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Geography II Population
Geography II Population
Geography II Population
2: Population
People are both producers and consumers of G&S. They are the key productive factor, yets
their welfare must be the primary objective of economic growth and analysis. As their
population grows, there is imbalance between producers and consumers. Does population
growth stop sustainable development.
Population growth
9
0
1850 1930 1960 1976 1987 1999 2011 2022
Malthusian Theory
Wrote 1798 book ‘Essay on Principle of Population Growth’. Very concerned over
growth and industrialization.
1) Believed that like animals, people grew exponentially in population, and considered
fertility as a biological inevitability, not a social construction
2) Believed food supplies grew at a slower rate than population. There is an
exponential growth of population, yet a liner growth of agricultural output, and
wrote of diminishing marginal returns
Malthusianism considers rapid population increase as a Trojan horse of societal ills.
Such theory supports use of contraceptive methods (even though Malthusian was
against them on religious grounds), and factors that reduce total fertility rate.
Critics noted 3 major errors
1) He did not foresee impacts of Industrial Revolution on agriculture, mechanization of
food production, and the eventual outcome of food production growing
exponentially, and even surpassing population increase rate. This was also the case
in 1950s Mexico (2nd biggest population then) with the Green Revolution in
agriculture
2) He did not see the opening of further grasslands in the Americas and Australia, which
increased wheat production
3) Thirdly, his fertility analysis was flawed, in that total fertility rates dropped during
the Industrial Revolution, proving fertility as a social construct.
In the 1960s, neo-Malthusianism came into play because of a growth of average
population rates (2.6% annually), adding an ecologic twist to his theories, with the Club of
Rome concerned about the impact of growing population rates. They funded the study, ‘The
limits to Growth’ of 1972, concluding that the Post-War economic growth was a threat to
sustainability which could exhaust natural resources as oil and food, hence they supported
use of contraceptive methods and birth control. However, such theories were also criticised.
Is overpopulation the one to blame for society’s problems, or government policy?
Criticisms of DT Theory:
1) Model derived from West and then applied to non-Western countries
Malthusianism: DT Theory
People are slaves of biological need to Fertility is a social construct affected by
reproduce uncontrollably economic and social factors
Population grows uncontrollably Population growth is affected by external
events, and can both rise and fall according
to them
2) Demographic changes in developing world have been more rapid than the West, as
one/two generations brought as much change worth centuries in the West