Globalisation and cultural relationships | AQA A-Level Sociology
Updated: Sep 1
For Specification 7192
AQA A-Level Sociology | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 70 minutes
Globalisation and cultural relationships A-Level Sociology revision examines how increasing connections between societies affect culture, identities, values and ways of life. For Global Development, AQA requires students to understand globalisation and its influence on the cultural, political and economic relationships between societies. This lesson concentrates on the cultural dimension, building on development and underdevelopment [Development and underdevelopment] and global inequality [Global inequality] before political and economic globalisation are examined separately.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Define globalisation and explain its relationship with increasing global interconnectedness.
Explain how migration, media, travel and global consumption can affect cultural relationships between societies.
Explain concepts including global culture, cultural homogenisation, cultural imperialism, heterogenisation, glocalisation and hybrid identities.
Analyse how globalisation may weaken, strengthen or transform local and national cultures.
Compare sociological interpretations of the cultural consequences of globalisation.
Evaluate the extent to which globalisation is producing a more culturally similar world.
Revision Notes 📚
Globalisation and cultural relationships A-Level Sociology revision: the core issue
Globalisation refers to increasing interconnectedness between different parts of the world.
AQA explicitly requires Global Development students to understand how globalisation influences the cultural relationships between societies, alongside its political and economic effects.
Cultural relationships concern the ways in which societies exchange, influence, adopt, resist and transform:
values and beliefs
lifestyles
ideas and information
media content
consumer goods
religious beliefs
educational practices
cultural identities
Globalisation therefore does not simply mean that countries trade more. It can alter how people understand other societies and how cultures relate to one another.
The political and economic dimensions are developed further in globalisation and political and economic relationships [Globalisation, political and economic relationships].
What makes cultural globalisation possible?
Several processes increase contact between cultures.
Migration
Globalisation involves greater movement of people between societies.
Migration can bring people with different cultural backgrounds into closer contact. Migrants may maintain aspects of a culture associated with their country of origin while also adapting to the society in which they now live.
AQA assessment material recognises that international migrants may develop hybrid identities, combining elements drawn from different cultural sources.
Migration can therefore lead to both:
greater cultural diversity
new combinations of cultural identities
It may also produce reactions from people who feel that established national or cultural identities are being threatened.
International travel
Travel allows people to encounter cultural practices, products and lifestyles from other societies.
These influences can then be carried back into the traveller's own society.
AQA's 2025 Paper 2 used international travel as one way in which globalisation could affect popular culture. The mark scheme recognised that people travelling abroad may encounter aspects of other cultures that are subsequently absorbed into their own culture.
Global trade and consumption
Products that were once associated with particular societies can increasingly be consumed in many different parts of the world.
Globalisation therefore creates cultural relationships through consumption as well as direct interaction between people.
AQA assessment material recognises that:
the same consumer products may be sold around the world
global brands may become widely recognised
consumer culture can contribute to a global culture
individuals may use globally available products when constructing their identities
The role of large global businesses in these processes is explored further in transnational corporations [Transnational corporations].
Media and communication technology
Media and digital communication allow cultural information to travel rapidly between societies.
People can access:
ideas
images
news
beliefs
lifestyles
cultural products
from many different parts of the world.
AQA mark schemes recognise the role of social media, new media and rapid communication in shaping global identities and culture.
This overlaps particularly strongly with the media and globalisation [The media and globalisation].
Global culture
Global culture refers to cultural ideas, products, practices and forms of consumption that circulate across national boundaries and become familiar in many different societies.
Global culture may develop because the same:
brands
media products
fashions
consumer goods
lifestyles
ideas
are increasingly available across the world.
AQA's 2020 mark scheme recognised that global media corporations may spread common lifestyles and consumer ideas, while global brands can weaken the distinctiveness of local cultures.
The growth of global culture raises a major sociological debate.
Does increased interconnectedness mean cultures are becoming more similar, or are global influences being adapted and combined in ways that actually produce new forms of cultural diversity?
Cultural homogenisation
Cultural homogenisation is the process through which cultures become increasingly similar.
The basic argument is:
Global connections increase.
The same products, ideas and media reach many societies.
People increasingly consume similar cultural products.
Local differences may become less significant.
A more uniform global culture develops.
AQA examiner materials explicitly recognise homogenisation as a concept students can use when analysing the cultural effects of globalisation. In 2025, successful answers linked the worldwide availability of consumer products to homogenisation.
How global consumption can encourage homogenisation
If the same products are available across many societies, consumption may become increasingly similar.
People living in different parts of the world may therefore:
recognise the same brands
consume similar media
follow similar fashions
encounter similar lifestyles
participate in a shared consumer culture
AQA's 2020 mark scheme recognised the argument that global brands and consumerism may encourage people around the world to aspire to similar products and lifestyles.
From this perspective, globalisation reduces cultural distance between societies.
Cultural convergence
Cultural convergence describes the movement towards greater cultural similarity.
It overlaps with homogenisation.
For example, increasingly similar:
consumer habits
educational practices
lifestyles
media use
may indicate convergence between societies.
AQA assessment material recognises both cultural convergence and the globalisation of popular culture.
However, convergence does not necessarily mean that cultures become completely identical.
People may consume the same product or access the same media content while interpreting it differently according to their own local culture.
Cultural imperialism
Cultural imperialism describes a situation in which the culture of more powerful societies becomes dominant over other cultures.
This approach does not see global cultural exchange as an equal process.
Instead, it asks:
Which societies have the greatest power to spread their values, products and lifestyles?
AQA assessment material recognises cultural imperialism as a relevant concept when examining globalisation, identity and popular culture.
Western influence and cultural imperialism
One version of the cultural imperialism argument focuses on the global influence of Western cultural products.
AQA's 2020 mark scheme recognised the argument that Western or American media may spread:
consumerism
shared values
global brands
particular lifestyles
around the world. It also recognised the possibility that this may weaken local cultures.
This is significant because it suggests that cultural globalisation reflects power inequalities between societies.
Cultural influence is therefore connected to the issues studied in global inequality [Global inequality].
Cultural imperialism and consumerism
Consumerism refers to the importance attached to acquiring and consuming goods and services.
Globalisation can spread consumer culture because businesses operate across national boundaries and promote products internationally.
From a critical perspective, this may encourage individuals in very different societies to:
desire similar products
construct identities through consumption
measure lifestyle through consumer choices
adopt values associated with global consumer culture
AQA's 2021 mark scheme identifies consumerism, commodification, global culture, transnational corporations and cultural imperialism as concepts relevant to evaluating the impact of globalisation.
Commodification
Commodification refers to the process through which things are increasingly turned into goods or services that can be bought and sold.
In a global cultural context, aspects of culture may become part of global markets.
This connects culture with economic globalisation. Cultural symbols, lifestyles and identities may become associated with products that corporations can market internationally.
A critical interpretation therefore questions whether apparent cultural choice actually reflects the commercial power of global businesses.
The economic power of these organisations is examined more fully in transnational corporations [Transnational corporations].
A Marxist interpretation of cultural globalisation
A Marxist interpretation can emphasise inequalities in the power to produce and distribute culture.
From this perspective, cultural globalisation may not simply represent a free exchange of ideas between equal societies.
Large corporations and powerful economic interests may have greater ability to:
produce cultural products
distribute media globally
advertise internationally
encourage consumerism
influence which lifestyles become highly visible
Concepts recognised by AQA in debates about globalisation include Marxism, hegemony, cultural imperialism, commodification and transnational corporations.
This provides a critical interpretation of the claim that globalisation simply increases cultural choice.
The cultural imperialism argument
The argument can be summarised as:
economic power → control over cultural production and distribution → worldwide exposure to dominant cultural products → possible weakening of local culture
This argument has explanatory strength because cultural relationships between societies clearly do not always involve equal resources or influence.
However, it can be criticised for treating audiences and local cultures as too passive.
Local cultures may adapt, reinterpret or reject global influences.
This leads to a very different interpretation.
Heterogenisation
Heterogenisation refers to the continuation or growth of cultural differences rather than increasing uniformity.
Instead of globalisation creating one identical culture, contact between cultures may produce:
new cultural combinations
greater choice
hybrid identities
adaptation of global products
renewed interest in local culture
resistance to outside influences
AQA's 2021 mark scheme identifies heterogenisation, diversity and hybrid identities as relevant concepts when evaluating globalisation.
The key point is that globalisation may create more cultural interaction without necessarily creating cultural sameness.
Cultural hybridity
Cultural hybridity occurs when elements from different cultures are combined to create new cultural forms.
Globalisation increases the opportunities for this because:
people migrate
media cross national boundaries
cultural products circulate globally
people encounter a wider range of ideas and lifestyles
Rather than simply replacing one culture with another, cultures may mix.
Hybrid identities
A hybrid identity combines cultural influences from different sources.
AQA's 2022 mark scheme provides a clear application: an international migrant may construct a hybrid identity in the host society.
For example, an individual does not necessarily have to choose between entirely retaining one culture and completely adopting another.
Their identity may draw on elements of both.
This challenges a simple cultural imperialism argument because people are presented as active participants in cultural change rather than passive recipients of dominant culture.
Globalisation and greater cultural choice
Globalisation exposes individuals to a wider range of possible cultural resources.
AQA's 2021 assessment material recognised that growing global connections may make people increasingly aware of how others live and provide new resources for constructing identity. It also linked global culture with consumerism, brands and fashions.
This can increase choice over:
consumption
lifestyle
identity
belief
cultural affiliation
A postmodern interpretation is particularly useful here.
Postmodern interpretations
Postmodernists emphasise diversity, choice and the weakening of rigid cultural boundaries.
Globalisation can make a wider range of cultural influences available to individuals.
People may therefore increasingly construct identities by selecting from different:
cultural traditions
consumer goods
media
beliefs
lifestyles
AQA's mark scheme explicitly recognises postmodernism as a perspective relevant to evaluating globalisation and identity.
From this perspective, globalisation does not simply create cultural sameness. It can expand the range of cultural choices available.
Evaluating the postmodern interpretation
The postmodern approach is useful because it recognises that people may actively combine cultural influences rather than simply accepting them.
However, the amount of choice available is not necessarily equal.
AQA's 2021 item itself noted that not everyone can afford to participate equally in a global culture centred on consumerism, brands and fashions.
This means that cultural choice may be constrained by:
economic resources
access to technology
social inequalities
corporate power
A Marxist interpretation therefore questions whether apparently unlimited cultural choice is genuinely available to everyone.
Glocalisation
Glocalisation describes the interaction between global and local culture.
Rather than a global cultural product simply replacing local culture, global influences may be adapted to fit local circumstances.
The process can be represented as:
global cultural influence + local interpretation or adaptation → new localised cultural form
AQA recognises glocalisation and localisation among concepts relevant to the relationship between globalisation and identity.
Why glocalisation challenges homogenisation
Homogenisation suggests increasing similarity.
Glocalisation suggests something more complicated.
The same global cultural influence may be encountered in several societies, but:
it can acquire different meanings
people can adapt it
it can combine with local practices
it does not necessarily destroy local culture
AQA's 2020 mark scheme recognised this evaluative possibility by noting that local cultures may absorb and transform external influences.
This is a particularly useful evaluation point in an essay on cultural globalisation.
Homogenisation versus glocalisation
Homogenisation | Glocalisation |
Cultures become increasingly similar. | Global influences are adapted locally. |
Global products may weaken local differences. | Local cultures remain active in shaping global influences. |
Emphasises convergence. | Emphasises interaction and adaptation. |
Can support cultural imperialism arguments. | Challenges the view that global culture simply replaces local cultures. |
People across societies may consume similar products. | Similar products or ideas may take on different local meanings. |
Localisation and the continuing importance of local culture
Localisation refers to the continuing or renewed importance of local cultural identities and practices.
Globalisation does not necessarily cause local identities to disappear.
In some circumstances, global interconnectedness may make people more conscious of what distinguishes their own culture.
This can produce:
stronger local identities
stronger national identities
renewed cultural traditions
resistance to external influences
AQA's 2022 mark scheme recognised that immigration associated with globalisation may contribute to the assertion of majority ethnic or national identity.
This provides another challenge to a straightforward homogenisation thesis.
Cultural resistance
Globalisation may be interpreted as a threat rather than an opportunity.
Individuals or groups may resist cultural change because they believe established traditions, beliefs or identities are being undermined.
AQA's 2023 Global Development item explicitly stated that globalisation may sometimes be seen as a threat and lead to a reaction against it.
The important sociological point is that increased global contact can produce resistance as well as acceptance.
Cultural defence
Cultural defence involves strengthening cultural or religious identity in response to perceived threats or uncertainty.
Globalisation may increase contact with alternative cultures while also encouraging some groups to protect distinctive traditions.
AQA mark schemes recognise cultural defence in discussions of globalisation, migration and religion.
This means globalisation can have apparently contradictory effects:
greater global interconnectedness → exposure to different cultures → either greater hybridity or stronger defence of an existing culture
Both outcomes are sociologically plausible.
Fundamentalism and reactions to globalisation
AQA also recognises fundamentalism as a possible response within sociological discussions of globalisation.
Rapid cultural change may create uncertainty or a belief that traditional values are being threatened.
Some groups may therefore seek a return to what they regard as traditional beliefs and practices.
This does not mean that globalisation automatically creates fundamentalism. The relationship should be analysed rather than assumed.
The relationship between globalisation and religious change is developed further in globalisation and the spread of religions [Globalisation and the spread of religions].
Cultural relationships and education
Education provides another example of cultural globalisation.
AQA's 2025 mark scheme recognised several ways in which globalisation may affect education in developing societies, including:
increasingly standardised curricula and teaching practices
greater use of digital technologies
international examinations
the spread of the idea that education is a right
global ideas concerning gender equality
reactions against Western-style education
These examples show why cultural relationships are not limited to entertainment or consumption.
Ideas about how education should work can also circulate internationally.
This is examined in greater depth in employment and education [Employment and education].
Standardisation and education
If similar educational ideas and practices spread internationally, this may contribute to cultural convergence.
Schools in different societies may become more alike in aspects of:
curriculum
teaching practice
examinations
use of technology
From a modernisation perspective, the spread of educational practices can contribute to broader social change.
However, critics may question whether the global spread of particular educational models reflects cultural imperialism rather than neutral modernisation.
Resistance to educational globalisation
AQA also recognises that communities may reject education they perceive as associated with unwanted Western cultural influence.
This is another example of the broader pattern:
global influence does not automatically produce cultural acceptance
It can lead to:
adoption
adaptation
resistance
These three possibilities are extremely useful when organising an exam answer.
Globalisation and awareness of other societies
Increasing interconnectedness also makes people more aware of ways of life elsewhere.
Global media can expose people to:
different values
alternative political systems
different lifestyles
inequalities
different expectations about rights and opportunities
AQA's 2023 Global Development assessment recognised that awareness of life in other societies through globalised media may encourage demands for change.
Although political consequences are developed in the next lesson, the mechanism begins with a cultural relationship: people become aware of alternative values and ways of organising social life.
Cosmopolitanism
Cosmopolitanism refers to an orientation in which people engage with cultural influences extending beyond a single local or national culture.
AQA recognises cosmopolitanism as a concept relevant to the study of globalisation and identity.
Globalisation may encourage cosmopolitanism by exposing people to a wider range of:
cultural traditions
lifestyles
ideas
media
beliefs
This supports the argument that increasing interconnectedness can increase cultural openness and diversity.
However, access to these cultural resources may remain unequal.
Culture and power
One of the most important evaluative questions is whether cultural relationships between societies are equal.
One interpretation sees globalisation as increasing the exchange of cultural ideas.
Another emphasises that some societies, corporations and media industries have far greater resources for spreading their culture than others.
This leads to two contrasting interpretations:
Cultural exchange interpretation | Power and cultural imperialism interpretation |
Globalisation increases contact between cultures. | Cultural relationships reflect unequal power. |
Individuals gain access to more cultural choices. | Powerful corporations and societies have greater capacity to spread culture. |
Cultural mixing can produce hybrid identities. | Dominant cultural products may weaken local cultures. |
Local cultures actively adapt outside influences. | Global consumerism may promote common values and lifestyles. |
Diversity may increase. | Homogenisation may increase. |
Is globalisation creating cultural sameness?
There is evidence supporting the idea of growing similarity.
Globalisation means that:
the same products can be available around the world
media can cross borders rapidly
global brands become widely recognised
similar cultural images become familiar in many societies
aspects of education may become standardised
These developments support concepts such as homogenisation and cultural convergence.
However, there is also evidence against complete cultural sameness.
People may:
adapt global influences locally
construct hybrid identities
strengthen local identities
reject external influences
engage in cultural defence
The most defensible sociological conclusion is therefore not simply that globalisation "destroys local culture" or "creates diversity".
Its cultural effects can operate in different directions at the same time.
Cultural globalisation as a two-way process
A useful way to conceptualise this topic is to contrast one-way and interactive models.
One-way model
powerful culture → global distribution → weaker local culture
This is associated particularly with cultural imperialism and homogenisation.
Interactive model
global influence ↔ local culture → adaptation, resistance or hybridity
This fits better with heterogenisation and glocalisation.
The second model emphasises that people and cultures interpret what they encounter rather than simply absorbing it unchanged.
An interactionist interpretation
An interactionist interpretation can emphasise the active role of individuals in creating meaning.
Global cultural products do not necessarily have one fixed effect.
Individuals can:
interpret them differently
reject them
combine them with existing identities
give them new meanings
Interactionism is one of the perspectives recognised in AQA material on globalisation and identity.
This provides a micro-level challenge to theories that portray individuals as passive recipients of global culture.
A postmodern interpretation
Postmodernism emphasises:
cultural diversity
greater choice
increasingly flexible identities
weakening boundaries between cultures
the ability to draw on global cultural resources
Globalisation may therefore contribute to a world of cultural mixing rather than one uniform global culture.
Hybrid identities and glocalisation provide support for this interpretation.
However, critical sociologists may argue that the postmodern emphasis on choice overlooks inequalities in economic resources and the power of global corporations.
A Marxist interpretation
Marxist approaches place more emphasis on:
corporate power
consumerism
commodification
cultural imperialism
hegemony
From this perspective, the global spread of culture can reflect the power of capitalism rather than a neutral expansion of cultural choice.
The same global consumer culture may become highly visible because organisations with substantial economic power can produce and distribute it internationally.
However, this may underestimate people's ability to resist and reinterpret cultural messages.
Comparing sociological interpretations
Interpretation | View of cultural globalisation | Strength | Limitation |
Homogenisation | Cultures become increasingly similar through global products, media and lifestyles. | Explains the worldwide spread of similar cultural forms. | Can underestimate continuing local differences. |
Cultural imperialism | Powerful societies and corporations spread dominant cultural ideas to others. | Draws attention to unequal cultural power. | May portray local cultures as too passive. |
Postmodernism | Globalisation increases cultural choice, diversity and flexible identities. | Explains hybrid identities and growing cultural choice. | May exaggerate how much freedom individuals have. |
Heterogenisation | Global contact can create greater cultural diversity. | Recognises new cultural combinations. | Cultural convergence can still occur at the same time. |
Glocalisation | Global influences are adapted within local cultures. | Explains why globalisation does not produce identical outcomes everywhere. | Does not mean local cultures are unaffected by global power. |
Interactionism | People actively interpret and reconstruct global cultural influences. | Recognises agency and different meanings. | Gives less attention to large-scale inequalities in cultural power. |
Cultural resistance | Globalisation may strengthen local, national or traditional identities. | Explains reactions against perceived cultural threats. | Resistance varies considerably between societies and groups. |
Cultural globalisation and development
Cultural relationships matter for development because cultural change can influence other aspects of society.
For example, the global spread of ideas may affect:
education
gender expectations
attitudes towards development
consumer behaviour
responses to industrialisation
political demands
AQA's Global Development content treats globalisation as involving interconnected cultural, political and economic relationships.
These dimensions therefore overlap even though they can be studied separately.
For example, a cultural change in attitudes towards education may have economic consequences if it affects skills and employment.
Similarly, exposure to alternative cultural values may later contribute to political demands.
The relationship between cultural and economic globalisation
Cultural globalisation is often carried through economic processes.
Transnational corporations may distribute:
products
brands
advertising
lifestyles
across many societies.
This means economic power can produce cultural influence.
Equally, cultural demand for particular products can create economic opportunities.
These relationships are examined more directly in globalisation and political and economic relationships [Globalisation, political and economic relationships].
The relationship between culture and global inequality
Cultural globalisation also interacts with inequality.
Not all societies or individuals have equal ability to:
produce global cultural content
distribute their own cultural products
access digital media
consume international brands
participate in international travel
This challenges the idea that global culture represents completely equal cultural exchange.
It also explains why Marxist and cultural imperialism perspectives focus on questions of power.
Three possible cultural outcomes of globalisation
A useful revision framework is to remember that cultural globalisation can produce three broad outcomes.
1. Adoption
A cultural influence is accepted with relatively little modification.
This may contribute to:
homogenisation
cultural convergence
global consumer culture
2. Adaptation
An external cultural influence is combined with existing local culture.
This may contribute to:
glocalisation
cultural hybridity
hybrid identities
3. Resistance
An external influence is rejected or viewed as threatening.
This may contribute to:
cultural defence
renewed national or local identities
stronger traditional beliefs
fundamentalist responses in some circumstances
This framework makes it much easier to construct balanced answers.
How to analyse cultural globalisation in an exam
Avoid simply naming a consequence.
For example:
Weak: "Globalisation causes homogenisation."
Better: "Globalisation allows the same consumer products and media to circulate internationally. This exposes people in different societies to similar brands and lifestyles, which may increase cultural homogenisation by making patterns of consumption more alike."
Even better: "However, this does not necessarily eliminate local culture because global influences can be adapted to local meanings, producing glocalisation rather than complete homogenisation."
That final step creates evaluation rather than description.
Building chains of analysis
Strong answers should make the mechanism explicit.
For example:
global media → exposure to similar lifestyles → common patterns of consumption → cultural convergence
or:
migration → contact between cultural traditions → combination of cultural influences → hybrid identities
or:
global cultural influence → perception of cultural threat → cultural defence → strengthening of local identity
The examiner should never have to guess how your example answers the question.
Key Words 🔑
Key word | Student-friendly definition | How it may be used in an exam |
Globalisation | Increasing interconnectedness between different parts of the world, including cultural relationships between societies. | Define the central process before explaining a cultural consequence. |
Global culture | Cultural products, ideas and practices that circulate across national boundaries and become familiar internationally. | Explain how globalisation can reduce cultural differences. |
Cultural homogenisation | A process through which cultures become increasingly similar. | Analyse the worldwide spread of similar products, media or lifestyles. |
Cultural imperialism | The dominance or spread of the culture of more powerful societies over others. | Evaluate whether global cultural relationships involve unequal power. |
Heterogenisation | The continuation or growth of cultural diversity despite increasing global connections. | Challenge the argument that globalisation necessarily creates cultural sameness. |
Glocalisation | The adaptation of global cultural influences to local cultures and circumstances. | Evaluate homogenisation by showing how local cultures transform global influences. |
Cultural hybridity | The combination of cultural elements from different sources. | Explain how global contact can create new cultural forms. |
Hybrid identity | An identity drawing on more than one cultural influence or tradition. | Apply migration and cultural mixing to identity. |
Consumerism | The growing importance attached to acquiring and consuming goods and services. | Explain one route through which a global culture may develop. |
Cultural defence | The strengthening of an existing cultural identity in response to perceived threat or change. | Analyse resistance to cultural globalisation. |
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: Do not stop at a brief cultural example. In 2025, students generally identified the links between globalisation and popular culture, but many did not develop those links sufficiently. Stronger answers used concepts such as homogenisation and cultural imperialism and connected them to the role of transnational corporations.
Examiner hint: Develop the connection between the globalising process and its cultural consequence. For example, if international travel is your starting point, explain how exposure to another culture can lead to its practices being absorbed, adapted or rejected. The 2025 examiner report identified this development as an area some students found difficult.
Examiner hint: Do not treat every recent social change as evidence of globalisation. The 2024 examiner report noted that some students discussing religion and globalisation assumed that any recent change could simply be labelled globalisation. Identify a genuine global mechanism, such as migration, new media, international cultural exchange or global consumption, and then analyse its effect.
Examiner hint: Use the precise focus of the question. Examiner reports repeatedly identify answers that drift into everything students know about globalisation. In a question about cultural relationships, every paragraph should explain a cultural consequence, not simply describe globalisation in general.
Examiner hint: For a 10-mark item question, use the two hooks in the item and develop each separately. AQA explains that the item hooks are needed for application marks, while introductions and conclusions are unnecessary for 10-mark questions.
Examiner hint: For a 20-mark essay, evaluate by weighing competing interpretations rather than simply listing them. AQA reports that stronger evaluation considers strengths and limitations and reaches a reasoned judgement. A brief plan can also help maintain focus.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Treating globalisation as only an economic process
Why this is incorrect: The AQA specification explicitly requires students to understand its influence on cultural, political and economic relationships between societies.
How to improve: For this lesson, focus on cultural mechanisms such as migration, media, travel, consumption, values and identity.
Mistake: Saying that globalisation automatically destroys local cultures
Why this is incorrect: This presents homogenisation as an uncontested fact. AQA material also recognises heterogenisation, glocalisation, localisation and hybrid identities.
How to improve: Use language such as "may" and then consider whether local cultures adapt, combine with or resist global influences.
Mistake: Confusing homogenisation with cultural imperialism
Why this is incorrect: They are related but different concepts.
Cultural homogenisation describes cultures becoming more alike.
Cultural imperialism focuses on unequal cultural power and the dominance of one culture over others.
How to improve: Ask yourself whether your point is mainly about similarity or about power and dominance.
Mistake: Assuming cultural hybridity means cultures remain completely separate
Why this is incorrect: Hybridity involves the combination of cultural influences.
How to improve: Explain the process: contact between cultures produces a new identity or cultural form containing elements from different sources.
Mistake: Describing glocalisation as the opposite of globalisation
Why this is incorrect: Glocalisation occurs because global and local cultures interact.
How to improve: Explain how a global influence can be adopted but changed to fit a local cultural setting.
Mistake: Describing a global product without explaining its sociological significance
Why this is incorrect: A list of international products is not analysis.
How to improve: Explain what follows from the example, such as homogenisation, consumerism, cultural imperialism or glocalisation.
Mistake: Assuming people passively accept global culture
Why this is incorrect: Sociological approaches such as interactionism and postmodernism draw attention to people's ability to interpret, select and combine cultural influences.
How to improve: Consider agency. Ask whether people accept, adapt or reject the influence.
Mistake: Writing separate theory paragraphs without evaluation
Why this is incorrect: A paragraph on cultural imperialism followed by a paragraph on postmodernism does not automatically create evaluation.
How to improve: Make the perspectives directly challenge one another. For example, argue that hybrid identities weaken the claim that powerful global cultures simply replace local identities.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Question 1
Which concept describes a process through which cultures become increasingly similar? (1 mark)
Question 2
Explain one way in which migration may affect cultural relationships between societies. (4 marks)
Question 3
Explain two differences between cultural homogenisation and glocalisation. (6 marks)
Question 4
Outline and explain two ways in which globalisation may contribute to the growth of a global culture. (10 marks)
Question 5
Outline and explain two ways in which globalisation may strengthen rather than weaken cultural diversity. (10 marks)
Question 6
Read Item A and answer the question that follows.
Item A
International travel and migration bring people into contact with cultural practices from other societies. Global media and international businesses also make similar cultural products available in many parts of the world.
Globalisation may change cultural relationships between societies.
Applying material from Item A, analyse two ways in which globalisation may change cultural relationships between societies. (10 marks)
Question 7
Read Item B and answer the question that follows.
Item B
Some sociologists argue that globalisation is creating an increasingly uniform global culture. Similar products, brands and media are available in many societies, and powerful global corporations can spread particular lifestyles and values.
Other sociologists argue that local cultures remain important. People may combine cultural influences, adapt global products to local circumstances or reject influences they see as threatening.
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that globalisation is leading to cultural homogenisation. (20 marks)
Question 8
Applying your knowledge, evaluate sociological interpretations of the cultural consequences of globalisation. (20 marks)
Answers and mark scheme
Question 1
Answer: Cultural homogenisation. (1 mark)
Award one mark for the correct concept.
Question 2
Up to 4 marks for one clearly developed explanation.
Possible answer:
Migration brings individuals from different cultural backgrounds into contact. Migrants may maintain aspects of the culture associated with their society of origin while adopting aspects of the host culture. This can result in cultural hybridity or hybrid identities and therefore change the cultural relationship between the two societies.
Other relevant effects, including cultural diversity or cultural resistance, may also receive credit if developed accurately.
Question 3
Award marks for two developed differences.
Possible differences include:
Difference 1: Homogenisation involves cultures becoming increasingly similar, whereas glocalisation involves global cultural influences being adapted to local circumstances.
Difference 2: Homogenisation can imply a weakening of local differences, whereas glocalisation assumes that local culture remains active in interpreting and transforming global influences.
For higher marks, the student should explain the comparison rather than simply define the two concepts separately.
Question 4
A high-level response should develop two separate processes.
Indicative content may include:
global media spreading similar ideas and lifestyles
international trade making the same consumer goods available across societies
transnational corporations promoting global brands
consumerism
increased international travel
migration and exchange of cultural practices
digital technology allowing cultural products to circulate quickly
convergence in educational ideas or practices
Each point should explain the relationship:
globalising process → cultural transmission → growth of global culture
Question 5
Possible ways include:
Cultural hybridity: Contact between cultures may result in new combinations rather than one culture replacing another.
Glocalisation: Global influences may be adapted to suit existing local cultures, creating different versions rather than complete uniformity.
Other creditworthy material may include:
hybrid identities
localisation
cultural defence
resistance to perceived Westernisation
strengthened national or local identities
greater cultural choice
Strong answers should explain precisely why the process increases or maintains diversity.
Question 6
A high-level response should select and develop two hooks from Item A.
Possible way 1: travel and migration
The item states that travel and migration bring people into contact with cultures from other societies. Individuals may absorb elements of these cultures or combine them with existing cultural identities. This can produce hybridity and increase cultural diversity.
Analysis may note that greater contact can also lead to cultural defence if external influence is seen as threatening.
Possible way 2: similar cultural products
The item states that global businesses and media make similar cultural products available around the world. This may produce homogenisation as people in different societies encounter similar brands, lifestyles and forms of consumption.
Analysis may develop cultural imperialism if some societies or corporations possess greater power to distribute their culture globally.
Other valid developed applications should receive credit.
Question 7
A strong 20-mark answer should focus throughout on whether globalisation produces cultural homogenisation.
Indicative content may include:
Arguments supporting homogenisation:
global culture
widespread consumer products
global brands
cultural convergence
global media
consumerism
transnational corporations
cultural imperialism
commodification
weakening of local cultures
increasingly standardised cultural practices
Arguments challenging homogenisation:
heterogenisation
cultural diversity
cultural hybridity
hybrid identities
glocalisation
localisation
cultural defence
resistance to globalisation
continuing national and local identities
active interpretation of global cultural influences
Sociological perspectives may include:
Marxism
postmodernism
interactionism
cultural imperialism approaches
For the highest marks, students should make the interpretations interact. For example, cultural imperialism may explain the international power of corporations, while glocalisation challenges the assumption that global products are simply absorbed unchanged.
A reasoned conclusion might argue that globalisation creates some convergence in the cultural materials available across societies, but this does not necessarily produce identical cultures because global influences are interpreted, combined and resisted in different ways.
Question 8
A strong 20-mark answer should evaluate a range of interpretations rather than produce a list of cultural effects.
Indicative content may include:
Cultural homogenisation
Global media, consumer products and brands may make cultures increasingly similar.
Cultural imperialism
The cultural relationships created by globalisation may be unequal because powerful societies and corporations have greater ability to distribute cultural products and values.
Postmodernism
Globalisation may increase cultural choice and allow individuals to construct more flexible or hybrid identities from a wider range of cultural resources.
Heterogenisation
Greater global contact can produce more cultural variety rather than one uniform culture.
Glocalisation
Global influences can be absorbed and transformed by local cultures.
Interactionism
Individuals actively interpret cultural messages, so the same global influence can have different meanings in different contexts.
Cultural resistance
Some individuals and groups may strengthen local, national or traditional identities when globalisation is perceived as threatening.
Evaluation should consider:
whether global culture actually weakens local culture
whether cultural exchange is equal
the power of transnational corporations
differences in access to global consumer culture
individual agency
cultural adaptation
the coexistence of convergence and diversity
whether globalisation can create resistance to cultural change
The conclusion should make a clear judgement about which interpretation best captures the evidence. A sophisticated judgement may argue that globalisation increases the circulation of shared cultural resources while producing homogenisation, hybridity and resistance simultaneously, meaning cultural relationships are becoming more interconnected without necessarily becoming completely uniform.
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