Chapter 6: Population and Development Flashcards
Malthus’s argument
Unless checked in some way, population growth tends to continue until it runs up against environmental limits, causing poverty, hunger, misery, and resource scarcity.
Why do people think Malthus’ theory is imperialist and racist?
Because it implies that the blame falls on the Global South, where population growth is the fastest and folks are more likely to be people of colour.
Overshoot
a general condition of underproduction and lessened overall carrying capacity due to our growing appetite for resources
Modernization theory
believes that poor countries lack development and modernization would bring it.
What is the idea of structural adjustment
to help — some say force — countries to reshape their economies so that they could pay of their debts.
what happened under structural adjustment?
basic social services such as education and health care were sharply cut, and the price of formerly subsidized foodstuffs like bread went sky high.
and many poor countries are in the unenviable position of exporting raw materials, only to buy these materials back later as finished goods.
What is the anti-Malthusian moral
The poverty experienced throughout the world is not just a population issue; Poverty cannot be understood apart from the history of development
Famines are not caused by a lack of food availability but rather by a lack of access to food
True
In some cases, new technology will allow us to substitute different materials for ones that have become scarce this is called
the principle of substitutability
cornucopian theory.
more people means more brainpower to work out problems
what is a counter argument to cornucopian theory
innovativeness depends on social circumstances that encourage creative thinking, such as democratic discussion and a good educational system, not mere numbers of people.
