Population Theory and Malthus

Flashcards covering key concepts and figures related to Population Theory and Malthus.

Thomas Malthus

Author of 'An Essay on the Principle of Population' (1798), he proposed that population grows exponentially while food production grows linearly.

Malthus' Assumptions

1. Food production increases linearly; 2. Population increases exponentially; 3. Countries are closed systems.

Positive Checks

Factors that increase the crude death rate (CDR), such as war, disease, natural disasters, and famine.

Preventative Checks

Factors that lower the crude birth rate (CBR), including marrying later and the use of birth control.

Poor Ben and Poor Ester

Contrary theorists to Malthus who argued that wealth restrains growth rather than morality and that food production can surpass population growth.

Ester Boserup

Author of 'The Conditions of Agricultural Growth' (1965), she argued that population density leads to increased agricultural output.

Agricultural Systems

Different methods of farming based on population density: gathering/pastoralism, forest-fallow, bush-fallow, short-fallow, annual cropping, and multi-cropping.

Neo-Malthusian Perspective

Debate on whether Earth is a closed system, considering global population limits and environmental degradation.

Environmental Degradation

The depletion of all resources, not just food production, leading to unsustainable consumption and pollution.

Solutions to Overpopulation

Government programs aimed at lowering the crude birth rate (CBR) to address overpopulation issues.