Unit 2: Vocab Cluster #3

Demographic Transition Model (DTM)

A model that describes population change over time, based on birth rates and death rates. It consists of five stages: high birth/death rates, declining death rates, declining birth rates, low birth/death rates, and possible population decline.

Epidemiological Transition Model (ETM)

A model that outlines the causes of death at each stage of the Demographic Transition Model. It shifts from infectious and parasitic diseases to chronic and degenerative diseases

Ester Boserup

A theorist who argued that population growth stimulates agricultural innovation, contradicting Malthus’s view of population outstripping resources.

J-Curve

A population growth graph that shows exponential growth (rapid increase)

S-Curve

A graph that depicts logistic population growth, starting with slow growth, increasing rapidly, and then leveling off due to carrying capacity.

Thomas Malthus

A British economist who argued in his Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) that population grows exponentially while food supply grows arithmetically, leading to potential overpopulation and famine

Natalism

A belief or policy that promotes human reproduction and population growth.

Anti-Natalism

Policies or ideologies that discourage having children, often to address overpopulation concerns.

Pro-Natalism

Policies or ideologies that encourage having children to boost population growth, often in countries with aging populations or declining birth rates.

Neo-Malthusian

A modern interpretation of Malthus’s ideas, focusing on environmental sustainability and resource depletion due to population growth.

Population Pyramid

A graphical representation of the age and sex distribution of a population.