Department of Economics

Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences

Economic and Development Problems in South Africa and Africa

Session 4 – Aid Debate

• Fishbowl discussion• Opening statements• Discussion• Questions• Closing statements

• Watch Intelligence2 debate• Critique presentations

• Discuss the article reviews

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Aims for today

Aid – discussion 10 Aug

Countries1. Bono2. Morgan Tsvangirai3. Dambisa Moyo4. Nancy Birdsall5. Jeffrey Sachs6. William Easterly7. Paul Kagame8. Jeffrey Sachs

You are presenting THEIR views, not yours. The whole group must participate but the group must have a spokesperson (must be different from country-presentation spokesperson)

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Fishbowl debate

• It is your responsibility to make sure that your group has some time in the fishbowl.

• Quality not quantity

• Dialogue NOT monologue

• Good etiquette in discussion/debate:• Show you understand the

opposing views.• Show how your views fit into the

wider discourse by referring to what others have said.

• Don’t talk over people.• Don’t personalise your comments

– address arguments not people.4

Fishbowl Rules

Fish bowl debate• The students sit in two concentric circles. The tutor is the

facilitator.• There are four chairs in the inner circle (the fish bowl) and

the rest of the chairs in the larger circle.• Choose four students to sit in the fish bowl. The rest sit in

the outer circle. Only the students in the fish bowl are permitted to speak. The others have to be silent and to observe.

• The facilitator instructs the four students in the fish bowl to start discussing the topic.

• At any time someone from the outer circle may move into the fishbowl by tapping one of the existing students in the inner circle on the shoulder. This student must then immediately leave the fishbowl and take a seat in the outer circle. The discussion continues as students move in and out of the fish bowl.

• When the time runs out, the facilitator closes the session by summarising the discussion.

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Fisbowl – motions:

• ‘Aid can end poverty in Africa’

• ‘All non-emergency aid to Africa should be removed by 2016 (within 5 years)’

• ‘To ensure aid is used for good, foreign aid donors should place conditions/restrictions on aid’

• Bill Gates decides that he wants to use $1billion of his personal money to help Africa – what would you say to this? How should he use it?

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Question time ???

• For/Against:• Come up with two questions (not statements)

that you would like to ask the other group

• Countries:• Come up with 2 questions (not statements)

that you would like to ask either group (you can split them or ask the same question twice)

{15 minutes}

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Concluding statement

• Write a brief summary (1 paragraph) of what you believe.

• Write one paragraph of what you believe were the main issues of contention in the fishbowl.

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Article Reviews

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15%

How I want you to review the articles/chapters:

• Maximum 500 words (-5% for every 20 words over)• Summarize the main arguments/content of the

article• Give some evaluation of it (think critically about it)

• What is the main argument?• What is the nature of the article? Quantitative/qualitative,

historical, an overview, a rebuttal etc• Does the author present both sides of the argument? Is it

biased?• What are the strong and weak points of the article?• Has the author changed your views and/or way of thinking?

How?• {You don’t have to address all of these – just 2 or 3}

• Remember that you are being marked on your judgment skills – what is/is-not important? What to mention /what to leave out? What do YOU think they have done well/badly? How could they improve etc

Article Reviews

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Two reviews:

1. ‘How Africa became Black: The history of Africa” Ch19 in Guns Germs and Steel (Jared Diamond 1997) -24 Aug (!)

2. ‘What we know about AIDS’ Nattrass 2010 – 28 Sept

15%

Remember that you are being marked on your judgment skills • What is/is-not important? • What to mention /what to leave out? • What do YOU think they have done well/badly? • How could they improve • etc.