The main goal of this exercise is to help make sense of the underlying issues and political calculations at stake here. Building upon your answers to exercises from previous weeks, you will be asked to make two different assessments, which can be summarised as follows:

• Efficacy: How effective is a given solution likely to be?
• Difficulty: How much political opposition is a given solution likely to generate?

Efficacy:

How effective is a given solution likely to be?

• Likely to hurt, rather than help. (Red)
• Likely to make no real difference either way. (Light Blue)
• Likely have a minor positive effect on forced and precarious labour. (Yellow)
• Likely to have moderate positive effects on forced and precarious labour. (Light Green)
• Likely to have a major positive effect on forced and precarious labour. (Darker Green)
• Not really sure about overall effects. (White)

Political difficulty:

How much political opposition is a given solution likely to generate?

• Bipartisan political support: this is a solution that nearly all members of society will be able to agree upon, regardless of their differences. There is little controversy. (Green)
• Majority political support: this is a solution which most members of society will be able to agree upon, regardless of other differences. There is minor controversy. (Light Green)
• Significant opposition: this is a solution that will generate significant opposition and controversy. Important interests are likely to be threatened and/or contradictory moral judgments are likely to be mobilised. There is a major controversy. (Yellow)
• Entrenched opposition: this is a solution that is likely to present a direct challenge to key political and economic interests. There are high levels of lasting division. (Light Red)
• Political and economic polarisation: this solution is so controversial that it splinters society into irreconcilable camps that are fundamentally opposed to each other. This, in turn, places severe strain on established institutions and political systems. (Dark Red)

This scale assumes that specific solutions in question have been taken up as serious political propositions. The scale can also be read another way, which is in terms of likely political success. In this reading, the options of opposition and polarisation can be read as 1) this solution is very unlikely to be implemented, and 2) this solution has virtually no chance of being implemented.

Round five (week seven):

1. Ranking state performance.
2. Counting ‘Slaves’ (Quantifying scale and distribution)
3. Ethical investment.
4. Value re-distribution and living wages in global supply chains
5. Universal Basic Income (UBI).
6. Global redistribution of wealth.

Activity instructions

1. Click on the activity so it opens in a full screen.
2. Assign a colour to each factor by clicking that colour on the strip next to that factor block.
3. Click on the factors block to show additional information. To exit additional information, click of the text “exit” found at the top right-hand side of the additional information square.
4. When you are finished, take a screenshot of your answers for future reference. We will be returning to them later.
5. Push ESC. To exit full-screen mode.