Population, Economic Development, and the Environment

Prompted by growing concern about the environmental impact of high consumption levels and population growth, these interdisciplinary essays explore in depth the connections between population size and growth, environmental destruction, and poverty. The contributors--including such distinguished scholars as P. Dasgupta, C. S. Holling, Robert Fogel, Geoffrey McNicoll, Caroline Bledsoe, Robert Willis, Amartya Sen, and Nancy Birdsall--represent the different fields most concerned with this vital topic. They examine three main themes: the Malthusian conflict, factors underlying fertility changes, and global development issues. The writers take into account the effects of increasing competition for natural resources on social structures, and look at the evolution of the household unit, gender inequality, and the growing gap between children, adults, and the elderly. Because the rapidly increasing stress on the world's natural resource base can give rise to social tension and conflicts, especially in overpopulated areas, this book will be seen as an essential contribution to a critically important international debate.

Kerstin Lindahl Kiessling is a Professor Emeritus and Chairperson, Committee on Science in Society at Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Hans Landberg is a Research Associate at the Stockholm Environment Institute.