gg102 final terms

ch 2, 11, 3, 4, 5, 12

Adaptation

The process by which humans adjust individual and collective behaviour in the face of a particular set of circumstances; sometimes used in relation to environmental change, but it applies equally to cultural change.

Anthropocene

A recently coined term used to characterize the current period of earth history, viewed as the period during which human activity has been the dominant influence on the physical environment, including climate; preceded by the Holocene.

Catastrophists

Those of the view that population increases and continuing environmental deterioration are leading to a nightmarish future of environmental catastrophe, including flooding, mass extinctions, food shortages, disease, and conflict.

Conservation

The process by which humans adjust individual and collective behaviour in the face of a particular set of circumstances; sometimes used in relation to environmental change, but it applies equally to cultural change.

cornucopians

Those who argue that advances in science and technology, along with cultural adaptation, will continue to create resources sufficient to support the growing world population and mitigate environmental change.

Desertification

The process by which an area of land becomes a desert; typically involves the impoverishment of an ecosystem because of climate change, human impact, or both.

ecocentric

A world view that emphasizes the equal value of all parts of an ecosystem rather than, for example, placing humans at the centre, as in an anthropocentric perspective.

Ecology

The study of relationships between organisms (including insects, plants, mammals, and humans) and their environments.

ecosphere

The ecosystem of the entire planet; sometimes used interchangeably with biosphere.

ecosystem

An ecological system; comprises a set of interacting and interdependent organisms and their physical, chemical, and biological environment; exists at a variety of spatial scales from the very local to the global.

Environment and society

The study of the complex and reciprocal relationships between people (societies) and their natural, built, and socio-economic environments.

Holocene

The post-glacial period of earth history that began approximately 12,000 years ago and was preceded by the Pleistocene.

pollution

The release of substances that degrade air, land, or water into the environment.

Renewable resources

Resources that regenerate naturally to provide a new supply within a human lifespan.

Stock resources

Minerals and land that take a long time to form and hence, from a human perspective, are fixed in supply.

sustainability

An approach that reflects the interdependence of the economy, the environment, and social well-being and the need to maintain all three components across generations.

sustainable development

Economic development that sustains the natural environment for future generations.

system

A set of interrelated components or objects linked together to form a unified whole.

agribusiness

A highly integrated form of transnational corporation in the agricultural, or food production, sector; typically highly capitalized, operating on a large scale (often across various regions), corporately owned, and vertically integrated (encompassing the growing, processing, and marketing of food).

Agricultural Revolution

The gradual transition of human subsistence, beginning about 12,000 years ago, from dependence on foraging (hunting and gathering) to food production through plant and animal domestication.

commercial agriculture

An agricultural system in which production is primarily for sale for profit; typically large scale, utilizing large amounts of land and the latest technology, and highly mechanized.

domestication

The ongoing process of selectively breeding plants and animals for specific characteristics (abundance of fruit, hardiness of seed, protein content of meat, and so on) that make them more useful to humans.

economic operator

A model of human behaviour in which each individual is assumed to be completely rational (makes sound and well-reasoned decisions); economic operators aim to maximize returns and minimize costs.

economic rent

The surplus income that accrues to a unit of land above the minimum income needed to bring a unit of new land into production at the margins of production.

factory (industrial) farms

An agricultural enterprise, primarily focused on livestock, that typically houses large numbers of domesticated animals (cattle, pigs, poultry) in buildings and on feedlots; often criticized for inhumane treatment of animals.

family farms

An agricultural enterprise owned and/or operated by a family and which is passed to descendants through inheritance; typically, most of the farm labour and management is by family members; family farms tend to be smaller in size and production than other types, such as factory farms or agribusinesses.

industrial farming

An agricultural system that uses intensive methods, such as those from industry, to generate the maximum agricultural yields and profits possible per unit of land; a common approach in commercial agriculture, through the production of crops and/or livestock.

Landrace

A local variety of a domesticated animal or plant species that is well adapted to a particular physical and cultural environment.

location theory

A body of theories explaining the spatial distribution of economic activities; commonly applied in agricultural, industrial, and urban contexts.

neo-colonialism

Economic and political strategies of dominance and subordination by powerful states over others; often develops after colonialism ends and the former colony achieves political but not economic independence.

normative theory

A theory that focuses on what ought to happen, rather than what actually does occur; the aim is to seek what is rational, or optimal, according to some given criteria.

pastoral nomadism (pastoralism)

An agricultural system oriented around animal husbandry (raising of livestock), where domesticated animals are released onto large, vegetated lands (pasture) for grazing; typically practised by nomadic people who move with their herds; sometimes referred to as transhumance.

Pleistocene

The geological time period from about 1.5 million years ago to 12,000 years ago, characterized by a series of glacial advances and retreats; succeeded by the Holocene.

rational choice theory

The theory that social life can be explained by models of rational individual action; an extension of the economic operator concept to other areas of human life.

rent ceiling

The maximum rent that a potential land user can be charged for use of a given piece of land.

satisficing behaviour

A model of human behaviour that rejects the rationality assumptions of the economic operator model; assumes that the objective is to reach an acceptable level of satisfaction.

shifting cultivation

An agricultural system where land is used for crops or livestock grazing, only to be abandoned a short time later when soil fertility has declined; typically associated with the process of slashing and burning of tropical forest.

subsistence agriculture

An agricultural system in which production is not primarily for sale but is consumed by the producer; typically small scale, utilizing small amounts of land and limited technological inputs, and relying on manual labour.

third places

Social locations, separate from home (first places) and work (second places), where social networking and community building takes place; include public and private spaces such as libraries, community centres, cafés, churches, parks, and so on.

alienation

The circumstance in which a person is indifferent to or estranged from nature or the means of production.

commodity chains

A process used by firms to gather resources, transform them into goods or commodities, and finally distribute them to consumers.

competitive capitalism

The first of three phases of capitalism, beginning in the early eighteenth century; characterized by free-market competition and laissez-faire economic development.

containerization

The international shipping practice of storing freight (goods or commodities) within a standard-sized container and transporting it using a variety of intermodal technologies, including ship, rail, and truck; typically associated with reductions in cargo handling and shipping costs.

cultural imperialism

The imposing of cultural values and practices by a politically or economically dominant foreign culture on one or more native (local) cultures; extending the authority of a foreign way of life over others by transforming or replacing aspects of local culture.

disorganized capitalism

The most recent form of capitalism, characterized by disorganization and industrial restructuring.

foreign direct investment (FDI)

Direct investment by a government or transnational/multinational corporation in another country, often in the form of a manufacturing or processing plant.

Globalization

A complex combination of economic, political, and cultural changes that have long been evident but that have accelerated markedly since about 1980, bringing about a seemingly ever-increasing interconnectedness of people and places.

innovations

Introduction of new inventions or ideas, especially ones that lead to change in human behaviour or production processes.

international division of labour

The current tendency for high-wage and high-skill employment opportunities, often in the service sector, to be located in the more developed world, while low-wage and low-skill employment opportunities, often in the manufacturing and processing sectors, are located in the less developed world.

organized capitalism

The second phase of capitalism, beginning after World War II; increased growth of major corporations and increased state involvement in the economy.

tariff

A tax or customs duty imposed on imports from other countries.

Transnational corporations (TNCs)

A large business organization (firm) that operates in two or more countries; examples include Nike, Apple, Toyota, Coca-Cola, and Samsung; sometimes referred to as a multinational corporation; in many cases, the head office is in a more developed country, and its manufacturing/processing facilities are in less developed countries.

carrying capacity

The maximum population that can be supported by a given set of resources and a given level of technology.

census

The periodic enumeration of all individuals and collection of demographic and other data in a given country at a particular point in time (commonly every 5 or 10 years).

degenerative diseases

A disease that is long-lasting and results from a gradual degeneration of the body; this type of disease is more common today than in the past as a result of longer life expectancies.

demographic transition

The historical shift of birth and death rates from high to low levels in a population; mortality declines before fertility, resulting in substantial population increase during the transition phase.

demography

The study of human populations.

doubling time

The number of years required for the population of an area to double its present size, given the current rate of population growth.

emigration

The process of migration from a country; individuals are referred to as emigrants.

epidemic

A rapid increase (beyond what is normal) of relatively short duration in the number of cases of a disease within a population.

epidemiological transition

A transition in the dominant causes of death in a population over time, typically exemplified by a relative decline in infectious diseases and an increase in degenerative or chronic diseases.

epidemiology

The study of the incidence, distribution, and control of disease in human populations.

fecundity

A biological term for the potential capability of having children; refers to potential rather than actual number of live births.

fertility

A population's natural capability of having children; also used to refer to the actual number of live births produced by an individual in their lifetime.

health

A state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being; not merely the absence of disease.

Health care

The maintenance or improvement of human health through prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of physical or mental illness or injury.

immigration

The process of migration to a country; individuals are referred to as immigrants.

infectious disease

A disease that spreads from human to human via bacteria or viruses; sometimes referred to as communicable disease.

life cycle

The process of change experienced by individuals over their lifespans; often divided into stages (such as childhood, adolescence, adulthood, old age), each of which is associated with particular forms of behaviour.

limits to growth

A view that argues that both the world population and the world economy will collapse because of insufficient available natural resources.

migration

The long-term or permanent relocation of an individual or group of people from one area to another.

mortality

Deaths as a component of population change.

pandemic

An outbreak of disease that is of greater scope and scale (a whole country or region or even the world) than an epidemic.

physiological density

Population per unit of cultivable (arable) land.

population aging

A process in which the proportion of elderly people in a population increases and the proportion of younger people decreases, resulting in an increased median age of the population.

population momentum

The tendency for population growth to continue beyond the time that replacement-level fertility has been reached because of the relatively high number of people in the child-bearing years.

population pyramid

A diagrammatic representation of the age and sex composition of a population.

replacement level fertility

The level of fertility at which a population exactly replaces itself from one generation to the next; each couple has just enough children to replace themselves.

sex ratio

The number of males per 100 females in a population.

Slavery

A form of labour that is controlled through compulsion and is not remunerated (paid).

theory

A set of interconnected statements or a system of ideas that is intended to explain something.

aid

Resources (e.g., capital, materials, or labour) that are given by one country (or organization) to another to assist in times of crisis or to support development; typically involves the flow of resources from more developed regions to less developed ones; sometimes referred to as foreign aid, international aid, development aid, or humanitarian aid.

civilizations

A culture with agriculture and cities, food and labour surpluses, labour specialization, social stratification, and state organization.

colonialism

The forceful appropriation of foreign territory; usually established and maintained through military and political structures, also creates unequal cultural and economic relations; usually involves the displacement of Indigenous populations; a term usually reserved for the European variant of the process (1500-1945) but could apply to other cultures.

dependence

In political contexts, a relationship in which one state (or people) is dependent on, and therefore dominated by, another state (or people).

dependency theory

A set of ideas centred around the notion that the world is an interdependent system of countries linked together by an economic and political competition that shapes relations between core (more developed), semi-peripheral (less developed), and peripheral (least developed) countries.

development

A process that brings about changes in economic prosperity and quality of life; an improvement in the material conditions of life; measured traditionally by economic criteria but increasingly in more holistic ways, including health, education, and so on.

development aid

Medium or long-term strategic investments (loans) or grants (cash) given by governments or other agencies to support the economic, social, and political development of countries or regions; sometimes referred to as financial aid.

developmentalist

An analysis of cultural and economic change that treats each country or region of the world independently in an evolutionary manner; an approach that assumes that all areas are autonomous and will proceed through the same series of stages of development.

environmental determinism

A view that cultures, and human behaviours, are directly shaped by physical environmental circumstances; contrasted with possibilism.

ethnocentric

A form of prejudice or stereotyping that presumes that one's own culture is normal and natural and that all others are inferior.

Eurocentric

A view that places the historical experience of Europe (and its descendants) as the benchmark for all comparisons; a form of ethnocentrism.

governance

A set of indicators assessing the quality of governance in a country, including accountability, stability, effectiveness, regulatory controls, rule of law, and control of corruption.

gross domestic product (GDP)

A monetary measure of the market value of all goods and services produced within a country over a given period (usually one year).

gross national income (GNI)

A monetary measure of the market value of goods and services produced within a country, plus income from investments abroad, over a given period (usually one year).

gross national product (GNP)

A monetary measure of the market value of all goods and services produced within a country, plus those produced by individuals or corporations (of that country) operating elsewhere, over a given period (usually one year).

Human Development Index (HDI)

A numerical measure of how well basic human needs are being met; a composite index incorporating health (life expectancy), education (years of schooling), and income (gross national income per capita).

humanitarian aid

A short-term response to a crisis (e.g., drought, war, epidemic, or natural disaster) that takes the form of material (e.g., food, medicine, shelter) and logistical support.

import substitution

An economic strategy of domestically manufacturing goods that were previously imported, through the aid of protective tariffs (taxation on imported goods); often used as a stimulus for industrialization.

industrialization

A process of economic and social change that transforms a society (country) from largely agricultural to industrial, involving an extensive reorganization of the economy toward manufacturing and of society toward being urban; typically associated with an industrial revolution; often regarded as a key step in increasing a country's level of development.