Write an essay on the Fourth Industrial Revolution ("4IR") challenge to South Africa, with reference to the following:

a) historically contextualise the 4IR in relation to and describe preceding industrial revolutions,

b) describe the physical, digital and biological clusters of the 4IR,

c) the disruptive effects of the 4IR, and

d) issues about capitalism, capitalist social relations, profit-motives and innovating technology.

Guidelines: A well-reasoned answer must be contextualised with reference to Klaus Schwab's propositions on the phenomenon of a Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The answer requires a focused exposition in at least four pages. The weighting in brackets gives an indication of how much exposition is required. The answer must be organised in your own words under sub-headings as follows: -

an introduction; [05 marks]

• this is a brief statement of your interpretation or approach to the topic; highlight what areas you are going to cover in order to provide a comprehensible discussion of the topic - a 'main body discussion'

[40 marks] construct appropriate main-headings and sub-headings (do not use "main body" as a heading in your essay!), which incorporates discussion of the following key issues: 23 * historical and social context in which the idea of a 4IR emerged [05 marks]; * in terms of this argument, a description of the preceding industrial revolutions

[10 marks]; * a description of the three main clusters making up the 4IR [10 marks]; * a description of the disruptive effects of the 4IR [10 marks]; * discussion of issues relating to understanding the relationship between capitalist social relations and profit motives and the development of new technologies

[05 marks]; - a conclusion

[05 marks] here you should succinctly highlight the main argumentative points of the essay and draw together the key issues and your main discussion points on the topic.