Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457): Topic: Globalisation — Study Guide

This guide is for the Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Globalisation is one of the 22 topics in the topic list in section 3, and the topic list is used for all three components: Component 1 Written Exam, Component 2 Individual Report and Component 3 Team Project. The syllabus states plainly that knowledge of content is not assessed. So this page does not ask you to learn facts about globalisation. It shows you how to use the topic to practise the assessed skills from sections 2 and 4.

Start from the Global Perspectives hub and tick off skills on the 0457 checklist. For quick review use the globalisation revision notes, then test yourself with the globalisation practice questions.

Coverage table

Syllabus reference	What you must be able to do (from the document)	Where assessed
Section 2, AO1 Research, analysis and evaluation	Identify and analyse issues, arguments and perspectives; analyse and evaluate evidence, reasoning and sources; develop a line of reasoning	Components 1, 2 and 3
Section 2, AO2 Reflection	Consider different perspectives objectively and with empathy; justify a personal perspective with evidence and reasoning	Components 2 and 3 (0% in Component 1)
Section 2, AO3 Communication and collaboration	Present arguments, evidence and perspectives clearly; cite and reference; contribute to the Team Project	Components 2 and 3
Section 3, topic list and key terms	Use a topic to explore global issues; understand “issue”, “perspective”, “research”, “evidence” and “argument”	All components
Section 4, Component 1	Analyse sources; evaluate research and suggest how to test a claim; judge the quality of arguments; assess actions. Understand bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest	Written Exam
Section 4, Component 2	Devise a global research question; local and/or national and global perspectives; causes, consequences, courses of action; evaluate sources	Individual Report
Section 4, Component 3	Identify a local issue; plan, carry out and measure an action; reflect	Team Project

Using the topic, not learning it

The syllabus defines an issue as “an important subject or problem for discussion” and a perspective as “a viewpoint on an issue based on evidence and reasoning”. Globalisation is not itself an issue. It is a broad topic that contains many issues.

Globalisation (a working definition, not a syllabus definition): the growing connection of economies, cultures and people across the world through trade, investment, technology, travel and communication.

To turn the topic into an issue, ask a question that divides opinion. “What is globalisation?” is not an issue. “Should countries protect local industries from cheaper imports?” is. The syllabus says the Individual Report issue “should be one that divides opinion”, so practise this habit from the start.

Common errors here: writing a description of globalisation instead of analysing an issue within it, and treating a whole topic as if it were one problem.

Issues at global, national and local level

Component 1 sources present perspectives that are “personal, local and/or national, global”. The Individual Report needs “local and/or national perspectives” and “global perspectives”. The Team Project starts from “a local issue”. So you need to see each globalisation issue at more than one level.

Level	Example issues within globalisation
Global	Fragile supply chains; labour standards in factories that make goods for other countries; whether global brands reduce cultural diversity
National	Whether to use tariffs to protect home industries; dependence on imported food or medicine; jobs gained or lost when firms move production
Local	A global chain opening on a high street; a local factory closing or opening; local food and language traditions changing

Glocalisation is a useful idea here. The sociologist Roland Robertson popularised the term in the 1990s to describe global products and ideas being adapted to local cultures. Strength: it reminds you that globalisation is not only one-way. Limitation: it can be used to dismiss real concerns about local businesses losing out.

Worked example (analysis of levels): “At a global level, the issue is whether supply chains that cross many countries are worth the risk of disruption. At a national level this becomes a question of whether a country should make more of its own essential goods. Locally, the same issue appears as a shop that cannot restock. Linking the levels shows that one cause can have very different consequences for different people.”

Different perspectives and why people hold them

The syllabus asks you to understand “why different people have different perspectives”. For globalisation, perspectives often follow people’s interests and values.

• Supportive perspectives often stress cheaper goods for consumers, new jobs in exporting countries, the spread of ideas and technology, and cultural exchange.
• Critical perspectives often stress job losses in older industries, pressure on wages and working conditions, the environmental cost of long-distance transport, and the loss of local culture.
• Middle-ground perspectives accept trade but want it managed, for example through fair trade schemes or agreed labour standards.

Two well-known books show the range. Thomas Friedman’s The World Is Flat (2005) argued that technology was levelling the playing field for workers and firms in many countries. Joseph Stiglitz’s Globalization and Its Discontents (2002) argued that the rules of the global economy had often been managed in ways that harmed poorer countries. You do not need these books for the exam. They show that informed experts disagree, which is exactly why this topic suits the skills.

Keep balance. Cambridge states it is “politically neutral”. Your job is to present each perspective fairly, explain the reasoning behind it, and only then justify your own view (AO2).

Worked example (perspective with empathy): “A factory owner who sells abroad may welcome lower trade barriers because they open new markets. A worker whose factory has closed because production moved overseas is likely to see the same change as a threat. Both views are based on real evidence from their own experience, so the difference comes from what each person stands to gain or lose.”

Causes and consequences

The syllabus aims include an “analytical and evaluative grasp of global issues and their causes and consequences”. Causes and consequences must be analysed “in depth” in the Individual Report.

Causes you can research (accurate examples):

• Container shipping. The first container ship voyage, Malcolm McLean’s Ideal X, sailed in 1956. Standard containers made moving goods across oceans far cheaper.
• Trade rules. The World Trade Organization (WTO) began on 1 January 1995 to set and oversee rules for trade between member countries.
• Digital communication. The internet lets firms manage teams and suppliers in many countries at once.

Consequences you can research:

• Supply-chain risk. In March 2021 the container ship Ever Given blocked the Suez Canal for six days, delaying goods for many countries. This is evidence that long supply chains can be fragile.
• Dependence on a few suppliers. In 2020 and 2021 a worldwide shortage of computer chips, which are made in a small number of places, forced many car makers to cut production.

Evaluation point: a single dramatic event shows that a risk exists, but not how often it happens. Use it as an example, not as proof of a general trend.

Measuring globalisation. The KOF Globalisation Index, from the KOF Swiss Economic Institute at ETH Zurich, scores countries on economic, social and political globalisation. Strength: it lets you compare countries over time. Limitation: any index depends on which indicators are chosen and how they are weighted.

Judging sources and evidence

The Written Exam expects you to understand “bias, claim, fact, generalisation, opinion, prediction, value and vested interest” and to “analyse and evaluate use of evidence and language”. Globalisation sources are full of these.

Term	Globalisation example (invented)
Claim	“Free trade makes everyone better off.”
Fact	“The factory employed 400 people in its last year.” (checkable)
Opinion	“Global chains have ruined our high street.”
Generalisation	“All imported clothes are made in unsafe factories.”
Prediction	“Within ten years no shoes will be made in this country.”
Value	Believing local tradition matters more than lower prices
Vested interest	An importers’ association publishing a report that praises open trade
Bias	Only quoting shoppers who like cheaper goods

Worked example (evaluating evidence): A fictional source says: “In the fictional town of Pellmoor, 31 of 50 shopkeepers asked said a global supermarket had forced a neighbour to close, so global chains destroy local business.” “The evidence comes from people with direct experience, which gives it some value. However, 50 shopkeepers in one town is a small sample, and shopkeepers have a vested interest because they compete with the supermarket. The figure of 62% reports what people believe, not closures that were checked. The conclusion that global chains destroy local business everywhere is a generalisation the evidence cannot support.”

Courses of action

Component 1 Question 4 asks you to “assess actions in response to the global issue”, and the Individual Report asks you to “propose a single course of action”. Always judge an action by its likely effect, who carries it out, cost, and side effects.

Course of action	Possible benefit	Possible drawback
Fair trade labelling	Gives consumers a choice that supports better pay	Covers only some products; costs more
International tax agreements	In 2021 more than 130 countries agreed, through the OECD, to a 15% global minimum tax rate for large multinational companies	Each country must put it into law, and progress has been uneven
Tariffs on imports	May protect home jobs	Higher prices; other countries may respond with their own tariffs
“Buy local” campaigns	Supports local firms and cuts transport	Local goods may cost more, which hits poorer households
Spreading suppliers across countries	Lowers supply-chain risk	Higher cost for firms

Worked example (assessing an action): “Tariffs would probably protect some factory jobs in the short term because imported goods would become dearer. But consumers, including the workers being protected, would pay higher prices. If other countries placed tariffs in return, exporting firms could lose jobs. So tariffs may move the problem rather than solve it, unless they are temporary and linked to retraining.”

Individual Report ideas

The report must be 1500–2000 words, titled with your own “global research question”, and cover local and/or national and global perspectives. Possible questions:

• Should countries limit imports to protect their own manufacturing jobs?
• Do global brands threaten local cultures more than they enrich them?
• Who should be responsible for safety in factories that make goods for other countries?

Each divides opinion, has a global impact, and lets you research different groups (workers, consumers, governments, firms). Your teacher will confirm whether your question is manageable. See the Individual Report guide and Individual Report practice.

Team Project ideas

The team chooses “a local issue”, plans an action and measures its success. Globalisation ideas:

• Local issue: few shoppers know where their school uniform or snacks are made. Action: a labelled display or short video tracing one product’s journey. Measure: a before-and-after quiz.
• Local issue: small local food sellers losing customers to large chains. Action: a market-day guide promoting local stalls. Measure: stall-holder feedback on visitor numbers.

The Explanation of Research and Planning must be 300–400 words and the Reflective Paper 750–1000 words. See the Team Project guide and Team Project practice.

Common errors

• Revising facts about globalisation instead of practising the skills; the syllabus says content knowledge is not assessed.
• Calling a source “biased” without naming the vested interest or quoting the loaded words.
• Treating one dramatic event (such as a ship blocking a canal) as proof of a trend.
• Mixing up cause and consequence, for example calling cheaper clothes a cause of globalisation.
• Staying at the global level and never reaching local or national perspectives.
• Proposing a course of action without judging its side effects.
• Choosing a report question that only describes (“How has trade grown?”) rather than divides opinion.

For labour conditions in global supply chains, see the employment unit; for trade rules and aid, see the development, trade and aid unit. For general exam technique see the Written Exam guide and the Written Exam revision notes.

Official syllabus

Cambridge IGCSE Global Perspectives (0457) syllabus for examination in 2025, 2026 and 2027, Version 2 (published April 2025). Read sections 2, 3 and 4 for the assessment objectives, topic list, key terms, component details and command words.