How do sociologists explain global inequality and development, what role do aid, trade and transnational corporations play, and how does globalisation reshape power?
World sociology (Component 3, Section B option): defining development and global inequality; theories of development (modernisation, dependency, world-systems, neoliberal); the role of aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions; globalisation and its consequences; and gender, the environment and development.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on world sociology: defining development and global inequality, modernisation, dependency, world-systems and neoliberal theories of development, the role of aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions, the causes and consequences of globalisation, and the place of gender and the environment in development.
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What this dot point is asking
World sociology is one of the four options in Component 3, Section B. You need to define development and global inequality, command the theories of development (modernisation, dependency, world-systems, neoliberal), analyse the role of aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions, explain globalisation and its consequences, and address gender and the environment in development.
The answer
Defining development and global inequality
Theories of development
Aid, trade, transnational corporations and global institutions
The drivers of development are contested:
- Aid - can provide capital, relief and investment (modernisation view) or create debt and dependency serving donors (dependency view).
- Trade - free trade can promote growth (neoliberal view) or lock poorer countries into unequal exchange (dependency view).
- Transnational corporations (TNCs) - can bring investment and jobs or exploit cheap labour and resources and export profits.
- Global institutions - bodies governing trade, finance and aid shape, and are criticised for shaping, development on richer countries' terms.
Globalisation and its consequences
Gender, the environment and development
Gender is central to development: women are often disadvantaged in education, work and rights, yet investing in women is widely seen as key to development. The environment raises questions about sustainability: whether development can continue without ecological damage, and who bears the environmental costs. These themes connect world sociology to inequality and power throughout the course.
Examples in context
Internal or external causes of underdevelopment? Modernisation theory locates the cause of poverty inside poorer countries: traditional values, a lack of capital and the absence of modern institutions hold them back, so the cure is to follow the Western path with the help of aid and investment. Dependency and world-systems theory locate the cause outside: colonial history and the ongoing exploitation of the periphery by the core, through unequal trade, debt and TNCs, actively keep poorer countries poor. A strong essay uses this internal-versus-external contrast as its spine, weighs the role of aid and trade on each account, and reaches a balanced judgement that both internal conditions and external global structures shape development, rather than choosing one cause alone.
Try this
Q1. What do sociologists mean by globalisation? [4 marks]
- Cue. The growing interconnection of the world through trade, technology, media, migration and culture, reshaping economies, culture and power.
Q2. Explain the dependency theory of development. [6 marks]
- What the marker wants. Global inequality results from colonialism and the continuing exploitation of poorer countries by richer ones through unequal trade and debt, keeping them underdeveloped.
Q3. Evaluate modernisation theory as an explanation of development. [16 marks]
- What the marker wants. The modernisation account (internal traditional values, the Western path, aid) weighed against dependency and world-systems theory, with a supported judgement.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of WJEC exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
WJEC specimen (30)Evaluate the view that global inequality is the result of the exploitation of poorer countries by richer ones. [30 marks]Show worked answer →
A high-tariff essay, so weigh the dependency explanation against rival theories of development and judge.
For the view, use dependency theory and world-systems theory: global inequality stems from colonialism and the continuing exploitation of the periphery by the core through unequal trade, debt and transnational corporations, which keeps poorer countries underdeveloped.
Against the view, use modernisation theory, which argues poorer countries are held back by internal traditional values and lack of capital and can develop by following the path of richer ones; and neoliberal theory, which argues free markets and trade promote development.
Conclude with a judgement: dependency and world-systems theories powerfully explain how external exploitation and global structures sustain inequality, while modernisation and neoliberal accounts capture internal factors and the role of markets, so a balanced answer weighs internal and external causes.
WJEC specimen16 marksEvaluate the role of aid in promoting development.Show worked answer →
An evaluation question, so weigh the case for and against aid as a route to development and judge.
For aid, explain that it can provide capital, infrastructure, emergency relief and investment in health and education, supporting the modernisation view that poorer countries lack the resources to develop alone.
Against aid, explain dependency criticisms: aid can create debt and dependency, serve the interests of donors and transnational corporations, and entrench unequal relationships rather than fostering self-reliant development.
Conclude with a judgement that aid can help in particular circumstances, especially emergency and targeted aid, but that its record is mixed and it can reinforce dependency, so its effects depend on its type and the terms attached.
Related dot points
- The main sociological perspectives applied across all components: functionalism (consensus, value consensus), Marxism (class conflict, ideology), feminism (patriarchy, its strands), interactionism (meanings, labelling), postmodernism (diversity, choice) and the New Right; structure versus action and consensus versus conflict.
The core sociological perspectives required across every component of WJEC A-Level Sociology: functionalism and value consensus, Marxism and class conflict, feminism and its strands (liberal, Marxist, radical), interactionism and labelling, postmodernism and the New Right, plus the underlying structure versus action and consensus versus conflict debates.
- Social differentiation and stratification (Component 3, Section A): systems of stratification; dimensions of inequality (social class, gender, ethnicity and age); theories of stratification (functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist); social mobility and life chances; and the changing class structure.
The compulsory Section A content of WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3: systems of stratification, inequality by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, functionalist, Marxist, Weberian and feminist theories of stratification, social mobility and life chances, and debates about the changing class structure.
- Politics (Component 3, Section B option): defining power, authority and the state; theories of the distribution of power (pluralism, Marxism, elite theory, feminism); voting behaviour and the social bases of party support; political participation, parties, pressure groups and new social movements; and ideology and power.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on politics: defining power, authority and the state, pluralist, Marxist, elite and feminist theories of the distribution of power, voting behaviour and the social bases of party support, political participation through parties, pressure groups and new social movements, and the relationship between ideology and power.
- Health and disability (Component 3, Section B option): the social construction of health, illness and disability; the biomedical and social models; inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region; the medical and social models of disability; the power of the medical profession; and sociological perspectives on health.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on health and disability: the social construction of health, illness and disability, the biomedical and social models, inequalities in health and life expectancy by class, gender, ethnicity and region, the medical and social models of disability, the power of the medical profession, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and interactionist perspectives.
- Crime and deviance (Component 3, Section B option): defining crime and deviance; theories of crime (functionalist and strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist and labelling, realist, feminist); the social distribution of crime by class, gender, ethnicity and age; the problems of measuring crime; and crime control, punishment and social order.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 3 option on crime and deviance: defining crime and deviance, functionalist, strain, subcultural, Marxist, interactionist, realist and feminist theories of crime, the patterning of crime by social class, gender, ethnicity and age, the problems of measuring crime, and crime control, punishment and the maintenance of social order.
- Religion (Component 1, Section C option): the role and functions of religion (conservative force versus force for change); types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult, new religious and new age movements); religiosity by social group (class, gender, ethnicity, age); the secularisation debate; and perspectives on religion.
The WJEC A-Level Sociology Component 1 option on religion: the role and functions of religion as a conservative force or a force for social change, types of religious organisation (church, sect, denomination, cult and new religious movements), patterns of religiosity by class, gender, ethnicity and age, the secularisation debate, and functionalist, Marxist, feminist and other perspectives.
Sources & how we know this
- WJEC GCE AS and A Level in Sociology specification — WJEC (2015)