Using examples, analyse the role civil societies play in national resistance to global interactions.

Examine the ways in which the world’s cities and their societies are becoming increasingly uniform.

AO1/2 Indicative content
Civil society is defined in the geography guide as: “Any organization or movement that works in the area between the household, the private sector and the state to negotiate matters of public concern. Civil societies include non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community groups, trade unions, academic institutions and faith-based organizations.”

Citizens can:

• form anti-globalization movements and groups (eg Occupy)
• vote for/establish nationalist parties/policies (anti-immigration eg UKIP; resource nationalism)
• support local sourcing or other initiatives
• organize resistance movements against globalization/global capitalism/modernity which are informed by their ethnicity/identity (eg First Nations in Canada; Ogoni in Nigeria; Amish in USA).

Credit other valid forms of civil society resistance in particular national contexts.

Do not credit government or state actions. Do not credit actions of TNCs.

Good answers are likely to provide detailed exemplification. They are also likely to make a better effort to analyse “the role” that citizens/organizations play in determining how a country/government responds to global interactions/globalization (direct and indirect, or lawful and illegal means, for example). Or they may be more
selective in the way they analyse global interactions (eg by breaking this concept into constituent parts such as flows of migrants, imports, data, etc).

For band C (4–6), an outline should be provided of either the general resistance role of civil society or two weakly-evidenced examples of civil society resistance.

For band D (7–8), expect a structured, well-evidenced analysis of

• either two or more detailed examples of civil society resistance
• or the varied ways civil society plays a role in resisting global interactions.

For band E (9–10), expect both band D traits.

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

Possible AO1/2 Indicative content

Uniformity in this context refers to global homogeneity, ie all places coming to resemble one another through the adoption of common visual styles and forms. While it can be argued that many cities are becoming increasingly uniform, the proposition needs to be examined more carefully in the context of societies (many of which now have record levels of diversity due to migration).

• Themes for synthesis from the geography guide include:urban landscape/styles
• migrants/diaspora/ethnic neighbourhoods
• presence of TNCs/logos/brands
• cultural uniformity (languages spoken, foods consumed, restaurants)
• technology and the “global village” and time–space compression.

Do not over-credit answers that argue against the proposition that places are becoming uniform: this is not asked for. However, it is perfectly acceptable to reflect critically on the degree of uniformity as part of the examination of the statement.

Answers scoring highly according to the AO3 criteria for evaluation:

• might be structured around an examination of different aspects and degrees of uniformity (eg contrasts entirely homogenous “clone towns” with cities that have retained a greater degree of including character/heritage, and some examination of the reasons for this)
• might examine more carefully the distinction between the city landscape and the actual societies that live there (which can be very diverse, despite an apparently “uniform” landscape).

For band C (5–8), expect weakly-evidenced outlining of two or three relevant themes from the geography guide which focus on how cities/societies are becoming uniform.

For band D (9–12), expect

• either a structured synthesis which links together several well-evidenced and well-focused themes from the geography guide
• or a critical conclusion (or ongoing evaluation).

For band E (13–15), expect both of these traits.