Using exposure methodology for dialogue on key issues

This paper looks at the exposure method part of the Immersion Programme with the goal to expose participants to the lives of poor people. The paper is part of the compendium Reality and Analysis (that can be found on http://www.arts.cornell.edu/poverty/kanbur/EDPCompendium.pdf), and a result of collaboration between the Indian NGOs SEWA and WIEGO, and the Cornell University, USA. The paper gives an introduction to the exposure methodology for dialogue (EDP) describing the concept and looking at how it evolved in a German and Indian context and how the Cornell-SEWA-WIEGO EDP programme came about. It takes an in-depth look at the application of EDP based on the experiences of the Cornell-SEWA-WIEGO programme. The paper proposes a design of business and issue-related EDPs for sensitising and motivating decision and policy-makers for shaping pro-poor policy. The specific phases of this type of EDP are examined and discussed including comments and recommendations based on experience. Recommendations are made for shaping the organisational process; learning about the methodology; learning about a culture of dialogue; and learning about the combination of ôExposureö with ôDialogueö on issues. An appendix looks specifically at the case of the Cornell-SEWA-WIEGO EDP, which had a as its objective to start a dialogue between mainstream economists, SEWA activists, and WIEGO researchers around key assumptions of neo-classical economics which trouble ground-level activists and researchers working on issues of employment and labour, including labour market interventions; and trade and foreign direct investment.