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SOCIOLOGYRichard T. Schaefer

Population and the Environment

21

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21. Population and the Environment

• Demography: The Study of Population • The Environment• Social Policy and Population

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Demography: The Study of Population

• Fertility: level of reproduction in a society

• Demography: scientific study of population

Sociologists focus on the social factors that influence population rates and trends

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Demography: The Study of Population

• Malthus’s Thesis and Marx’s Response– Malthus: world’s population growing

more rapidly than the available food supply

– Marx: no special relationship between world population and the supply of resources

Neo-Malthusian View stresses birth control and sensible use of resources

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Demography: The Study of Population

• Studying Population Today– Census: enumeration, or counting of

a population– Vital statistics: records of births,

deaths, marriages, and divorces gathered through a registration system maintained by government

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Demography: The Study of Population

• Elements of Demography– Birth rate: number of live births per

1,000 population in a given year– Total fertility rate: average number

of children born alive to any woman, assuming she conforms to current fertility rates

– Death rate: number of deaths per 1,000 population in a given year

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Demography: The Study of Population

• Elements of Demography– Infant mortality rate: number of

deaths of infants under one year of age per 1,000 live births in a given year

– Life expectancy: median number of years a person can be expected to live under current mortality conditions

– Growth rate: difference between birth and deaths, plus the difference between immigrants and emigrants

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Demography: The Study of Population

Figure 21-1. Live Expectancyin Selected Countries, 2004

Source: Haub 2004

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Demography: The Study of Population

Table 21-1. Live Estimated Time for Each Successive Increase of 1 Billion People in World Population

Source: Bureau of the Census 2005f

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Demography: The Study of Population

Figure 21-2. Live Demographic Transition

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Demography: The Study of Population

Figure 21-3. Population Pyramidsfor Afghanistan

Source: Bureau of the Census

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Demography: The Study of Population

Figure 21-4. Where Americans Moved in the 1990s

Source: Brewer and Suchan 2001:10

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The Environment

– Air Pollution– Water Pollution

• Functionalism and Human Ecology– Human Ecology: interrelationships

between people and their environment

• Environmental Problems: An Overview

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The Environment

• Provides the resources essential for life• Serves as a waste repository• Houses our species

– Three functions compete with one another

• Functionalism and Human Ecology– Dunlap suggests the natural

environment serves three basic functions for humans:

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The Environment

– Polluting companies may relocate to countries with less stringent environmental standards• Industrialization that often accompanies

globalization has increased pollution

– Multinational Corporations have incentive to consider cost of natural resources

• The Impact of Globalization:

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The Environment

– Less affluent nations are being forced to exploit their mineral deposits, forests, and fisheries to meet debt obligations

• Environmental Justice– Legal strategy based on claims that

racial minorities are subjected disproportionately to environmental hazards

• A Conflict View of Environmental Issues

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Social Policy and Population

• World Population Policy– The Issue

• World population growth threatens earth’s ability to sustain it

• Social policies that address population growth touch on the most sensitive aspects of people’s lives

• Reaching global consensus on population issues difficult

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Social Policy and Population

• World Population Policy– The Setting

• International concern about population growth began in 1950s

• Planners devised programs aimed at encouraging family planning and limiting the number of children through contraception

• In the U.S., anti-abortionists charged that public funds should not be used to support family planning clinics

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Social Policy and Population

• World Population Policy– Sociological Insights

• Functionalists note best course of action may differ between community and society

• Feminist critics remark that population workers may ignore sociocultural influences

• Conflict theorists question why industrialized nations are enthusiastic about controlling the population of developing countries

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Social Policy and Population

• World Population Policy– Policy Initiatives

• The Mexico City Policy: Bush administration requires health workers who receive U.S. government funding to refrain from discussing abortion with patients

• Family planning still sparse in poverty-stricken rural areas the world over