Posted: February 10th, 2015

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DUE December 14

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made… Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom.”

Nelson Mandela

Our class discussions on poverty have been closely associated with what Nelson Mandela said in his 2005 speech on poverty. We have watched some parts of the documentary, “The End of Poverty?” in class and discussed the history of poverty in the world.

This documentary can be accessed at:

By focusing on the first 25 minutes and the last 25 minutes of the documentary, answer the following questions:

1) Why is there so much poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America?
2) Why are there sharp socio-economic differences between the western countries and the rest of the world?
3) Do the multinational corporations, the IMF and the World Bank help to reduce poverty and create jobs in poor countries?
4) What is the relationship between violence and social inequalities?
5) What is the relationship between overcoming poverty and freedom and justice?
6) What are some of the solutions proposed by the documentary to overcome poverty?