Cambridge A Level Sociology 9699 — 2024 Oct/Nov Paper 4 · Variant 2

[Turn over Cambridge International AS & A Level * 8 2 6 6 6 1 7 0 1 6 * DC (WW) 337886/1 © UCLES 2024 This document has 4 pages. Any blank pages are indicated. SOCIOLOGY 9699/42 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 9699/42/O/N/24 © UCLES 2024 Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Section A: Globalisation EITHER 1 ‘Globalisation is leading to greater cultural diversity.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 2 ‘Dependency theory provides the most convincing explanation of global poverty.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section B: Media EITHER 3 ‘Governments have no control over the new media.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 4 ‘The uses and gratifications model accurately describes how people are influenced by the media.’ Evaluate this view. [35] Section C: Religion EITHER 5 ‘Religion is an agent of social control.’ Evaluate this view. [35] OR 6 ‘The growth of new religious movements shows that religion remains a powerful influence in society.’ Evaluate this view. [35]

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4 9699/42/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 9699/42 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.

9699/42 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.

9699/42 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.

9699/42 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.

9699/42 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

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 6 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 ‘Globalisation is leading to greater cultural diversity.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites discussion of the debates between those who see globalisation as leading to cultural convergence and those who claim that globalisation is creating greater cultural diversity. Cultural convergence theorists argue that globalisation has brought about a one-way flow of culture from the West to the less economically developed countries. A process of Westernisation (or Americanisation) has occurred whereby local cultures become less valued by people in poorer countries who come to identify increasingly with the same values and lifestyles that are found in rich capitalist countries such as the US and Western Europe. Good answers may contrast the cultural convergence viewpoint with tranformationalist and postmodernist theories of globalisation. The latter theories argue that the idea of cultural convergence exaggerates the impact of globalisation and fails to acknowledge how Western culture is enriched by inputs from other world cultures and religions. In this view, globalisation is producing greater cultural diversity, both by exposing more people to different cultures and through glocalisation (a process whereby cultural influences from other countries are modified and adapted to local culture and needs). Good responses will set out the arguments for suggesting that globalisation is producing greater cultural diversity and offer an evaluation that is likely to make contrasts between the cultural divergence and the cultural convergence perspectives. Indicative content For: • Postmodernists have argued that the social interaction of people from very different cultures has produced glocalised and hybrid responses to globalisation, which in turn has led to an increase in cultural diversity in most parts of the world. • Global tourism, travel, migration and trade have all contributed to a situation where people are exposed to a wider variety of cultural influences today. Elements of different cultures are increasingly combined (what Steger refers to as ‘cultural hybridity’). • Global corporations have seized the opportunity to strengthen the appeal of their products and services by incorporating attractive elements from different cultures around the world (aspects of Bollywood incorporated in Hollywood films, for example). • The spread of global media is helping to diffuse different cultural styles around the world and creating new global hybrid styles in fashion, food, music, and lifestyle. • Local people modify and adapt elements of global culture to strengthen and enhance local cultures. • The extent to which the world is characterised by cultural homogeneity today can be questioned; there are still considerable differences between cultures and countries, and the extent to which different parts of the world are affected by the processes of globalisation varies (some people and countries are more connected to global networks than others). 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 7 of 19 Question Answer Marks 1 • Evidence that some long-established cultures remain in place and may be strengthening areas of the world, e.g. Islam, Chinese culture. • Globalisation may also have led to a revival or reinvigoration of some cultural forms. For example, traditional social values have been reasserted by fundamentalist movements opposed to the influence of globalisation. A resurgence of nationalism and interest in national cultures is another response by those who feel threatened by the globalising forces. Against: • The global convergence view that global processes are sweeping away significant territorial boundaries and bringing about the global homogenisation of cultural tastes. • Global markets and trading networks have spread Western consumer culture to most parts of the world and an interest in products, brands, and materialistic lifestyles is undermining the appeal of local cultures to young people. • Leisure habits in many parts of the world are increasingly shaped by a global popular culture disseminated by global media that specialises in distributing the same music, television, film, computer games, and video to a global audience. • Globalisation has contributed to the dominance of English as the universal language of international trade and global culture. It is predicted that at least 50% of languages spoken in the world in 2018 will have disappeared by the end of the 21st century. • Cultural globalisation of food and diet has been particularly promoted by American fast-food transnationals such as McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC. • Cultural icons are increasingly global celebrities, including pop stars, sports stars, and film stars.

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 8 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 ‘Dependency theory provides the most convincing explanation of global poverty.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question invites candidates to consider the reasons for the disparity between income and wealth between rich countries and poorer countries today. There are several theories that seek to explain global poverty, one of which is dependency theory. Dependency theory identifies capitalist exploitation, as it plays out through the relationship between core and periphery countries, as the underlying cause of global poverty. The solution to poverty, in this view, involves breaking the power relations that enable rich capitalist countries to dominate the terms of trade and economic development in poor countries. In addition to demonstrating knowledge of dependency theory, good answers will also evaluate that theory by considering, for example, alternative explanations for global poverty. Contrasts are likely to be drawn between dependency theory and modernisation theory and/or world systems theory. Examples of development in particular societies might be used to help illustrate key strengths and limitations of dependency theory. Indicative content For: • Dependency theorists argue that inequalities in the structural relationship between rich countries (‘core’) and poorer countries (‘periphery’) explains why many poorer countries have found it so difficult to develop their economies successfully. • Dependency theory draws attention to the damage caused to the economies of developing societies by Western nation-states seeking to control those countries through policies associated with colonialism and neo-colonialism. • 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. • Dependency theory highlights the role of TNCs in promoting the interests of rich countries in the developing world. They argue that the advantages that TNCs gain from access to the markets, resources, and labour supply of poorer countries are clear to see and revolve around the ability to make profits relatively easily through the relative ease with which these markets and workers can be exploited. Against: • Poorer countries can resist dependency and produce positive benefits, as examples such as Tanzania and Cuba illustrate. • Dependency theory fails to explain why some less economically developed countries have greatly improved their economic position (the so-called Asian Tiger economies, for example) while others remain in desperate poverty. • ‘Dependency’ is a difficult concept to operationalise and, therefore, test or measure empirically. 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 9 of 19 Question Answer Marks 2 • Modernisation theorists argue that dependency 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 in these Marxist theories and modernisation theorists see this as an oversight. • Modernisation theorists argue that certain cultural values are essential for successful economic development in poorer countries, including the values of democracy, entrepreneurship, individual freedom, and meritocracy. Countries that adopt these values and follow the model of development that proved successful in Western societies can escape poverty through their own efforts. • There is some evidence that the most successful countries economically in the developing world have made a concerted effort to adopt some or all of 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. • While dependency theory rightly highlights the adverse impact of colonial and post-colonial structures on the development of countries that endured colonial subjugation, it is less successful in explaining poverty in developing countries that have little or no history of colonial exploitation. • Immanuel Wallerstein in his world systems theory offers an alternative Marxist-influenced explanation for global inequality to the one presented by dependency theorists. Wallerstein argues that the capitalist economic system is becoming increasingly global in its search for profit. In turn, this is leading to rich countries increasingly focusing on higher skill, capital intensive production, and the rest of the world focusing on low-skill, labour-intensive production and extraction of raw materials. This constantly reinforces the dominance of the rich countries and condemns workers in poorer countries to a life of exploitative, insecure low wage employment.

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 10 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 ‘Governments have no control over the new media.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The focus of the question is who controls the new media and, specifically, how much influence do governments (nationally and/or through supra-national organisations) have on this form of communication. Candidates may distinguish between different types of political regime: authoritarian versus democratic, for example. Authoritarian regimes usually exercise greater direct control over the media generally than is the case in democratic countries. Different means through which governments can seek to control the new media may be discussed (censorship, licensing, funding, control of internet technology, publishing and broadcasting laws, regulation, parliamentary scrutiny of media activities). Evaluating how effective these means are in helping governments control the new media would form part of a good analytical response to the question. Evaluation could also be provided by considering other social actors and agencies who might play a role in controlling the new media, such as media owners, editors and journalists, audiences, bloggers, and non-governmental regulatory bodies. Good answers will draw conclusions about how far governments can control the new media and what, if any, are the limits to government power in this regard. Indicative content For: • The new media is still evolving and takes many different forms. It has also been developing at a rapid pace. This makes it hard for governments to understand and keep up-to-date with how the new media operates and what steps might be necessary to control/regulate the activities of those who own and use the means of communication in this area. • Democratic governments are not involved in the day-to-day running of media organisations and so have little influence over decisions taken by both traditional and new media. Overall, it would be unrealistic for democratic governments to seek to control the detailed production of media content. • Democratic governments are accountable to the electorate and measures such as censorship have not always proven popular with the wider population in countries where there is a high degree of support for media freedom. • Regulating the new media has so far proved challenging for national governments, partly because global networks (such as the internet) take control of the new media beyond national frontiers. To-date, it looks like democratic government have less control over the new media than they do over the traditional media. This may be changing as governments come under pressure to ensure tighter regulation of social networking sites to prevent unwelcome content from, for example, terrorist groups and political extremists. • Some technologies are being used by individuals and groups who specifically want to avoid restrictions imposed on the use of the new media by national governments; these technologies include virtual private networks (VPNs), blockchain, cryptocurrency, and the dark web. 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 11 of 19 Question Answer Marks 3 • Governments (or some politicians) realise that it might not be in their best interest to try to control the new media directly; rather it is better to allow some media freedom in return for being able to influence the content of the media selectively when the government has most to gain. Against: • Examples suggest that authoritarian regimes are often very successful in controlling the media, including the new media. • Democratic regimes usually show greater respect for media rights and freedoms and, up to a point, are happy to accept a free market in media content. Nevertheless, many direct and indirect means are available to democratic governments to control the new media, including censorship, allocation of state funding, removal of internet access, regulatory supervision, and fines for media organisations that fail to conform to government regulations. • Even democratic governments have intervened to shut down new media outlets considered undesirable. Ultimately, considerable power is available to national governments to set the limits within which media organisations/users operate; the threat of government censure or closure alone may be sufficient to ensure that media organisations take care to avoid displeasing the authorities. • Governments are an important source of information for both new and traditional media and that is another consideration encouraging media producers to align themselves with government ideas about how the new media should operate. • The threat of government censure or attempts at punitive action may be sufficient to ensure those who use and control the new media take care to avoid displeasing the authorities. For example, government criticism of various aspects of social media has resulted in increased efforts at self- regulation by owners of social media platforms. • Organisations that own the traditional media also control large parts of the new media. National governments may be able to use their powers over the traditional media where they want to restrict or limit the powers of the new media. • Examples of where governments have intervened successfully to restrict the operations of new media organisations.

9699/42 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 uses and gratifications model accurately describes how people are influenced by the media.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question Sociological attempts to explain media effects provide the underpinnings for this question. The uses and gratifications model emerged in the 1960s as a riposte to the hypodermic syringe model. The model not only accepted that audiences are the active consumers of the media, but also suggested that research should focus on how audiences use the media rather than on what the media did to audiences. Blumer and McQuail (1968) identified four basic needs which people use television to satisfy: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity, and surveillance. Later researchers, such as Lull (1995) pointed to other needs that people use the media to fulfil. Good answers are likely to evaluate the uses and gratifications model by drawing contrasts with other models of media effects such as hypodermic syringe, two-step flow, reception analysis, and cultural effects. Evidence from studies may also be used to support arguments for and against the uses and gratifications model. Indicative content For: • The idea that individuals (consumers) play an active part in determining how media content is used and interpreted is now widely accepted. • The uses and gratifications model highlighted the limitations in the hypodermic syringe model, which had wrongly assumed that audiences are passive and are all affected in the same way. • Blumer and McQuail recognised that the media is often used by people in a social context (family viewing of television, for example). This is a departure from the hypodermic syringe model which assumes that the audience is an ‘atomised mass’ whose response to media messages is unaffected by their social relations with others. • The uses and gratifications model, like the two-step flow model, led to a questioning of ideas about mass society and the notion that the media had become an all-powerful force controlling the way people think and behave. • The uses and gratifications model laid the foundations for more sophisticated research and theorising about how audiences relate to and use the media, including the reception analysis model. • Evidence about the use of the new media rather suggests that individuals are very active in using these media forms to satisfy their own interests and needs. Against: • The uses and gratifications model recognises that people use the media to satisfy their needs but tells us nothing about the effects of the media. • The model underestimates the power of the media to directly or indirectly influence the needs of audiences in relation to media consumption. 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 13 of 19 Question Answer Marks 4 • The uses and gratifications model fails to explore sufficiently the possibility that some people are more active in shaping their use of the media than other people. • The model fails to raise important questions about why people have needs or why they choose forms of gratification. • The uses and gratifications model recognise that people often consume media content in a social context, such as the family, but largely fail to explore how these social factors might influence the needs that people seek to fulfil through use of the media. • Belief that the media can have a powerful and relatively immediate effect in influencing audiences 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. These power relations are ignored in the uses and gratifications model. • The reception analysis model suggests that all individuals interpret what they see, hear or read in the media according to their pre-existing views, attitudes and opinions. Influences on these interpretations is another interesting area of research that is overlooked in the uses and gratifications model. • The cultural effects model claims that the media can have significant effects on attitudes and behaviour. These 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 is functionalist in character, suggesting that the media perform a function for individuals but ignoring the dysfunctional nature of the media (its possible harmful effects, for example). • Evidence that the new media may be used to manipulate and shape attitudes and behaviour suggesting that people may have less scope to determine how they view and use media content. Debates about ‘fake news’ would help to illustrate this point.

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 14 of 19 Question Answer Marks 5 ‘Religion is an agent of social control.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The idea that religion is an agent of social control is associated primarily with Marxist theory and feminist theory. Good answers will demonstrate a sound understanding of one or both theories of religion. Evaluation of the view on which the question is based is likely to draw on contrasting theories of religion, such as the functionalist view that religion contributes to value consensus and social harmony, or the postmodernist questioning of what religion means for people today. Examples may be used to question whether religious organisations always support the status quo (liberation theology, for example, is an example of religion being used to challenge entrenched economic interests and support the dispossessed in Latin America). Contrast between different religions might be explored to established whether all religions are equally involved in promoting social control. Indicative content For: • Religious teachings often encourage acceptance of the existing social order. • Religion provides a form of spiritual solace for the poor, making them less likely to resist the material deprivation they experience. • Religious organisations are often reliant on donations from rich benefactors and are thereby tied into existing power structures. • Established religions are often closely linked with the dominant institutions of society, contributing to the maintenance of the status quo and social order. • Feminists argue that there are strong links between religion and patriarchy, with religion being a means by which men exercise social control over women. • Examples of where religion has acted as a support for governments seeking to impose social control will be rewarded. Against: • Durkheim’s theory that religion contributes to social solidarity. • Malinowski’s analysis of the social-psychological functions of religion. • Evidence that religion may provoke social conflict and disharmony as opposed to acting as an agent of social control will be rewarded. • In general, established religions are more likely to act as agents of social control than newer religious movements. • Some religions have been quite radical in their opposition to poverty and exploitation, speaking out against perceived deficiencies in the capitalist economic system. • Labour movements in western Europe historically had a close connection with non-conformist religions and were influenced by religious teachings and values. • Liberation Theology in Latin America is an example of where religion has been used directly to oppose the dominant power structure and to resist social control. 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 15 of 19 Question Answer Marks 5 • Supporters of the secularisation thesis would argue that the declining power of religion means that any role it has in promoting social control has been equally diminished. • Post modernists suggest that religion today is closely involved with the search for individual meaning and spiritual fulfilment rather than being part of a hierarchy of control in society.

9699/42 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 shows that religion remains a powerful influence in society.’ Evaluate this view. Key focus of the question The question provides an opportunity to consider the arguments for and against the secularisation thesis with specific reference to the growth of new religious movements. Supporters of the secularisation thesis claim that religion has lost its social significance in modern industrial societies, whereas opponents are convinced that religion remains a powerful influence in these societies. Good answers will discuss the growth of new religious movements and consider whether this can be regarded as evidence that religion remains an important influence. This might be linked to a wider discussion of the strengths and limitations of the secularisation thesis, perhaps referring to church attendance records, surveys of religious belief, and statistics relating to participation in religious ceremonies. The arguments of theorists such as Wilson, Wallis, and Bruce who have contributed to sociological debates about secularisation may also feature in well-informed answers. Concepts such as religious revival, resacrilisation, spiritual shopping, and privatised religion might be used as a context for discussing key issues about the position of religion today. The difficulties of measuring religious influence and/or acquiring reliable evidence about religious participation (today and in the past) are further areas of discussion that could be explored in a sound analytical response. Indicative content For: • 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 (a religious revival) among people in Western societies in recent years; the growth in new age movements and privatised worship provide further examples of this trend. • Although it is thought that people were more religious in the past, this may be a myth. For one thing, it is hard to know how much influence religion had in earlier times. For example, evidence about the involvement of people in religious practices in the past is limited. Furthermore, historical records about church attendance, participation in religious ceremonies, and membership of religions groups tell us little about the extent to which the people involved were religious. Rather than being an indicator of religious belief, for instance, social pressure may have led people to attend religious ceremonies. By contrast, it can be argued that membership of new religious movements today is more likely to be based on individual choice and therefore possibly on religious conviction rather than social pressure. • Religious organisations, including some new religious movements, continue to play an important role in public life. For example, religious lobby groups have a strong influence on US politics, illustrating the ongoing social significance of religion in Western society. 35

9699/42 Cambridge International AS & A Level – Mark Scheme PUBLISHED October/November 2024 © Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2024 Page 17 of 19 Question Answer Marks 6 • The extent to which religion has lost social importance varies between countries. Religion has retained much of its social role in countries such as Iran and Pakistan. In Western societies, secularisation has been less far reaching in countries such as Italy and Spain than in the UK and France. Against: • Growth in new religious movements can be seen as evidence that established religions have lost their social significance. For example, 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. • 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. • Organised religions play little role in civic life in Western societies today, suggesting secularisation has occurred. • Interest in spirituality may have picked up 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. However, the extent to which NRMs are focused on individual rather than social concerns may vary between these groups. • New religious movements tend to have different aims and organisational structures to established religions and compared to the latter are less concerned with upholding the social importance of religion (the importance of religion in public life, for example).

9699/42 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

9699/42 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 focused 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 focused 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