by historic, geographic, economic or cultural
factors that set the obstacles and the possibilities that
each country and people will meet on their way to development.
You play this game like an ordinary
board game
• Tell the teams to take turns
at throwing the dice and then to move as many squares
as the number on the dice.
• If you fall on an action
square take the corresponding action card and follow the
instructions.
• Explain that the instructions
written in normal type font are the instructions for the
team playing with yellow tokens and those written in italic
are the instructions for the teams playing with the brown,
green or blue tokens.
• The first time a team lands
on an action square ask them to read out all the instructions
on the card. Subsequently, they need only read out the
instructions relevant to their team.
• Tell players they must always
follow the instructions and move and/or pay up as directed.
• If a team has no beans because
they have given away all they have, they must borrow from
the team, which has the most, and as soon as possible
pay back what they borrowed.
• The rules of the game may
not be changed unless it is with the full agreement of
all the groups playing or unless there is a special order
to do so on one of the action cards.
ACTION CARDS
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Square 3: "Colonisers and
the colonised"
In the past (and may be
still now although in different ways) your country
has colonised others from which you got wealth and
raw materials. Consequently, you can forward one
square and collect a bean from each of the other
teams.
In the past (and maybe
still now, although in different ways) your country
was colonized by others. They took away your wealth
and raw materials. Consequently, your team is a
bit farther from the goal of development and you
must give one bean to the team with the yellow token.
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Square 7: "Health for development"
You have reached a level
of development that enables you to have a good level
of health care, a reduced infant mortality rate,
fewer epidemics, prolonged life expectancy, etc.
Therefore, you can move forward one square forward.
Your levels of health
care are very low or non-existent. Cholera, AIDS
and other diseases, together with a high child mortality
rate and a low life expectancy, affect a large proportion
of your population which sets you back from your
development goal. Go back 2 squares
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Square 10: "Population
explosion"
You have managed to control
the birth rate, thus keeping the population growth
rates at a stable or even decreasing level. You
therefore enjoy a good, general level of standard
of living. Move forward two squares.
You have high levels
of population growth and low levels of economic
growth and therefore face greater problems meeting
even the basic needs of so many people. Move two
squares back, getting further away from development.
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Square 12: "War and violence"
You possess a strong arms
industry. Your growing sales of arms to other countries
means you are getting richer. The other teams each
pay you three beans and you move forward one square.
Internal social tensions
and the human rights abuse and repression that goes
with it often leads to guerrilla warfare, civil
war, war with neighbouring countries, etc. Consequently,
large numbers of people have sought refuge elsewhere
or have been displaced.
Because of the security
situation you have to keep a large army and have
a high military budget. Give two beans to the team
playing with the yellow counter and miss your next
two turns.
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Square 16: "The urban revolution"
Your big cities have become
financial and industrial centres of major importance
with big profits being made in property and financial
speculation. Move forward three squares.
The impoverishment
of the countryside has forced many farmers to emigrate
to the cities thereby creating large areas of misery
in the urban shanty towns which add to your difficulties.
Lack of opportunities means you lose your best
workers and scientists who emigrate to countries
where the work, pay and living conditions are better.
Move back two squares.
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Square 18: "Men, Women
and Hunger"
Improvements in food production
and storage ensure that there is always plenty.
Although the long-term effects of colourants and
preservatives used in food production are unknown,
the fact is that food is always available. You could
therefore move forward one square. However, since
you have also to face the problems of large surpluses
some of which you have to destroy in order not to
ruin the market, you stay where you are.
Drought, desertification,
the over use of the soils, the misuse of modern
means of cultivating the land and the fact that
you have to sell most of what you produce to repay
your country's debt, makes the food shortages more
acute and famine is on the rise. Miss your next
turn.
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Square 21: "Informal economy
and hidden unemployment"
The automation and restructuring
of industry increases the underlying levels of unemployment.
You have to devote resources to subsidising the
unemployed. For this reason you should go back one
square, but because the global benefits of trade
are on the rise, you keep where you are.
The absence, aging
or destruction of your industrial base and the crisis
in your agricultural production, means that the
jobless population and the underground economy is
growing. Go back two squares.
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Square 24: "Education for
development"
A large sector of your
population has access to secondary and higher education,
which favours development. You also benefit by offering
places in your Institutions of Higher Education
to foreign students from whom you charge pay high
fees. They come because of the lack of opportunities
at home and then often stay to contribute their
skills to your economy. Move forward one square
and collect one bean from each of the other teams.
Illiteracy and the
lack of secondary education for most of the population
means you go back four squares.
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Square 27: "A hole in the
atmosphere"
Your industries damage
the environment for example, by the extraction of
raw resources, by the pollution caused during
processing and by the disposal of wastes. As a result
the ozone layer is depleted, there is climate change
and other catastrophes occur as a consequence of
development. You wish to protect your local environment
and find that the costs of extraction are too high
or the processes too polluting. You therefore transfer
your more harmful industrial plants to poorer countries
and exploit their natural resources. Move forward
two squares.
You face natural disasters
as a consequence of environmental destruction. The
droughts become more common and longer. Polluting
industries settle in your countries, your natural
resources are exported to other countries. Move
one square back in your development.
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Square 30: "Technological
revolution"
The technological revolution
allows you new possibilities for development. Furthermore,
the export market for new technology is highly profitable.
The other teams each give you two beans and you
move forward one square.
The technological revolution
is passing you by. Go back three squares or you
may buy some new technology from the team playing
with the yellow counter. Anything you want to buy
will cost you three beans.
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Square 34: "The end of
ideology"
Congratulations, the Free
Market has triumphed over all other ideologies.
It is the end of History. There are no more obstacles
to your full development. Move forward two squares.
You are left without
any alternative. The Free Market imposes its rules
and laws on you. Social exclusion and marginalisation
lead to the expansion of fundamentalist and radical
movements. Social unrest is repressed. Because this
frightens foreign investors you will miss your next
turn.
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Square 37: "At the end
there is always the International Monetary Fund".
The IMF backs up your
economic policies and supports your investment policies
of buying out public enterprises and services of
the poor countries as a contribution to their "development".
These measures provide you with substantial
benefits and profits. Each of the other teams gives
you two beans as repayments on your investment.
You move forward two squares.
The IMF imposes an
economic policy of structural adjustment on you.
Consequently, you must sell your public services
and enterprises. Unemployment increases and large
sectors of your population fall below the poverty
line. You pay the team with a yellow counter two
beans as payment for interest on your foreign debt..
Move back two squares
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Square 40: "International
development aid"
You must share equally
1% of the beans you now hold amongst all the other
teams (if you have to cut some beans, do it). You
join with the international development aid organisations
to discuss the global situation and move forward
one square.
You receive some bean
from the team playing with the yellow counter as
a low-interest loan for development. However,
you have to agree to spend it on "goods and
equipment" bought from them. You could now
move forward one square, but since you will have
to pay two beans as interest on your re-scheduled
debt to the team with the yellow counter, you stay
where you are. And don't forget to pay the two beans!
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Square 42: "A global communication
culture"
The communication revolution
and the development of the audio-visual entertainment
industry allow your social and cultural values to
extend throughout the world. Simultaneously your
stock market shares rise astronomically. You move
forward two squares and receive from each of the
other teams one bean to pay for your cultural products
and information services.
The communication revolution
means that foreign western culture and values become
increasingly pervasive. You begin to loose your
own cultural identity while models of development
and communication, which have nothing to do with
your own culture and history, become generally accepted.
You stay on your square, sitting in front of the
television and miss your next turn.
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Square 44: "New migrations,
new segregations"
The growing immigration
of poor people from countries of the South in search
of a better life forces you to allocate extra resources
to deal with immigrants who are arriving in your
country. If you want to move forward one square,
you must give each of the other teams one bean as
'aid'.
The growing emigration
towards the richer Northern countries includes a
'brain drain' of those who are better skilled and
academically qualified. Go back three squares.
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Square 46: "Cutting forests
and extinguishing species"
Your high levels of consumption
force you to exploit new resources in other regions
of the planet. This contributes to the disappearance
of large areas of forests and numerous animal and
plant species. If you played in the interests of
all the teams and not only in your own, you should
move back a few squares, share your money to correct
previous mistakes, and change the rules of the game.
But, since this is not the way to do things in a
competitive world, and because you still have time
and a chance, move forward one more square.
Your natural resources
are being exploited and you don't get any of the
profit to enable you to develop. Desertification
spreads, the climate changes and famine grows. You
try to do what you can to protect your environment
but the international institutions criticise your
environmental policies. Move back one square and
give one bean to the team playing with yellow counter.
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Square 49: "A new order
. . . for that which you wish to order"
You may now change the
rules of the game in whatever way you wish to enable
you to get to your goal as quickly as possible.
If any other player or team protests or wants to
interfere with this 'new order' of things, they
must give you all their beans. Move forward two
squares.
Try to adapt to the
new order and don't resist. With a bit of luck the
new order being created will not set you back too
far on the path to development. As a precaution
you miss your next turn.
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Square 52: "Death"
The risk of a deep economic
recession is a serious threat to your development
model. If you don't want to start the game from
zero again, the only option left is to squeeze the
last drop out of the other teams' players and take
two beans from each on account of debt interests.
And so no one can say that you get all the advantages,
move back one square.
The fall in price of
raw materials and the rise in interest rates on
your debt provoke a severe economic recession. Move
back one decade or, in the terms of this game, start
again at the beginning of the path to development.
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Square 54: "Development"
You were really lucky
to have the yellow counter! You have reached your
goal of development. You can be sure that all the
other teams will be far away from this goal and
that, whatever they do, no one will be able to reach
it. It is also certain that you own and control
almost all the money and resources and that there
is not much left for the others. Life for you is
very pleasant. However, there are threats for the
future: the natural resources are vanishing or degraded,
the air is poisoned, so is the water and the land
is becoming a desert. Famine and despair are growing
in many parts of the world. Some immigrants try
to flee misery to reach your comfortable, developed
world. But in spite of all, keep enjoying your development
while you can.
If you have any colour token
other than yellow, you either have had incredible
luck or you must have cheated. Otherwise, it is
impossible, for anyone not playing with a yellow
counter, to reach this stage of the game because
development is reserved for the very privileged
few. If many people were to reach this stage, it
would be necessary to share the limited resources
more widely, and those who now enjoy the benefits
would have to give all, or most of them, up. And
this would be very unlikely because, it's they,
the few, who set the rules of the game.
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