SOCIOLOGY UNIT 2

THEORIES OF POPULATION – THOMAS MALTHUS

 FOCAL POINTS
• What is the Malthusian theory of population?
• What are the main tenets of the Malthusian theory?
• What are the criticism of the Malthusian theory?
• Can the Malthusian theory be applied to the Caribbean?
• What is the Neo-Malthusian theory of population?
• What are the main tenets of the Neo-Malthusian theory?
• What are the criticisms of the Neo-Malthusian theory?
• Outline the differences between the Malthusian and Neo-Malthusian theory.
 THE IMPORTANCE OF POPULATION THEORIES?

There are various theories of population:

• (a) The Malthusian theory
• (b) The Neo-Malthusian theory
• (c) The Marxists theory
• (d) The Demographic Transition Model
• (e) The limit growth theory
The theories of population influence the way people understand and interpret questions
involving population. They are generally concerned with the causes and consequences of
population growth and transitions.
THE MALTHUSIAN THEORY
Postulated by Thomas Robert Malthus
• He was an English clergyman and
economists
• In 1798, he published “Essay on the
Principles of Population” and relied on
the population transitions he observed in
English society during the initial stages
of the Industrial Revolution
DOCTRINES OF MALTHUSIAN THEORY
• Human population was growing quickly but
food supply was not growing at the same rate
As food supply is dependent on fixed land,
increases in such food supply can only be made
in a simple, additive fashion by bringing new
lands under cultivation. To give a mathematical
perspective to his observation, he proposed that
population if unchecked increases
geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8, 16) as oppose to food
that grows arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4, 5).
• People have an innate urge that impels
them to reproduce. If people did not learn
to control their vices then overpopulation
would occur and bring on the fall of
humanity.
• Misery, hunger and poverty were inevitable
unless humans appreciate moral restraints
thereby accepting strict limitations of the
frequency of sexual intercourse
 POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CHECKS

• There were only two (2) solutions for controlling population – the positive checks and the
preventive checks. Preventive checks would include abstinence from sexual intercourse
and postponing marriage until after twenty-five years old. Malthus did not condone birth
control for religious reasons. Positive checks would include war, famine, pestilence and
diseases and would be a direct result of increased population growth.
• Malthus thought that if the poor were allowed to feel the “great pain” of poverty, then the
poor would take steps to avoid the great pain by having smaller families. He was against
welfare programs because welfare only encouraged the poor to remain poor.
• He therefore blamed the poor for their own poverty and was of the view that they played
a major role in excessive population growth.
 DID MALTHUS HAVE A POINT?

• Malthus’ theory is significant because it considers the effects of excessive population

growth.
• Malthus’s theory has some significance in African and Asian states. Recent famines,
droughts, civil war and poverty in African states as Ethiopia, Kenya and Angola that have
reduced agricultural output might suggest Malthus correct.
• Furthermore, the rapid aim to reduce birth rates in China in the 1980s and the high levels
of poverty produced by excessive population growth in China and India would also
suggest that the Malthusian theory is still relevant.
 CRITICISMS OF MALTHUSIAN THEORY
• Malthus did not approve of birth control and
contraceptives as these were vices by themselves and
favored “moral restraint”. This was not effective at all.
• Marx was of the view that the Malthusian theory
favored the ruling class as moral restraint was only to be
adopted by the working and lower class according to
Malthus. Malthus was therefore justifying the rules and
privileged of the elites.
• The implied assumption embedded in the moral restraint
doctrine was that the poor are the ones who are immoral,
and the rich are not. An interesting and unintended
consequence of Malthusian doctrine is that it helped
spread the knowledge of contraceptives although he was
against it.
• Malthus had no faith in the longevity of the
industrial revolution and failed to foresee the
Agrarian Revolution that would have greatly
increased food production.
• Man has proven that he is capable of controlling
his numbers, such as in China with the one child
per family policy.
• Marx and Engels criticized Malthus for looking at
his theory wrongly. What he saw as the problem
of the pressure of population on the means of
production was actually that of the pressure of the
means of production on populations.
 MALTHUSIAN CARIBBEAN APPLICATION?

• Malthus theory may have its place in the demographic studies of the Caribbean because
there is evidence that the region’s population has increased significantly over the years.
Further, with a dependency on foreign imports and a legacy of mono-cropping, the region
is often on the brink of food insecurity (Beckford, 1972; Craig, 1982). Malthus’s theory
helps us to appreciate the effects of population changes on the region, but there is
evidence that the theory is limited for the following reasons:
• Malthus focused mainly on sexual reproduction as the main means of population growth.
Historically, there is evidence that the region’s population has increased mainly through
migration (Marshall, 1982).
 MALTHUSIAN CARIBBEAN APPLICATION?

• Although the region had in the past a great dependency on foreign imports, there is evidence
that the region’s government have implement food production programs. According to the
WFO, countries such as Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have seen a massive increase in
food production due to increased technology, fertilization and great skills in agriculture.
Arthur Lewis (1954) under his theory of “Industrialization by Invitation” implored Caribbean
governments to invest in local agriculture and this has been adhered to. Malthus theory of
population growth undermining food production may not be so appreciated in the region.
• Caribbean people, according to Harewood (1972), have adhered well to fertility control
methods and this is especially true of women. In his studies of Trinidad and Tobago, he
argued that more women are aware of birth control and this has indeed helped to prevent
rapid population growth.
 MALTHUSIAN CARIBBEAN APPLICATION?

• The doctrine of moral constraint would not find an ideal nexus with Caribbean people due to
our history of plantation slavery and African Retention. M.G. Smith (1962) and Franklin Frazer
(1939) were of the view that plantation slavery had undermined the reproductive activities of
Caribbean men. As the position of men was loose and uncertain, they became promiscuous.
Herskovits (1942) added that Caribbean men have retained a strong, yet varied, desire for
polygamy and have become quite promiscuous.
• There is evidence that poverty is not caused in the region merely by overpopulation as Malthus
would put it. Patricia Anderson (2002) mentions that factors such as matrifocality, high cost of
living, poor educational background and even poverty itself are causes of poverty in the region.
• Some Caribbean people are highly dependent on welfare programs and their eliminations
would cause greater evils in society.
 NEO – MALTHUSIAN THEORY

• The Neo-Malthusian accepts the basic Malthusian premise that population growth tends
to outstrip food supply and went a step further to argue that population growth will
ultimately outstrip all natural resources
• Paul Elhrich, for example, mentioned that the population in developing nations has
increased significantly creating a “population bomb” that has begun to outstrip resources.
• However, unlike Malthus, they believe that birth control methods, and not moral restraint,
are appropriate checks to population growth. Neo-Malthusians have also adopted Marx’s
position that developed nations are the true cause of poverty in less developed nations by
consuming almost 4/5 of the share world’s resources.
 ASSESSING THE THEORY

• It is evident that the Neo-Malthusians offer better strategies for population control than
Malthus did.
• They argue that Malthus had mistaken the desire to have children with the desire for
sexual pleasure. For this reason, the Neo Malthusians were of the view that a radical view
on contraception is needed.
• Additionally, these theorists took into consideration the position of the Marxists.
• Solutions to high population growth include: (a) Family-planning policies (limiting the
number of children in families); (b) Official- aid from the west should be used to finance
birth-control programmes and (c) Promoting the use of contraception through the aiding
of health education and media programmes.
 CRITICISMS OF NEO-MALTHUSIAN THEORY

• Like Malthus, the Neo-Malthusians have failed to predict the growth of agriculture and
the ability of men to recycle and reuse valuable resources.
• The Neo-Malthusians failed to appreciate the effects of contraceptives on the
degeneration of women as it can cause mental, physical and moral suffering for some
women (Sinhan et al, 1984).
• Dependency theorist would reject the view that western countries should invest in less
developed nations as they would argue that this is reason they are undeveloped in the first
place.
 CARIBBEAN APPLICATION

• Neo-Malthusian theory can successfully be applied to the Caribbean as there has been a
massive growth in the region’s population which has caused poverty and lower standards
of livings.
• There is evidence that Caribbean women have come to appreciate fertility control
methods and family planning as postulated by the Neo-Malthusians.
• There is evidence that increased population growth undermine development and strain
limited resources