How do you convey the complex social, economic and political situation of a developing country in under 1,000 words?
This is a thought that has consumed me of late. With the end of my final class in international community development only days away, I have completed my last essay… until my next foray into education. Yet, the assignments make me wonder.
Choose a country, choose an issue and discuss the problems, approaches and possible solutions.
So students diligently do their research and write their groundbreaking ideas on the societal issues that even Canada hasn’t gotten quite right. All in under 1,000 words. Yet these ideas aren’t revolutionary at all. In fact, they are gross generalizations and over simplifications of situations that the writer probably has never encountered.
Even when the theory is good, implementation is another story. Is it really possible to outline a process to affect hundreds of years of social development and religious teachings? How long ago was it that Western countries were burning witches at the stake and condoning slavery? Reality is not as easy as writing a paragraph.
So why do the research and write the essays? Even those students with top grades will barely have scratched the surface. Yet we need to start somewhere. Student research into remote countries and development issues may not ever impact the tireless work of development organizations, but it will impact those students who may emerge from the assignment with a touch more understanding of what exists in the world.
How do you convey the complex social, economic and political situation of a developing country in under 1,000 words?
You don’t.
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