AQA A-level Sociology (7192): Paper 2 – Global development – Revision Notes

Read the Global development study guide first; these notes condense it for last-stage revision.

These notes cover Global Development, section 4.2.6 of the AQA AS and A-level Sociology (7191, 7192) specification, Version 1.2 (14 October 2021), listed as 3.2.6 in the specification at a glance. It is assessed in A-level Paper 2: Topics in Sociology (2 hours, 80 marks, 33.3% of the A-level). The specification states that Section A is “one from option 1: 4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3 or 4.2.4” and Section B is “one from option 2: 4.2.5, 4.2.6, 4.2.7 or 4.2.8”; Global Development is in option 2, so you answer it in Section B (“extended writing, 40 marks”).

Test yourself afterwards with the Global development practice questions. The AQA A-level Sociology hub and the AQA A-level Sociology checklist list the rest of the course.

The five content points (as printed)

Students are expected to be familiar with sociological explanations of:

1. development, underdevelopment and global inequality
2. globalisation and its influence on the cultural, political and economic relationships between societies
3. the role of transnational corporations, non-governmental organisations and international agencies in local and global strategies for development
4. development in relation to aid and trade, industrialisation, urbanisation, the environment, and war and conflict
5. employment, education, health, demographic change and gender as aspects of development.

The specification also requires you to link every topic to the two core themes (socialisation, culture and identity; social differentiation, power and stratification) and to theories, methods and research design.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Development	Positive social and economic change; what counts as “positive” is contested
Underdevelopment	(Dependency theory) a society made poorer through unequal links with richer ones
Global South / North	Broad labels for poorer and richer regions; not strictly geographic
GNI per capita	Gross national income divided by population; an average that hides inequality
HDI	UNDP index (from 1990): life expectancy, schooling, GNI per capita
Neo-colonialism	Control of former colonies through economic means such as debt and trade terms
Structural adjustment	Loan conditions (often IMF and World Bank) requiring market reforms and spending cuts
TNC	Transnational corporation: a firm operating in several countries
NGO	Non-governmental organisation: non-profit, independent of the state
Tied aid	Aid that must be spent on goods or services from the donor country
Bilateral / multilateral aid	Aid from one government to another / through an international agency
Terms of trade	The price of a country’s exports relative to its imports
Export processing zone	Area with tax breaks and relaxed rules to attract foreign factories
Over-urbanisation	Cities growing faster than formal jobs and housing
Sustainable development	Meeting present needs without compromising future generations (Brundtland, 1987)
Demographic dividend	Growth boost when the working-age share of the population rises
Informal sector	Work outside contracts, tax and legal protection
Microcredit	Small loans to people without access to banks, often women

Theories and studies at a glance

Who	What	Key idea or finding	One evaluation point
Rostow (1960)	Modernisation	Five stages, from traditional society to high mass consumption	Ethnocentric; ignores colonial history
Frank (1966)	Dependency	Metropolis drains surplus from satellites	Cannot easily explain East Asian growth
Wallerstein (1974)	World systems	Core, semi-periphery, periphery; mobility possible	Gives little weight to local agency
Neoliberals	Free markets	State failure and protectionism block growth	Structural adjustment cuts hit health and education
Sen (1999)	Capability approach	Development as expanding real freedoms	Hard to measure freedom directly
Escobar (1995)	Post-development	“Development” is a Western discourse	Offers few large-scale alternatives
Ohmae (1990)	Hyperglobalist	Borderless world; nation state weakens	States still regulate trade and migration
Hirst and Thompson (1996)	Sceptics	Most firms remain national; regulation still possible	Underplays speed of digital and financial flows
Ritzer (1993)	McDonaldization	Efficiency and predictability spread worldwide	Ignores local adaptation (glocalisation)
Sklair	Transnational capitalist class	Global elites share interests across borders	Elites also compete with each other
Hayter (1971)	Aid as imperialism	Aid serves donor interests	Ignores life-saving humanitarian aid
Sachs (2005)	Pro-aid	Large targeted aid can break poverty traps	Critics doubt top-down planning
Moyo (2009)	Anti-aid	State-to-state aid breeds dependency and corruption	Underplays clear gains from health and emergency aid
Collier (2007)	Four traps	Conflict, natural resources, landlocked, bad governance	Focuses on internal causes over global ones
Davis (2006)	Planet of Slums	Urban growth without jobs creates slums	Some migrants still gain from city life
Kaldor	New wars	Intra-state conflicts, identity politics, civilian targets	Disputed how “new” these are
Elson and Pearson (1981)	Gender and factory work	“Nimble fingers” used to justify low pay for women	Waged work can also increase women’s independence
Boserup (1970)	Gender	Development projects often bypassed women	Later critics: adding women is not enough
Malthus (1798) / Ehrlich (1968)	Population	Population growth outstrips resources	Food output has generally kept pace

Must-know distinctions

• Growth versus development. Rising GNI is growth; development also includes health, education, rights and equality.
• Underdevelopment versus undevelopment. Frank’s underdevelopment is caused by exploitation; “undeveloped” just means not yet developed.
• Dependency versus world systems. Dependency has two tiers and little mobility; world systems has three tiers and movement between them.
• Modernisation versus neoliberalism. Both favour capitalism, but modernisation backs aid and state planning, while neoliberalism wants the state to step back.
• NGOs versus international agencies. NGOs are non-profit and independent; agencies such as the World Bank are funded and governed by states.
• Humanitarian versus development aid. Emergency relief is far less disputed than long-term state-to-state aid.
• Women in Development versus Gender and Development. WID adds women to existing projects; GAD challenges the gender power relations behind inequality.
• Cultural imperialism versus glocalisation. One sees Western culture replacing local culture; the other sees global products adapted locally.

Mini essay plan

Typical extended question: “Evaluate the view that transnational corporations do more to help than to harm development.”

1. Introduction (short). Define TNCs and development. State the debate: modernisation and neoliberal theorists see benefit; dependency and world systems theorists see exploitation.
2. For the view (modernisation, neoliberalism). Jobs, skills, technology, tax, links to world markets. Apply to an export processing zone. Analyse: factory wages may exceed farm incomes.
3. Against (dependency, world systems). Profit repatriation, low wages, weak safety standards; Rana Plaza (2013) as evidence about supply chains. Sklair: elites benefit across borders.
4. Gender angle. Elson and Pearson: women hired as cheap labour, yet earnings can shift household power. Links to the stratification core theme.
5. Evaluation of evidence. Average wage data can hide unsafe conditions; case studies may not generalise. Mention research design.
6. Judgement. Effects depend on regulation, sector and state strength. Reach your own reasoned conclusion and support it.

Quick self-test

1. Name Rostow’s third stage of growth.
2. What three dimensions make up the HDI?
3. What did Frank call the rich and poor nations in his model?
4. What does the semi-periphery add to dependency theory?
5. Give one feature of structural adjustment programmes.
6. Define tied aid.
7. Name two of Collier’s four traps.
8. What is over-urbanisation?
9. Give the Brundtland definition of sustainable development in your own words.
10. What is the difference between WID and GAD?
11. What did Hirst and Thompson argue about globalisation?
12. Which option of Paper 2 contains Global Development?

Answers

1. Take-off.
2. A long and healthy life (life expectancy), knowledge (years of schooling) and standard of living (GNI per capita).
3. The metropolis and satellites.
4. A middle tier, and the idea that countries can move between tiers.
5. Any one: privatisation, trade liberalisation, cuts to public spending, as conditions for loans.
6. Aid that must be spent on the donor’s goods or services.
7. Any two: the conflict trap; the natural resource trap; landlocked with bad neighbours; bad governance in a small country.
8. Cities growing faster than formal jobs and housing, producing informal settlements.
9. Meeting today’s needs without damaging the ability of future generations to meet theirs.
10. WID adds women to development projects; GAD challenges the power relations that produce gender inequality.
11. That it is exaggerated: most firms remain nationally based and regulation is still possible.
12. Option 2, answered in Section B.

Where marks are usually lost

• Describing a theory and never applying it to the question or the source material.
• Treating modernisation and neoliberal theory as the same thing.
• Quoting HDI or GNI as if they measured everything; say what each leaves out.
• Using “Africa” or “the developing world” as one case instead of naming specific contexts.
• Evaluating only with “some sociologists disagree” instead of naming the rival theory and its evidence.
• Ignoring gender, even when the question invites it; the specification lists gender as an aspect of development.
• No link to the core themes or to how evidence was gathered (research design).
• Writing a one-sided answer to an “evaluate” question with no judgement at the end.

Related resources

Green and state crime overlap with this topic in crime and deviance revision notes. Globalisation and policy also appear in the education revision notes. For method links, see methods in context revision notes. Other option 2 topics with global themes: stratification and differentiation (the transnational capitalist class), the media (media and globalisation) and beliefs in society (globalisation and the spread of religions). Global culture also appears in culture and identity.

Official syllabus

AQA AS and A-level Sociology (7191, 7192) specification, Version 1.2 (14 October 2021): section 4.2.6 Global Development, A-level Paper 2: Topics in Sociology, Section B.