SOCI 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Gentrification, Populism, Eugenics
19 May 2018
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Population, Urbanization, & the Environment – Textbook chap. 20
Definitions
• Demography – the study of populations
• Changing fertility, morality, and migration rates make up the total
population composition, a snapshot of the demographic profile of a
population [See textbook charts on pp. 459 & 461]
• Is demography destiny? → look at demographic; “green revolution”
Demography & Social Change
• Two different ways in which social change can occur:
• Changes in individual attitudes – if enough people whose attitudes about an
issue (such as gay marriage) change their attitudes during their lifetimes,
then society’s view on the issue might change
• Changes through “generational/cohort effects” – if the members of a
younger generation have a different attitude about an issue than older
generations, society’s views on the issue will likely change as older
generations die off
*Cohort effects are an example of demographic change*
Theoretical Perspectives on Urbanization
• Functionalist perspectives focus on the ways in which cities emerge &
develop to better meet the needs of the population
o In the city, it’s more efficient; you can fit more people into apartments;
Social organism
• “In contrast to the functionalist approach, theoretical models in the conflict
perspective focus on the way that urban areas change according to specific
decisions made by political and economic leaders. These decisions generally
benefit the middle and upper classes while exploiting the working and lower
classes” (465-66)
• “For example, public land in poor neighborhoods may be rezoned for use as
industrial land” (466), which further drives down real estate values in the
surrounding neighborhoods & increasing pollution
Issues in Urbanization: Gentrification
• Gentrification: the changes that arise when middle/upper-middle class
(usually white) people move into neighborhoods that were traditionally
composed of lower/working-class and/or predominately non-white people
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Population, urbanization, & the environment textbook chap. Definitions: demography the study of populations, changing fertility, morality, and migration rates make up the total population composition, a snapshot of the demographic profile of a population [see textbook charts on pp. *cohort effects are an example of demographic change* Theoretical perspectives on urbanization: functionalist perspectives focus on the ways in which cities emerge & develop to better meet the needs of the population, in the city, it"s more efficient; you can fit more people into apartments; Social organism: in contrast to the functionalist approach, theoretical models in the conflict perspective focus on the way that urban areas change according to specific decisions made by political and economic leaders. Climate change pg. 472: the subfield of environmental sociology studies how humans interact with their environments, climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures due to human activity and, in particular.
