Index

»Colonialism Series
    ·Colonialism In The Americas
    ·Colonialism In Africa
    ·Colonialism In Asia
»Deceptive Beauty—A look at the Global Flower Industry
»Explorations of Global Issues
»The Horn of Africa: Past, Present and Future
»Sustainable Agriculture—Teachergram
»Sweatshop Series
    ·Sweatshops Series, Sweatshops: Clothes—The Real Cost Of The Clothes You Buy
    ·Sweatshops Series, Barbie's Trip Around The World—Globalization In The Toy Industry
    ·Sweatshops Series, Behind The Swoosh—The Facts About Nike
    ·Sweatshops Series, A Facilitator's Guide

NOTE: Samples of some of the resources on this page can be downloaded for preview (first chapter only) in PDF format. To view these, click on the text link or the cover image. You need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed in order to view these examples.

Deceptive Beauty:
A look at the Global Flower Industry
Preview the booklet
We often mark a special event — a birthday, an anniversary, a graduation — with a gift of flowers. Flowers mean love, respect, recognition, celebration...Rarely, however, do we think about where the flowers we buy come from. This booklet encourages an appreciation of labour and environmental issues in the global flower industry, including trading conditions, health and safety of workers, use of pesticides, repression of union activists, and strategies to support flower workers.

Produced 2002 by VIDEA
Secondary/Adult
Softcover
38 pages: $8.50

What do Barbie, Liz Claiborne & Nike have in common?
Find out in the Sweatshop Series

Sweatshops: Clothes
The Real Cost of the Clothes You Buy
Preview the booklet
This booklet examines who makes the clothes we wear, looking behind the labels to the realities of the most globalized industry in the evolving global economy. A tool for education and action in the classroom, in campus, in union movement and for the general public. This resource, along with Barbie's Trip Around The World, Behind the Swoosh, and Deceptive Beauty, is part of a VIDEA's Sweatshops series focusing on the global production line and links between producers and consumers.

Produced 1999 by VIDEA
Secondary/Adult
Softcover
28 pages: $7.50

Barbie's Trip Around The World
Globalization In The Toy Industry
Preview the booklet
Looks at the child labour, and the unhealthy and dangerous working conditions which are common place in the international toy industry. Second resource in VIDEA's Sweatshops series focusing on the global production line and linking producers and consumers.

Produced 2000 by VIDEA
Secondary/Adult
Softcover
30 pages: $8.50

Behind The Swoosh
Facts About Nike
Preview the booklet
This booklet looks at the working conditions in the overseas shoe factories. More than any other company, Nike has been criticized for using Third World sweatshops to make its products. It looks also at Reebok, Adidas and other shoe companies using sweatshops to make their products. A tool for education and action in the classroom, on campus, in union movement and for the general public. This resource is part of VIDEA's Sweatshops series focussing on the global production line and links between producers and consumers.

Produced 2000 by VIDEA
Secondary/Adult
Softcover
33 pages: $8.50

Sweatshops Series
Facilitator's Guide
Preview the booklet
This 44-page guide is filled with hands-on activities to help groups experience the material in the Sweatshop booklets in ways that will lead to deeper understanding and action. Most of the fifteen activities—simulations, discussions, and community research projects—can be used by large or small groups and may be reproduced for educational purpose. They can be used to focus on a single booklet (clothes, shoes or toys), or all three. The guide also includes a glossary of terms commonly used in the Sweatshop booklets.

Produced 2001 by VIDEA
Secondary/Adult
Softcover
44 pages: $10.00

Explorations of Global Issues

This series of four activity-based units is designed to help students explore four key global issues: food security, environment, consumerism and gender equity. A role-play on consumerism, focusing on the everyday t-shirt, introduces the perspectives of cotton farmers, factory workers and clothing company owners. Other activities explore themes such as our ecosystem's "carrying capacity," misconceptions about the causes and severity of world hunger, and gender stereotyping in the media. The Explorations workshop format suits a variety of learning styles, class settings and time frames.

Produced 1997 by VIDEA
Intermediate Series of four booklets
34 pages: $15

 

Sustainable Agriculture—
Teachergram
My little cousin was once asked: "Where does milk come from?" He replied: "The store." Many of us have never spent time imagining the systems that produce our food. Nor have we considered the impact of the present global food production system on our environment. Issues such as farm soil conservation, fertilizer and pesticide contamination of our groundwater, urban encroachment on farm lands, consumer choices and the livelihoods of the world's small-scale farmers are all examined in the Sustainable Agriculture Teachergram.

This series of five units—Sharing the Land, Food Security, Soil, Water and the Global Consumer—is accompanied by a Teacher's Guide outlining key themes and providing problem-solving student activities. 

Produced 1996 by VIDEA and Lifecycles
Intermediate/Secondary
Set of six three-hole-punched booklets
38 pages: $15

Horn of Africa: Past, Present and Future
The Horn region of Africa is one of the most misunderstood areas of the world. News reports focus almost completely on disasters and little is heard of progress in the region: the wonderful success stories, the rich cultures and traditions, the courage and perseverance of the people and the lessons we can learn from their actions and decisions. The Horn affects us in more ways than we know. This text challenges stereotypes and provides a geographical, historical and developmental view of the region, including a section called "War and Its Consequences." Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somalia are profiled with demographic information, histories, cultures and customs, and economic development.

Produced 1995 by VIDEA
Intermediate/Secondary
Coil bound
160 pages: $30

Colonialism:
A Critical Look!
A three-part series presenting the story from the "other side" in catchy prose and dynamic graphics!
Each guide: $15; series of 3: $35

Colonialism in the Americas
Colonialism: A Critical Look!
Through lively dialogue and illustration, Colonialism in the Americas traces the history of the first peoples of South, Central and North America. How did these people live before the Europeans arrived? What was the impact of Columbus and his successors on their lives and cultures? What are the continuing effects of colonialism in today's world? Exercises related to each chapter are contained in a "hands-on" activity section, including a fully detailed simulation game, TIFF. "I have Colonialism in the Americas and have used it for the Global Geography, Grade 12 course. The Colonialism series is extremely well written and appealing to high school students. We played the TIFF simulation game (Colonialism in the Americas) and the students talked about the issues for days after." —Teacher, Hants East High School, Nova Scotia

Produced 1991 by VIDEA
Intermediate
Softcover
52 pages: $15

Colonialism in Africa
Colonialism: A Critical Look!
Ancient and modern perspectives of colonialism are discussed in this snappy history, that begins with European impressions of the great African kingdoms of the 15th and 16th centuries and then elaborates the development of various policies up to post-colonial Africa today. A young African woman factually narrates African colonial history for her naïve young friend in understandable and personally relevant terms. Close-ups of South Africa, multinational corporate activity and Canada's treatment of First Nations peoples explode colonial myth and reality, abroad and in Canada. Like all texts in the colonialism series, the dialogue is lively, the illustrations are generous and original quotes are used throughout.

Produced 1991 by VIDEA
Intermediate
Softcover
40 pages: $15

Colonialism in Asia
Colonialism: A Critical Look!
This personally guided tour of colonialism in India, the Philippines and Vietnam, from an Asian perspective, introduces the similarities and differences between colonial policies of the British, French and Spanish. Sharp contrasts between colonial rhetoric illustrate the picture of who really benefited from the colonial relationship. Our tour guide's dialogue provides fertile ground for exploration of colonial racism, oppression and myopic economics. Fully developed learner-centred teaching activities are included in a "hands-on" chapter, and resources for further research are listed.

Produced 1993 by VIDEA
Intermediate
Softcover
52 pages: $15