37 exam-style questions on Contested meanings of development and sustainability — topic TS2.1 of Thematic Study 2: Development and sustainability in the IB Global Politics syllabus — with answers and explanations. Samples below; the full set is free with an account.
Gross National Income (GNI) differs from GDP primarily because GNI does what?
Answer: Includes income earned by residents from abroad
GNI adds net income from abroad to GDP, capturing earnings of a country's residents wherever generated.
The Human Development Index (HDI) combines income with which two other dimensions?
Answer: health and education
HDI combines life expectancy (health), education (schooling), and gross national income per capita.
What is the set of 17 global goals adopted by the UN in 2015 to guide development to 2030 called?
Answer: Sustainable Development Goals
The SDGs (2015) succeeded the Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015).
Which thinker's 'capability approach' redefines development as expanding people's real freedoms to be and do what they have reason to value?
Answer: Amartya Sen
Amartya Sen's capability approach shifted the meaning of development from income growth to human freedoms and directly inspired the Human Development Index.
Which theory argues that poorer 'periphery' countries remain underdeveloped because the global economy is structured to transfer wealth to rich 'core' countries?
Answer: Dependency theory
Dependency theory sees underdevelopment as produced by exploitative core-periphery relations, rejecting modernisation theory's claim that all states follow the same growth path.
The three pillars commonly used to define sustainability are environmental protection, economic viability and
Answer: social equity
Sustainability is usually framed as balancing environmental, economic and social dimensions; ignoring the social pillar is a common error.
That was 6 of 37 Contested meanings of development and sustainability questions.
Practise all 37 freeDistinguishAO2 · 3–8 marks
Make the difference clear for BOTH terms — a definition of one of them is only half an answer.
DefineAO1 · 1–3 marks
Give the precise meaning — one sentence, the key terms in it, no example needed unless asked.
OutlineAO1 · 1–3 marks
A brief account or summary: the main points in two or three sentences, no evaluation.
37 Contested meanings of development and sustainability questions — free with an account. Spaced repetition, streaks and full exam simulations included.
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