Sociology of Development

Dr. Anirban Mukherjee

Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT)
Jais, Amethi-229304
 Overpopulation
As of 2019, the population of India was 140 crores.

Second largest population in the world.

India occupies 2.41% of the world’s land but supports 18% of the
world’s population.

Effects:

✓ Tremendous amount of pressure on land, water, and other natural

resources.

✓ There is a rise in energy consumption with the rising standards of

living.
 Overpopulation
✓ The rise of Demographic Overhead. Demographic Overhead-The
general cost of adding people to population by the necessity of
providing goods and services. Example-Rise in infrastructure like
schools, hospitals, housing, roads, telecommunication, etc.

✓ Growing population leads to environmental degradation. Example-

The rise of carbon-dioxide emission, deforestation and desertification,
etc.
Overpopulation
 Malthusian Theory
Thomas Robert Malthus wrote a book, “An Essay on the Principles of
Population” in 1798.

He proposed:

➢ Society has a natural propensity to increase its population.

➢ The increase in food supply cannot keep pace with population growth.

➢ Food supply increases in arithmetic progression and population

increases in geometric progression.
 Malthusian Theory
Malthus proposed a cycle of natural law of population: increase of
food resources leading to population growth, leading to too many
people for available resources, leading them back to poverty.

He blamed poverty on the poor themselves.

Suggested that well-educated, rational person who perceives in advance

the pain of having hungry children and debt, will postpone marriage.

Considered birth control measures to be vice.

 Malthusian Theory
Proposed the following checks:

➢ Preventive Check-Delay marriage, celibacy

➢ Positive Check-Disease, starvation, war

o The major consequence of population growth is poverty.

o So, if people remain poor, it is because of their own fault.

o He was against charity meted out to the poor.

 Criticisms
The assumption that food production can not keep up with
population growth may be criticized. Refused to acknowledge for
technological progress.

Problem of Circular Logic. In Malthus’s view, a laborer could achieve

higher standard of living by being prudent and refraining from
marriage until he could afford it, but Malthus also believed that you
could not expect prudence from laborer until he attained a higher
standard of living.

Historical evidence has revealed that between 1801 and 1835 those
who received Poor Law Allowances did not have higher births than
those who did not avail such grants (Huzel, 1984).