OxfordAQA International A-level Sociology (9690): Unit 3 – People and development – Revision Notes

For full explanations and worked paragraphs, use the Unit 3 People and development study guide.

These notes condense Unit 3, People and development, of the OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Sociology (9690) specification, Version 1.1 (first teaching September 2026; first A-level exams May/June 2028). They cover section 3.2.1, content points 3.2.1.1 to 3.2.1.5. The specification assesses this in the Unit 3 exam: 1 hour 30 minutes, 50 marks, 20% of the International A-level, short and extended response questions. Test yourself with the practice questions for this unit, and track progress on the 9690 checklist from the OxfordAQA A-level Sociology hub.

Unit 3 in one view

Content point	In brief
3.2.1.1 The Great Divergence	Why some countries pulled ahead
3.2.1.2 What is meant by globalisation?	Cultural, political, economic; three views
3.2.1.3 Who is involved in globalisation?	States, TNCs, agencies, NGOs, movements
3.2.1.4 Migration and diasporas	Who moves, why, and links
3.2.1.5 Obstacles to progress	Theories of why gaps persist

Assessment reminders from the specification: AO1, AO2 and AO3 are roughly equal in Unit 3 (about 7%, 6% and 7% of the A-level). Some extended answers require examples from your own society or one you know. Recommended sociologists: Bello, Braudel, Frank, Polanyi, Rodney, Sachs.

Key terms

Term	Definition
Great Divergence	The widening gap in wealth and industry between western Europe (and later North America) and most of the world from the nineteenth century
Imperialism	Extension of a state’s power over other territories through conquest, trade control or rule
Colonialism	Direct political control of a territory and extraction of its resources and labour
Neocolonialism	Continued control of formally independent states through debt, trade terms and investment
Enslavement	Forced ownership and transport of people as property, central to the Atlantic plantation economy
Development	Improvement in life expectancy, living standards, education, health, rights and democracy, not income alone
Globalisation	Growing interconnection of societies through flows of goods, money, people, ideas and culture
Cultural imperialism	Domination of local cultures by Western, especially American, media and brands
Global village	McLuhan’s image of electronic media shrinking the world into one community
Glocalisation	Adapting global products or ideas to local cultures
Transnational corporation (TNC)	A company that produces or operates in several countries
NGO	Non-governmental organisation: a charity or campaign group independent of states
Grassroots movement	Collective action organised from below by local people
Structural adjustment	Loan conditions from the IMF and World Bank requiring cuts in state spending and market reforms
Push and pull factors	Conditions driving people from origin and attracting them to destination
Refugee	Under the 1951 Convention, a person outside their country with a well-founded fear of persecution on set grounds
Undocumented worker	Someone living or working without legal permission
Digital nomad	A remote worker who moves between countries while working online
Diaspora	A dispersed population keeping ties with a homeland
Remittances	Money migrants send to family in their country of origin
Sustainable development	Meeting present needs without compromising future generations’ ability to meet theirs (Brundtland, 1987)

Theories and studies at a glance

Who	What	Key claim or finding	One evaluation point
Rostow (1960)	Modernisation: five stages of growth	Societies develop by adopting Western values and investment until “take-off”	Ethnocentric; assumes one route for all
Weber (1905)	Protestant ethic	Calvinist values encouraged saving, work and reinvestment	Capitalism also grew in non-Protestant settings
Frank	Dependency	The metropolis grows by draining satellites; satellites grew most when ties were weakest	Cannot explain the rise of the East Asian “tigers”
Rodney (1972)	How Europe Underdeveloped Africa	Enslavement and colonial rule moved Africa’s wealth and labour to Europe	Critics say it underplays African agency and internal factors
Williams (1944)	Capitalism and Slavery	Slave-trade profits helped finance British industry	Historians debate how large that share was
Pomeranz (2000)	The Great Divergence	Coal and colonial land, not unique values, explain Britain’s lead	Challenges both Weber and pure exploitation accounts
Braudel	Longue durée	Slow structures of trade and geography shape history	Long time scale can hide human agency
Wallerstein (1974)	World-systems	Core, semi-periphery, periphery	Too economic; underplays culture
Polanyi (1944)	The Great Transformation	Markets “disembed” from society; society pushes back (double movement)	Written before modern globalisation; must be applied with care
Ohmae (1990)	Positive globalist	Borderless world; markets spread wealth	States still control borders and trade
Bello	Negative globalist	“Deglobalisation”: produce for local and national markets	Could reduce access to export earnings
Held et al. (1999)	Transformationalist	Globalisation reshapes states and cultures; mixed outcomes	Can seem to avoid a clear judgement
Robertson	Glocalisation	Global and local combine	Shows local adaptation, but global brands still profit
Sachs (2005)	Aid as a “big push”	Targeted aid breaks the poverty trap	Moyo and Easterly argue aid breeds dependency
Lee (1966)	Push-pull	Migration follows push, pull and intervening obstacles	Treats migrants as isolated rational individuals
Cohen (1997)	Global Diasporas	Types of diaspora, including victim, labour, trade and imperial	Categories overlap in real communities
Mies (1986)	Feminist: housewifisation	Women’s work is treated as cheap or unpaid	Factory jobs may also give women income
Collier (2007)	Conflict trap	War destroys investment and makes more war likely	Economic focus; less on identity and history

Must-know distinctions

• Colonialism vs neocolonialism. Direct rule versus indirect control after independence.
• Growth vs development. Rising GDP versus better lives across health, education, rights.
• Modernisation vs dependency. Internal obstacles (values) versus external obstacles (exploitation).
• Cultural imperialism vs glocalisation. One-way domination versus two-way blending.
• Positive vs negative globalist vs transformationalist. Good for all; harmful for most; real but mixed.
• Refugee vs economic migrant. Fleeing persecution versus moving for work. Forced migration is wider than the legal refugee category.
• Internal vs international migration. Within one state versus across borders under visa control.
• TNC vs NGO. Profit-making firm versus non-profit organisation.
• Bilateral vs multilateral aid. State to state versus through agencies such as the World Bank.

Mini essay plan

Question type: “Evaluate the view that dependency on rich countries is the main obstacle to progress for less developed countries.”

1. Introduction. Define development and dependency. State the debate in one sentence.
2. For (Marxist). Frank’s metropolis and satellite. Rodney on Africa. Wallerstein’s core and periphery. Bello on trade rules. Apply to a country you know: export of raw materials, imported manufactured goods.
3. Analysis. Link to neocolonialism: debt and structural adjustment cut health and education spending.
4. Against (modernisation). Traditional values and practices slow change. Rostow’s stages.
5. Against (feminist). Patriarchy as an obstacle that both capitalist and traditional structures reproduce (Mies).
6. Other obstacles. Wars and the conflict trap (Collier). Climate crisis hitting poorer countries.
7. Evaluation. East Asian growth challenges dependency; inequality within countries challenges modernisation.
8. Judgement. Weigh, then give a reasoned conclusion based on your own society example.

Quick self-test

1. Name two indicators of development listed in the specification, other than income.
2. Who wrote How Europe Underdeveloped Africa?
3. What is the “double movement”?
4. Give one example of political globalisation.
5. What does a transformationalist believe about globalisation?
6. Define glocalisation.
7. State one argument for and one against development aid.
8. What three parts make up Lee’s model of migration?
9. Are people displaced only by climate change refugees under the 1951 Convention?
10. Name two of Cohen’s types of diaspora.
11. What is a “conflict trap”?
12. How did Weber explain the rise of capitalism in northern Europe?

Answers

1. Any two of: life expectancy, education, health, rights of women and other groups, human rights, democracy, reduced poverty.
2. Walter Rodney (1972).
3. Polanyi’s idea that when markets disembed from society, society reacts to protect itself, for example through labour laws.
4. The spread of democracy, human rights or gender equality as global norms, for example through UN bodies.
5. It is real and changes states and cultures, but outcomes are mixed and states still matter.
6. Global products or ideas adapted to fit local cultures.
7. For: Sachs’s “big push” breaks poverty traps. Against: Moyo argues aid creates dependency and corruption.
8. Push factors, pull factors and intervening obstacles.
9. No. The Convention covers persecution on set grounds, not environmental displacement.
10. Any two of: victim, labour, trade, imperial.
11. Collier’s idea that war destroys investment and institutions, making more war likely.
12. Calvinist belief in predestination led to disciplined work and reinvestment, the “spirit of capitalism”.

Where marks are usually lost

• Defining development as income only, and missing the specification’s list of social indicators.
• Naming a theory without a named sociologist or study to support it.
• Mixing up modernisation (internal values) and dependency (external exploitation) explanations.
• Writing “globalisation” in general when the question asks about one type.
• Leaving out own-society examples in the extended answers that require them.
• Using “refugee” for all migrants.
• Describing push and pull factors without evaluating the model.
• Presenting one side only on aid or migration, which leaves little to evaluate (AO3).
• Ending an essay without a judgement that follows from the evidence.

Where next

See the OxfordAQA 9690 exam preparation guide for how Unit 3 sits with the other units.

Official syllabus

OxfordAQA International AS and A-level Sociology (9690) specification, Version 1.1 (first teaching September 2026; first A-level exams May/June 2028), section 3.2.1 People and development.