Center for Latin American Studies

In Poto Mitan, each of the five women’s personal story explains neoliberal globalization, how it is gendered, and how it impacts Haiti: inhumane working/ living conditions, violence, poverty, lack of education, and poor health care. This lesson has been designed to use this 45-minute documentary Poto Mitan as a case study for in-depth discussion on:

• Globalization
• Indicators of economic development: GDP, Gini coefficient, CPI, inflation, etc.
• Economic concepts including but are not limited to: Reaganomics, Neoliberalism, and Structural Adjustment
• Individual-level, national-level, and international-level facts and policies about Haiti’s economy

Grade levels: 7th to 12th grade
Subject areas: Social studies (Economics, Geography, Human geography, Sociology)
Duration: 3 sessions, 50 minutes/session