Decolonization Project Crowder AP World
The Situation: From the late 1800s to the mid 1900s, large portions of the globe were controlled by a few western powers such as Britain and France. These countries were known as empires. The land they controlled was colonized and used for resources and raw materials in western industry. After WWII, there was a rapid growth of pressure in the international community for these empires to decolonize, essentially breaking up their territory into independent countries. As a result, a string of new countries came onto the world stage during the later half of the twentieth century. Decolonization has been a struggle for many former colonies. Many have experienced civil wars, sectarian violence, genocide, and political and economic crises since declaring independence.
The Challenge: You are on a panel overseeing the transition from colony to independent nation for your selected country. Essentially, you will need to answer this question: What measures should be taken to ensure the long-term success of your newly independent country? It is your job to create a proposal suggesting the best steps for your new country to take following independence. In order to pull this off, you must find and address potential obstacles that could stand in the way of long-term stability.
Potential obstacles are going to vary on a country-by-country basis. Historically, common areas divisiveness have been: ethnic and religious differences, sectarian violence, political instability, economic exploitation and disparities, lack or misuse of resources, disease, etc. Research your country. Find out which problems persisted before, during, and after European colonization of your area. These will help you form viable solutions in your proposal.
Your Task: Throughout the course of this project, you will be researching your country, their progress through colonization, and their experiences following independence. Pretending that you are on a panel overseeing the transition from colony to country, you will compile a proposal in which you will identify 2-4 “high priority” issues that disrupt your country’s stability and you will make recommendations to address them. The proposal will be in the form of a series of PSAs and an accompanying outline. The tables on the next page will more precisely detail what is expected of your group.
Sources: For your research, you are expected to use at least 4 sources, at least one of which MUST be a printed source. The bibliography must be present with the proposal, or you will receive a failing grade (since this is technically plagiarism).
Some web-based resources that may help you are as follows:
· CIA World Factbook- https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/ - information on history, demographics, political, environmental, and economic characteristics of all world nations
· Hofstede Centre - http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html - not all countries share similar ways of thinking or dealing with situations; your solutions may need to be tailored to fit the cultural climate of your area
· Gap Minder- http://www.gapminder.org - Collection of various data points of countries over time. Also useful to use in comparing your country to another
· World Mapper- http://www.worldmapper.org - Another useful tool in comparing one country to another. Instead of plotting the data in a chart, it redraws the map of the world to show those comparisons
Proposal- remember all data you include should date from pre-Independence as best as possible – out of 300 PTS
Section 1: Background / Requirements / MaximumPoints
Social, Political, Cultural, and/or Economic structures in place prior to European Colonization- (ie. How did this society “look” prior to being colonized?) / 10
Issues facing area prior to European Colonization- (eg. internal or external conflict, etc.) / 10
Motives for colonization- What value did Empires see in the area? (Resources available, etc.) / 10
What type of rule did Empires use in your country? (Direct or Indirect) Offer evidence to explain / 5
Issues/Major events facing your area during colonization- (ie. Cruel treatment, rebellion, involvement in conflicts, etc.) / 15
Ethnic and Religious Demographics or similar societal divisions which may lead to conflict / 10
Section 2: Issues
Choice of “High-Priority” Issue to be addressed prior to independence- need at least 2 / <2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
Explanation of why “high-priority” issue needs to be addressed prior to colonizationà how could ignoring this issue lead to increased problems in the future? / 10 each; up to 40 total
Section 3: Solutions / For each high priority issue, the following questions must be addressed
A solution is presented on how to “fix” or improve the issue / <2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
How will this solution be implemented? Who is involved? What is the timeline for implementing this plan (beginning to end)? What would the cost be? / 15 each; up to 60 total
Explanation of how this is a viable solution- can the people of your country pull this off? How do you know? Preferably, the only two bodies that should play a role in implementing and paying for this plan is the country that colonized your area (ie. The Empire) and your new country / 5 each; up to 20 total
Section 4: Reality / Since we are doing this project in the present day, we are able to look back at what actually happened to your country in the years since its independence! What went well and what went badly? Why?
When did independence occur? / 5
What steps were taken—if any—to ensure a successful transition to new nation? / 5
Who was the first leader of your country following independence? What type of government was created? / 10
Notable people in your country in the years since independence / 10
Would you consider (in actuality) your country in its years after independence successful or not? Why? Explain with substantive historical evidence (financial problems or successes, political stability or instability, social and cultural structures, etc) / 30
Public Service Announcements – PSAs should not be as comprehensive as your proposal; it is simply used to “sell” your solutions to your audience. Out of 200 PTS
Section 1: Information / Maximum PointsStudent presents one PSA for each high-priority issue. Remember, you needed at least 2 high-priority issues, so you should make at least two PSAs / <2: 0
If 2: 20
If 3: 25
If 4: 30
>4: 35
Student briefly describes the “high-priority” issue facing his or her country in the PSAs / 20
Student briefly describes the solution(s) to this “high-priority” issue in the PSAs / 30
All spoken portions of PSAs are scripted. Scripts for all PSAs are turned in at least two classes before the remaining project is due / 2 classes ahead: 30
Turned in: 10
N/A: 0
Section 2: Style
PSAs have near-professional appearance (eg. person delivering information- if shown- has professional appearance, the video is edited in a clear and comprehensive way, sound is clear) Other ways, you may show this is some kind of logo or tagline, original background music, etc. / 30
PSAs are between 1-2 minutes in length each / 15
Data or other visual aid is shown in video segments to illustrate issue or solution- data is properly cited internally / 15
Every group member speaks at least once throughout all group PSAs / 15
All PSAs are placed together on a single CD, DVD, flash drive, or Google Drive Folder / 15
In addition to these two rubrics, you will also be assessed using MYP rubrics. Your final grade will be a combination of all of these rubrics.
My Group Members: ______
My Country: ______
A printed-out hard copy of your proposal and all PSAs are due together!
PSA Scripts Due Date:______
Proposal Due Date: ______
PSAs Due Date: ______