Unit Outline

This unit explores the different ways in which our everyday lives are connected increasingly to global events, issues and problems. Through three core modules – Approaches to Globalisation; Global Challenges and Threats; and, Global Futures – you will discover why globalisation is an important area of sociological inquiry, and how sociological concepts and theories are useful in understanding the causes of global issues and problems, and in contributing to solutions. You will engage with important questions that are central to the future of humanity such as: In ways are global changes transforming how we think about and experience the world? How does increasing global mobility and inter-connectedness contribute to new forms of solidarity and belonging as well as social inequality? How might we explain the recent rise of populism and nationalism? What are the challenges and prospects in creating a more socially just and environmentally sustainable world?

Intended Learning Outcomes

As per the Assessment and Results Policy 1.3, your results will reflect your achievement against specified learning outcomes.

On completion of this unit, you will be able to:


1	Recognise and explain the power relations, social inequalities and conflicts underpinning globalisation.
2	Apply relevant concepts and theories to identify the social causes of global challenges and threats.
3	Analyse the merits and limitations of approaches for addressing global challenges and creating a more sustainable and/or socially just world.
4	Produce written and/or oral work that communicates your ideas clearly, conforms to academic standards, and accurately acknowledges the work of others.

Requisites


REQUISITE TYPE	REQUISITES
Pre-requisite	25 credit points at Introductory level or higher
Anti-requisite (mutual excl)	HGA262/362: Social Inequalities: Global and Local

Alterations as a result of student feedback

Assessment task 4 and the marking rubrics have been lightly revised as a result of student feedback.

How will I be Assessed?

For more detailed assessment information please see MyLO.

Assessment schedule


ASSESSMENT TASK #	ASSESSMENT TASK NAME	DATE DUE	WEIGHT	LINKS TO INTENDED LEARNING OUTCOMES
Assessment Task 1:	Assessment Task 1: Conceptual analysis and application	Week 5	15 %	LO1, LO4
Assessment Task 2:	Assessment Task 2: Essay	Week 9	40 %	LO2, LO4
Assessment Task 3:	Assessment Task 3: Recorded presentation	Week 13	30 %	LO2, LO3, LO4
Assessment Task 4:	Participation	Refer to Assessment Description	15 %	LO1

Assessment details

Assessment Task 1: Assessment Task 1: Conceptual analysis and application

Task Description:

Select ONE of the weekly topics from Weeks 2-5 of the unit and address the following question:
In what ways, does this topic provide insight (or not) into the power relations, social inequalities, and/or conflicts that characterise an increasingly globalised world? Use an example or examples to help support your argument.

Task Length:

500 Words

Due Date:

Week 5 (25/Feb/2026)

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recognise and explain how ideas presented in the selected topic provide insight into the power relations, social inequalities, and/or conflicts that characterise globalisation	LO1
2	Produce a written assignment that is logically argued and structured, concise, and conforms to academic standards	LO4

Assessment Task 2: Assessment Task 2: Essay

Task Description:

Select ONE transborder challenge or threat from the Module 2 topics (Weeks 6-9) in the unit schedule and address the following questions in an essay-style format:

Which concepts and theories discussed in the unit so far (especially those outlined in the reading for your selected topic) are most useful for identifying and understanding the social causes of this challenge or threat? Why are they useful?

Task Length:

2000 words

Due Date:

Week 9 (29/Apr/2026)

Weight:

40 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply relevant concepts and/or theories to identify and provide sociological insight into the social causes of the selected global challenge or threat	LO2
2	Produce a written assignment that is logically argued and structured, concise, and conforms to academic standards	LO4

Assessment Task 3: Assessment Task 3: Recorded presentation

Task Description:

Drawing upon the global challenge or threat outlined in your second assessment (essay), complete the following tasks:

Record and submit a 10-minute (maximum) powerpoint-supported oral presentation that:
• briefly outlines the social causes of the global challenge/threat discussed in your second assessment assignment (Note: this may be revised based on the marker feedback you received for that assignment); and,
• develops an argument analysing the merits and limitations of ONE approach discussed in Module 3 of the unit for addressing your selected global challenge/threat and contributing to a more sustainable and/or socially just world.

Task Length:

Recorded presentation, 10mins

Due Date:

Week 13 (27/May/2026)

Weight:

30 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Apply relevant concepts and/or/theories to identify and provide sociological insight into the social causes of the selected global challenge or threat	LO2
2	Analyse the merits and limitations of approaches aimed at addressing global challenges and creating a more sustainable and/or socially just world	LO3
3	Produce an oral presentation that is logically argued and structured, concise, and conforms to academic standards	LO4

Assessment Task 4: Participation

Task Description:

Participation is an important part of your studies, helping you to build your sense of connection with the unit, its content, and your peers. Your participation in this unit is assessed in two ways.

Part 1 - Experiencing Globalisation (10%)
By the end of Week 1, you must sign up to lead a workshop presentation (on-campus students) or discussion on MyLO (online students) that relates clearly to the content of the weekly topic for which you have signed up.

For this task, you should:
• Discuss which ideas in your selected weekly topic resonate the most with your own personal experiences of globalisation, and how those ideas contribute to your understanding of the influence of global power relations, social inequalities and/or conflicts on your everyday life.
• Conclude with one question based on your reading for the topic to provoke further discussion or debate among your fellow students.

You are welcome to use materials to help support your presentation/discussion post, for example short media sequences, news articles, or anything else that you feel comfortable sharing with your peers.

If you are an On-Campus student, your presentation is restricted to FIVE MINUTES and, if used, THREE PowerPoint slides (you do not need to use PowerPoint; it is optional). Presentations will be done at the start of the workshop, and therefore it is vital that you are ready to start on time.

If you are an Online student, you must add your discussion post and question to stimulate discussion (up to 500 words), by 9am Wednesday of the relevant content week.

Extension requests, and requests to swap weeks, must be submitted to your Unit Coordinator at least three working days in advance of your allocated week, and will only be approved in exceptional circumstances.

Part 2 - Student Engagement (5%)
The remaining 5% of Assessment task 4 will be assessed as follows:

On-campus students
Engagement in workshop activities.

Online students
One of the following
Replying to five discussion board posts from other students (one mark for each reply) across different weeks. Note that to receive a mark, your reply must be posted in the same week as the post to which you are responding. Late posts will not receive a mark.

Engagement in at least five online tutorials.

A mix of replies to discussion board posts and engagement in online tutorials. Please let your Unit Coordinator know if you wish to select this option.

Task Length:

Part A – 500 words (off-campus students); five minute presentation and prompt question (on-campus students) Part B – regular workshop engagement (on-campus students); replying to five discussion board posts from other students across different weeks OR engagement in five online tutorials, OR a mix of discussion board posts and online tutorial engagement (off-campus students)

Due Date:

Refer to Assessment Description

Weight:

15 %

CRITERION #

CRITERION

MEASURES INTENDED

LEARNING OUTCOME(S)


1	Recognise and explain how global power relations, social inequalities, and/or conflicts are relevant and connect to student’s everyday experiences of globalisation.	LO1

How your final result is determined

To pass this unit, you need to demonstrate your attainment of each of the Intended Learning Outcomes, achieve a final unit grade of 50% or greater, and pass any hurdle tasks.

Academic progress review

The results for this unit may be included in a review of your academic progress. For information about progress reviews and what they mean for all students, see Academic Progress Review in the Student Portal.

Submission of assignments

Where practicable, assignments should be submitted to an assignment submission folder in MYLO. You must submit assignments by the due date or receive a penalty (unless an extension of time has been approved by the Unit Coordinator). Students submitting any assignment in hard copy, or because of a practicum finalisation, must attach a student cover sheet and signed declaration for the submission to be accepted for marking.

Academic integrity

Academic integrity is about acting responsibly, honestly, ethically, and collegially when using, producing, and communicating information with other students and staff members.

In written work, you must correctly reference the work of others to maintain academic integrity. To find out the referencing style for this unit, see the assessment information in the MyLO site, or contact your teaching staff. For more detail about Academic Integrity, see Important Guidelines & Support.

Requests for extensions

If you are unable to submit an assessment task by the due date, you should apply for an extension.

A request for an extension should first be discussed with your Unit Coordinator or teaching support team where possible. A request for an extension must be submitted by the assessment due date, except where you can provide evidence it was not possible to do so. Typically, an application for an extension will be supported by documentary evidence: however, where it is not possible for you to provide evidence please contact your Unit Coordinator.

The Unit Coordinator must notify you of the outcome of an extension request within 3 working days of receiving the request.

Late penalties

Assignments submitted after the deadline will receive a late penalty of 5% of the original available mark for each calendar day (or part day) that the assignment is late. Late submissions will not be accepted more than 10 calendar days after the due date, or after assignments have been returned to other students on a scheduled date, whichever occurs first. Further information on Late Penalties can be found on the Assessments and Results Procedure.

Required Resources

Required reading materials

There is no required textbook for this unit. All required readings for each topic can be accessed directly through the weekly topic pages on MyLO (under Content) or via the Library reading list for this unit. These are listed below for your convenience:

Week 1

Eriksen, T.H. (2014) Globalization: The Key Concepts (2nd edn), Bloomsbury: London (Introduction: A Shrinking Planet)

Kennedy, P. (2010) Local Lives and Global Transformations: Towards World Society, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke (Chapter 2 – Theorizing Globalization: Linking the World)

Week 2

Mignolo, W.D. (2021) Coloniality and globalization: a decolonial take, Globalizations, vol. 18, no. 5, pp. 720-737.

Bhambra, G.K. (2014) Postcolonial and decolonial dialogues, Postcolonial Studies, 17(2), pp. 115-121.

Week 3

O’Byrne, D.J. and Hensby, A. (2011) Theorizing Global Studies, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke (Chapter 2: Liberalization: A Borderless World).

Paul, T.V. (2021) The specter of deglobalization, Current History, 122(840): 3-8.

Week 4

Sklair, L. (2006) Capitalist globalization: fatal flaws and necessity for alternatives, Brown Journal of World Affairs, 13(1): 29-37.

Bartley, T. (2018) Transnational corporations and global governance, Annual Review of Sociology, 44: 145-165.

Week 5

Pieterse, J.N. (2012) Globalization as hybridization, in Lyall Smith, K.E. (ed.), Sociology of Globalization: Cultures, Economies, Politics, Routledge, Abingdon.

Kraidy, M.M. (2002) Hybridity in cultural globalization, Communication Theory, 12(3): 316-339.

Week 6

Horner, R., Schindler, S., Haberly, D. and Aoyama, Y. (2018) Globalisation, uneven development and the North–South ‘big switch, Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 11(1): 17-33.

Kacowicz, A.M. (2007) Globalization, poverty and the North-South divide, Current International Studies Review, 9(4): 565-580.

Week 7

Long, M.A., Gonçalves, L., Stretesky, P.B. and Defeyter, M.A. (2020) Food insecurity in advanced capitalist nations: A review, Sustainability, 12(3654): 1-19.

Fouilleux, E., Bricas, N. and Alpha, A. (2017) ‘Feeding 9 billion people’: global food security debates and the productionist trap, Journal of European Public Policy, 24(11): 1658-1677.

Week 8

Mykhalovskiy, E. and French, M. (2020) COVID-19, public health, and the politics of prevention, Sociology of Health and Illness, 42(8): 4-15.

Weir, L. and Mykhalovskiy, E. (2006) ‘The Geopolitics of Global Public Health Surveillance in the Twenty first Century’ Chapter 13 pages 240-263 in Bashford, Alison. (ed) Medicine at the Border: Disease, globalisation and security, 1850 to the present. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Week 9

Rosa, E.A., Rudel, T.K., York, R., Jorgenson, A.K. and Dietz, T. (2015) The human (anthropogenic) driving forces of global climate change, in Dunlap, R.E. and Brulle, R.J. (eds), Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives, Oxford University Press, New York.

Norgaard, K.M. (2018) The sociological imagination in a time of climate change, Global and Planetary Change, 163: 171-176.

Week 10

Almeida, P. and Chase-Dunn, C. (2018) Globalization and social movements, Annual Review of Sociology, 44: 189-211.

Week 11

Keen, D. (2008) ‘Introduction’ and ‘War’, Complex Emergencies. Polity, Cambridge (pp.1-24).

Choudry, A., and Kapoor, D. (2013) ‘Introduction’, NGOization: Complicity, Contradictions and Prospects, Bloomsbury Publishing, London. (pp. 1-23).

Week 12

Berkes, F. (2017) Environmental governance for the Anthropocene? Social-ecological systems, resilience, and collaborative learning, Sustainability, 9, 1232, doi:10.3390/su9071232.

Von der Porten, S., Loë, R.C., and McGregor, D. (2016) Incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems into collaborative governance for water: Challenges and opportunities, Journal of Canadian Studies, 50(1): 214-243.