Population And Global Inequality Chapter 16 Population And Global Inequality

Population by the Numbers About 2,000 years ago the world’s population was around 300 million Little changed until the Industrial Revolution At the onset of the Industrial Revolution population began to grow 1800- first billion 1930- second billion

Population by the Numbers Population was rising during the nineteenth century but so was the rate of increase 1962-three billion 1974-four billion 1987-five billion 1999-six billion Over the twentieth century, the worlds population grew four-fold 2006-6.6 billion

Causes of Population Increase Demography- study of human population Fertility- incidence of childbearing in a country’s population One measure of a society’s fertility is the crude birth rate- number of live births in a given year for every thousand people in a population

Demography: Explaining Population Increase The crude birth rate is seen as a cruder indicator of the birth rate because it includes in the calculation the entire population not just women that give birth Higher the fertility = the faster the growth

Demography: Explaining Population Increase One measure of death is the crude death rate-number of deaths in a given year for every thousand people in a population Everything being equal the lower the mortality = the higher the growth In sum, we are seeing in some parts of the world high fertility with falling mortality

Demography: Explaining Population Increase Infant mortality as a measure of a society’s quality of life Infant mortality rate-number of deaths among children under one year of age for each thousand live births World’s infant mortality rate is 55 U.S. infant mortality rate is 6.7 Low-income countries vary from a high of 145 to 31

Measuring Population Increase Natural growth of a society is based on the variables of fertility and mortality To calculate the doubling time for a nation’s population divide 70 by the growth rate Another factor behind growth of a nation is immigration

The Low-Growth North North America and Western Europe Zero population growth-level of reproduction that maintains population at a steady state High cost of raising children Contraceptives Delayed marriage High income countries losing population

The High-Growth South Population growth is a major problem for poor nations High births and declining deaths Culture and the status of women

Explaining Population Increase: Malthusian Theory Robert Malthus (1798-1834) – English economist, clergyman and pioneer demographer Populations grow in a geometric pattern Food supplies grow in an arithmetic pattern Population growth would exceed the available supply of food, the result being starvation and war

A More Recent Approach: Demographic Transition Theory Thesis linking demographic change to a society’s level of technological development Population is affected by four levels of technological development

A More Recent Approach: Demographic Transition Theory Stage One – Pre-industrial society is associated with high birth rates and high death rates, very little or no growth Stage Two - Early industrial society is associated with the onset of demographic transition, high births and declining deaths Stage Three – Mature industrial society is associated with decline in births and deaths and a slow down in growth Stage Four- Postindustrial society is associated with low births and deaths with little or no growth

Global Inequality The world’s income and wealth is unequally divided among nations The world’s three richest individuals equal the annual economic output of the world’s forty-eight poorest countries

High-Income Nations Forty high income nations Industrial high-tech economies About 18% of the world’s population or 1.2 billion live in high-income countries Annual income is at least $10,000 or more

Middle-Income Nations Ninety middle-income countries Industrialized but also rural (about one third of the population are rural) About 50% of the world’s population or 3 billion live in middle-income countries Income ranges between $2500-$10,000

Low-Income Nations Sixty low-income countries Agrarian and rural About 28% of the world’s population or 1.8 billion live in low-income countries Earn only 3% of the world’s income

The World’s Poverty Problem About 1 billion of the world’s population lack enough food Undernourishment increases the risk of disease

Relative versus Absolute Poverty Relative poverty- lacking the resources that most take for granted in a society Cuts across rich and poor nations Absolute poverty- lack of resources that are life-threatening Nutrition Water Housing/shelter Health

Poverty and Children At least 100 million children in the world live at the extreme edge of economic deprivation Are in state of poor health Poor nutrition Under schooled Homeless children Victims of abuse and crime

Poverty and Women Women are subordinated in many societies At much higher risk of poverty Few choices in patriarchal cultures Seventy percent of adults facing poverty are women

Slavery Global poverty and slavery According to ASI, Anti-Slavery International, some 400 million men, women and children (7 percent) of the world’s population are enslaved today Child Slavery- 100 million poor children are forced into a life of hustling for money on the streets

Slavery Child slavery- desperate poor families send their children out to hustle on the streets to bring in income Debt Slavery- employers enslave employees through debt bondage Sweatshops Servile forms of marriage- young girls married against their will Chattel slavery- one person owns another

Structural-Functional Analysis: The Process of Modernization Modernization theory- model of economic development that explains global inequality in terms of technological and cultural differences among societies

W.W. Rostow: The Stages of Modernization 1. Traditional Stage Past oriented Lives around families and communities 2. Take-off stage Break free from tradition

W.W. Rostow: The Stages of Modernization 3. Drive to technological maturity Industrial technology and economic growth and 4. High mass consumption Industrial output is high and the move to mass consumption

Critical Evaluation Modernization theory a flawed defense of capitalism Rich nations often prevent poor nations from developing Rich nations as the standard for the rest

Social-Conflict Analysis: The Global Economic System World system theory-model of economic development that explains global inequality in terms of the historical exploitation of poor societies by rich societies Colonialism-process by which some nations enrich themselves through political and economic control of other countries Neocolonialism-global power relationship by which multinationals exploit poor nations

Social-Conflict Analysis: The Global Economic System Immanuel Wallerstein: The Capitalist World Economy High–income countries Core of the world economy Established colonies and seized riches Low-income countries Periphery of the world economy Poor nations support rich nations

Social-Conflict Analysis: The Global Economic System Poor nations provide inexpensive labor Markets for industrial products Middle-income countries Semiperiphery economies of the world Poor nations become dependent on rich nations

Dependency Theory Poor countries: Have only narrow export-oriented economies Lack industrial production Are deeply in debt

Critical Evaluation Treats wealth as a zero-sum game Rich nations are to blame for global poverty Blame world capitalism-poor as victims with no responsibility for their own situation

Conservatives: The Power of the Market Capitalism as a great productive power Modernization as the solution to global poverty

Liberals: Government Must Act Market system is productive but not the only solution to global poverty Market system along with governmental help, the poor nations can move out of poverty Modernizing Influences Eliminate exploitation

Radicals: End Global Capitalism Radical position is consistent with world systems theory The solution to global poverty is one of global democracy empowering the poor people of the world