Society the basics - Chapter 16

Demography

Study of human population

Today's population

7.5 billion

Fertility

Incidence of childbearing in country's population.

Fecundity

Maximum possible childbearing

Crude Birth Rate

Number of live births in a year for every 1,000 people in a population.

Mortality

Incidence of death in country's population.

Crude Death Rate

Number of deaths in a given year for every 1,000 people in a population.

Infant Mortality Rate

Number of deaths among infants under 1 year of age for every 1,0000 births in a given year

Life Expectancy

Average life span of country's population.

Migration

Movement of people into and out of a specified territory

Immigration

Movement into a territory; measured as in-migration rate (number of people entering an area for every 1,000 people in the population)

Emigration

Movement out of a territory; measured as out-migration rate (number of people leaving for every 1,000 people)

Immigration vs. Emigration

Occur at the same time; difference is the net migration rate

Sex Ratio

Number of males for every 100 females in a nation's population.

Age-Sex Pyramid

Graphic representation of the age and sex of a population.

Thomas Robert Malthus

Warned that population increase would soon lead to social chaos. Population would increase in geometric progression (2,4,8,16,32), but food production would increase in an arithmetic progression (2,3,4,5,6)

Thomas Robert Malthus Conclusion

Vision of the future: People reproducing beyond what the planet could feed, leading ultimately to widespread starvation and war over what resources were left.

Demographic Transition Theory

Thesis that links population patterns to a society's level of technological development.

Demographic Transition Theory : Four stages

1. Preindustrial, agrarian societies- high birth rates due to economic value of children and no birth control; death rates also high due to tech

2. Onset of Industrialization- death rates fall due to greater food supplies and scientific medicine; birth rates remain high

3. Mature Industrial Economy- birth rate drops, curbing population growth once again

4. Corresponds to a Postindustrial economy- demographic transition is complete; birth rate keeps falling which is linked to steady death rates

The Low-Growth North

Factors that hold down population in the postindustrial societies: high proportion men and women in labor force, rising costs of raising children, trends toward later marriage and single hood, and widespread use of contraceptives and abortion

Zero Population Growth

Rate of reproduction that maintains population at a steady level.

The High-Growth South

Population growth is a critical problem in several poor countries; key element in controlling world population growth is improving the status of women (give women more life choices and they will have fewer children)

Demographic Divide: Definition

The gap between high and low income nations display very different population dynamics

The Demographic Divide

It now separates rich countries with low birth rates and again populations from poor countries with high birth rates and very young populations

-China has taken a stand on reducing the populations with a one-child policy

Urbanization

Concentration of population into cities.

First Urban Revolution

Started 12,000 years ago where our ancestors began living in permanent settlements

The First Cities

Led to a higher living standards and job specialization; first known city is Jericho

Preindustrial European Cities

Medieval cities different from those today; Ethnicity defined communities as residents tried to keep out people who differed from themselves; ghetto means "outside the city walls" and was first used in neighborhoods to serrated the Jews of Venice

Industrial European Cities

New urban middle class (bourgeoisie) emerged; triggered a second urban revolution; crime rates rose

Metropolis

Large city that socially and economically dominates an urban area

Urban Decentralization

Industrial metropolis reach its peak about 1950 and since then, something of a turnaround known as urban decentralization occurred as people left downtown areas for outlying suburbs

Suburbs

Urban areas beyond political boundaries of a city.

Paul Goldberger

The decline of central cities has also led to a decline in the importance of public space

Boulevardier

French word for a sophisticated person, "street person".

As Snowbelt cities fell into a decline

Sunbelt cities rose and this trend continues today

Most immigrant's enter the country in the

Sunbelt Reigion

Sunbelt Region Disadvantages

Causes unplanned growth results in traffic clogged roads, poorly planned housing developments, and schools that cannot keep up with the inflow of children

Metropolitan Statistical areas

382; at least one city with 50,000 people or more

Micropolitan Statistical Areas

551; urban areas with at least one city of 10,000 to 50,000

Combined statistical areas

Include both metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas

Megalopolis

Vast urban region containing a number of cities and surrounding suburbs; coined by Jean Gottmann

Edge Cities

Business centers some distance from the old downtowns; population peaks during the workday; no clear physical boundaries

Rural rebound

Instead of losing population to the urban areas, two thirds of rural counties actually gained population; clean air and slower pace of live

Ferdinand Tonnies

Studied how life in the new industrial metropolis differed from life in rural villages

Gemeinschaft

("Community"), type of social organization which people are closely tied by kinship and tradition; rural village joins people in what amounts to a singe primary group

Gesellschaft

("Association") type of social organization where people come together on the basis of individual self-interest;

Emile Durkheim

Agreed with Tonnies's thinking about cities, but countered that urbanites do not lack social bonds; they simply organize social life differently then rural people

Mechanical Solidary

Traditional, rural life; social bonds based on common sentiments and shared moral values (similar to Gemeinschaft)

Organic Solidarity

Social bonds based on specialization and interdependence (similar to Gesellschaft)

Tonnies vs. Durkehim

Both though the growth of industrial cities weakened tradition, but Durkheim optimistically pointed to a new kind of solidarity: where societies had been built on likeness and saw social life based on difference

Georg Simmel

Studying how urban life shapes individual experience; individual perceive the city as a crush of people, objects, and events

Blase attitude

tuning out much of what goes on around them

Robert Park

Looked to add street-level perspectives by getting out on the stress and studying real cities; found that city to be organized mosaic of distinctive ethnic communities, commercial centers, and industrial districts; the city was a living organism- human kaleidoscope

Louis Wirth

Blended Tonnies, Durkheim, Simpel, and Park theories into a comprehensive theory of urban life; when city people notice others at all, they usually know them not in terms of who they are but what they do (the bus driver); self interest rather than friendship is the main reason for interaction

Urban Ecology

Study of the link between physical and social dimensions of cities.

Ernest W. Burges

Described land use in Chicago in terms of concentric zones (city center- business districts bordered by ring of factories; homes more expensive further away from noise)

Homer Hoyt

Refined Burgess's observations, nothing that distinctive districts sometimes form wedge-shaped sectors

Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullmam

As cities decentralize, they lose their single-center form in favor of a multi centered model

Social Area Analysis

Investigates what people in a particular neighborhoods have in common (family patterns, social class, and race and ethnicity)

Brian Berry and Philip Rees

Distinct family types tend to settle in the concentric zones described by Burgees

Urban Political Economy

Applies Karl Marx's analysis of conflict in the workplace to conflict in the city

Ecology

The study of the interaction of living organisms and the natural environment

Natural Environment

Earth's surface and atmosphere, including the living organisms, air, water, soil, and other resources necessary to sustain life.

Ecosystem

A system composed of the interaction of all living organisms and their natural environment.

I= PAT

where environmental impact (I) reflects a society's population (P), its level of affluence (A), and its level of technology (T)

Environmental Deficit

Profound long-term harm to natural environment caused by humanity's focus on short-term material affluence.

The Logic of Growth

The idea of more is at the heart of our cultural definition of living well

The core values:

-"Having things is good"

-"Life gets better"

-"People are clever"

Material Comfort

Believing that money and the things it buys improve our lives

Logic of Growth Pros and Cons

Pros: powerful technology has improved our lives and new discoveries will continue to do so in the future

Cons: finite resources if we continue to pursue growth at any cost

The Limits to Growth Thesis

Humanity must put in place policies to control the growth of population, production, and use of resources in order to avoid environmental collapse; Donella Meadows; shares Malthus's pessimism about the future

Paul Connett

Even the words we use to describe what we throw away (waste, litter, trash, refuse, garbage, rubbish) show how little we value what we cannot immediately use. US is a disposable society as we consume more products than any other nations and thruway packaging

Hydrologic Cycle

Earth naturally recycles water and refreshes the land; less than 1 percent of Earth's water is suitable for drinking

Acid Rain

Falling precipitation made acidic by air pollution

Rain Forest

Regions of dense forestation, most of which circle the globe close to the equator; important for cleansing CO2

Biodiversity

The declining of variety of species across Earth as a whole or in a specific place.

1. Provides a source of human food

2. Vital genetic resource used by medical researchers

3. Loss of any species of life natural environment are diminished

4. The extinction is irreversible

Global Warming

A rise in Earth's average temperature due to an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere

Environmental Racism

Patterns of development that expose poor people, especially minorities, to environmental hazards; air pollution worst in poorest cities

Environmental Sexism

Environmental patterns that place girls and women at a disadvantage and threaten their well-being

Ecologically Sustainable Culture

A way of life that meets the needs of the present generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations