Who Rules the World?

Suggested age range: 14 - 16 years
Estimated time required: each video has a running time of 30 minutes
Format: two VHS videos and A4 booklet

Details: A comprehensive resource pack featuring two partially animated videos and a teachers' booklet with a range of activities for different ability levels, plus photocopiable resources.

Fictionalised description and powerful critique of the World Bank, based mainly on the fictional East African country of Motswana. Some details (such as Structural Adjustment Programmes) are out of date. The content is concentrated, so viewers would need some introduction and follow-up. However, overall the material is entertaining, effectively presenting many key issues on the harmful effects on poor people of much activity of the World Bank and international finance system. Pupils will be challenged to think about power and how the international community should respond to global issues, and the dilemma the UK has faced carrying out its humanitarian, peacekeeping, and development roles. The pack also features fascinating case studies from Rwanda, Angola, and Bolivia and a look at the role of the World Bank and IMF.

"It is no good the World Bank running the world; we have to make sure that the world runs the World Bank."
- from Who Rules the World?

Publisher: International Broadcasting Trust (IBT); 2001
Source: Oxfam
Cost: £20

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