sociology, tenth edition population, urbanization, and the environment

Sociology, Tenth Edition

Population, Urbanization, and the Environment


Demography:The Study Of Human

Population• From 250,000 years ago until just

250 years ago, the human population hovered around 500 million

• About 1750 world population began to spike

• The world population in 2002– 6.2 billion persons– We add about 77 million persons

annually


Fertility• Fertility – the incidence of

childbearing in a society’s population• Fecundity –the potential for

childbearing• Crude birth rate – the number of live

births in a given year for every thousand people in a population– “Crude” because it takes into account

everybody, not just women of childbearing age


MortalityThe Incidence Of Death In A

Population• Crude death rate

– Number of deaths in a given year for every for every thousand people in a population

• Infant mortality rates– Number of deaths among infants under one

year for each 1,000 live births

• Life expectancy– Average life span of a countries population

(u. S. 2000: 74.1 for males, 79.5 for females)


National Map 22-1 Population Change across the United States


Migration – Movement Of People In And Out Of A Specified

Territory• Voluntary migration – due to economic push and

pull factors• Involuntary migration – forced migration due to

war or other social conflict• Immigration – movement into a territory• Emigration – movement out of a territory• Rates

– In-migration rate• The number entering for every 1,000 people

– Out migration rate• Number leaving for every 1,000 people in the

territory– Net-migration rate

• Difference between in- and out-migration numbers


Population Composition

• Sex ratio– Number of males compared to number of females

• In the united states there were approximately 96 males to 100 females because women usually outlive men

• In India there were approximately 107 males for every 100 females because women were more likely to abort female fetuses and parent may provide less care for female children

• Age-sex pyramid– A graphic representation of the age and sex of a

population


Figure 22-2 Age-Sex Population Pyramids for the United States and Mexico,

2000


Malthusian Theory Of Population Growth

• Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834), warned of impending doom based on population projections– Population growth would approximate geometric

progression (e.g., 2, 4, 8, 16…) but food production would increase only in arithmetic progression (e.g., 2, 4, 6…)

– Result: people reproducing at rates that exceeded their ability to produce sufficient food

• Limits included artificial birth control (morally wrong) or abstinence (unlikely)

• Seen as “the dismal person” because war and famine were our future


Demographic Transition Theory – Population Patterns Reflect A

Society’s Level Of Technological Development

• Stage one (preindustrial, agrarian)– High birth rates due to economic value of children and lack of

birth control

• Stage two (early industrial)– High birth rate and lowered death rate give boost to population

growth (many of the developing nations today mirror this stage)

• Stage three (mature industrial)– Birth rates begin to mask death rates as population surge drops

as affluence transforms children into economic liability

• Stage four (postindustrial)– Economic realities force drop in birth rates to the point where

growth is stagnant or very slow


Figure 22-4 Demographic Transition Theory


Critical evaluation• Malthusian Theory

– Predictions flawed, European birth rate began dropping by 1850

• Children becoming an economic liability rather than an asset• Use of artificial birth control

– Ignored role of social inequality in world abundance and famine

– Blames victims for their own problems

• Demographic Transition Theory– Without a redistribution of global resources the planet will

be divided into industrial “haves” and nonindustrial “have-nots”


Global PopulationDepends Upon Which Side Of The Equator One Is

Discussing• The low-growth north

– Zero population growth – level of reproduction that maintains population at a steady state

– Postindustrial societies • Have shown slow downs in birth rates• “underpopulation” may be a problem

• The high-growth south– Population growth is a critical problem in several poor countries

• While birth rates have fallen (six to four children per woman), 180 nations are in trouble of overpopulation

• In short,– For much of the world, mortality among children is dropping

• Challenge is to control birth rates in poor countries as we did death in the past


Growth In U.S. Cities• Colonial settlement (1624-1800)

– Capitalism’s impact upon small villages ensured transformation

• Urban expansion (1800-1860)– Towns springing up along transportation routes

• The great metropolis (1860-1950)– Impact of civil war (factory growth) ushered in

growth– One-fifth of the population lived in cities

• Urban decentralization (1950- to present)– Desertion of downtown areas for outlying suburbs


Cities

• Metropolis and centralization– A large city that dominates the area

• The suburbs and decentralization– Urban areas beyond the political boundaries of a city– Urban renewal efforts have gone on in attempts to

revitalize central cities

• Megalopolis– A vast urban area containing a number of cities and

their surrounding suburbs: “SUPERCITIES”


Urban Life• Urban life can be challenging and very different from early rural

settings• Ferdinand Tonnies

– Gemeinschaft – close ties through kinship and tradition– Gesellschaft – social relations are based on individual self-interest

• Emile Durkheim– Mechanical solidarity – social bonds based on common feelings

and moral bonds– Organic solidarity – social bonds based on specialization and

interdependence• Georg Simmel

– The development of a blasé attitude – A strategy for social survival

• Robert Park and Louis Wirth– Urban organization based on distinctive ethnic communities,

commercial centers, and industrial districts• A human kaleidoscope


Critical Analysis

• Ferdinand Tonnies & Louis Wirth saw the decline of personal ties and traditional morality

• Emile Durkheim & Robert Park emphasized urbanism’s positive points like greater autonomy & personal choice

• Wirth and others tended to paint with broad strokes overlooking effects of class, race & gender

• Cities intensify social differences observed most clearly when categories of people form “critical masses”


Physical Design of CitiesUrban ecology – the study of the link between the

physical and social dimensions of cities• Park & burgess’ concentric zones

– Business districts ringed by factories ringed by housing

• Hoyt’s wedge-shaped sectors– Industry forms along rail lines, new fashionable areas

next to old fashionable areas

• Harris & Ullman’s multicentered model– Cities decentralize form many smaller centers


Physical Design of Cities (Cont.)

• Social area analysis – what people have in common– Family patterns– Social class– Race & ethnicity

• Berry & Rees’ analysis ties many of the previous theories together


Environment & Society

• Ecology – the study of the interaction of living organisms and the natural environment

• Natural environment – the earth’s surface and atmosphere including 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

• Environmental deficit – profound and long-term harm to the natural environment caused by humanity’s focus on short-term material affluence


Theories of Growth• Logic of growth – more powerful technology has

improved our lives and new discoveries will make the future better– Critical analysis – progress can lead to unexpected

problems, resources are finite

• Limits to growth – humanity must implement policies to control growth of population, production and resource use to avoid environmental collapse (neo-Malthusians)– Critical analysis – long-range predictions are

speculative


Environmental Terms• Rain forest – regions of dense forestation most of

which circle the globe near the equator• Global warming – a rise in the earth’s average

temperature caused by an increasing concentration of carbon dioxide and other gasses in the atmosphere

• Environmental racism – the pattern by which environmental hazards are greatest for poor people, especially minorities

• Ecologically sustainable culture – a way of life that meets the needs of the current generation without threatening the environmental legacy of future generations

sociology, tenth edition population, urbanization, and the environment

Documents

world population

countries population

population change

societys population

study of human population

migration rate number

agesex population pyramids

edition mortality