Globalisation and the spread of religions | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: 5 days ago
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 95 minutes
These Globalisation and the spread of religions A-Level Sociology revision notes examine how growing connections between societies affect religious belief, practice and organisations. You will explore how migration and new media can spread religious beliefs, how globalisation may create new forms of belief, and why it can also encourage cultural defence, fundamentalism or secularisation. This final Beliefs in Society lesson brings together social groups and religion [Social groups and religion], secularisation in a global context [Secularisation in a global context] and religion and social change [Religion and social change].
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define globalisation in relation to religion.
Explain how migration, technological change and new media can spread religious beliefs and practices.
Examine how globalisation changes relationships between individuals and religious organisations.
Explain how globalisation may strengthen, weaken or transform religious belief.
Analyse relationships between globalisation, cultural defence, cultural transition, fundamentalism and secularisation.
Evaluate sociological interpretations of the significance of globalisation for contemporary religion.
Revision Notes 📚
What does AQA require you to know?
AQA explicitly requires students studying Beliefs in Society to understand:
globalisation and the spread of religions
as part of the wider study of the significance of religion and religiosity in the contemporary world.
This topic has also been assessed directly.
In 2024, AQA asked students to evaluate sociological views on the relationship between religion and globalisation. The item defined globalisation through increased worldwide interconnectedness involving technological and cultural changes and identified several possible religious consequences:
changing interaction with religious organisations;
emergence of new beliefs;
religious fundamentalism;
declining religious belief in some areas.
The key lesson is therefore:
Globalisation does not have one single effect on religion.
It can contribute to the spread, transformation, strengthening and weakening of religious belief and practice.
What is globalisation?
AQA's 2024 item describes globalisation as the increased interconnectedness of the world involving technological and cultural changes.
The central idea is increasing connections between people and societies.
For religion, these connections can involve:
movement of people;
movement of religious ideas;
communication through new technology;
exposure to different religious and non-religious beliefs;
interaction between religious communities across societies.
The basic relationship is:
greater global interconnectedness → greater movement of people and ideas → changing religious beliefs, practices and organisations
⚠️ Globalisation is not simply another word for social change.
This distinction matters enormously in examinations. The 2024 examiner report found that some students assumed that any recent social change was evidence of globalisation.
For an argument to be about globalisation, it needs a genuine connection to increasing global interconnectedness.
How globalisation can spread religion
Religions can spread through several processes supported by AQA assessment material.
Migration
Migration is one of the clearest mechanisms.
Globalisation involves increased movement between societies. AQA's 2022 mark scheme explicitly identifies the movement of people globally when explaining changes in religious beliefs and practices.
When people migrate, they may take with them:
religious beliefs;
religious practices;
religious identities;
connections with religious communities.
The broad process is:
international migration → religious beliefs and practices move with migrants → religious traditions become established or maintained in new social environments
Migration can therefore increase the geographical spread of religions.
However, it does not follow that migrants' religious beliefs remain completely unchanged.
Globalisation can also alter those beliefs.
Migration and religious diversity
As people move between societies, different religious traditions may come into greater contact.
This can contribute to religious diversity.
A society may therefore contain a wider range of:
religious beliefs;
religious practices;
religious organisations;
religious identities.
This can have contrasting consequences.
Greater diversity may increase religious choice
but it may also:
expose individuals to competing beliefs and weaken the dominance of one tradition
This links directly to the debate explored in secularisation in a global context [Secularisation in a global context].
Religion does not simply move unchanged
A common mistake is to imagine the spread of religion as if a religious tradition is simply copied from one society into another.
AQA's material suggests a more complicated relationship.
Migration may lead to:
cultural defence;
cultural transition;
a return to traditional beliefs;
apostasy;
changes influenced by wider global religious developments.
Therefore:
religion spreads geographically
but:
religion may also change socially and culturally as it spreads
This is one of the central themes of the lesson.
Cultural transition
Cultural transition refers to the way religion may help migrants adapt to a new social environment.
AQA's 2022 assessment explicitly links increased migration through globalisation with religion operating as a cultural transition mechanism.
The process can be:
migration → unfamiliar society → religious beliefs and community provide continuity → adjustment to the new social setting
Religion can therefore spread because migrant communities maintain religious practices while adapting to their new surroundings.
This connects directly with social groups and religion [Social groups and religion].
Why cultural transition matters
The concept shows that religion can perform more than one role during migration.
It can:
preserve continuity;
provide social support;
help individuals adapt;
provide community.
Therefore, global migration does not simply involve the spread of religious beliefs.
It may also spread and create religious communities and practices.
Cultural defence
Globalisation may also increase the importance of religion through cultural defence.
AQA's 2022 mark scheme identifies religion acting as cultural defence in a rapidly changing society.
Cultural defence occurs where religion helps a group maintain its identity and solidarity, particularly where the group experiences social change or hostility.
The process is:
migration or cultural change → group identity feels threatened → shared religion becomes more important → beliefs and practices strengthen
Religion therefore may not weaken when people encounter new beliefs.
For some groups, exposure to cultural difference may make religious identity more significant.
Hostility and religious commitment
AQA's 2022 material specifically recognises migrants entering a hostile environment and turning towards religion for emotional support.
This gives the chain:
migration → hostile social environment → need for support and identity → stronger religious involvement
This can help explain why globalisation may produce religious strengthening rather than secularisation among some groups.
Social solidarity
Religious communities may also provide social solidarity for migrant and minority ethnic groups.
AQA's 2022 mark scheme identifies religious infrastructure providing a sense of social solidarity.
The relationship is:
migration → religious community established or maintained → shared beliefs and practices → stronger group solidarity
Globalisation can therefore increase religious diversity while simultaneously strengthening solidarity within particular religious communities.
Notice the distinction:
greater diversity across society
can coexist with:
strong solidarity inside particular religious groups.
Apostasy
Globalisation does not inevitably strengthen religion.
AQA's 2022 material also identifies apostasy, where minority ethnic group members may renounce religious faith.
The possible process is:
migration → exposure to a new social environment → previous beliefs become less influential → religious commitment declines
This provides a direct contrast with cultural defence.
Two possible outcomes of migration
Cultural defence | Apostasy |
Religion becomes more important | Previous religion becomes less important |
Identity may be protected through religion | Religious commitment may be abandoned |
Difference can strengthen religious boundaries | New social environment can weaken previous belief |
Globalisation strengthens religion | Globalisation contributes to religious decline |
This is excellent evaluative material.
The same process, international migration, does not necessarily produce the same religious consequence for everyone.
Technology and the spread of religion
Globalisation involves technological as well as cultural change.
AQA's 2024 item explicitly identifies technological change as part of globalisation and states that it has altered the way people interact with religious organisations.
Technology can reduce the importance of geographical distance.
Religious ideas can therefore potentially move between societies without the people communicating them being in the same physical location.
The general process is:
new communication technology → religious ideas reach people across geographical boundaries → new forms of religious interaction become possible
New media
AQA's 2023 mark scheme identifies new media as particularly important.
It recognises that new media can:
expose people to other beliefs and views;
provide new ways to challenge the religious status quo;
expose inequalities;
affect social solidarity.
New media therefore have a dual effect.
They can spread religion, but they can also spread beliefs that challenge religion.
Spreading religious beliefs through new media
Technology can allow religious ideas to move across geographical boundaries more easily.
This can increase people's exposure to:
different religious beliefs;
different religious organisations;
religious debates;
religious campaigns.
The process can be represented as:
global communication → greater access to religious ideas → wider religious audience → potential spread of belief
This does not guarantee conversion or increased religious commitment.
Access to a belief is not the same as accepting it.
Electronic forms of religion
AQA's 2024 mark scheme identifies concepts including:
televangelism;
electronic church;
spirituality;
New Age movements;
belief without belonging
as potentially relevant to questions about religion and globalisation.
The secure point from the supplied AQA material is that technological change can alter how individuals interact with religion and religious organisations.
This links back to religion and religiosity in the contemporary world [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world].
Physical attendance at a local religious organisation is no longer the only possible way that individuals may interact with religious material.
Technology and measurement
This also creates a methodological problem.
If religious interaction increasingly takes place through technological forms, traditional measures based solely on physical attendance may miss some religious activity.
Therefore:
global technological change → changing form of practice → traditional measures may provide an incomplete picture of religiosity
This is one reason globalisation and secularisation debates overlap.
Globalisation and new forms of belief
AQA's 2024 Item J states that postmodernists suggest globalisation has allowed new types of beliefs to emerge.
Its mark scheme identifies concepts relevant to this argument including:
New Age movements;
spirituality;
spiritual shopping;
consumption;
belief without belonging;
religious marketplaces;
re-enchantment;
re-sacralisation.
The securely supported overall interpretation is:
Globalisation may increase exposure to different beliefs and change the ways individuals construct and practise religion.
This links strongly to New Age movements [New Age movements].
Postmodernist interpretations
AQA's 2024 item explicitly identifies a postmodernist interpretation.
Postmodernists suggest that globalisation:
changes the ways people interact with religious organisations;
allows new types of beliefs to emerge.
The broad argument is therefore that globalisation does not necessarily destroy religion.
Instead, religion may become:
more diverse;
less dependent on one traditional organisation;
expressed in new forms.
The process might be:
global interconnectedness → exposure to wider range of beliefs → greater religious and spiritual diversity → changing forms of belief and practice
Evaluating the postmodernist interpretation
This provides a useful criticism of a simple secularisation model.
If traditional religious participation declines but new forms of belief emerge, religion may be changing rather than disappearing.
However, the existence of new spirituality does not prove traditional religion remains equally influential.
Globalisation may simultaneously involve:
new forms of belief
and:
decline in traditional religious authority
This connects with secularisation [Secularisation].
Religious choice
Greater global interconnectedness may increase the range of religious beliefs and practices available to individuals.
AQA's 2020 material recognises supply and demand and the diversity of beliefs and practices when explaining continuing high levels of religion in some societies.
The argument is:
greater religious variety → individuals have more religious choices → different religious demands may be met → religion may remain significant
This can be linked cautiously to AQA's later use of the concept religious marketplace.
Does greater choice strengthen religion?
Potentially.
More religious options may mean that individuals can find beliefs or organisations that appeal to them.
However, AQA's 2020 marking guidance also explicitly recognises that religious diversity does not always lead to higher levels of religion.
Greater choice can therefore have contrasting effects:
more choice → greater opportunity for religious participation
or:
more competing beliefs → reduced certainty in any single belief system
Globalisation and secularisation
One possible effect of globalisation is the decline of religion.
AQA's 2024 item states that globalisation has been claimed to produce declining religious belief in some areas.
The phrase “some areas” is important.
AQA does not present globalisation as inevitably secularising the whole world.
Western non-religious worldviews
AQA's 2021 mark scheme identifies an increase in Western non-religious worldviews as a possible consequence of globalisation that contributes to secularisation.
The process is:
greater global interconnectedness → increased exposure to non-religious worldviews → traditional religious beliefs challenged → possible secularisation
This provides one explanation for why globalisation may weaken religion.
Westernisation
AQA's 2024 globalisation mark scheme also identifies westernisation as relevant material.
The supplied material does not provide enough detail to construct a separate full theory of westernisation.
The secure point is that increasing global cultural interaction may expose societies to Western beliefs and worldviews, including non-religious ones.
This can contribute to:
greater cultural exposure → challenge to traditional belief → possible religious decline
Globalisation does not equal secularisation
Globalisation may spread secular beliefs, but it may also spread religion itself.
It can lead to:
new forms of religious belief;
fundamentalism;
cultural defence;
religious campaigning;
greater religious diversity.
Therefore:
Globalisation and secularisation are not synonyms.
The relationship must be explained.
This was a major issue in the 2024 examiner report, which found limited understanding of the relationship between religion and globalisation.
Religious fundamentalism
AQA's 2024 item identifies the rise of religious fundamentalism as another possible consequence of globalisation.
The 2021 mark scheme provides more explanation, identifying rapid social change and uncertainty as potentially creating an increase in fundamentalist groups seeking a return to traditional values.
The process can therefore be:
rapid global change → uncertainty or perceived threat to traditional beliefs → stronger commitment to traditional religious values → growth of fundamentalism
This is the opposite of a simple secularisation argument.
Globalisation as a threat
Global interconnectedness can expose religious communities to:
different values;
different religions;
secular beliefs;
rapid cultural change.
Some individuals may welcome this diversity.
Others may experience it as threatening.
For these groups:
greater global diversity → perceived loss of certainty → stronger defence of traditional beliefs
This demonstrates that globalisation can result in religious intensification, not merely religious decline.
Fundamentalism and tradition
Fundamentalism is important because it shows that social change does not always produce greater individualised spirituality.
Two contrasting reactions are possible.
Individualised response
global diversity → greater choice → personal spirituality
Fundamentalist response
global diversity → uncertainty → stronger commitment to traditional religious beliefs
This gives a powerful evaluation of the idea that globalisation inevitably pushes religion in one direction.
Fundamentalism and social change
AQA's 2021 material connects fundamentalist groups with attempts to return to traditional values.
This is important for understanding religion and social change [Religion and social change].
A fundamentalist movement can be a force for change while seeking a return to older or traditional values.
Therefore:
religious social change does not necessarily mean movement towards more liberal or secular beliefs.
Religion can mobilise people to resist aspects of global cultural change.
Globalisation and religion as a force for change
AQA directly assessed this relationship in 2021.
Students were asked to explain how globalisation may influence the way religion acts as a force for change.
The mark scheme identifies several mechanisms.
Technology and campaigning
Technological developments can provide new ways for religious organisations to campaign for change.
The process is:
global communication technology → religious message or campaign reaches wider audience → supporters can connect → increased potential for collective action
This shows that globalisation can increase the organisational capacity of religion.
Social media and protest
AQA also recognises social media providing examples of religious protest for others to follow.
Global communication may therefore allow:
religious protest in one setting → information spreads internationally → other individuals or groups become aware of it → religious protest can influence wider audiences
The key point is not that social media automatically causes change.
Technology provides a mechanism through which religious action can spread.
Global media and inequality
AQA's 2021 and 2023 marking material recognises global media exposing inequality, potentially encouraging religious groups to campaign for change.
The analytical chain is:
global media exposes inequality → religious group interprets inequality through its beliefs → campaign or protest develops → religion becomes a force for change
This demonstrates how globalisation can affect not just the spread of belief, but what believers do with those beliefs.
Movement of people and religious action
The 2021 mark scheme also recognises the free movement of people in a globalised society as potentially facilitating religious protest.
People and religious ideas can move together.
Migration can therefore contribute to:
religious communities;
religious networks;
religious campaigning;
the circulation of beliefs.
The examiner report confirms that answers considering diasporas and migration were more successful than answers that discussed social change without a clear globalisation link.
Globalisation can alter the functions of religion
In 2023, AQA asked students how globalisation may affect the functions of religion.
The mark scheme provides several useful relationships.
Social solidarity may be challenged
New media can expose individuals to other beliefs and viewpoints.
This may challenge a single set of shared religious beliefs.
The process is:
greater access to competing beliefs → weaker shared religious worldview → reduced religious social solidarity
This challenges some of the functionalist arguments studied in religion and social stability [Religion and social stability].
Multi-faith society
AQA's 2023 marking guidance recognises the possibility that the multi-faith nature of society may reduce religion's ability to maintain harmony where conflicting views exist.
Again, global religious diversity can have different effects at different levels.
It may:
increase diversity across society
while:
strengthening solidarity within particular religious communities.
Globalisation and psychological functions
The 2023 mark scheme also identifies the possibility that uncertainty in a globalised world increases the need for religion to perform psychological functions.
The process is:
rapid global change → increased uncertainty → individuals seek meaning or support → religion becomes psychologically significant
Globalisation may therefore weaken some traditional religious structures while increasing demand for religion's supportive functions.
This is another example of contradictory outcomes.
Globalisation and cultural defence
The same mark scheme identifies cultural defence and cultural transition as functions that may become increasingly important in a globalised world.
This reinforces the role of migration.
Globalisation can increase:
movement between societies;
contact between cultures;
uncertainty about identity.
Religion may then provide:
continuity;
group identity;
support;
adaptation.
This brings together globalisation and the material from social groups and religion [Social groups and religion].
Globalisation and power
Globalisation can also affect religion's relationship with powerful groups.
The 2023 mark scheme suggests that global media may expose inequalities within religion and encourage individuals to challenge powerful groups.
The possible process is:
greater access to information → awareness of inequality → established religious arrangements questioned → challenge to religious or social power
This provides a global version of the arguments explored in ideology [Ideology].
New media and the religious status quo
AQA also identifies technological advances as providing new opportunities to challenge the religious status quo.
Global communication can therefore weaken the control traditional organisations have over religious information.
Individuals may gain access to:
alternative religious beliefs;
alternative interpretations;
criticisms of existing religion.
The result may be either:
religious transformation
or:
declining traditional authority.
Global capitalism and religion
AQA's 2023 mark scheme includes the argument that global capitalism may reinforce the need for religion to act as the opium of the people.
The supplied AQA material does not develop a full global Marxist theory here, but the source-supported relationship is clear.
Where global capitalism produces or maintains inequality, religion may be interpreted as helping people cope with those conditions.
The chain is:
global capitalist inequality → suffering or disadvantage → religion provides comfort → inequality becomes easier to tolerate
A Marxist interpretation may therefore argue that globalisation can reinforce religion's ideological role.
Alternative interpretation
However, AQA's globalisation material also recognises religious groups using global media to expose inequality and campaign for change.
Religion can therefore potentially:
make inequality easier to tolerate
or:
provide resources for challenging inequality.
This connects directly with the dual character of religion examined in religion and social change [Religion and social change].
Globalisation and religious organisations
Globalisation can change how people relate to formal religious organisations.
AQA's 2024 item explicitly identifies this as one of the central postmodernist arguments.
The relationship may involve:
interaction through new technology;
exposure to organisations beyond the local area;
migration creating religious communities in new settings;
more individualised forms of belief;
reduced dependence on traditional organisations.
This means religious organisations no longer necessarily operate only within a local or national setting.
Local organisation and global connections
A religious community may be located in one particular society while its beliefs and connections reach much further.
Globalisation therefore weakens a simple equation:
religion = local religious organisation
Religious belief and practice can potentially become connected across national boundaries through:
people;
communications;
wider religious networks.
New Age movements and globalisation
AQA's 2024 mark scheme explicitly identifies New Age movements and spirituality as relevant to the relationship between religion and globalisation.
This connects directly with New Age movements [New Age movements].
Greater exposure to different ideas can contribute to a religious environment in which individuals encounter a wider range of beliefs.
From a postmodernist perspective, globalisation may therefore contribute to:
greater religious diversity → individual choice → new or spiritual forms of belief
Evaluation
However, the existence of New Age or spiritual beliefs does not necessarily mean religion is becoming stronger.
They may instead reflect:
de-traditionalisation;
declining authority of traditional organisations;
increasing individualism.
Therefore, globalisation may help create new forms of religion while weakening older ones.
Religious marketplaces
AQA's 2024 mark scheme lists the concept religious marketplace, while AQA's 2020 secularisation material explicitly links religious diversity with supply and demand.
The secure source-supported idea is that a greater range of beliefs and practices can increase religious choice.
This may help explain why religion remains significant despite global social change.
For examination purposes, the safest relationship is:
greater diversity of religious supply → greater choice → possible continued religiosity
with the evaluation:
religious diversity does not always increase religion.
Re-enchantment and re-sacralisation
AQA's 2024 mark scheme also identifies re-enchantment and re-sacralisation as concepts that may be relevant to religion and globalisation.
Their inclusion does demonstrate an important broader point.
AQA allows arguments that contemporary global change may involve forms of renewed religious significance, rather than only secularisation.
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism is another concept listed in the 2024 mark scheme for the relationship between religion and globalisation.
This is another area where it is better to stay within the supplied evidence than invent textbook detail.
Globalisation and religious conflict
AQA's 2021 mark scheme identifies a multicultural society creating conflict, while the 2024 mark scheme lists the clash of civilisations as potentially relevant material.
The securely supported general point is:
Increased global contact between different beliefs does not necessarily create harmony.
Greater interconnectedness may result in:
greater understanding;
increased religious diversity;
disagreement;
stronger defence of religious identities.
This adds another possible outcome:
globalisation → increased contact between belief systems → religious conflict or strengthened boundaries
rather than:
globalisation → one shared global religious culture.
Homogenisation or diversity?
A major question is whether globalisation makes religion more similar across societies or creates greater diversity.
The supplied AQA material strongly supports evidence for diversity:
different beliefs become accessible;
new forms of belief can emerge;
migration spreads religious traditions;
individual spirituality may grow;
fundamentalist reactions may occur;
secular worldviews may spread.
There is therefore no source-supported basis for saying globalisation simply produces one uniform religion.
Instead:
global interconnectedness → greater contact → several possible religious responses
This is one of the strongest conclusions of the lesson.
Globalisation and religion can work in both directions
Most of this lesson examines:
globalisation → religion
But religion can also influence how groups respond to globalisation.
For example:
globalisation produces migration → religion provides cultural defence
or:
globalisation creates uncertainty → fundamentalism provides traditional certainty
or:
global media exposes inequality → religion provides a basis for protest
Religion therefore mediates how global change is experienced.
The relationship is interactive, rather than religion simply being a passive victim of globalisation.
Globalisation may weaken collective religion
Greater exposure to alternative beliefs can challenge:
traditional authority;
a single shared religious worldview;
established religious organisations.
AQA's 2023 material recognises new media challenging social solidarity and the religious status quo.
This could contribute to:
greater choice → weaker collective obligation → individualised religion
This is compatible with the secularisation and privatisation arguments explored previously.
Globalisation may strengthen collective religion
The reverse is also possible.
Migration, hostility and rapid cultural change may encourage:
cultural defence;
social solidarity;
fundamentalism;
stronger traditional beliefs.
Therefore:
greater exposure to difference
can result in:
greater individual choice
or:
stronger collective religious identity
This apparent contradiction is not a problem.
It is evidence that different groups may respond differently to the same global processes.
Globalisation and individualised religion
Postmodernist interpretations identified by AQA suggest that globalisation can change people's interactions with religious organisations and enable new forms of belief.
This may support the wider pattern:
global religious diversity → increased personal choice → less dependence on one traditional authority → more individualised belief
This connects with:
spirituality;
New Age movements;
belief without belonging.
However, the existence of fundamentalist groups shows that individualisation is not the only possible response.
Evaluating the relationship between religion and globalisation
There are several strong lines of evaluation.
Evaluation 1: Globalisation can spread religion
Migration and technological communication allow religious beliefs, practices and organisations to operate across geographical boundaries.
However: exposure does not automatically produce belief or conversion.
Evaluation 2: Globalisation can increase religious choice
Greater access to different beliefs may create a more diverse religious environment.
However: diversity can also undermine certainty and contribute to secularisation.
Evaluation 3: Globalisation can weaken traditional religion
Western non-religious worldviews and alternative beliefs may challenge religious authority.
However: some groups respond to globalisation by strengthening religion through cultural defence or fundamentalism.
Evaluation 4: Globalisation can create new beliefs
Postmodernist interpretations emphasise new religious forms, spirituality and changing interaction with organisations.
However: new spirituality can coexist with declining traditional religious authority.
Evaluation 5: Globalisation can promote religious change
Technology and global media can support campaigns and challenges to existing power.
However: fundamentalist groups may also seek change designed to restore traditional values.
Evaluation 6: Migration spreads and transforms religion
People may carry beliefs and practices into new societies.
However: migration can lead to cultural defence, cultural transition or apostasy.
There is therefore no inevitable result.
Comparing the major effects of globalisation
Global process | Possible religious effect | Alternative outcome |
International migration | Religions spread geographically | Religious beliefs may change or be abandoned |
Cultural contact | Greater religious diversity | Competing beliefs may weaken religious certainty |
New media | Religious ideas reach wider audiences | Alternative beliefs may challenge traditional religion |
Global cultural change | New religious or spiritual beliefs emerge | Traditional religious authority may decline |
Rapid global change | Fundamentalism may strengthen traditional beliefs | Other individuals may embrace greater religious choice |
Hostility following migration | Cultural defence strengthens religion | Some individuals may adapt or renounce faith |
Global media | Religious campaigns and protest can spread | Exposure to alternative worldviews may weaken religion |
Western non-religious worldviews | Secularisation may increase | Religious groups may respond by strengthening identity |
Religious diversity | Religious supply and choice may increase | Diversity may create a crisis of credibility |
Postmodernism and globalisation
The 2024 item provides the clearest AQA-supported postmodernist argument:
globalisation changes interaction with religious organisations and permits new forms of belief to emerge.
This interpretation is useful because it explains contemporary religion as:
diverse;
changing;
less dependent on one traditional organisational form.
Strength of the explanation
It can account for:
New Age movements;
changing spirituality;
technologically mediated religion;
greater religious choice.
Limitation
It may understate the continuing importance of:
traditional beliefs;
collective religious identities;
fundamentalism.
Globalisation may create greater individual choice for some people while strengthening traditional commitments for others.
Fundamentalism as an alternative interpretation
Fundamentalism directly challenges the claim that globalisation necessarily produces individualised or less traditional religion.
AQA's 2024 item presents fundamentalism as a possible result of globalisation, while its 2021 mark scheme links it to uncertainty and attempts to return to traditional values.
The contrast is:
postmodern response → diversity and new beliefs
versus:
fundamentalist response → stronger commitment to traditional beliefs
A strong essay can use these interpretations directly against one another.
Secularisation as another outcome
A third interpretation is:
globalisation → declining religious belief
Exposure to Western non-religious worldviews and alternative explanations can weaken traditional religion.
This gives three major directions:
religious diversification
religious strengthening
religious decline
The fact that all three appear in AQA's 2024 item is extremely important.
It tells you that a strong answer should evaluate competing consequences, rather than learn a single formula for the relationship between globalisation and religion.
Globalisation and different social groups
Globalisation may also affect social groups differently.
AQA's 2022 material focuses specifically on minority ethnic groups and identifies:
cultural defence;
cultural transition;
apostasy;
social solidarity;
poverty;
global religious change.
Therefore, avoid writing as if globalisation affects an entire society uniformly.
A better question is:
Which group is experiencing globalisation, under what circumstances, and what role does religion perform for that group?
This applies the work from social groups and religion [Social groups and religion].
Globalisation and contemporary religiosity
The effect of globalisation also depends on how religiosity is understood.
A person may become less involved in a local traditional organisation but more exposed to religious beliefs through new media.
Another person may use religion as cultural defence following migration.
Another may adopt a secular worldview.
Another may respond to global uncertainty with stronger traditional religious commitment.
Therefore:
globalisation changes the form, location and significance of religious belief in different ways
rather than producing a single measurable effect.
This links to religion and religiosity in the contemporary world [Religion and religiosity in the contemporary world].
Does globalisation spread religions or merely religious information?
This is an important evaluation.
Technology can certainly increase access to religious information.
However:
receiving religious information ≠ accepting religious belief
Therefore, a strong answer distinguishes:
spread of religious ideas;
spread of religious organisations;
spread of religious practices;
growth in religious commitment.
Globalisation can facilitate the first three without guaranteeing the fourth.
This prevents the exaggerated conclusion:
“The internet automatically makes religion grow.”
Does migration preserve religion?
Not automatically.
Migration physically spreads religious traditions across societies, but the AQA material identifies several different consequences:
cultural defence;
cultural transition;
rejection of change and return to traditional belief;
apostasy.
Therefore, migration can lead to:
preservation
adaptation
or
decline
of religious commitment.
This is a strong example of why globalisation should be understood as a process creating possibilities, rather than a cause with one guaranteed outcome.
Does globalisation create a global religion?
The supplied AQA material does not support the claim that globalisation produces one global religion.
Instead, the material emphasises:
new beliefs;
religious diversity;
fundamentalism;
secularisation;
cultural defence;
changing spiritual forms.
The stronger source-supported conclusion is therefore:
Globalisation increases interaction between religious and non-religious beliefs without necessarily making them identical.
Globalisation and the changing significance of place
One implication of migration and communication technology is that religious life can become less restricted by national boundaries.
A religious idea may circulate internationally.
A migrant community may maintain religious connections beyond its immediate location.
A religious organisation may communicate with people who do not physically attend it.
This means globalisation can make the relationship between:
religion and geographical location
less straightforward.
AQA's material on technological change, migration and changing interaction with religious organisations supports this broad relationship.
A balanced sociological judgement
Globalisation has considerable significance for religion because it changes the conditions in which religious beliefs and practices operate.
It can facilitate the spread of religion through:
migration;
global communication;
new media;
wider interaction between religious communities.
It can also transform religion through:
new forms of belief;
individualised spirituality;
cultural transition;
changing interactions with organisations.
However, globalisation can produce contradictory outcomes.
It may contribute to:
secularisation
through exposure to non-religious worldviews,
but also:
fundamentalism
through reactions against rapid cultural change,
and:
cultural defence
where religion becomes more important to identity.
The strongest conclusion is therefore:
Globalisation expands the movement and interaction of religious ideas, people and organisations, but it does not create one universal religious outcome. Its significance depends on how particular individuals, groups and religious organisations respond to increased global interconnectedness.
Applying globalisation and religion in an examination
AQA examiner reports show that this topic causes one very specific problem:
students know something about religion and something about globalisation, but fail to connect them.
The solution is to make every paragraph follow a relationship.
Step 1: Identify the global process
For example:
migration
Step 2: Identify the religious mechanism
For example:
cultural defence
Step 3: Explain the effect on belief or practice
For example:
religion becomes a stronger source of identity.
Step 4: State the consequence
Religious commitment may increase.
Step 5: Evaluate
Migration may alternatively result in cultural transition or apostasy.
Your complete chain becomes:
global migration → threatened identity → cultural defence → stronger religious practice → but some migrants may adapt or renounce faith instead
That is far stronger than:
“Globalisation causes migration. Religion is important to migrants.”
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Globalisation | Increased interconnectedness between different parts of the world involving technological and cultural changes. | Establish the global process before explaining its effect on religion. |
Cultural defence | Religion helping a group maintain identity and solidarity when experiencing change or hostility. | Explain why globalisation and migration may strengthen religion. |
Cultural transition | Religion helping migrants adjust to a new social environment. | Explain how migration can spread religion while helping adaptation. |
Apostasy | Leaving or renouncing a religious faith. | Evaluate the claim that migration necessarily strengthens religious commitment. |
Religious fundamentalism | Strong commitment to traditional religious beliefs that may develop in reaction to rapid social change or uncertainty. | Explain why globalisation may strengthen rather than weaken traditional religion. |
Religious diversity | The existence of a range of religious beliefs, practices and organisations. | Explain how global connections can increase both choice and competing belief systems. |
Religious supply | The range of religious beliefs, organisations and practices available. | Explain why greater religious choice may help maintain religiosity. |
Secularisation | The declining importance of religion. | Explain why exposure to non-religious worldviews may weaken religious belief. |
New media | New forms of communication that can make different beliefs and views more widely accessible. | Explain how religious ideas spread or traditional authority is challenged. |
Social solidarity | Bonds and shared identity connecting members of a social group. | Explain why religion may become significant for migrant or minority communities. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
The 2024 examination directly assessed the relationship between religion and globalisation, so its examiner report gives some particularly important advice.
Examiner hint: Do not treat every recent social change as globalisation. The 2024 examiner report specifically identified this as a weakness.
A valid globalisation argument should involve increased connections between societies, for example through:
migration;
global communication;
new media;
exposure to different global beliefs.
Examiner hint: Many 2024 students showed limited understanding of the actual relationship between religion and globalisation. Some relied on repeating the item rather than developing its ideas.
Do not write:
“Globalisation leads to fundamentalism.”
Develop:
“Rapid global cultural change can create uncertainty or be experienced as a threat to traditional values. Some religious groups may respond by strengthening commitment to traditional beliefs, contributing to fundamentalism.”
Examiner hint: The 2021 report found that answers using genuine dimensions of globalisation such as Westernisation, technology, social media, diasporas and migration were more successful. Some weaker answers simply described examples of religion causing social change without linking them to globalisation.
For every example ask:
Where is the global connection?
Examiner hint: In 2023, many students recognised that new media gave access to a wider range of beliefs, but weaker answers did not connect this clearly to the functions of religion.
Complete the analytical chain.
For example:
new media → greater access to competing beliefs → weaker shared religious worldview → religion may perform its solidarity function less effectively
Examiner hint: AQA's general 2024 guidance recommends depth rather than trying to include every possible idea in a 20-mark answer. Students who planned their essays often produced more structured and coherent responses.
For a globalisation essay, a strong plan could be organised around:
new media and new beliefs;
migration and cultural defence;
fundamentalism;
secularisation;
overall judgement about contradictory outcomes.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating globalisation as any modern social change
Why this is incorrect: The 2024 examiner report explicitly identifies this problem.
How to improve: Show the element of global interconnectedness in every argument.
Mistake: Writing separate sections on globalisation and religion
Why this is incorrect: The examination requires the relationship between the two.
How to improve: Use:
global process → religious mechanism → effect on belief/practice
Mistake: Assuming globalisation inevitably spreads religion
Why this is incorrect: Globalisation can also spread non-religious worldviews and contribute to secularisation.
How to improve: Evaluate spread against religious decline.
Mistake: Assuming globalisation inevitably causes secularisation
Why this is incorrect: AQA also recognises fundamentalism, cultural defence, new beliefs and continuing religious diversity.
How to improve: Treat secularisation as one possible outcome.
Mistake: Saying migration always strengthens religion
Why this is incorrect: AQA identifies cultural defence, cultural transition and apostasy as different possibilities.
How to improve: Show alternative outcomes:
migration → stronger religion
or:
migration → adaptation or declining religious commitment
Mistake: Treating access to religion online as proof of increased belief
Why this is incorrect: Access to ideas does not establish that those ideas are accepted.
How to improve: Distinguish the spread of religious information from growth in religious commitment.
Mistake: Describing fundamentalism without connecting it to globalisation
Why this is incorrect: The relevant argument is about how rapid global cultural change and uncertainty may encourage stronger traditional commitments.
How to improve: Build the chain:
global change → uncertainty or threat → stronger traditional values → fundamentalism
Mistake: Assuming greater religious diversity has one effect
Why this is incorrect: Diversity may increase religious supply and choice, but it may also expose people to competing beliefs and contribute to secularisation.
How to improve: Evaluate both possibilities.
Mistake: Using an example instead of making a sociological point
Why this is incorrect: AQA examiner reports repeatedly warn against example-driven responses with little development.
How to improve: Make a general sociological argument first, then use an example only to illustrate it.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Questions
1. Define the term globalisation.[2 marks]
2. Explain one way in which migration may contribute to the spread of religion.[4 marks]
3. Explain one way in which new media may affect religious belief or practice.[4 marks]
4. Outline and explain two ways in which globalisation may contribute to the spread of religions.[10 marks]
5. Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
Individuals moving between societies may take religious beliefs and practices with them. Religious communities can also provide support and a sense of identity when migrants encounter an unfamiliar or hostile social environment.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which global migration may affect religious beliefs and practices.[10 marks]
6. Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
Communication technology gives individuals access to religious beliefs from many parts of the world. However, it also exposes people to alternative religious and non-religious ideas.
Global communication may therefore affect religion in different ways.
Applying material from Item B, analyse two ways in which new media may affect religion in a globalised world.[10 marks]
7. Read Item C and answer the question that follows.
Item C
Rapid global cultural change may weaken traditional religious beliefs for some people. For others, uncertainty and exposure to different values may increase their commitment to traditional religion.
Applying material from Item C, analyse two ways in which globalisation may affect traditional religious belief.[10 marks]
8. Read Item D and answer the question that follows.
Item D
Globalisation increases contact between different religious beliefs and provides new ways of interacting with religious organisations. Some sociologists argue that this creates greater choice and new forms of spirituality. Others argue that global change may result in fundamentalism or declining religious belief.
Applying material from Item D and your knowledge, evaluate sociological views of the relationship between religion and globalisation.[20 marks]
9. Read Item E and answer the question that follows.
Item E
Migration and communication technology allow religious beliefs and practices to move across national boundaries. However, the spread of religious ideas does not mean that people everywhere accept the same beliefs. Religion may be adapted, strengthened or abandoned in different social contexts.
Applying material from Item E and your knowledge, evaluate the view that globalisation leads to the worldwide spread and strengthening of religion.[20 marks]
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
Globalisation refers to increased interconnectedness between different parts of the world involving technological and cultural changes.
For full credit, the answer should identify:
increasing worldwide connections;
some indication of social, cultural or technological interconnectedness.
Question 2
A possible answer:
Migration may contribute to the spread of religion because people moving between countries may maintain religious beliefs and practices in their new society. Religious traditions can therefore become established or continue in locations beyond the societies in which migrants previously lived.
The chain is:
international migration → movement of believers → religious beliefs/practices move → wider geographical presence of religion
Question 3
A possible answer:
New media may make religious beliefs available to people across geographical boundaries. Individuals can encounter religious ideas or organisations that they would previously have been less able to access, changing the way they interact with religion.
Alternatively, new media may expose people to competing beliefs and challenge traditional religious authority.
Credit should be given for:
technology → changing access to beliefs → religious consequence
Question 4
Two developed explanations are required.
Migration
Global movement of people can carry religious beliefs and practices into new societies. Religious communities may become established and religion may help migrants through cultural transition.
Communication technology
New media can circulate religious ideas across geographical boundaries and allow individuals to interact with religious organisations in new ways.
Other valid source-supported routes include:
religious campaigning;
global media;
cultural defence;
increased religious diversity.
Evaluation is not required.
Question 5
Two developed applications are required.
First way: cultural transition
Use the item's reference to an unfamiliar environment.
Migration may lead individuals to rely upon religious communities for continuity and support while adapting to a new society. Religion therefore operates as a mechanism of cultural transition.
The chain is:
migration → unfamiliar environment → religious continuity → cultural transition
Second way: cultural defence
Use the reference to hostility and identity.
Migrants experiencing hostility may strengthen religious identification because shared beliefs and practices provide support and protect a collective identity.
The chain is:
hostility → threatened identity → cultural defence → stronger religiosity
A strong answer may recognise that migration can alternatively lead to apostasy.
Question 6
Two developed effects are required.
First way: spreading religious beliefs
Use the item's reference to access to religion from different parts of the world.
New media can spread religious ideas beyond their previous geographical setting and change how people interact with religious organisations.
Second way: challenging traditional religion
Use the reference to alternative religious and non-religious ideas.
New media may expose individuals to competing beliefs, reducing the authority of a single religious worldview and potentially contributing to secularisation.
The strongest answers recognise the contrast:
technology can spread religion while simultaneously challenging existing religion.
Question 7
Two contrasting effects can be developed.
First effect: secularisation
Use the reference to traditional beliefs weakening. Exposure to secular or non-religious worldviews through globalisation may challenge traditional religious authority and contribute to religious decline.
Second effect: fundamentalism
Use the reference to uncertainty and stronger commitment. Rapid cultural change may be perceived as threatening, encouraging some religious groups to strengthen their commitment to traditional values.
The relationship is:
globalisation → greater diversity → possible secularisation
versus:
globalisation → perceived threat/uncertainty → stronger traditional religion
Question 8
Indicative content may include:
Globalisation spreading or transforming religion:
increased interconnectedness;
migration;
new media;
technological change;
changing interaction with religious organisations;
new types of belief;
New Age movements;
spirituality;
belief without belonging;
religious diversity;
religious choice and supply;
cultural transition.
Globalisation strengthening religion:
cultural defence;
social solidarity;
fundamentalism;
return to traditional values;
psychological functions during uncertainty;
religious campaigning and protest.
Globalisation weakening religion:
spread of Western non-religious worldviews;
secularisation;
competing belief systems;
challenges to traditional religious authority;
new media challenging social solidarity;
apostasy.
Religion and social change:
technological advances supporting religious campaigns;
social media spreading examples of protest;
global media exposing inequalities;
movement of people facilitating religious activity.
Evaluation should consider:
whether new beliefs represent religious revival or declining traditional authority;
whether religious diversity strengthens choice or weakens credibility;
whether migration preserves, modifies or weakens religion;
whether fundamentalism contradicts secularisation;
differences between social groups;
whether globalisation has one universal religious outcome.
A strong conclusion should reflect the contradictory effects shown in AQA's 2024 item.
Globalisation clearly changes the social environment in which religion operates, but it does not produce a single movement towards either religious revival or secularisation. Increased connections may expand religious choice and spread beliefs, while also exposing people to secular alternatives. Some groups respond through cultural defence or fundamentalism, whereas others move towards individualised spirituality or reduced belief. The relationship is therefore multiple and context-dependent.
Question 9
Indicative content may include:
Arguments supporting worldwide spread and strengthening:
international migration carries beliefs and practices between societies;
technological communication increases the reach of religious ideas;
religious organisations can communicate beyond local boundaries;
greater religious supply may maintain participation;
cultural defence can strengthen migrant religiosity;
religion may provide solidarity in new social environments;
fundamentalism can strengthen traditional religious commitment;
global uncertainty may increase psychological demand for religion.
Arguments challenging the view:
exposure to religion does not guarantee acceptance;
apostasy may occur following migration;
cultural transition may alter religious practices;
globalisation can spread secular worldviews;
traditional religious authority may decline;
competing beliefs may weaken credibility;
individualised spirituality may replace some organised religion;
different social groups respond differently;
globalisation may strengthen religion in some contexts while weakening it in others.
A strong answer should distinguish between:
spread of religious information
spread of religious people and organisations
and
growth in religious commitment.
These are not identical.
A reasoned judgement could argue that globalisation clearly provides important mechanisms through which religious ideas, believers and practices can cross national boundaries. However, it does not guarantee the worldwide strengthening of religion. Once religious beliefs enter new social contexts they may be maintained through cultural defence, adapted through cultural transition, challenged by competing worldviews or abandoned through apostasy. Globalisation therefore increases the circulation and interaction of religion, but its effect on religious commitment remains varied.
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