13768137 Population Growth and Its Problem

Introduction to the Topic

Population:

In sociology and biology a population is the collection of people or organisms of a particular species living in a given geographic area or space, usually measured by acensus.Some sociologists believe that, as of now, the population is growing at such a rate that inthe near future, the planet will no longer be able to support the huge numbers. There aremany different solutions to population growth. The United Nations has chosen to allowdifferent countries to set a maximum size for families living in that country, (ex: China).Work in improving socio-economic rights and opportunities for women have also provento reduce population growth to a more sustainable level.The age and gender distribution of a population within a given nation or region iscommonly represented by means of a population pyramid. This is a triangular distributionwith the portions of the population along the horizontalX-axisand the 5-year age groups(cohorts) along the verticalZ-axis. Male population is shown to the left of the verticalaxis and female to the right.Showing the age structure of the population in this way allows some broad inferencesabout age-related mortality ratesto be made. Nations with low infant mortality and high longevity will display a more rectangular shape as most of the population lives to old age.Other countries have a more pyramidal shape with a wide base, reflecting higher infant mortalityand greater risk of early death.1

Population Growth:

Population growth is the change in population over time, and can be quantified as thechange in the number of individuals in a population per unit time. The term populationgrowth can technically refer to any species, but almost always refers to humans, and it isoften used informally for the more specific demographic term population growth rate,and is often used to refer specifically to the growth of the population of the world.The world population has grown tremendously over the past two thousand years. In 1999,the planet's population passed the six billion mark. The current mid-year 2007 world population is estimated at 6,602,224,175.

Population Growth Rate:

Population growth rate (PGR) is the increase in a country’s population during a period of time, usually one year, expressed as a percentage of the population at the start of that period. It reflects the number of births and deaths during the period and the number of people migrating to and from a country.2

The Population Issue: Marx Vs.Malthus

Revised version of a paper presented at the Pacific Sociological Association Meeting inHonolulu, April 1971 published in DEN NY VERDEN (Journal of the Institute for Development Research), Copenhagen, Denmark, December 1973.It has currently become fashionable to argue that excessive population growth stands inthe way of economic growth and that underdeveloped countries should take measures toreduce their rates of natural increase. Population growth appears today as the major factor determining underdevelopment and population control is advocated as the mosturgent and necessary step if development is to be eventually achieved.Within the context of the developed countries it is argued that their pressing problemssuch as urban blight, crime, pollution, environmental deterioration, etc. would havegreater possibilities of being satisfactorily solved if population growth were to becurtailed.From a Marxist viewpoint, such "self-evident truths" are but reifications of concretehistorical, social, political, and economic relations, which should be taken into account if the population issue is to be at all understood. Just as in the 18th century the Englishruling classes fought the impact of the French Revolution with military and ideologicalweapons among which Malthus' "Essay on Population" was perhaps the most important,today the ruling classes are bringing back the Malthusian argument in an effort toincrease their control over the growing number of the dispossessed. Like Malthus,contemporary socio-economic theorists view excessive population rather than socialinstitutions and social relations as the main source and barrier to the solution of social problems. It is, therefore, necessary to show light on the Marxist critique and a Marxistalternative to the Malthusian and Neo-Malthusian approaches to the study of population.

The Malthusian Argument

Malthus' argument rests upon two propositions; unchecked population increases in ageometrical ration while subsistence increases in an arithmetical ratio. The two propositions together constitute the famous principle of population which, according toMalthus, is "one of the causes that have hitherto impeded the progress of mankindtowards happiness" (Malthus, 1933:5). This cause is "intimately united with the very3

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