Lecture  Organiza.on:  Where  are  we?    i.  Environmental  Jus.ce:    ii.  Non-­‐Western  Views  of  Nature  iii. People  and  Environment  •  Malthusian  views  of  nature  •  The  myths  of  the  popula.on  explosion:  

Ø  That  popula.on  has  any  direct  impact  upon  environment  in  a  ‘global’  context  

Ø  That  popula.on  can  be  separated  from  ques.ons  of  jus.ce  

 

≠  People  

Environment  

Demographic  Transi.ons  &    Ecological  Impacts    2  Views  on  popula.on  and  the  environment:        

A.  Neo-­‐Mathusianism:  A  rising  popula.on  outstrips  our  planet’s  ‘carrying  capacity’  1968:  Erlich  and  ‘The  Popula.on  Bomb’    

B.  Over-­‐Consump.on:    •  There  are  plenty  of  resources  available:    •  some  people,  classes,  and  places  consume  too  

much;  others  don’t  get  enough  •  one  sixth  of  the  world's  people  are  so  poor  that  

they  produce  no  significant  emissions.    

Review:  Trends  and  Pyramids:  What  is  a  popula.on?  Does  popula.on  exist?  Concepts  #1:  demographics,  growth,  and  death  rates  

World  Popula.on  history:    Popula.on  maps  (from  worldmapper)   1500  

World  Popula+on    

1960  

World  Popula+on  —  2030  

2030  

ZPG  video  from  the  1990s  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmEosykOesE&feature=fvst    

Pop  concepts  #2  Migra.on:  Shid  of  Rural  Popula.on  to    Urban  Areas  

Pakistan:  2012-­‐declining  youth!  

Popula+on  Demography  Concepts  #3:  the  popula+on  pyramid:  How  are  people  distributed  by  age,  gender?  

S.ll  more  boys,  though!  

Declining  Brazilian  popula+on  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-­‐ebkmo1Ygz8  3  MIN        

Example:  Brazil,  Popula+on  shiVs  

Popula.on  poli%cs  vary  greatly  across  the  world:    EXAMPLE  –  Singapore,  Japan,  Europe:    low  birthrates,  neo-­‐natalist  policies  Global  Fer.lity  rates:  many  below  replacement    –  things  have  changed  in  20  years!!  

I  =  P*A*T  (impact  =  popula.on  *  affluence  *  technology)  Thomas  Malthus:  1798  Essay  on  the  Principle  of  Popula%on  

OVERCONSUMPTION  ARGUMENT:    one  sixth  of  the  world's  people  are  so  poor  that  they  produce  no  significant  emissions.      1.  Cri.que  of  popula.on:    So,  I  =  P*A*T  (impact  =  popula.on  *  affluence  *  technology)  Should  be  changed  to:    I  =  C*A*T  (C  for  consumers  instead  of  people)      –  David  Saqerthwaite  

 Affluenza:  hqp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPm7vI_cdbw  

Using  2005  figures,  the  wealthiest  20%  of  the  world  accounted  for  76.6%  of  total  private  consump+on.  The  poorest  fiVh  just  1.5%  –  Anup  Shah,  2011  h;p://www.globalissues.org/issue/235/consump+on-­‐and-­‐consumerism  

What  does  this  tell  us  about  how  best  to  reduce  environmental  impacts?  

2.  Cri+que  of  Class:    Global  Class  or  Na+onal  Class?  

Thinking  through  Class  and  consump+on  1.  The  US:  Poor  don’t  consume  much…  

Class  and  Consump+on  by  Country  

Sen’s  Analysis:  Women's  mortality  and  ra.os  versus  men        1.  Not  associated  with  poverty  2.  Women's  perceived  worth  is  important:  

i.  access  to  outside  income  ii.  women's  work  recognized  as  produc.ve  iii.  access  to  economic  resources  iv.  understanding  of  depriva.on  

3.  access  to  'gainful  employment'  highly  correlated  with  survival      Amartya  Sen,  Nobel  Prize  for  Economics,  1998  

Argument  #3:  Feminist  argument  Popula.on  ignores  the  reali.es  of  

fer.lity  decisions  

 Amartya  Sen's  Ques.on:    Why  are  100  Million  Women  missing?  reasons?      Ra.o  of  Men  to  Women  (from  Sen)  

Kerala,  India:    

Kerala  Literacy  94.59%,  highest  in  India  Per  capita  income  $265  Matrilineal  Culture  

High  Poverty  but  High  Women  Survival  

Mead  Cain—Women  in  Bangladesh  1.  Cain  argues  for  a  need  to  understand  women’s  lives  in  society  

a.  income  earning  and  spa.al  constraint  b.  security:  property  and  divorce  

2.  Within  this  context,  women  seek  to  have  male  children  •  Male  children  can  undertake  marke.ng  

ac.vi.es  unavailable  to  girls  •  Male  children  can  take  care  of  mother  ader  

divorce  

A  Mexican  Rural  Community:  Tepetotutla  in  Oaxaca  Total  fer.lity  (average  total  number  of  children  in  life.me  from  8  to  2  in  one  genera.on  (benefits  of  long-­‐term  study…)  

Contextualizing  People  and  the  Environment:    We  s.ll  have  an  analy.cal  issue:  How  Do  these  work  together?:    produc.on,  consump.on,  migra.on!  Deforesta.on  despite  declining  birth  rates:  Brazilians  migrate  to  the  Amazon  for  jobs  

Brazil:  

Deforesta.on  rates   popula.on  densi.es    

Fluctuates  Greatly,  but  generally  down  due  to  governmental  monitoring  

BUT:  LOOK  AT  REASONS  FOR  DEFORESTATION:    

Large-­‐Scale  Ca;le  Ranching  for:  1. Land  Ownership  

2. Beef  

Popula.on:  How  to  analyze?      1.  Popula.on—Resources  Rela.onship  

i.  Is  World  Overpopulated  or  Do  We  Over–Consume?  ii.  History  and  Popula.on  Structure  

2.  Households  and  Fer.lity  Decisions  I.  Economic  Security  and  Opportunity  Cost  of  

children  II.  Women  and  Fer.lity  Decisions  

3.  Environment  –  People  connec.on  is  inseparable  from  the  ques.on  of  inequality:  i.  Decision  to  have  children  ii.  Environmental  impacts    So,  back  to  environmental  jus.ce…  

≠  People  

Environment  FIN  

The  poorest  20%  of  the  world’s  popula+on  uses  what  %  of  world  

energy  resources?  A.  20%  B.  25%  C.  1.5%  D.  15%  

Which  of  these  4  countries  has  the  greatest  equality  in  energy  use?  

A.  Kenya    B.  Thailand  C.  Norway  D.  United  States  

Overconsump+on:  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkqRC1Ua79Y    Scavenger  Guy  in  Oakland  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkFXgg2XnI8    Home:  French  film  ‘too  late  to  be  a  pessimist’  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDlcANyFHhA  

Zombies:  Why  the  resurgence  in  the  modern  era?  i.  Fear  of  enslavement:  original  1968  ‘night  of  the  living  dead’  movie  dealt  

pointedly  with  racism  in  the  context  of  shared  humanism  ii.  Generalized  fear  of  nature:  I  am  legend,  Walking  Dead  

Ø  the  wholesale  destruc+on  of  the  natural  world  is  exposing  us  to  pandemics,  climate  change,  and  ul+mately  to  a  loss  of  our  ‘way  of  life’:  

Ø  Loss  of  control  OVER  nature:  returning  full  circle  from  Francis  Bacon’s  ‘New  Atlan+s’,  nature  exerts  its  control  over  us,  the  infec+on  inside  

iii.  Post-­‐9/11  trauma:  another  take  on  the  loss  of  control,  but  in  this  case  ‘bio-­‐poli+cal’;  we  fear  a  reduc+on  to  nothing  but  our  biological  self,  loss  of  ci+zenship,  loss  of  humanity.  World  War  Z,  Walking  Dead    

iv.  A  reflec+on  of  contemporary  capitalist  consumer  experience:    Dawn  of  the  Dead,  Zombieland  i.  Fixa+on  on  consump+on,  e.g.,  black  Friday  stampedes,  ‘mindless’  

shopping,  consump+on,  food,  cellphone  addic+on  ii.  Elusive  goals  and  lack  of  sa+sfac+on,  an  itera+on  of  the  ‘rat  race’  and  

the  stripping  of  individualism—the  ‘herding’  meme  on  walking  dead  

Why  do  we  fear  Zombies?  

A.  Malthusian  destruc+on?  

B.  Enslavement?  C.  Uncontrollable  

consump+on?  D.  Post-­‐911  trauma?  

Pyramids  can  take  many  forms,  however,  depending  on    Birth  rates  and  death  rates  :  

New  Zealand  

What  percentage  of  consumers  in  each  country?  

Declining  Brazilian  popula+on  h;p://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-­‐ebkmo1Ygz8        

xx  

Demographic  Transi.ons  &    Ecological  Impacts    2  Views  on  popula.on  and  the  environment:        

A.  Neo-­‐Mathusianism:  A  rising  popula.on  outstrips  our  planet’s  ‘carrying  capacity’  1968:  Erlich  and  ‘The  Popula.on  Bomb’    

B.  Over-­‐Consump.on:    •  There  are  plenty  of  resources  available:    •  some  people,  classes,  and  places  consume  too  

much;  others  too  liqle  •  Environmental  degrada.on  results  from  

unequal  distribu.on  of  resources  

Pakistan  2005:  Lots  of  young  people!  

Popula+on  Demography  Concepts  #3:  the  popula+on  pyramid:  How  are  people  distributed  by  age,  gender?  

 Amartya  Sen's  Ques.on:    Why  are  100  Million  Women  missing?  reasons?      Ra.o  of  Men  to  Women  (from  Sen)  

Sen’s  Analysis:  Women's  mortality  (and  fer.lity)        1.  Not  associated  with  poverty  2.  Women's  perceived  worth  is  important:  

i.  access  to  outside  income  ii.  women's  work  recognized  as  produc.ve  iii.  access  to  economic  resources  iv.  understanding  of  depriva.on  

3.  access  to  'gainful  employment'  highly  correlated  with  survival        

Kerala,  India:    

Kerala  Literacy  94.59%,  highest  in  India  Per  capita  income  $265  Matrilineal  Culture  

   numbers  =  TBR  (total  birth  rate):  life+me  total  children/woman  

 So:  ¿popula.on?  2  perspec.ves:        Women  Empowerment  standpoint  (from  Sen):    •  Popula.on  growth  is  a  symptom  •  poverty  and  powerlessness  accounts  for  

demographic  decisions,  namely,  women  deciding  to  have  more  children  

Environmental  standpoint:  consump.on  is  important,  popula.on  can  be  important,  depending  on    •  Consump.on  levels  •  Environmental  interac.ons  •  Local  land-­‐use  intensity  and  popula.on  

concentra.on