POLS 2080 Lecture Notes - Lecture 17: Revolution Controversy, Thomas Robert Malthus, Rural Development

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Political Science
• Course: POLS 2080
• Professor: Steffi Hamann

Document Summary

For the first time in the history of the world, more than half of the global population lives in cities. Still, the majority of the (cid:449)o(cid:396)ld"s poo(cid:396) a(cid:396)e (cid:396)u(cid:396)al d(cid:449)elle(cid:396)s. Livelihoods tend to be based on agriculture (e. g. , farming, livestock) or natural resources (e. g. , mining, fishing) Need to a(cid:448)oid the i(cid:373)age of the (cid:862)t(cid:396)aditio(cid:374)-(cid:271)ou(cid:374)d peasa(cid:374)t(cid:863) (cid:272)oo(cid:374)es (cid:894)1(cid:1013)(cid:1013)(cid:1012)(cid:895): defi(cid:374)es li(cid:448)elihood as (cid:862)the (cid:272)apa(cid:271)ilities, assets, a(cid:374)d a(cid:272)ti(cid:448)ities (cid:396)e(cid:395)ui(cid:396)ed fo(cid:396) a (cid:373)ea(cid:374)s of li(cid:448)i(cid:374)g(cid:863) (cid:862)a livelihood is sustainable when it can cope with and recover from stresses and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities a(cid:374)d assets (cid:449)hile (cid:374)ot u(cid:374)de(cid:396)(cid:373)i(cid:374)i(cid:374)g the (cid:374)atu(cid:396)al (cid:396)esou(cid:396)(cid:272)e(cid:863) Histo(cid:396)i(cid:272)ally, people"s li(cid:448)elihoods (cid:449)e(cid:396)e (cid:271)ased o(cid:374) su(cid:271)siste(cid:374)(cid:272)e agriculture. Vast parts of the global population still do- often, they belong to the most vulnerable groups. Thomas malthus worried about the impacts of population growth and limited food supplies- called for population control. His thesis was overwhelmingly refuted by empirical data.