Individual assessment

SOC329

Globalisation and Social Transformation

Essay Guidelines (2000 words)

Essay Question

Does ‘globalisation’ undermine the authority and/or sovereignty of the State? If so

how, and what are the consequences?

Key Terms

globalisation, authority, sovereignty, state, consequences

Assessment Criteria

 Prose

 Referencing (correct in text and reference list see this link

https://uow.libguides.com/refcite/uowharvard )

 Evidence of A, S and CE

 Demonstrated understanding of theory/concepts via empirical work

 Evidence of reasoning with respect to the application of theory/concepts

Set Up and Delivery

 There is no need for a title page

 Please add your name in the header of the document … you will find this in the

top left hand drop down menu list … click on the INSERT option and then on

the HEADER option

 There is no need to re-write the question at the start of the essay

 Do not send the essay as a PDF … please only send the essay as a Word.doc

 The essay is due in Week 10, before Friday 7th October at 4:00pm

Look Out For …

these issues, which will negatively affect a mark if they appear. So please consider

these before you start writing and also, check for them in your essay before

submission:

 Not meeting the word count (there is no 10% + or – applicable)

 Repeating the same point over and over again

 Really simple spelling mistakes, like not spelling a theorist’s name correctly;

also, consistent poor spelling

 Failing to effectively apply theory that is, the essay does not apply the specific

terms/concepts/ideas from a theory we have covered in this subject

 Lack of a critical evaluation, which means that the essay is way too descriptive

and does not develop an argument or apply HOT

 Lacks an introduction and/or conclusion

 Lacks a structured argument in other words, it is a series of unrelated sections

 Does not meet the word count (there is no 10% + or – applicable)

Essay Structure

Introduction (approx. 250 words)

1. Outline what the question means to you by focusing on the key terms in the

question

2. Indicate how you will answer the question for example, what theory/s or

concepts will you use, why (justification)? Which example/s and why

(justification)? Please note that a justification is not because the theory is

interesting to you, or you think the theory is important (without explanation) or

you just kinda like the theory. Also, there needs to be appropriateness and/or

relevance between the theory and the example/s used for example, if you use

WST then I would expect the example to illustrate some aspect of capitalist

development with regards to core/periphery model

3. What will you show – briefly explain your critical evaluation that is, your

conclusion. You need a yes/no answer somewhere in this section, even though

you may well want to argue that any diminution in authority or lack thereof is

not complete and/or forever.

Body (approx. 1,600 words)

1. Analyse globalisation by using an ‘aspect’ or chosen theory, identifying and

explicating the relation between globalisation and the State focusing on its

authority/sovereignty. It is worthwhile pointing out here that if a State has full

sovereignty, then it has complete authority to make decisions and take (policy)

actions within its national borders. So, in thinking about the question/answer

you may want to start from a position of full sovereignty and what that might

look like and then apply globalisation to this position and then see

what/where/why the changes are.

2. When considering the theory don’t forget:

i. key concepts that help explain what is occurring

ii. key expectations or in other words, how does the theory see the future for

globalisation in terms of what it can achieve. How does the State operate in the

context of these expectations.

iii. key critique put forward by the theory about globalisation and the State; so you

are not looking at the whole theory but only how the theory explains the nature

of the State or how you interpret the nature of the State through the theory.

iv. Offer an ‘empirical’ example to illustrate your analysis, synthesis so far and thus,

consider: the topics covered so far such as, migration, consumption,

environment etc.

v. What are the consequences for the State.

Conclusion (approx. 150 words)

vi. Review the main argument (very briefly)

vii. Offer a ‘critical evaluation’ that draws from your analysis.

Developing a Critical Evaluation

Lower Order Skills

The following three skills are effectively used when describing some ‘thing’. It will

show some knowledge but it cannot lead you to a critical evaluation. So, if you read

back your work and it seems like you are just describing/explaining what the theory

or globalisation etc. is then you have just applied lower order skills and you will get

no more than a credit.

1. Knowledge—the ability to recall what you have learned

2. Comprehension—understanding what you have learned

3. Application—putting to use the knowledge you have gained

Higher Order Skills

Many students can demonstrate knowledge and comprehension, but are not clear

how to apply their knowledge, or how to analyse, synthesise or evaluate. Most

university assignments require them to perform these higher order tasks.

4. Analysis—breaking down ideas into various parts

5. Synthesis—reconstructing the analysis in new ways

6. Evaluation—making judgments from what has been learned

Applying Theory

This essay requires you to ‘apply’ theory to an ‘empirical’ phenomenon that is, State

authority and sovereignty. In this context, ‘apply’ means that the theory you choose

may assist you to support the question or not support the question or partially

support the question and be able to illustrate this via an empirical/ontological

example. In other words, your evaluation must be based on theory and validated via

an example.

The first thing that is really important is that you must be able to show that you

know the theory. Here it is a great help if you use the primary source material. You

are then going to use the theory to help explain a ‘causal relationship’. For example,

in this question, globalisation is the independent variable (IV) that is, the cause; while

State authority/sovereignty is the dependent variable (DV) that is, the effect and/or

consequence. We know from this a couple of things: 1. The question is asking you to

work at a ‘macro’ level; and 2. that we are interested in the examining the impact

that the IV has on the DV but remember that our task is to determine via HOT the

‘level’ of impact the IV has on the DV.

How does the theory understand globalization?

WST – (macro focus) conflict based approach because it is focused on ‘power

struggles’ and in particular the flow of value through the world capitalist system

based on the ‘exploitation’ of labour. WST emphasizes the historical development of

capitalism, produces a hierarchical world system based on value flows through

exploitation of labour. G is part of the development of C.

TC – (macro focus) is a conflict based theory because it views G as a moment in the

development of capitalism, where the transnational has come to supersede the

nation-state as the key unit of capitalist development producing a lop-sided power

struggle. Globalized capitalist development produces transnational phenomena that

subordinates even undermines the nation-state and enables the global production

expansion.

NST - (macro focus) functionalist/conflict because it views the inevitability of

‘networks’ that act functionally but at the same time there are the tensions between

access to the space of flows (inclusion) compared to the space of places (exclusion)

etc. Networks produced by technology leads to informationalism or information

capitalism that grows globally.