Glossary:
Readings:
An Essay on the Intensification of the American Infrastructure
Glossary:
Essays:
On your next exam you will be asked to demonstrate that you have read and mastered the course material. You should take the time now to answer the following essay questions to create your study guide for that exam. Address the questions fully and completely in your own words and voice. Prepare your answers now.
What is the demographic transition? What are the stages of this transition?
How does the age and sex structure of a population affect life chances?
In your judgment, what are the two most serious dysfunctions caused by infrastructural intensification? Why?
Short
Answers:
The following short answer questions are from your readings and may well appear on your next exam. Each can be answered with a short paragraph of three or four sentences; please use your own words and voice. You are encouraged to answer these questions now to create your study guide for that exam.
Why does population grow exponentially? What are the mechanics behind exponential growth of population?
What is the difference between natural and overall population growth?
Who are the young barbarians? Why are they disruptive to sociocultural systems?
What are mega-cities? What are hyper-cities? What is fueling them?
What problems are created by rapid urban growth?
What is the relationship between poverty and population growth?
Explain the significance of the entropy law for human societies.
What are the mechanics behind the exponential growth (intensification) of production?
What is the technological fix strategy to problems of depletion/pollution?
What is the environmental fit strategy to problems of depletion/pollution?
Why is industrial growth a much greater problem in hyper-industrial vs. industrial societies?
What industries within the American economy have experienced significant growth in the last decade?
What factors account for the decline in fertility in the U.S.?
Why does the U.S. have such a high rate of immigration?
What are the functions and dysfunctions of high immigration?
Enumerate the functions of an intensifying infrastructure.
Why hasn't the growth of American manufacturing kept pace with the growth of other sectors of the American economy?
How has the relationship between large families and life expectancy changed in many non-western nations since 1960?
Changes in World Population Growth (fascinating):
Problems of Population Growth in the Third World:
Neil Postman: Technology and Society:
T. Robert Malthus
Neil Postman
Bibliography:Brubaker, W. (ed.) 1989. Immigration and the Politics of Citizenship in Europe and North America. Lanham, Md.: University Press of America.
Bulatao, R. and Lee, R. (eds) 1983. Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries. 2 vols. New York: Academic Press.
Cardoso, F. H. and Faletto, E. 1979. Dependency and Development in Latin America. Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press.
Hardoy, J. E. and Satterthwaite, D. 1989. Squatter Citizen: Life in the Urban Third World. London: Earthscan Publications.
Heilbroner, Robert. [1974] 1980. An Inquiry Into the Human Prospect, Updated and Reconsidered for the 1980s. New York: W.W. Norton.
Shryrock, H. and Siegel, J. 1976. The Methods and Materials of Demography. New York: Academic Press.
Sklair, L. 1991. Sociology of the Global System. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.