Cambridge A Level Sociology 9699 — 2024 Oct/Nov Paper 4 · Variant 1

[Turn over Cambridge International AS & A Level This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated. DC (WW) 337413 © UCLES 2024 * 6 6 6 2 0 1 7 3 3 1 * SOCIOLOGY 9699/41 Paper 4 Globalisation, Media and Religion October/November 2024 1 hour 45 minutes You must answer on the enclosed answer booklet. You will need: Answer booklet (enclosed) INSTRUCTIONS ● Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. ● Follow the instructions on the front cover of the answer booklet. If you need additional answer paper, ask the invigilator for a continuation booklet. INFORMATION ● The total mark for this paper is 70. ● The number of marks for each question or part question is shown in brackets [ ].

2 9699/41/O/N/24 © UCLES 2024 Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Section A: Globalisation EITHER 1 ‘Governments are powerless to prevent the spread of global crime.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 2 ‘Developing countries are kept poor by a capitalist world system.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section B: Media EITHER 3 ‘The hypodermic syringe model provides the best explanation of how the media influences behaviour.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 4 ‘The new media has created more opportunities for individuals to challenge existing power structures.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section C: Religion EITHER 5 ‘Women have no power within religious organisations.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 6 ‘The growth of new religious movements is evidence that secularisation has occurred.’ Evaluate this view. [35]

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4 9699/41/O/N/24 © UCLES 2024 Permission to reproduce items where third-party owned material protected by copyright is included has been sought and cleared where possible. Every reasonable effort has been made by the publisher (UCLES) to trace copyright holders, but if any items requiring clearance have unwittingly been included, the publisher will be pleased to make amends at the earliest possible opportunity. To avoid the issue of disclosure of answer-related information to candidates, all copyright acknowledgements are reproduced online in the Cambridge Assessment International Education Copyright Acknowledgements Booklet. This is produced for each series of examinations and is freely available to download at www.cambridgeinternational.org after the live examination series. Cambridge Assessment International Education is part of Cambridge Assessment. Cambridge Assessment is the brand name of the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES), which is a department of the University of Cambridge. BLANK PAGE

This document consists of 19 printed pages. © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 [Turn over Cambridge International AS & A Level SOCIOLOGY 9699/41 Paper 4 Globalisation, Media and Religion October/November 2024 MARK SCHEME Maximum Mark: 70 Published This mark scheme is published as an aid to teachers and candidates, to indicate the requirements of the examination. It shows the basis on which Examiners were instructed to award marks. It does not indicate the details of the discussions that took place at an Examiners’ meeting before marking began, which would have considered the acceptability of alternative answers. Mark schemes should be read in conjunction with the question paper and the Principal Examiner Report for Teachers. Cambridge International will not enter into discussions about these mark schemes. Cambridge International is publishing the mark schemes for the October/November 2024 series for most Cambridge IGCSE, Cambridge International A and AS Level components, and some Cambridge O Level components.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 2 of 19 Generic Marking Principles These general marking principles must be applied by all examiners when marking candidate answers. They should be applied alongside the specific content of the mark scheme or generic level descriptions for a question. Each question paper and mark scheme will also comply with these marking principles. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 1: Marks must be awarded in line with: • the specific content of the mark scheme or the generic level descriptors for the question • the specific skills defined in the mark scheme or in the generic level descriptors for the question • the standard of response required by a candidate as exemplified by the standardisation scripts. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 2: Marks awarded are always whole marks (not half marks, or other fractions). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 3: Marks must be awarded positively: • marks are awarded for correct/valid answers, as defined in the mark scheme. However, credit is given for valid answers which go beyond the scope of the syllabus and mark scheme, referring to your Team Leader as appropriate • marks are awarded when candidates clearly demonstrate what they know and can do • marks are not deducted for errors • marks are not deducted for omissions • answers should only be judged on the quality of spelling, punctuation and grammar when these features are specifically assessed by the question as indicated by the mark scheme. The meaning, however, should be unambiguous. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 4: Rules must be applied consistently, e.g. in situations where candidates have not followed instructions or in the application of generic level descriptors. GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 5: Marks should be awarded using the full range of marks defined in the mark scheme for the question (however; the use of the full mark range may be limited according to the quality of the candidate responses seen). GENERIC MARKING PRINCIPLE 6: Marks awarded are based solely on the requirements as defined in the mark scheme. Marks should not be awarded with grade thresholds or grade descriptors in mind.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 3 of 19 Social Science-Specific Marking Principles (for point-based marking) 1 Components using point-based marking: • Point marking is often used to reward knowledge, understanding and application of skills. We give credit where the candidate’s answer shows relevant knowledge, understanding and application of skills in answering the question. We do not give credit where the answer shows confusion. From this it follows that we: a DO credit answers which are worded differently from the mark scheme if they clearly convey the same meaning (unless the mark scheme requires a specific term) b DO credit alternative answers/examples which are not written in the mark scheme if they are correct c DO credit answers where candidates give more than one correct answer in one prompt/numbered/scaffolded space where extended writing is required rather than list-type answers. For example, questions that require n reasons (e.g. State two reasons …). d DO NOT credit answers simply for using a ‘key term’ unless that is all that is required. (Check for evidence it is understood and not used wrongly.) e DO NOT credit answers which are obviously self-contradicting or trying to cover all possibilities f DO NOT give further credit for what is effectively repetition of a correct point already credited unless the language itself is being tested. This applies equally to ‘mirror statements’ (i.e. polluted/not polluted). g DO NOT require spellings to be correct, unless this is part of the test. However spellings of syllabus terms must allow for clear and unambiguous separation from other syllabus terms with which they may be confused (e.g. Corrasion/Corrosion) 2 Presentation of mark scheme: • Slashes (/) or the word ‘or’ separate alternative ways of making the same point. • Semi colons (;) bullet points (•) or figures in brackets (1) separate different points. • Content in the answer column in brackets is for examiner information/context to clarify the marking but is not required to earn the mark (except Accounting syllabuses where they indicate negative numbers). 3 Calculation questions: • The mark scheme will show the steps in the most likely correct method(s), the mark for each step, the correct answer(s) and the mark for each answer • If working/explanation is considered essential for full credit, this will be indicated in the question paper and in the mark scheme. In all other instances, the correct answer to a calculation should be given full credit, even if no supporting working is shown. • Where the candidate uses a valid method which is not covered by the mark scheme, award equivalent marks for reaching equivalent stages. • Where an answer makes use of a candidate’s own incorrect figure from previous working, the ‘own figure rule’ applies: full marks will be given if a correct and complete method is used. Further guidance will be included in the mark scheme where necessary and any exceptions to this general principle will be noted.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 4 of 19 4 Annotation: • For point marking, ticks can be used to indicate correct answers and crosses can be used to indicate wrong answers. There is no direct relationship between ticks and marks. Ticks have no defined meaning for levels of response marking. • For levels of response marking, the level awarded should be annotated on the script. • Other annotations will be used by examiners as agreed during standardisation, and the meaning will be understood by all examiners who marked that paper. Using the mark scheme The questions are marked using a generic analytic mark scheme, which separates the marks for the different assessment objectives (AO). The work is marked for each AO using generic levels of response mark schemes. The marks awarded are usually based on a judgement of the overall quality of the response for that AO, rather than on awarding marks for specific points and accumulating a total mark by adding points. Indicative content is provided as a guide. Inevitably, the mark scheme cannot cover all responses that candidates may make for all of the questions. In some cases candidates may make some responses which the mark scheme has not predicted. These answers should nevertheless be credited according to their quality.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 5 of 19 Annotations Annotation Meaning Benefit of the doubt given / the point is just about worthy of credit Point in support of the view in the question Evaluation/point against the view in the question Some explanation but underdeveloped rather than developed Juxtaposition of point Creditable Material Not answered question Repetition This material receives no credit, additional points not required Too vague Identification of a point Irrelevant material Point that has been credited Off page comment On page comment M

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 6 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 ‘Governments are powerless to prevent the spread of global crime.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites consideration of global crime and why governments (individually and/or collectively) may find it difficult to prevent. Examples of different types of global crime may be used to illustrate the problems that governments face in detecting and deterring law breaking that extends beyond national frontiers. Marxist arguments that global crime is encouraged by the criminogenic conditions and values of capitalism might be used to explain the difficulties that governments face in dealing with criminality on a global scale. Marxists would argue that the nation state is controlled by, or subordinate to, capitalist interests and that is why some global crimes in particular (corporate crime, for example) are rarely punished. The view that governments are unable to prevent the growth of global crime may be challenged, however, by considering examples of successful policing and prosecution. Internationally coordinated efforts between governments to combat global crime might also be discussed as a way of extending the evaluative content of the answer. Indicative content For: • Global crimes are crimes that occur across the borders of two or more countries, making it harder for individual nation-states to police and prosecute. • Organised criminal groups can run their illegal operations from countries where they are least likely to be detected/prosecuted. They can also switch between countries to avoid arrest. • Some global crime is organised with the same efficiency and methods as that which characterises the modern capitalist corporation; this makes global crime highly profitable and leads to the creation of powerful networks that wealthy criminals can use to evade detection. • Castells argues that globalisation has led to the development of physical, digital and financial networks that cut across national borders and which allow knowledge, goods and people to move quickly, easily and cheaply across the world. This has made possible the development of a global criminal or ‘shadow’ economy in which there exist complex interconnections between a range of criminal networks in a variety of countries, • Global crime is often organised along national or ethnic lines, assisted by the process of global migration. For example, there are close links between triads based in China and the Chinese diaspora. The national/ethnic dimension makes it harder for law enforcement agencies to penetrate these groups and detect their illegal activities. • Global crime in developed countries is often linked to poverty in developing countries. The desperation of poor people in developing countries to earn a living means they are especially vulnerable to exploitation by criminals. People trafficking has become a lucrative activity for criminals against this background of poverty; and many poor farmers can readily be persuaded to grow drugs to supply the global trade in illicit substances. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 7 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 • Digital technology has created new opportunities for criminals to operate globally without detection. For example, criminal organisations and terrorist groups are evading security services and intelligence agencies by hiding in the shadows of the dark net, using encrypted messaging services to communicate and anonymous cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to generate funds. • Crimes committed by transnational corporations are difficult to police. In developing countries, TNCs can threaten to withdraw their much-needed investment if the authorities threaten them with prosecution. TNCs and wealthy individuals can avoid detection/prosecution by using bribes to corrupt local officials in the police and government. Against: • Franco argues that although organised crime groups may operate on a global scale, they are still heavily embedded in local contexts and are therefore subject to local policing and justice. • Individual nation states are increasingly working together to combat global crime; for example, UK police forces have worked with their counterparts in Eastern Europe in efforts to control the migration associated with sex trafficking. • Some supra-national organisations have been established to coordinate the fight against global crime, with examples including Interpol and Europol. • Law enforcement agencies in many countries have been strengthened (given more powers and resources) because of the perceived threat from global crime. • Growth in global crime has led governments to increase efforts to control the financial networks through which criminals operate. For example, there has been some success in closing loopholes that allow money laundering through identity fraud and the use of offshore bank accounts. • Governments potentially could do more to combat global crime, but for various reasons some governments choose not to intervene. The Russian and Chinese governments have been reluctant to cooperate with some international proposals for fighting global crime, for example. The US government has allowed banks in the US to maintain secrecy in a way that makes international money laundering investigations difficult.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 8 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 ‘Developing countries are kept poor by a capitalist world system.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites candidates to consider different explanations for the existence of poverty in developing countries, with a particular focus on the Marxist perspective. Wallerstein, the author of world systems theory, argues that most nations are part of a worldwide interdependent economic and political system based on the unequal exchange in the division of labour and allocation of resources between core nations, semi-peripheral nations, and peripheral nations. The solution to poverty, in this view, involves breaking the power relations within the system that enable rich capitalist countries to dominate the terms of trade and economic development in poor countries. Dependency theory provides a further Marxist perspective on the causes of poverty in developing countries. In addition to demonstrating knowledge of Marxist theory(ies), good answers will also evaluate the view expressed in the question. Contrasts are likely to be drawn between Marxist theory and contrasting theories such as modernisation theory and neo-liberal arguments. Examples of development in particular societies might be used to help illustrate key strengths and limitations of different theories of poverty. Indicative content For: • World systems theory argues that inequalities in the structural relationship between countries explains why many impoverished countries have found it so difficult to develop their economies successfully. • World systems theory provides a nuanced understanding of the shifting economic relationships between countries, recognising that one must look at the world system rather than just individual countries in order to understand how much scope there is for individual countries to achieve development and which countries succeed. • World systems theory offers a strong critique of modernisation theory, pointing out that impoverished countries rarely benefit from their economic relationships with core countries. • The theory draws attention to the powerful role of Western nation-states and interstate systems in maintaining an exploitative world economic system. • The interest that richer countries have in keeping poorer countries less developed provides a context for understanding why efforts by Western powers to help poorer countries escape poverty have seemed too limited and ineffective. • Wallerstein recognises that it is possible for some countries to climb the economic ladder of development, as many of them have done. However, he also believes that the global capitalist system still requires some countries, or at least regions within countries, to be poor. • Dependency theory is a further Marxist inspired explanation for the poverty associated with developing countries. This theory is associated with the work of Andre Gunder Frank and references to dependency theory should be seen as supporting the view in the question. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 9 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 Against: • There are many more causes of underdevelopment than just capitalism and the power of Western nation-states. • Some areas of the world are still not included in the World System – some tribal peoples in South America and Bhutan, for example, remain relatively unaffected by global capitalism. • Wallerstein’s concepts of core, semi-periphery and periphery are difficult to operationalise and, therefore, test or measure empirically. • Modernisation theorists argue that world systems theory is guilty of economic reductionism in arguing that poorer countries are trapped in a position of exploitation and inequality by the logic of capitalism. Cultural factors are attributed little value in explaining the causes of global inequality and modernisation theorists see this as an oversight. • There is some evidence that the most successful countries economically in the developing world have made a concerted effort to adopt some or all the cultural changes advocated by modernisation theorists. Examples include Singapore, South Korea, and the UAE. • It can be argued that exposure to western companies and NGOs has brought some benefits to developing countries. For example, TNCs, western aid projects, and support from capitalist-leaning transnational organisations, such as the IMF and World Bank, has helped improve infrastructure and combat poverty in many less developed countries.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 10 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 ‘The hypodermic syringe model provides the best explanation of how the media influences behaviour.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The hypodermic syringe model was an early attempt to describe how the media influences audiences. Media content acts like a drug injected directly into a vein using a syringe, having a direct and powerful effect. Later theorists have generally accepted that the media isn’t quite so overwhelming in its influence as the syringe analogy suggests. However, if taken less literally, the hypodermic syringe model is a useful reference point for sociologists who want to argue that the media has a direct and powerful influence on the way people think and behave. Other models of media effects stress that audiences are not passive consumers of the media and, where the media is an influence on thoughts and behaviour, the processes involved are quite subtle and possibly indirect. Good answers are likely to evaluate the strengths and limitations of the hypodermic syringe model by drawing contrasts with other theories that question the power of the media to influence human behaviour or which suggest that media influence is indirect rather than direct. Indicative content For: • The hypodermic syringe model was developed in response to the increasing role of the media in everyday life in affluent societies from the 1930s onwards. • The model was an early attempt to explain why people’s behaviour and thoughts seemed to be influenced, to some extent, by media content. • In the context of mass society where the media is the main source of information for many people, it is plausible to think that the media has a direct and powerful influence on the way people think and behave, even if the influence is not quite as direct and overwhelming as the syringe model implies. • Confusing media representations with reality has provoked mass panic at times (Orson Welles War of the Worlds radio dramatization, for example). Likewise, the role of the media in creating moral panics that have measurable short-term effects on the way some people think and behave has also been well documented. • It is not easy to prove or disprove whether the media has a powerful, direct influence on behaviour because of the difficulty of separating relevant variables and measuring the precise effects of media exposure. However, there is a large body of anecdotal evidence of some people claiming they have personally experienced, or witnessed in others, a dramatic change of behaviour associated with exposure to certain media content. • Belief that the media can have a powerful and relatively immediate effect in influencing thoughts and behaviour has encouraged companies to spend huge sums on advertising. Likewise, government regulations to restrict access to certain media content, particularly in the case of children, also implies a belief that the media can be an invasive influence. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 11 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 • Marxist mass manipulation theory of media influence lends support to the hypodermic syringe model. • Study evidence to support the hypodermic syringe model (Bandura, for example). • Examples supporting the idea of media manipulation, such as the role of the new media in influencing recent election results in the US and UK. Against: • The hypodermic syringe model wrongly assumes that audiences are passive and that audience members are all affected in the same way. • The hypodermic syringe model also assumes the audience is an ‘atomised mass’ whose response to media messages is unaffected by the social relations between people. • The reception analysis model questions how much influence the media has on audiences, because the latter interpret what they see, hear or read according to their pre-existing views, attitudes and opinions. • By contrast with the reception analysis view, the cultural effects model is closer to the hypodermic syringe model in arguing that the media can have significant effects on attitudes and behaviour. But sociologists who support the cultural effects model say that media effects come about indirectly and through long-term exposure to media content; the short- term impact of consuming media content is very limited. • The uses and gratifications model suggests that individuals may play an active part in choosing how and when media content is consumed. • Arguments that the new media provides a mechanism for challenging the power of the traditional media to manipulate and control the flow of information in society. • Absence of convincing research evidence suggesting that the media has a direct and powerful influence on human behaviour.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 12 of 19 Question Answer Marks 4 ‘The new media has created more opportunities for individuals to challenge existing power structures.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The new media is seen as more interactive than the traditional media, giving individual citizens more opportunity to shape media content, network with a wide base of like-minded people, and organise protest and/or resistance to government actions with which they disagree. Good answers to the question will consider how far people have been empowered by the emergence of the new media and whether claims about greater power to challenge existing power structures can be substantiated. Debates between digital optimists and digital pessimists may feature in well-informed responses. Digital optimists argue that digital activists have used the internet and social media to challenge power elites in several ways, including harnessing mass support for political campaigns, raising awareness of government malpractice and maladministration, and coordinating protests and activism. Digital pessimists argue that political protests organised through the new media have had relatively little success in achieving the aims of the activists. Authoritarian governments have been ruthless in cracking down on internet use whenever opponents have any success in using the new media to advance their cause. Examples of political campaigns may be used in good answers as a way of debating the issues to which digital optimists and digital pessimists have drawn attention. Indicative content For: • The new media allows political activists to carry out the same activities as in the past, but more quickly, on a larger scale, and at lower cost. • The new media allows people to organise themselves without formalised bureaucracies and central leaders; protest groups emerge in a more spontaneous fashion and can quickly generate sufficient support to catch political opponents off-guard, as in the case of the Arab-Spring anti- government movements which spread across the Middle East and North Africa between 2010 and 2012. • The new media can be used to monitor the illegal or immoral activities of big businesses and governments. Hacktivist networks can infiltrate corporate and government websites, potentially gaining access to information that would expose wrongdoing and injustice. • The digital revolution has enabled citizen journalism with civilians having access to the technology to send instant messages and pictures around the globe (including to international media outlets) to report on events affecting citizen protests and government attempts to repress opposition. • Examples of the use of the new media in supporting protest movements and other forms of resistance of established power. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 13 of 19 Question Answer Marks 4 Against: • There is little evidence that use of the new media has helped protest movements achieve their objectives. For example, in relation to the Arab Spring, only the uprising in Tunisia has resulted in a transition to constitutional democracy. In other countries, authoritarianism still prevails or civil wars continue. • Authoritarian governments increasingly seek to limit the liberating potential of the new media by deploying censorship, masked political control, and technology capture. • Outside the wealthy, established democracies, large numbers of people still lack access to digital technologies. They are therefore reliant on government controlled traditional media. • Technology providers are under increasing pressure to exercise closer control over how their technology is used and by whom. For example, Facebook has recently banned a number of account users who were seen by the company to be posting socially undesirable content. While some will see this as responsible monitoring of media usage, others will view it as a potentially troubling development that places restrictions on how individuals use the new media and who is judged suitable to post messages and organise protests.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 14 of 19 Question Answer Marks 5 ‘Women have no power within religious organisations.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites consideration of the relationship between religion and patriarchy with particular focus on the position of women within religious organisations. Feminist sociologists claim to have identified close links between religion and patriarchy, with religious teachings representing females in a negative way and emphasising their subordination to male figures, such as fathers and husbands. Women are encouraged to follow traditional gender role in society in many religions. Moreover, there is limited involvement of women in positions of authority in most religious organisations. Some women report that involvement in religion has damaged their self-esteem and sense of freedom; they feel oppressed by the exercise of religious authority. The feminist analysis of gender inequality in religion can be countered in various ways, including reference to the functionalist view that women perform different but equal roles within many religious organisations, and the interactionist view that only detailed study of what women think and feel about their experience of religion will shed light on whether women feel they have limited power within religious organisations. Good answers might consider how the position of women in religious organisations may be changing and how the involvement of women differs between religions (gender inequality appears to be less pronounced in some religions than others). Indicative content For: • Evidence to show that women are often lowly represented in positions of authority within religious organisations. • Evidence about the participation of women in decision-making and leadership in religious organisations. • Examples of religious teachings that support a patriarchal worldview and represent women in an inferior or prejudicial way. • Religious support for conservative values that emphasise traditional gender roles for women. • Examples of religious support for opposing causes that feminists have campaigned for, such as abortion rights, civil marriage, and freedom from arranged marriages. • Physical features of places of worship often reflect gender inequality. • Some rituals and taboos associated with religious organisations can be seen as prejudicial to females (taboos on menstruation). Against: • Danger of over-generalising as the position of women in religion varies greatly between different religious organisations. • Newer religious organisations may exhibit fewer elements of patriarchy and some are very active in promoting gender equality. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 15 of 19 Question Answer Marks 5 • Some religions are responding positively to calls for women to have greater opportunity to access positions of authority, including through ordination. • Many women with religious affiliations may support some or all the religious values that feminists see as patriarchal and oppressive. • While women may have little power in some areas of religion, in other areas they can be influential; for example, the involvement of women in organising and promoting religious practice within the family. • The secularisation thesis suggests that religion has little social significance today and so the influence of religion in contributing to patriarchy and the oppression of women may be very limited for most of the female population.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 16 of 19 Question Answer Marks 6 ‘The growth of new religious movements is evidence that secularisation has occurred.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question To answer this question candidates are required to demonstrate knowledge of the secularisation thesis and the arguments and evidence that is used to debate whether secularisation has occurred in modern industrial societies. Good answers may pay close attention to how secularisation is defined as this has a bearing on how the growth of new religious movement is interpreted. A definition that ties secularisation closely to a decline in the authority of established religions would view growing support for new religious movements as evidence to support the secularisation thesis. By contrast, a definition of secularisation that focuses on the idea of declining religiosity is likely to view growing support for new religious movements as evidence of religious revival and not secularisation. Candidates might also consider whether growing support for new religious movements is sufficient evidence in itself to prove (or disprove) the secularisation thesis. This may take them into a broader evaluation of the claims made by those who advance the secularisation thesis, with reasoned conclusions drawn about how far, if at all, modern societies have experienced a process of declining social significance of religion. Indicative content For: • Growth in new religious movements can be seen as evidence that established religions have lost their social significance. Wilson sees the decline of established religions, together with fragmentation in religious belief systems, as defining characteristics of secularisation. In a secular society, Wilson argues, centralised spiritual authority is replaced by support for competing religious beliefs (new religious movements, for example) and other sources of moral guidance. • Many new religious movements support the idea of a secular state that is free from the power of established religious organisations to influence decision making. The emergence of the secular state is often viewed as evidence supporting the idea that secularisation has occurred. • New religious movements are too divided and fragmented to replace the power and authority of established religions. Indeed, most proponents of the secularisation thesis believe that once secularisation has occurred there can be no return to society based on traditional values and social order that is based on religious teaching and governance. • Interest in spirituality may have increased in western societies in recent years, but studies suggest it is driven by individualistic concerns with discovering meaning and personal fulfilment rather than any desire to return to a form of society based on religious control and traditional values. • Even if the growth in support for new religious movements is seen as an indicator of religious revival, there is still a lot of evidence to support the secularisation thesis; for example, evidence about the declining role of religion in public life, increasing number of people who reject marriage or marry without a religious ceremony, increasing number of people identifying as atheists, and so on. 35

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 17 of 19 Question Answer Marks 6 Against: • Growing support for new religious movements helps challenge claims associated with the secularisation thesis that membership of religious organisations is declining and people are becoming less religious. • Growth in new religious movements can be seen as part of a broader trend that has seen an increase interest in spirituality among people in western societies in recent years; the growth in new age movements and privatised worship provide further examples of this trend. • Some new religious movements have been highly successful in recruiting new members and in that respect have played a key part in what some sociologists claim is a religious revival in modern societies. • Some new religious movements claim to have successfully integrated elements of spiritual and scientific thinking, challenging the modernist idea that religion and science are diametrically opposed modes of thought. • Functionalist arguments that religion serves important functions in society are supported by evidence of growth in new religious movements at a time when support for established religions is declining. Functionalist sociologists view sceptically the idea that societies can become secular to the point where religion has little or no social significance.

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 18 of 19 Generic levels of response Level AO1: Knowledge and Understanding Marks 3 • Good knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains a range of detailed points with good use of concepts and theory/research evidence. 7–9 2 • Reasonable knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains either a narrow range of detailed points or a wider range of underdeveloped points, with some use of concepts and references to theory or research evidence 4–6 1 • Basic knowledge and understanding of the view on which the question is based. • The response contains a narrow range of underdeveloped points with some references to concepts or theory or research evidence. 1–3 0 • No knowledge and understanding worthy of credit. 0 Level AO2: Interpretation and Application Marks 4 • Very good interpretation and application of relevant sociological material. • The material selected will be accurately interpreted and consistently applied to the question in a logical and well-informed way. 10–11 3 • Good interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected will be accurate and relevant but not always • consistently applied to the question in a way that is logical and clear 7–9 2 • Reasonable interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected will be mainly accurate but its relevance to the question may be confused or unclear at times. 4–6 1 • Limited interpretation and application of sociological material. • The material selected is relevant to the topic but lacks focus on or relevance to the specific question. 1–3 0 • No interpretation and application worthy of credit. 0

9699/41 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 19 of 19 Level AO3: Analysis and Evaluation Marks 4 • Very good analysis and evaluation. • Clear and sustained analysis of the view on which the question is based, with detailed and explicit evaluation. • There is also likely to be a range of contrasting views and/or evidence discussed, demonstrating good understanding of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 12–15 3 • Good analysis and evaluation. • The evaluation may be explicit and direct but not sustained, or it will rely on a good outline of contrasting views and/or evidence, clearly focussed on evaluating the view in the question. • The response demonstrates some understanding of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 8–11 2 • Reasonable analysis and evaluation. • There is a description of some relevant contrasting views and/or evidence but these are only implicitly focussed on evaluating the view in the question. • The response demonstrates some awareness of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 4–7 1 • Limited analysis and evaluation. • There are a few simple points of implicit or tangential evaluation. • The response demonstrates little awareness of the complexity of the issues raised by the question. 1–3 0 • No analysis and evaluation worthy of credit. 0