Explain the causes and effects of one major international labour flow.

“The growth of globalization owes more to politics than it does to technology.” Discuss this statement.

The causes should encompass both push and pull factors and possibly also the enabling role of technology and transport networks (both providing means to move as well as spreading knowledge of opportunities), without which the migratory impulse may not be acted upon. Popular examples could include movement from Mexico to the US or movements internal to the EU, South Asians working in the Middle East, or Filipinos into Asia. Assess any example on its own merits but poorly chosen small-scale migration flows should be restricted to band C.

The effects depend upon the case study chosen. These might include economic/social impacts for host/source or the political reaction of natives/the media in the host country. More broadly, processes of cultural exchange and the growth of diaspora may be explored, possibly within the wider global context of migration contributing to growth of a “global village”/shrinking world. But do not expect all of these themes by any means to be necessary for full marks to be awarded: just two causes and two different types of effect could be sufficient to access the highest bands if the case study details are good.

To access Band E, both causes and effects should be addressed in a reasonably balanced way.

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

Credit all content in line with the markbands. Credit unexpected approaches wherever relevant.

Politics:

Important themes could include the influence of governments on capital transfers by financial institutions [Guide 3] and TNCs (liberal attitudes could be contrasted with countries where greater restrictions exist, for example, the controversial role of Chavez in Venezuela; or the isolationism of North Korea). Another theme could be IMF insistence on political reforms [Guide 3]. Weak environment and labour laws/enforcement of these laws may be attractive: this is likely to be a popular theme, possible examples being China (though now changing) or Malaysia. The movement towards nation-state integration in the EU – and to a lesser extent in other trading blocs [Guide 6] – allows rapid growth on a regionalized level due to suspension of tariffs and quotas on imports/exports between trading partners. Political reactions to globalization [Guide 7] vary enormously and cultural traditions of liberalism or socialism could become enshrined in immigration laws or other policies.

Technology:

The growth of transport and ICT networks have fuelled the growth of a range of flows – including FDI, migration [Guide 5], outsourcing by TNCs, growth of call centres, social/cultural “shrinking world”, economic exchanges brought by the internet or BlackBerry etc. [Guide 2]. Containerized shipping and no-frills flights can be linked to exponential growth of various flows such as manufactured goods and international tourism [Guide 5]. The “Arab Spring” can be viewed as a youth-led phenomenon that was, in part, facilitated by technology and media.

The very best answers may attempt to link the two factors and add complexity to their comparison. For instance, it could be possible to show how technology has actually been driven by politics (for example, the Cold War roots of the internet), or to address how technology allows global political participation (for example, use of Facebook to orchestrate protests at G20 summits etc.).

To access band E, the response should be well balanced and a conclusion should be reached that is more complex than “they are both important” (perhaps through an evidenced account that supports one factor rather than the other, or perhaps by stressing that the two factors are actually interrelated).

Marks should be allocated according to the markbands.

Most candidates could describe some effects of a major labour flow, or migration, usually with a basic framework applied (such as compared impacts for the source and host region). Remittances were widely written about, which was appropriate given their centrality to financial global interactions in a paper 3 context. A hallmark of better answers tended to be the adoption of an evaluative approach as part of the explanation: rather than simply listing the "good and bad impacts", strong candidates volunteered to weigh up the positives and negatives of individual effects, such as the transfer of remittances (wherein GDP growth is seen as the positive and dependency as the negative). The causes of the labour flow were sometimes very thin in weaker responses; in contrast, the best answers sometimes offered a political framework as a causal factor for movement (freedom of movement in the EU or governance of Mexico-USA movement, for example).

Weaker answers were usually highly descriptive, with candidates doing no more than asserting by way of a conclusion that Facebook (shrinking world, technology) is a "bigger influence" than EU membership (politics). The strongest responses presented a proper evaluation and perhaps concluded by recognizing that there are political limits to our so-called shrinking world, or that political processes shape the local geographical context within which technology is rolled out.