World Sociology

The Myth of Globalisation

Thinking back to when students learned about norms, values and sanctions in the socialisation process, ask students to begin by writing down the norms and values which they would associate with British society. They could do this as a ‘day in the life’ activity – what norms and values characterise a typical day?

This Tedx talk by Peter Alfandary could then be used and students asked to identify the differences in cultural behaviours identified by the speaker.

After completing this exercise, refer them back to the material and discussions centred around the previous lesson (given above). Are the smaller scale interactions considered by Peter Alfandary really evidence against the notion that we now have a shared global culture? Encourage them to provide a written response that refers back to the view they debated. It would also be interesting to see if any students change their views on globalisation as a result of watching the talk?