Flashcards · 9699 · A Level Topic 4

Paper 4 – Globalisation, Media and Religion (A Level) flashcards

76 cards on A Level Topic 4, subtopics 7.1 to 12.3. Pick a subtopic or study them all.

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7.1 Perspectives on globalisation

Globalisation vs glocalisation: Globalisation: the growing interconnection of societies through flows of goods, people, ideas and media. Glocalisation: global products and ideas adapted to local cultures.
Name the three dimensions of globalisation in the syllabus: Cultural (spread of media, brands and ideas), political (international organisations and agreements) and economic (global trade, finance and transnational corporations).
Globalist vs sceptic vs transformationalist perspectives: Globalists (hyperglobalists): globalisation is real and transforming the world. Sceptics: its extent is exaggerated, and nation states still dominate. Transformationalists: it is real but uneven, with local and global interacting.
How do Marxists see who benefits from globalisation?: Mainly global capitalists and transnational corporations, which exploit cheap labour and markets in poorer countries, widening inequality.

7.2 Globalisation and identity

Cultural convergence vs cultural divergence: Convergence (homogenisation): cultures become more alike under global, often Western, influence. Divergence: cultures stay distinct or become more different as people defend local identities.
What are ethnic revitalisation and cultural defence?: Responses to globalisation in which groups revive and assert their ethnic, national or religious identity to protect it against outside influence.
What is Westernisation?: The spread of Western, especially American, ideology, values, consumer goods and lifestyles to other societies, shaping identities there.
How can globalisation create hybrid identities?: Exposure to several cultures through migration and media lets people combine elements of global and local cultures into new identities.

7.3 Globalisation, power and politics

How has globalisation been linked to the spread of liberal democracy and human rights?: International organisations, trade and media spread ideas of elections, rights and the rule of law, though critics see this as Western values imposed on others.
What are global social movements?: Movements organised across national borders, often using the internet, on issues such as the environment, global justice and opposition to corporate globalisation.
Why might the nation state struggle to tackle global problems?: Problems such as climate change, pandemics and financial crises cross borders, and transnational corporations can move capital, so single states have limited control.
Give one argument that nation states remain powerful: States still control borders, laws, armed forces and taxation, and they make the international agreements that regulate globalisation (the sceptic view).

8.1 Globalisation, poverty and inequalities

How might globalisation affect life chances in developing countries?: It can bring jobs, investment and access to education and health care, but also low wages, exploitation and widening inequality within and between countries.
What are transnational organisations, and what do they try to do about inequality?: Organisations working across borders, such as the UN, World Bank and IMF, and NGOs. They give aid, loans and programmes to reduce poverty; critics question their success and the conditions they attach.
How do colonialism and post-colonialism explain global inequality?: Colonialism took resources and labour from colonies and shaped their economies around the colonisers' needs. Post-colonial theories argue these patterns of dependence and inequality continue after independence.
How does patriarchy explain global inequality?: Feminists argue women are disadvantaged worldwide in pay, education, land ownership and power, and globalisation can exploit women's cheap labour.

8.2 Globalisation and migration

Immigration vs emigration vs net migration: Immigration: people moving into a country. Emigration: people leaving a country. Net migration: immigration minus emigration.
Push factors vs pull factors: Push factors drive people out of a place, e.g. poverty, conflict or persecution. Pull factors attract them to another, e.g. jobs, higher wages, safety or family.
Give positive and negative consequences of global migration: Positive: cultural diversity, economic benefits such as filling labour shortages and remittances. Negative: concerns over scarce resources and negative perceptions of migrants.
Who benefits from migration?: It is debated: receiving economies gain workers, sending countries gain remittances and migrants may gain income, but migrants may face exploitation and sending countries may lose skilled workers.

8.3 Globalisation and crime

Why have global crimes emerged?: Easier movement of people, money and goods, digital technology and weak international regulation create opportunities for crimes such as human trafficking, corporate crime and environmental crime.
How do Marxists explain who benefits from global crime?: Powerful corporations and elites benefit from crimes such as environmental damage and exploitation of labour, which are often under-policed and lightly punished compared with crimes of the poor.
How do feminists view global crime?: They highlight crimes in which women and girls are the main victims, such as trafficking for sexual exploitation, linking them to global patriarchy and inequality.
Why is global crime hard to police and prosecute?: Crimes cross borders with different laws, offenders use new technology to hide, and cooperation between states is slow; but technology and international cooperation also help detection.

9.1 Traditional media and the new media

Cross-media ownership vs media conglomerates: Cross-media ownership: one company owning different kinds of media (e.g. newspapers and TV). Media conglomerates: large corporations owning many media and other businesses.
What is digitalisation?: Converting media content into digital form, so text, images and sound can be stored, combined and shared through the internet. It underpins media convergence.
How does new media differ from traditional media?: New media are digital, interactive and allow users to create and share content (many-to-many). Traditional media (press, TV, radio) are one-to-many, with professional producers and passive audiences.
Has new media undermined traditional media?: Audiences and advertising have moved online, weakening print and broadcast. But traditional media companies also dominate online, and remain trusted sources for many.

9.2 Theories of the media and influences on media content

Pluralist vs Marxist theories of the media: Pluralist: many competing media reflect audience demand, so no single group controls content. Marxist: owners, part of the ruling class, use the media to spread ideology that supports capitalism.
Mass manipulation vs hegemony: Mass manipulation (instrumental Marxism): owners directly control content to manipulate audiences. Hegemony (neo-Marxism): ruling-class ideas dominate because journalists share a common outlook, winning consent without direct control.
What are news values?: The criteria journalists use to decide what is newsworthy, e.g. negativity, unexpectedness, elite persons and nations, and personalisation. They shape the selection and presentation of news.
What is agenda setting?: The media influence which issues the public and politicians think are important by choosing what to cover and how prominently.
What is the postmodernist view of the media?: Media images have become so central that the line between reality and representation blurs; audiences create varied meanings and identities from many media sources.

9.3 The impact of the new media

Digital optimism vs digital pessimism: Optimists: new media spread knowledge, empower ordinary people and strengthen democracy. Pessimists: they increase surveillance, misinformation, inequality (the digital divide) and the power of large corporations.
How can new media challenge existing power structures?: Citizen journalism and social media let ordinary people share information and organise protests, bypassing traditional gatekeepers and governments.
How does new media contribute to globalisation?: It allows instant communication and sharing of culture across the world, connecting people, markets and movements globally.
How might new media affect identities and relationships?: People can present and experiment with identities online and keep in touch across distance, but critics point to shallow relationships, online harassment and pressure to present an ideal self.

10.1 Media representations of class, gender, ethnicity, and age groups

What is a moral panic?: An exaggerated public reaction to a group seen as a threat to society's values, often driven by media coverage that labels the group as "folk devils".
How can the media contribute to gender socialisation?: Through repeated stereotyped representations of men and women in roles, appearance and behaviour, which provide role models and norms.
How are some groups stereotyped in the media?: E.g. young people as troublemakers, older people as frail or invisible, working-class people as feckless, minority ethnic groups as threats or problems.
What is the relationship between the media and popular culture?: The media spread and shape popular culture (mass-produced culture enjoyed by many). Critics see it as commercial and low quality; others see it as diverse and creative.

10.2 Different models of media effects

What is the hypodermic syringe model?: A direct effects model: the media "inject" messages into a passive audience, who are directly influenced by them.
What is the uses and gratifications model?: An indirect effects model: active audiences use the media to meet their own needs, such as information, entertainment, identity and social contact.
What is the two-step flow model?: Media messages reach audiences through opinion leaders, who interpret them and pass them on to others, so influence is filtered through social networks.
What is the cultural effects model?: Repeated media messages over a long time gradually shape audiences' views of the world, though people interpret them differently depending on their experience.
What is the normative model of media effects?: The media shape audiences' sense of what is normal and acceptable behaviour, so influence works through norms rather than direct copying.

10.3 The impact of the media on behaviour

Does violent media cause violent behaviour?: Some experiments show short-term increases in aggression after violent media. Critics argue lab studies lack validity, and that audiences are active and influenced by many other factors.
What is deviance amplification?: Media coverage of deviance exaggerates it, leading to more public concern and policing, which can increase the deviance it reports.
How might the media have a positive impact on behaviour?: Through health and safety campaigns, positive role models, promoting tolerance, and raising awareness of social issues.
What is media sensationalism?: Presenting stories in an exaggerated, emotional way to attract audiences, which can distort public perceptions of risk and of particular groups.

11.1 Religion and society

Substantive vs functional vs social constructionist definitions of religion: Substantive: defined by its content, such as belief in God or the supernatural. Functional: defined by what it does for society or individuals. Social constructionist: defined by what people themselves count as religion.
Why is religious belief hard to measure?: Attendance or membership may not reflect belief, people may exaggerate or hide their belief, and religions count members differently.
How does religiosity vary by gender and age?: In many societies women show higher levels of religious participation than men, and older people more than younger people.
What are other belief systems?: Systems of ideas that give meaning without being religions in the traditional sense, e.g. science, political ideologies such as Marxism, or nationalism.

11.2 Religion and social order

What is Durkheim's functionalist view of religion?: Religion distinguishes the sacred from the profane, and through shared worship strengthens the collective conscience, creating social solidarity and order.
What is the Marxist view of religion?: Religion is the "opium of the people": it eases the pain of exploitation with promises of a better afterlife, legitimates inequality and creates false consciousness.
Give one limitation of the functionalist view of religion: It ignores religion's role in conflict and division, e.g. religious violence and tensions between faiths in diverse societies.
Give one limitation of the Marxist view of religion: It ignores religion's positive functions and its role in social change, e.g. liberation theology.

11.3 Religion as a source of social change

What is Weber's theory of religion and capitalism?: In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Weber argued Calvinist beliefs (predestination, hard work, thrift) encouraged the rational, disciplined attitudes that helped capitalism develop.
Give one alternative view of the origins of capitalism: Marxists argue economic changes caused capitalism, and religious ideas followed; others point out that capitalism also developed in places without Calvinism.
What is liberation theology?: A movement in the Roman Catholic Church, mainly in Latin America, that used religion to support the poor and oppose oppressive regimes: an example of religion driving social change.
Give an example of a religious movement influencing politics: The Evangelical movement in US politics, or the influence of the Ayatollahs in the Iranian revolution (the syllabus's examples).

12.1 The secularisation debate

What is the secularisation thesis?: The claim that religion loses its influence over individuals, institutions and society as societies modernise.
What evidence suggests a decline in religious belief?: Falling church attendance and membership in many Western countries, fewer religious marriages, and more people saying they have no religion.
How is rationalisation linked to secularisation?: Weber argued scientific and rational thinking replaces religious explanations ("disenchantment"), so religion becomes less credible.
Disengagement vs structural differentiation: Disengagement: the church withdraws from involvement in politics and public life. Structural differentiation: specialist institutions take over functions religion once performed, such as education and welfare.
Give one argument against the secularisation thesis: Religion remains strong in much of the world and among migrant communities, and belief may persist without attendance ("believing without belonging").

12.2 Gender, feminism and religion

What is the feminist view of religion?: Religion is often patriarchal: it legitimates male power through male leadership, sacred texts written by men, and rules that control women's roles and bodies.
Give an example of moves towards gender equality in religion: Some religious organisations now ordain women as priests or ministers.
How might religion benefit women?: It can give women community, status, support and a sense of meaning, and some women use religious practice, such as wearing the veil, to express identity and agency.
Give one explanation for patriarchy in religion: Religious organisations developed in patriarchal societies, so their structures and interpretations of texts reflect men's interests; feminists argue the original teachings were sometimes more egalitarian.

12.3 Religion and post-modernity

What is privatised religion?: Religion practised as a personal, private choice rather than through public institutions, with individuals deciding what to believe.
What is spiritual shopping?: Individuals choosing and combining religious and spiritual beliefs and practices from many sources, as consumers choose products.
What is resacralisation?: A revival of the sacred and of religion in society, e.g. growth in new religious movements, New Age spirituality and fundamentalism.
What are new religious movements (NRMs) and New Age ideas?: NRMs: religious groups of recent origin outside the main churches. New Age: diverse spiritual beliefs focused on self-spirituality, holistic health and personal growth.
Name the explanations for the growth of fundamentalism in the syllabus: Cultural defence, cultural transition, disengagement, marginality and religious revival.