OxfordAQA A-Level Geography: Globalisation and Global Systems (9635)

This guide covers 3.2.1.1 Globalisation and 3.2.1.2 Global Systems, the opening two sub-parts of Section A: Global Systems and Governance within Unit 2 (Human Geography 1) of OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Geography (9635), Version 3.2, first teaching September 2018.

Scope of this guide

Section A: Global Systems and Governance is the first of the two sections of Unit 2 (the second is Section B: Resource security), and it has eight sub-parts:

1. 3.2.1.1 Globalisation
2. 3.2.1.2 Global systems
3. 3.2.1.3 International trade and access to markets — trends in trade and investment, trading relationships between economies at different levels of development, differential access to markets, transnational corporations (with detailed reference to a specified TNC), and world trade in at least one food commodity or one product of manufacturing
4. 3.2.1.4 Global governance — the emergence and role of norms, laws and institutions in regulating global systems, including agencies such as the UN in the post-1945 era, and the interaction of scales from local to global
5. 3.2.1.5 The ‘global commons’ — the concept, the rights of all to its benefits, and the need to protect it
6. 3.2.1.6 The oceans as a global common — the geography of the world’s oceans (from continental shelves, slopes, abyssal plains, mid-ocean ridges, trenches, volcanic arcs and coral reefs to the epipelagic, mesopelagic, bathypelagic and abyssopelagic zones); threats from climate change, fishing and whaling, oil and plastic pollution, and shipping, trade and tourism; and critical appraisal of ocean governance, including the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and its marine pollution conventions, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), and the role of NGOs
7. 3.2.1.7 Globalisation critique — the benefits of growth, development, integration and stability weighed against the costs in inequalities, injustice, conflict and environmental impact
8. 3.2.1.8 Quantitative and qualitative skills

This resource covers only the first two, 3.2.1.1 and 3.2.1.2, which establish the conceptual foundation of globalisation and interdependence. The other six sub-parts, including all of the governance content, are examinable in the same section and must be revised from the specification and other resources.

Syllabus coverage

OXFORDAQA INTERNATIONAL AS AND A-LEVEL GEOGRAPHY (9635) — SECTION A: GLOBAL SYSTEMS AND GOVERNANCE

• 3.2.1.1 Globalisation — dimensions of globalisation: flows of capital, labour, products, services and information; global marketing; patterns of production, distribution and consumption; factors driving globalisation, including the development of technologies, systems and relationships across financial, transport, security, communications, management and information systems, and trade agreements
• 3.2.1.2 Global systems — the form and nature of economic, political, social and environmental interdependence in the contemporary world; issues associated with interdependence, including how unequal flows of people, money, ideas and technology within global systems can promote stability, growth and development but can also cause inequalities, conflicts and injustices; and how unequal power relations enable some states to drive global systems to their own advantage and directly influence geopolitical events, while others can only respond or resist in a more constrained way

How to approach it

Treat 3.2.1.1 as answering “what is globalisation and what drives it” and 3.2.1.2 as answering “what does globalisation actually produce, and who benefits or loses.” This two-part structure mirrors how exam questions on this section are usually built: a question may first ask you to describe or explain a dimension or factor of globalisation, then follow up asking you to assess its consequences for interdependence, inequality or power. Preparing both halves together, with the same running example, saves significant time.

For the dimensions of globalisation (flows of capital, labour, products, services, information), practise naming a real example for each flow type rather than listing the categories abstractly — a specific flow of foreign direct investment capital, a specific pattern of skilled-labour migration, or a specific global product supply chain each demonstrate the same dimension in a way markers can credit concretely.

For 3.2.1.2, the specification’s own framing of interdependence as a double-edged phenomenon — capable of promoting stability and growth, but also inequality and conflict — is the exact balance a strong answer should show. Avoid one-sided answers that present globalisation as either purely beneficial or purely harmful; instead, be ready to discuss both outcomes for the same flow or system, and to explain how unequal power between states shapes who captures the benefit and who absorbs the cost.

Worked example: assessing an unequal power relation

A question asks candidates to explain how unequal power relations between states can shape the impact of global systems, with reference to an example.

Claim:      states with greater economic and political power can drive
            global systems (such as trade rules or financial
            institutions) to their own advantage
Example:    a highly developed economy negotiating trade agreements
            that favour its own industries, or a major economy setting
            terms within an international financial institution that
            smaller, less developed economies must accept
Consequence: less powerful states are more constrained in their ability
            to resist unfavourable terms, and may be limited to
            responding to decisions made elsewhere rather than shaping
            them directly
Balance:    acknowledge that global systems can still create genuine
            opportunities for less powerful states (such as access to
            investment or markets), even as the terms of that access
            remain shaped by more powerful actors

This claim-example-consequence-balance structure demonstrates the evaluative depth this sub-topic is assessed against.

Key terms to define precisely

Globalisation — the increasing economic, political, social and environmental interconnectedness of countries and regions across the world, driven by flows of capital, labour, products, services and information. Interdependence — a state in which countries, economies or peoples rely on one another, such that changes or decisions in one place have effects elsewhere. Global system — a network of interconnected economic, political, social or environmental processes operating across national borders, such as global trade, global finance, or international governance structures. Geopolitics — the study of how geography, power and international relations interact to shape political decisions and events between states. Power relations — the relative ability of different states or actors to influence outcomes within a global system, often unequal between more and less economically or politically powerful states. Being able to distinguish “globalisation” (the process and its drivers) from “global systems” (the structures and networks that result) avoids one of the more common conceptual blurs in this section, since exam questions sometimes hinge on which of the two is actually being asked about.

Common mistakes

Listing the dimensions of globalisation (capital, labour, products, services, information) without a concrete example for any of them. Presenting globalisation and interdependence as uniformly positive or uniformly negative, rather than acknowledging genuine costs and benefits together. Describing unequal power relations abstractly without naming a specific mechanism (a trade agreement, a financial institution, a geopolitical decision) through which that power is exercised. Confusing the dimensions of globalisation (3.2.1.1, what is flowing) with the consequences of interdependence (3.2.1.2, what results from those flows).

Quick revision checklist

• Learn the five named dimensions of globalisation with one concrete example for each.
• Know the specification’s own list of driving factors behind globalisation.
• Prepare a balanced explanation of interdependence showing both positive and negative consequences.
• Practise explaining one specific example of unequal power relations shaping a global system’s outcome.

Related resources

• Globalisation and Global Systems revision notes
• Globalisation and Global Systems practice questions

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Geography (9635) specification, Version 3.2 — oxfordaqa.com.