Ch. 19 - Definitions

Malthusian trap

a cycle of population growth followed by an outbreak of war, pestilence, or famine that keeps population growth in check.

demographers

Social-scientific analysts of human population whose responsibilities include developing projections for future population growth.

crude birth rate

the annual number of live births per 1000 people in a population.

immigration

the inflow of people into one country from one or more other countries and their settlement in the destination country.

crude death rate

the annual number of deaths per 1000 people in a population.

replacement level

the number of children that each woman must have on average for population size to remain stable, ignoring migration (2.1 children).

Demographic transition theory

charts how societies progress from a pre-modern regime of high fertility and high mortality to a postmodern regime of low fertility and low mortality.

Second demographic transition theory

a theory that suggests that modern societies are undergoing a transition characterized by sustained below-replacement fertility, with no return to a stationary population (where births are balanced by deaths).

post-materialism

a theory proposed by Inglehart that suggests once societies are able to meet survival-based needs, their priorities turn toward higher-order needs such as autonomy and self-expression.

emigration

the outflow of people from one country and their settlement in one or more other countries.

urban centres

settlements with a minimum of 50 000 inhabitants plus a population density of at least 1500 people per square kilometre.

urbanization

the growth of towns and cities, often at the expense of rural areas, as people move from the countryside to urban areas.

urban clusters

settlements with at least 5000 inhabitants and a population density of at least 300 people per square kilometre.

rural areas

areas with less than 5000 people.

low-fertility trap

occurs when a prolonged period of below-replacement fertility becomes selfreinforcing as a result of demographic, economic, and social change, preventing a country from raising its fertility rate.

green spaces

an area of grass, trees, or other vegetation in an otherwise urban environment, such as parks, community woodlands and wetlands, and rooftop gardens.

mega-cities

a city with a population of 10 million or more people.

urban heat island effect

occurs when the temperature in urban areas is higher than it is in outlying areas.

global warming

the gradual worldwide increase in average surface temperature.

biodiversity

the enormous variety of plant and animal species inhabiting Earth.

climate change

a long-term change in the average condition of the atmosphere, which encompasses temperature, precipitation, humidity, and wind.

biotechnology

the modification of biological processes, organisms, or systems for human purposes.

green technology

Definition: any technology whose use is intended to mitigate or reverse the effects of human activity on the environment.

colonization

The establishment of political and economic control on foreign soil.

cultural lag

occurs when people’s values change more slowly than their technologies do.

Social Darwinism

An ideology that distorted Darwin’s theory of evolution and misapplied concepts like natural selection and survival of the fittest to human societies. This way of thinking, also known as scientific racism, was used to justify colonization.

environmental racism

environmental policies and practices that result in disproportionate exposure among communities with a large racialized population.

environmental justice

advocating the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people—regardless of class, race, gender, age, and so on—with respect to the development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies

First Nations

A contemporary term for Indians (on and off reserve, treaty and non-treaty) that emphasizes Indigenous peoples’ status as multiple sovereign nations, not a single ethnic group.

assimilation

The process by which members of a minority group adopt the culture of a majority group and become absorbed into it.

historical trauma

A process whereby collective well-being is undermined over multiple generations by the accumulated impacts of negative group experiences and events, including coordinated attacks on a group (i.e., war, forced relocations, coercive assimilation) and other stressors.

cultural continuity

The extent to which a community preserves its culture and controls its destiny.

return emigration

Occurs when emigrants return to their region of origin.

economic restructuring

Major economic shifts that happen when a particular location, like a province, nation, or region, shifts its focus away from one industry toward another.

the Maritimes

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.

informal economy

Exchanges of goods and services that are not taxed or recorded by governments, nor counted as part of gross domestic product or other official indicators of economic activity.

Atlantic Canada

The Maritimes plus Newfoundland and Labrador.

indentured workers

Workers who make a longterm contract with an employer in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, and lodging.

cultural justice

The destruction of a group’s cultural structures and practices (traditions, rituals, languages, beliefs, systems of law and justice), resulting in the elimination of that group as a distinct group in society.

staples theory

How the harvesting of fish, fur, wheat, and other staples shape social, political, and economic relationships. It is associated with Harold Innis.

underdevelopment

An economic condition involving reliance on staples exports, a weak manufacturing industry, and dependency on industrialized regions for exports of staple goods and imports of manufactured goods.

political economy

A sociological tradition that emphasizes how control over economic resources and social institutions affects social life in general.

precarious work

Work in jobs that are typically nonpermanent, part-time (or have irregular hours), low-wage, and unaccompanied by employer-sponsored benefits.

cooperative

Credit unions, grocery stores, and other businesses owned by ordinary community members rather than by wealthy businesspeople

oligopoly

Domination of an economy by a relatively small number of individuals, families, or firms.

occupational pluralism

The practice of a variety of activities (e.g., jobs, provisioning/ domestic work), often in line with changing seasons, to meet the subsistence needs of a household. This is in contrast with holding a single job or occupation that, on its own, enables a person/household to meet their needs.

public sociology

Sociology that focuses on improving the lives of ordinary people by conducting applied research of immediate, practical importance.

Modernization theory

Economic backwardness results from various dysfunctional characteristics of poor societies: lack of investment capital, lack of Western-style business techniques, lack of stable Western-style governments, and a lack of Western mentality.

bilingual

Bilingualism is the federal policy initiated in the 1960s that made French and English Canada’s official languages and provided federal government services in both languages.

anomie

Durkheim’s term for the social condition in which vaguely defined norms govern behaviour.

dependency theory

Proponents of dependency theory argue that any society dominated by a metropolis will experience political and economic decline. From their point of view, the only solution is to throw off the colonizers’ yoke and install a government that will be controlled by the colonized.

Quiet Revolution

The Quiet Revolution (1960–70) was a time of national and social upheaval. Quebecers not only aimed at modernizing the state apparatus (starting with the outdated educational system) but also undertook to redefine their identity. The French-Canadian nation dissolved itself and emerged as the Quebec nation, with all the challenges and ambiguities that such a transformation entailed.

globalization

Globalization is the process by which formerly separate economies, states, and cultures become tied together and people become increasingly aware of their growing interdependence. Neo-liberal globalization involves eliminating many state services and allowing the free market to determine flows of capital, cultures, and people.

allophones

Allophones are Quebec immigrants or descendants of immigrants whose first language or home language is neither English nor French.

multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is the federal policy, initiated in 1971, that promotes all ethnic cultures in Canada.

laissez-faire capitalism

An economic system in which everyone is legally free to buy, sell, profit, or starve without state interference.

Neo-liberal theory

Individual self-interest is the catalyst for production, exchange, and, ultimately, social transformation.

traditional societies

Societies characterized as rural and agricultural. The people living in them have a high birth rate and are largely illiterate, religious, superstitious, and oriented to the past. Group goals predominate, while a person’s status is largely ascribed (determined by the class he or she was born into, his or her gender, and so on) and people have little chance for social mobility. A small number of institutions govern traditional societies.

development

An improvement or advancement from some previous state.

modern societies

Societies characterized as urban and industrial. The people living in them have a low birth rate and are largely literate, rational, and oriented to the future. They give predominance to individual goals. A person’s status is largely achieved (determined by his or her talent and industry) and chances for social mobility are abundant. Institutions are differentiated, with specialization existing in educational, political, religious, medical, and other institutions.

staples trap

A condition of overdependence on resource production, resulting in recurrent booms and busts.

populism

Anti-establishment political movements and parties that appeal to the common person rather than to the classes and other groups that typically control traditional political parties.

mercantilism

A policy pursued by European countries before the mid-nineteenth century in an attempt to preserve their supply of precious metals and other valued commodities through the exploitation of colonial possessions and the creation of markets protected by imperial navies.

backward linkages

Manufacturing industries that produce the industrial machinery needed to exploit staples resources

forward linkages

The manufacturing industries that process staples.

region

A territory, the boundaries of which vary depending on the type of region being described (geographical, climatic, cultural, political, or economic)

import substitution

A policy of high tariffs designed to encourage the development of domestic manufacturing by making it more expensive to purchase imported products.

regionalism

An individual’s personal identification with a region.

regional differences

Observable variations between two or more regions.

political culture

The norms, values, and symbols that influence and govern political behaviour and decision making, and legitimate a society’s political system.

Gini Index

A measure of income inequality, ranging from zero (0.0) to one (1.0), where a coefficient of zero indicates a perfect equality of income distribution, while a coefficient of one would mean one individual (or household) received all the income and everyone else received no income.

gross domestic product (GDP)

The sum total of goods and services produced in a geographical area in a year.

province building

An activist approach to economic development that frequently includes government ownership of industry.

Canadianization

A series of policies in areas of culture and the economy designed to strengthen the federal state and its role in the lives of Canada’s citizens.

regional alienation

A sense of grievance based on the belief that observed regional differences (such as inequalities of income) are not natural but result from the actions of individuals or groups residing outside the region.

governments

Elected bodies that are the supreme authorities within the boundaries of a country or province.

Doctrine of Discovery

a set of 15th century Papal decrees that claimed European Christian societies had the right to seize Indigenous lands and subjugate Indigenous peoples around the world, if they were not Christian.

states

Federal and provincial governments; legislatures; and the bureaucracies, armed forces and police, and courts through which governments exercise control.

Racist ideology

the belief that some racialized groups are inherently superior to others and are entitled to dominate or exploit them.

settler colonialism

a form of colonization in which colonizers permanently settle on and assert sovereignty over Indigenous land and attempt to eliminate Indigenous peoples or Indigenous ways of life.