Brief History of Transnational and Make History Poverty - Research Paper Example

Sociology 18 February Over the past two decades, people around the world are organizing transnational movementsand campaigns to oppose the negative developmental aspects of globalization and/or to implement alternative development practices. Choose one transnational movement or campaign to answer the following question: Was it successful in achieving its goals of addressing inequalities and/or fostering human development? Progress Report: 1. Subject: Transnational movements are the movements in which the members, organizations or course of actions transcend across more than just one nation. The idea of transnational movement is to tackle social problems across the globe. The emergence of these kinds of movements can be linked to the emergence of a globalized community due to the advancement in information and communication technologies. These movements mainly tackle problems related to social inequalities, women’s right, human rights issues, crime, global justice, poverty and even the indigenous peoples’ movement. One of the transnational movements, which have recently addressed the problem across international platform, is Make Poverty History (MPH). Make poverty History (MPH) is a transnational movement as it exists in a number of countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Finland, Norway, Romania, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, Canada and Ireland. This is an anti-poverty movement and concentrates on making the world a poverty free place by providing aid to poor people. The campaign is normally an alliance of aid and growth agencies which work together to increase consciousness of global poverty and attain policy alteration by the government. Although the various campaigns method focuses on various different types of issues according to the situation in their country, they normally focus on issues regarding 8th Millennium Growth Goal for example justice, aid and trade. “Make Poverty History movement for more aid, debt relief and trade justice, how ordinary people inspired by hope and a sense of what they can achieve, do get politicians and world leaders to act” (Spanner 45). In additions development agencies are also working, to raise awareness of global poverty. 2. Tentative Thesis Statement: Poverty and the problems related to it such as unemployment, social inequalities, poor infrastructure as well as the lack of basic necessities in today’s world are a real. It has also been a long part of the global problem. Throughout the world, poverty has been an issue of all countries. Make poverty History (MPH) is truly a transnational movement at its best as this campaign aims at ordinary people and focuses on the solution of the major issues of joblessness, poverty and income discriminations and the associated issues of unemployment, economic discrimination, poor community infrastructure and incapability to access basic requirements and services have for long been component of the international community. 3. Discussion of the Three Most Important Academic Courses in the Bibliography: According to Diane Coyle in his book called, “the soulful science: what economists really do and why it matters” says that, poverty is the one of the problems faced by the some countries. The treatment for this poverty helps to the economic growth of the country. The writer explores that, Make Poverty History is the one of the campaign method that helps to identify the various causes of poverty and various methods of overcome these problem in the country. This source is exyermely useful for to complete the essay as it gives an in-depth study about the campaigns used by Make History Poverty and how these campaigns worked to bring about social issues to the society. “The summer of 2005 was marker by a sustained campaign to “Make Poverty History” by increasing aid spending by rich governments on poor countries, and cancelling the foreign debts owned by governments of some of the world’s poorest economies” (Coyle 68). The writer stands on the fact that Make Poverty History was an excellent campaign and that it demonstrates the possibilities of a cosmopolitan orientation to the mass within in addition to beyond the national borders. And also the writer says that, also stated that the Make Poverty History campaign drew the awareness of the media and as such it paved a method for the exploration of the appearance of the worldwide citizenship. The article “The Africanization of poverty: A retrospective on Make poverty history” written by Dr. Graham Harrison of Sheffield University concentrates on the way in which the British campaign coalition ‘Make Poverty History’ (MKH) represented Africa all through the year 2005. This focuses on how the Make Poverty History functions and how the campaign overclouded the issue of global poverty by the Africanization of the campaign. The author argues that Make Poverty History is a success to a certain extent. At the same time, the author points out the limitations that it has as a transnational movement. He also illustrates the fact that the limitations are derived from the increasing associations of the campaigns in Africa. The main issue is the association of Africa with poverty and the fact that it represents strong values of charity for majority of the British people. Due to the involvement of these organizations, the Global poverty became synonymous of the African issue. The year 2005 became the “year of the Africa”. As a result of this message triggered by the Make Poverty History, Africa became a permanent figure as a continent in need of outside assistance. Dr. Graham Harrison also advocates that the Africanization of the campaigns by Make Poverty History dilutes the strong message of social injustice. It makes poverty an issue only in African continent as a result of the increasing association of Africa and poverty. The third source of information for this essay is an article, “Where to now… to make poverty History” issued by the Global express. This source is useful for my essay as it gives an in-depth study about the Make Poverty History and gives details the work done and the brief history of the organization. “‘Going Digital’ is the new buzz word in the campaign to make information poverty history in Africa. Cyberorganisers are reaching out to village headmen in Nigeria, School teachers in Tanzania, and media journalists in Mozambique” (Blair). The article discusses that what happened at the G8 summit in 2005 and gives details about the results of the summit. It also reports about the G8 summit promised to increase the aid to 50 billion US dollars. “The effect of make poverty campaign was abundantly obvious in the United Kingdom during 2005” (Rugendyke 2). However, the Make Poverty History argues that the aid given by the G8 summit as well as the delivery of the aid falls short of promise made by the UN. It also concentrates on how the Make Poverty History is concerned about the aid promised by the G8 summit. “MAKE POVERTY HISTORY (MPH) was formed to mobilize around the key opportunities in driving forward the struggle against poverty and injustice. 2005 was chosen for it as it provided the unique opportunity of three summit meeting of world leader: • G8 Summit, Gleneagles, Scotland, and July 2005• UN Summit, New York, September 2005• World Trade Organization Ministerial Meeting, Hong Kong, December 2005” (Make Poverty History 2). These incidents are ideal for reference and also to publicize the works and aims of Make Poverty History. 4. Outline: Title: Over the past two decades people around the world are organizing transnational movements and campaigns to oppose the negative developmental aspects of globalization and / or to implement alternative development practices. 1. Introduction: Brief History of Transnational and Make History Poverty 2. Thesis statement: How and why Make Poverty History (MPH) is successful in countries. 3. Body- It includes review of three literatures that support the study. 4. Conclusion- Brief summary about the study. a. Closing statement b. Restatement of thesis. 5. Bibliography: It contains various different sources to support the study. Bibliography Blair, Thomas L. The Audacity of Cyberspace. Cambridge International Academics Press. 2008. Print. Coyle, Diane. The Soulful Science: What Economists Really Do and Why It Matters. Princeton University Press. 2010. Print. Harrison, Graham. Legacy of Making Poverty History was to ‘Africanize’ Poverty. Panos London Illuminating Voices. 2005. Web. 27 January 2012. Harrison, Graham. The Africanization of Poverty: A Retrospective on ‘Make Poverty History’. African Affairs. 2010. 109 (436). Print. Make Poverty History. Global Express. 2005. Web. 27 January 2012. Rugendyke, Barbara. Make Poverty History. Routledge. 2007. Print. Spanner, Huw. Third Way: Christian Comment on Culture. Vol. 31. Sovereign Gold. 2008. Print. 6. Questions/ problems: The additional academic question about the topic is whether Make Poverty History campaign is doing the right thing by concentrating too much on Africa and whether they are doing enough to eradicate poverty across the globe. Research Essay: Introduction: Transnational means extending or going beyond national boundaries. Transnational movements are the movements in which the members, organizations or course of actions transcend across more than just one nation. Transnational movement aims to eradicate social evils that prevail all over the world. It does not have any boundary and works across the globe to address the global problems of the time. One of the most active transnational movements today is the Make Poverty History Foundation. Make Poverty History campaigns to address poverty as a social injustice. The Make Poverty History was started in October 2003, to address the G8 summit in 2005. “It's not enough to simply care about what's happening in the world—we must act. It's easy to do, and the benefits keep rippling outward long after that first gesture is made. As part of an active, engaged anti-poverty movement that is raising its global voice and calling for an end to the needless suffering that results from unequal access to resources and a lack of imagination for a better future” (Act). It focuses on poverty as a mass human condition. It is truly a transnational movement at its best as this campaign aims at ordinary people and focuses on the solution of “the major problems of unemployment, poverty and income inequalities and the related problems of unemployment, economic inequality, poor social infrastructure and inability to access basic needs and services have for long been part of the international community” (Make Poverty History par. 1). Make Poverty History campaigns are believed to be one of the most effective campaigns in the world. It brings new meanings to such campaigns. Short Films such as “Click’ and “Drop the debt” were released to educate the people about the devastating impacts of poverty. Both the short films concentrated on the issues of Africa and how/ what people can do to improve their conditions. Thesis Statement: Poverty and the problems related to it such as unemployment, social inequalities, poor infrastructure as well as the lack of basic necessities in today’s world are a real. It has also been a long part of the global problem. Poverty affects billions of people across the world and it is sad to see that it mostly affects children. Make poverty History (MPH) is truly a transnational movement at its best as this campaign aims at ordinary people and focuses on the solution of the major issues of joblessness, poverty and income discriminations and the associated issues of unemployment, economic discrimination, poor community infrastructure and incapability to access basic requirements and services have for long been component of the international community. The Make Poverty History brings to forefront on how and why the developed countries should formulate policies and established assistance for the third world countries who are struggling to make a minimum wages. Make Poverty History is successful in achieving its goals of addressing inequalities and / or fostering human development. With the pressure put forward by the Make poverty History campaigns, G8 nations recognized that emerging nations have the right to make a decision, plan and series their financial plans to fit with their own growth strategies. This is a huge step to eradicate the gap between the rich and the poor countries and this also enables the poorer countries to make their own decisions regarding their finance. “All UK political parties are committed to maintain the aid target of spending 0.7% of national income on aid. The government is also committed to no longer making UK bilateral aid conditional on recipient governments making specific economic policy decisions.” (Make Poverty History: Achievements par. 7). The main aim of Make History poverty is to increase foreign aid to the third world countries, to remove trade restrictions from the poor countries and to remove the heavy debts of the developing countries so that they can have a fair chance of survival. Dr. Graham Harrison at Sheffield University in his article on “The Africanization of poverty: A retrospective on ‘Make poverty history’” writes about the way in which the British campaign coalition Make Poverty History (MKH) characterized Africa throughout the year 2005. He says that, Make Poverty History’s increasing association with Africa was the result of the then prime minister Tony Blair’s Africa Commission in 2005, the BBC’s “Year of Africa” programmes and various celebrity supports such as those prepared by Bob Geldof. Graham also stated that the Africanization of the campaigns by Make Poverty History dilutes the strong message of social injustice. It makes poverty an issue only in African continent as a result of the increasing association of Africa and poverty. In his recent interview he states that, “Make Poverty History was successful in the way it brought a very widespread but fleeting awareness of African poverty. It was less successful in moving beyond this major political push which was focused on the G8 in Gleneagles” (Harrison).. The campaigns oppose the negative developmental aspects of globalization and / or to implement alternative development practices. It opposes the negative development aspects of globalization such as trade justice. The rich countries in the world are spending more on their agricultural subsidies for their own farmers. In these trade rules sometimes the developing countries are forced to remove trade barriers which affect their economy. “Over $25 million each day is paid by the world’s poorest countries to the world’s richest countries. A debt that will never be paid off and so no hope of economic recovery for these poorer countries” (Make Poverty History Campaign- What Now). Make History foundation aims to reduce these debts so that the poor countries can have better living conditions without being bound by these debts. As mentioned above, the main goal of Make History poverty is to eradicate poverty. “The first Millennium Development Goal on poverty is to cut by half the proportion of people living on less than one dollar a day by 2015 - which, if achieved, would still leave hundreds of millions of people living below the one-dollar threshold” (O’Neill). Through these campaigns one can observe that many changes have been implemented to give the third world countries a chance to make a better life. “World leaders adopted the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 with the goal of halving the number of people who were living in extreme poverty by the 2015. With less than five years left to achieve these goals, we need a redoubling of efforts if we are to keep the promise made to the worlds poor” (Why I am Voting to Make Poverty History par. 5). The G8 summit made a promise that there will be an increase in the Aid given to Africa by doubling the Aid effective from 2010. “The G8 is also known as the "Group of Eight" and refers to Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the UK and the US. It was previously known as the G7 before Russia joined the group in 2002” (Make Poverty History Campaign). Conclusion: Make Poverty History knows that eradicating poverty is a serious challenge and as such it should be addressed not only to the third world countries or the developing countries but to the developed countries as well. Poverty cannot be wiped out by a single effort and it needs to be done by every countries involved. Make Poverty History aims to give the poor countries a fair chance of growing economically without the impositions of the developed countries. It aims at ordinary people and focuses on the solution of problems which affects everyone such as unemployment, poverty, social injustice and the inability to access basic needs. It advocates on making the world a poverty free place by providing aid and development agencies to raise awareness of the global poverty. Through Make History Poverty, the solutions of many of the problems of poverty have been tackled. Works Cited Act. Make Poverty History Canada. 2010. Print. Harrison, Graham. Legacy of Making Poverty History was to ‘Africanize’ Poverty. Panos London Illuminating Voices. 2005. Web. 27 January 2012. Harrison, Graham. The Africanization of Poverty: A Retrospective on ‘Make Poverty History’. African Affairs. 2010. 109 (436). Print. Make Poverty History Campaign. n.d. Print. Make Poverty History Campaign- What Now. Students.com. 2001. Web. 24 March 2012. Make Poverty History. Global Express. 2005. Web. 27 January 2012. Make Poverty History: Achievements. 2005. Web. 26 January 2012. O’Neill, Brendan. Should We Make ‘Make Poverty History’ History? Spiked. 2005. Web. 24 March 2012. Why I am Voting to Make Poverty History. Make Poverty History.ca. 2011. Web. 24 March 2012. Read More