Key Idea: This topic is the big arguments about development: does globalization help or hurt poorer countries? Can development be sustainable (the SDGs)? And are there alternative views — is endless growth even the goal? These are the essay debates that tie the whole unit together.
📚 The debates at a glance
What each micro argues
- 3.4.1 Globalization — Opportunity (trade, growth, ideas) vs risk (inequality, exploitation, lost control). Judge: helps if fair and governed.
- 3.4.2 Sustainable development & the SDGs — Meeting today's needs without wrecking the future; the SDGs as a shared plan — ambitious but hard to enforce.
- 3.4.3 Key debates (capstone) — Growth vs sustainability, aid effectiveness, development vs culture, alternative/post-development views — the 4-move essay recipe.
⚖️ The debates, as judgements
- Grows trade & lifts millions
- But widens inequality
- Judge: helps if fair & governed
- Growth funds development
- But can wreck the planet
- Judge: green, just development
- De-growth / post-development
- Wellbeing over GDP
- Judge: rethink the goal, not abandon development
Evaluate the view that globalization does more to help than to harm development.
🔒 Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
The 15-mark markband (Paper 2)
Bands 1–6
Mostly descriptive; perspectives <strong>not identified</strong>.
avoid
Bands 7–9
Clear knowledge, but perspectives <strong>identified, not explored</strong>.
7–9
Bands 10–12
Well-supported argument; perspectives <strong>explored</strong>.
10–12
Bands 13–15
Balanced, compelling; perspectives <strong>explored AND evaluated</strong>.
13–15
Important: Picking one side ('globalization is good/bad'). Examiners reward a <strong>conditional judgement</strong> — it depends on the terms, governance and fairness. And know the <strong>alternative views</strong> (de-growth, post-development) that question whether growth is even the goal.
Answer in your head first, then tap to reveal.
Does globalization help or harm development? Both — it has cut absolute poverty through trade and growth but widened inequality and enabled exploitation. It helps most when fair and well-governed.
What is sustainable development? Meeting today's needs without compromising future generations — balancing economic, social and environmental goals, as the SDGs try to do.
What are the SDGs? The UN Sustainable Development Goals — a shared global plan (2015–2030) covering poverty, health, education, climate and more; ambitious but non-binding and hard to enforce.
What are alternative views on development? Ideas like de-growth and post-development question whether endless economic growth is the goal at all, arguing for wellbeing, sufficiency and ecological limits over GDP.
What is the meta-lesson of these debates? Resist the extremes and give a conditional judgement — development is best seen as human, shared and sustainable, and the debates turn on terms, fairness and governance.
Exam Tips
- Give a conditional judgement — 'it depends on the terms/governance'.
- Globalization: cut poverty but widened inequality.
- Know the SDGs and sustainable development.
- Know alternative views (de-growth) — is growth even the goal?