OCR A-Level Sociology Component 3 Section A: globalisation and the digital social world, a complete overview

Globalisation and the digital social world is the compulsory Section A of OCR Component 3, Debates in contemporary society. It introduces contemporary theoretical debates about global society and the digital world, and is studied alongside one optional topic (such as Crime and deviance). This overview ties the content together and explains how Section A is examined. Each section has a matching dot-point page.

How Section A is examined

Component 3 lasts 2 hours 15 minutes for 105 marks, worth 35 per cent of the A-level, and is the most theory-heavy paper. Section A uses short Outline questions, an Outline and explain question (AO1 and AO2) and a longer Assess essay (AO3-heavy). Because AO2 rewards contemporary application, a file of up-to-date examples (global brands, platforms, surveillance technologies) is valuable.

Theorising globalisation

Globalisation has economic, cultural and political dimensions, and three theories compete: hyperglobalists (optimists, Ohmae) who see a transformed global world; pessimists (sceptics, Hirst and Thompson) who see it as exaggerated and exploitative; and transformationalists (Held) who see the nation-state transformed, not abolished. Giddens (time-space distanciation), Castells (the network society) and Harvey (time-space compression) supply the key concepts.

Global culture and the digital revolution

The homogenisation thesis (Ritzer's McDonaldisation, Americanisation, cultural imperialism) competes with the hybridity thesis (Robertson's glocalisation, Pieterse). The digital revolution brings new media that are interactive and convergent, the prosumer, and Castells' network society, sparking the optimist versus pessimist debate about democracy, misinformation and corporate control (Cornford and Robins, Turkle).

The digital divide and surveillance

The digital divide (by class, age and global region) can reproduce inequality, while online identity is reshaped by Goffman's presentation of self and Baudrillard's hyperreality. Surveillance has been transformed: Foucault's panopticon and self-surveillance, Lyon's surveillance society and big data, and Zuboff's surveillance capitalism raise debates about power, privacy and freedom.

How Section A is examined

• Outline and Outline and explain (AO1 and AO2). Knowledge and applied points on globalisation and the digital world.
• Assess essays (AO3-heavy). A two-sided argument on a debate (a single global culture, the effects of the digital world, surveillance), with a supported judgement.