LectureOrganizaon :Wherearewe?’tmute2/GEI-Web/gei15-lecturePDFs/w-5.1... ·...
Transcript of LectureOrganizaon :Wherearewe?’tmute2/GEI-Web/gei15-lecturePDFs/w-5.1... ·...
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
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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