Resources

This consultants report provides a framework for ActionAidÆs fundraising and communications activities in Greece, Ireland, Italy and UK. It examines income, expenditure and profitability; resource allocation and investment; number of supporters; communications and public campaigning; organisational infrastructure; and international fundraising for ActionAid in the four countries.

As part of the 50th edition of PLA notes, the author looks at the history of participation and democracy over the last 10 years. The article looks at how participatory approaches have entered government arenas and confronted issues including policy influence and institutional change. The article looks at some key examples of participatory democracy, such as participatory budgeting in Porto Alegre, as well as some of the overarching principles that underlie the initiatives. These include active and participatory forms of citizenship, inclusion, multiple stakeholders and broader forms of accountability. The question is also raised about the transition from advocacy to inclusion in governance, such as when and how do groups make the transition from demanding a change in the shape of the table to deliberating around the table, sometimes with those against whom they have been advocating? Some of the initiatives described include the Local Government Code in the Philippines, the Law of Popular Participation in Bolivia, participatory budgeting in Brazil, and constitutional amendments in India. The article looks at learning from these examples in the South, and also at the critical questions about power, spaces for change, and the challenges of representation. In conclusion, the author suggests that documenting the outcomes of the difference participation makes to governance and policy is significantùboth for sustaining motivation and momentum for participants, who will be able to see the outcomes of their engagement, and also for sustaining the deepening of the democratic process itself.

This newsletter looks at development and other activities in the villages in the Upper Kahayan area of Indonesia. It is the newsletter of Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta (YTS), an organisation established by a mineral exploration company to facilitate community development in the villages close to the exploration area. YTS has recently been shifting to using PRA approaches with local villages, and the newsletter describes some of the findings from these processes. Main issues covered include insights gained from specific villages as well as more general information about field activities on broader themes such as education, health, economics and governance. The newsletter also contains general updates and news items concerning YTS, and is published quarterly.

This toolkit was elaborated by the Economic Literacy Action Network (ELAN) in the USA. The aim of the toolkit is to help people strengthen their analysis of globalisation and share ideas of ways that people were struggling against globalisation internationally. The toolkit is based on a gathering held in Chicago 1998 where educational materials already created were shared and discussed, and on consequent sessions held in ELAN groups. It presents seven sessions on different subject related to globalisation, which can be used as a basis for discussion, learning and reflection, and is intended to be used in smaller groups. The sessions include exercises, questions and case studies. The toolkit first gives a brief introduction to the principles and practices of popular education and goes on to the sessions, with the following contributions: womenÆs education in the global economy, looking at how women indifferent countries and communities are tied together by the globalisation of production and markets; a global economy workshop in three parts focussing on power relations and new peopleÆs movements, and a globalisation glossary; Analysing the financial crises in Asia; Privatisation; WTO for beginners; a workbook dealing with welfare, crime, injustice and health care from a Southern perspective, including a critical thinking toolbox; a participatory workshop on womenÆs labour and economic globalisation. The toolkit is concluded with a directory to ELAN groups.

This annotated bibliography is an attempt to identify and catalogue some of the rich economic literacy resources that have been developed and used by NGOs, trade unions, social movements and others. In addition to understanding the details of policy, economic literacy must also equip citizens to probe and think critically about the core ideas, worldview and policy agendas behind economic policies. While the resources share the goal of æpopularizingÆ economics and global economics in particular, the materials vary in terms of their level of accessibility to grassroots audiences, usefulness for learning and adaptability to action.