Power and poverty, a critical understanding
A session exploring the scale of inequality between Scotland and Malawi (the global north and the global south), some of the structural causes of poverty and the continuing relationship between poverty and power. It highlights some of the challenges of having an equitable relationship where there is a power imbalance and the difference between equity and equality. It helps learners identify continuing global injustices and power imbalances which can reinforce poverty and gives practical examples of how this can be challenged through activism. Examples include: Malawi’s role in SADC and the UN LDC group, and the injustice inherent in different delegation sizes in COP26 and other key global negotiations.
| SMP Learning Outcomes | Learning intention |
|---|---|
| Awareness of the scale of economic and social inequality between Scotland and Malawi, and the human implications of this | I can see how different life is in Scotland to Malawi and I can see the unfairness in this |
| Critical reflections about some of the causes and consequences of poverty, and understanding of why some poor countries can continue to get poorer | I can see there are lots of reasons why people are poor, which are not that person’s fault |
| Critical reflections around the relationship between power and poverty, and how this can become self-fulfilling | I can see that if you are poor, you often don’t have so much power, and if you don’t have power you’re likely to get poorer |
| Basic awareness of steps that can be taken, by individuals and governments to use power to fight for social justice | I can see what could be done, by me and others, to make a fairer system |
Credits and useful resources
Development Education - 'Poverty Explored'
Teaching English - 'Ending Poverty'
Our World in Data.org - 'Extreme Poverty'
World Bank - 'POWER, RIGHTS, AND POVERTY: CONCEPTS AND CONNECTIONS'
'Introduction: Power, Poverty and Inequality'
Oxfam - 'From Poverty to Power: How active citizens and effective states can change the world'
Teacher notes: Introduction to this session:
This webpage gives you all need to know deliver a lesson encouraging a critical understanding of the relationship between poverty and power. The learning resource is made up of three sections, each of which has three learning outcomes. You don’t have to deliver all three, feel free to pick and choose, or just focus on one of these sections.
This is a complex, important and potentially sensitive area. We have written this resource for discussion at a mid to upper secondary level but it can be amended and simplified to make it accessible for lower ages and stages.
The focus in section one is on Scotland and Malawi, as examples of a richer country in the global north and a poorer country in the global south, but the rest of the resource is not country-specific.
There is an accompanying PowerPoint which you can use to deliver this session, editing however you wish.
We’re here to help, so if you want any support, advice or even someone to come and deliver this lesson for you, please just email youth@scotland-malawipartnership.org.
Do No Harm:
In keeping with our Partnership Principle, ‘do no harm’ we encourage teachers in delivering this lesson to be careful they do not unintentionally:
- Reinforce negative stereotypes about the global south.
- Ignore the existence of poverty and inequality in Scotland.
- Leave learners with a sense of helplessness, that there is nothing they can do to fight poverty.
- Encourage ‘white saviour’ ways of thinking: that richer countries can and should set out to ‘save’ poorer countries (see our separate lesson on this topic).
Contents
Explain that you want to explore poverty and power in this lesson, using Scotland and Malawi as an example but first its important to build our understanding of the two nations.
Use the PowerPoint to explore each of the below points of comparison, for each showing learners the figure/data for Scotland and then asking learners whether they think the figure for Malawi is higher or lower.
Landmass:
- Scotland = 77,900 km2 (Wikipedia)
- Malawi = 118,480 (World Data)
- So, Malawi is 52% bigger than Scotland
Population:
- Scotland = 5.5 million (2021, ONS)
- Malawi = 20.3 million (2022, WorldoMeters)
- So, Malawi has almost four times as many people in it
Urban:
- Scotland = 83% of population is urban (2019, Scottish Government)
- Malawi = 18% of population is urban (2021, World Bank). However this is growing at 4.4% a year – this is the 8th fastest urbanisation rate in the world (World Population Review).
- So, Malawi’s population is over 4 x more rural than Scotland’s, but changing fast
Total Income per person (GNI per capita):
- Scotland = £29,629 (2020, Statista)
- Malawi = £548 (2022, MacroTrends)
- So, Scotland has 54x greater income than Malawi
Typical jobs:
- Scotland = Biggest sector is health, social work and retail – 15% (2021, Scottish Government)
- Malawi = Biggest sector is smallholder farming (mostly subsistence) - 80% (USaid)
Age:
- Scotland = Median age is 42 (2020, Statista), life expectancy is 77 (2020, Statista)
- Malawi = Median age is 18 (2020, WorldOMeter), life expectancy is 62 (2019, World Bank)
- So, your average Malawian is under half the age of your average Scot
Government healthcare budget
- Scotland = About £2,900 per person, per year (2022, Scottish Government)
- Malawi = About £10 per person, per year (2021, Unicef) [even if you add all aid spent on healthcare, it is still just £35 (2020, Unicef)]
- So, Scotland spends 290 x more on healthcare than Malawi, per person
Government education budget
- Scotland = £864 per person, per year (2022, Scottish Government)
- Malawi = About £20 per person, per year (2022, Unicef)
- So, Scotland spends 43 x more on education than Malawi, per person
University enrolment
- Scotland = 56% (2019, World Bank)
- Malawi = 1% (2018, World Bank)
- So, Scots are 50 x more likely to go to university than Malawi
So:
- your average Malawian is 18 years old, lives in a rural area, is a subsistence farmer, earning £548 a year, won’t go to university and has only £10 of healthcare a year from government
- your average Scot is 42 years old, lives in an urban area, works in health, social care or retail, earning £29,900 a year, has been to university and has £2,900 of healthcare a year from government
But, important to remember that:
- these are averages and generalisations, there is diversity and inequality in both nations: there are rich Malawians and poor Scots
- Malawi is not defined by its poverty: it is a beautiful, welcoming, fun, entrepreneurial countr
Q - What are the similarities between Scotland and Malawi?
Use the pictures on the slide to facilitate a discussion, encouraging points like the below to come out around the shared human experience
- Love of family
- Love of sports [you could mention Malawi is 7th in the world at netball, Scotland is 10th (2022, Netball.sport)]
- Human emotions: to laugh, to smile, to cry
- Want to protect children
- Wanting to earn money
- Social media and mobile phones
- There is a fundamental inequality between Malawi and Scotland, in wealth, education, healthcare and almost all aspects of life
- But Malawi is not defined by its poverty
- While there are many differences between Scotland and Malawi, there are also many similarities: we are all human and we all feel the same emotions, hopes and expectations.
Facilitate a discussion around the following questions, trying to bring out some of the below points.
Q - What are the effects of poverty (what does poverty result in)?:
- Shorter lives
- Lack of jobs
- Low education levels due to underfunded schools
- Illness and disease due to weak healthcare system
- People unable to pay taxes
- Corruption
- Lack of clean water
- Food insecurity
- Vulnerability
- Lack of power and energy
Q- What are the causes of poverty?
- Lack of education
- Lack of healthcare
- Lack of jobs
- Lack of reliable electricity and energy
- Conflict
- Climate change
- Natural disasters
- Poor infrastructure (roads, railways, etc)
- History – colonial rule
- Language
- Unfair tax and trading rules
- Lack of rights
- Lack of food and clean water
- Less efficient farming practices
- Debt
- Corruption
- Inequality
- Unequal global power [use this to lead into section three]
Q – How many of these causes are the fault of the people involved?
Almost none of these causes of poverty are the fault of individuals but rather are a set of circumstances imposed on whole communities and countries, often for generations.
Q – Do you notice anything in common between the causes and consequences of poverty?
Many things (like poor education and healthcare, weak governance, lack of power and infrastructure) are both consequences of poverty and causes of poverty. This means there can be a downward spiral – a vicious circle. For example, because you are poor you pay less tax to government, this means the government has less to spend on healthcare, so your health worsens, and you get poorer. It can be incredibly hard to break this cycle.
- Poverty is complex, it has lots of causes, but almost none relate to any failures of individuals.
- Some causes of poverty are also consequences of poverty.
- Poverty can be a vicious circle: meaning poor parts of the world can get poorer while rich areas get richer.
Facilitate a discussion around the below questions, trying to bring out the following points. You can use the PowerPoint as a way to structure the discussion.
Q - What are the different types of power countries have?
- Economic: Money and ‘purchasing power’ to influence others.
- Political: Structures and systems which mean some countries have more of a say on how things are run and what the rule are.
- Social: The education and health of the nation, and social networks.
- Environmental: The ability to affect climate change and how vulnerable you are to a changing climate.
- Military: The size and budget of the armed forces.
- Cultural: The language you have, TV programmes and films, ‘soft power’.
- Historical: The previous power you had over other nations (empire, colonies, etc) and the relationships this has left.
- Natural Resources & produce: Oil, gas, minerals, etc
How much of each of these types of power do Scotland and Malawi have?
| Power | Scotland | Malawi |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | HIGH. Scotland is much richer and can buy goods and services, and use its money to influence others | LOW: Malawi is much poorer and is less able to buy goods and services, and use money to influence others |
| Political | HIGH: Scotland is a part of key groups of rich countries like the G8, Nato, UN Security Council, etc, and so has greater global influence (although perhaps less now not in the EU) | LOW: While a part of the Commonwealth, Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU), Malawi still has comparably little global influence. |
| Social | HIGH: Scotland has comparably high levels of education and health, and strong social networks. | LOW: Malawi has comparably low levels of education and health, and strong social networks. |
| Environmental | HIGH: Scotland can move to renewable power and is able to invest in protections against a changing climate | LOW: Malawi is less able to invest in renewable energy and is much more vulnerable to a changing climate (crops will fail which are needed to feed the growers’ own family) |
| Military | HIGH: Scotland has a significant military capabilities | LOW: Malawi has much smaller armed forces |
| Cultural | HIGH: English is spoken around the world and Scottish / UK cultural exports are consumed across the globe | LOW: Malawi’s official language is not its own and its own culture has little global influence |
| Historical | HIGH: Scotland, as part of the UK, had an empire across the world and many of these unfair and unequal power relationships remain | LOW: Malawi was a British Protectorate called ‘Nyasaland’ and, from 1953-63 a part of the racist British Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Many of Malawi’s laws and institutions come from this period. |
| Natural resources & produce | MEDIUM: Scotland has limited remaining oil and gas in the north sea, but relatively few other natural resources | HIGH*: Malawi has many everyday commodities consumed across the world (tea, sugar, coffee, chocolate, rice, etc) as well as high-value rare earth minerals |
Q - In only one area does Malawi have more power than Scotland. Does Malawi significantly benefit from this?
No - In reality, Malawi and other developing nations, often do not have the sort of power you would expect them to have due to their natural resources. This is because richer nations use their many other types of power (economic, historic, political, cultural etc) to ensure they can get these natural resources without having to pay significant sums. For example:
- Conflict, weak governance and unfair trading means high value rare earth materials, which are required in every smart phone, and some of which can only be found in one or two countries, are taken from some of the poorest countries with very few people benefitting in those countries despite rich countries being entirely reliant on these minerals.
- Richer countries are able to avoid paying tax in poorer countries because they have greater political power to make the rules.
- Trade rules mean that it’s incredibly hard for Malawi to export roasted, processed and packaged coffee. This means they have to export the unprocessed green beans into the EU and countries in the EU then do the processing and packaging, turning it from a very cheap commodity, to a valuable product (despite not actually growing any of it).
CASE STUDY
Did you know, if you buy a £3 (non-Fair Trade) Malawian coffee from a café:
- £1.80 (60%) goes on rent and staffing in the café
- 75p (25%) is profit and tax
- 21p (7%) goes on the cup, lid and napkin
- 12p (4%) pays for the milk
- 12p (4%) pays for the coffee
- BUT only 1p (0.4%) actually goes to the farmers in Malawi
So, of your £3, £2.99 goes to Scotland and 1p goes to Malawi, despite Scotland not being able to grow coffee! (2019, Financial Times/UN)
Q - Can you see power?
Some forms of power are quite visible – for example, wealth can buy big houses and nice cars. Other types of power are less easy to see, like cultural or historical power. Often power becomes invisible because it becomes normalised, accepted and unquestioned: rich countries can have an unquestioned and often invisible sense of power because of their history, language, culture, etc. This is why it’s so important to think and talk about power.
Q - How can richer countries use their power to help poorer countries?
- Invest in international development / aid to help address the causes of poverty, for example supporting healthcare, education, clean water, food security, etc
- Use their political power to ensure poorer countries are listened to and their interests acted upon.
- Buy goods from poorer countries, especially fairly traded goods.
- Understand the negative impact and lasting legacy of colonial rule
- Establish dignified partnerships of human solidarity – including school partnerships – to learn more about each other and work together to fight poverty
Q - How do richer countries use their power against poorer countries?
- Continuing to contribute to the climate crisis, which the poorest countries are most vulnerable to the impacts of
- Charging unfair interest on debt with developing countries
- Continuing unfair global trading rules
- Not paying fair levels of tax in developing countries
- Continuing negative stereotypes about developing countries which make it harder for poorer countries to attract trade, investment and tourism
- Undermining local government institutions by making all the key decisions
- Looking to use aid to help benefit themselves (politically, financially and through security)
- Continuing the historical colonial legacy
Q - What power do YOU have, and how do you use it for good?
- Economic – Buy Fair Trade items which see profits return to poorer producer nations
- Political – Vote for political parties committed to global economic justice
- Social – Use your social networks to share information about social and economic injustice
- Environmental – reduce your carbon footprint
- Cultural – Ensure you are not continuing harmful negative stereotypes
- Historical – learn about the UK’s colonial history and work to ensure we are not continuing colonial mindsets and power imbalances
- There are many different types of power which nations have, some are seen and some are unseen because they have become normalised over such a long time.
- Rich countries can use their power to help poorer countries (for example through aid) but this good can very easily be undone through less visible use of power which keeps poor countries poor, like unfair trading rules.
- Even individuals in richer countries have power and privileges which those in poorer countries do not, these can be used both good and bad