Debating Malthus: A Documentary Reader on Population, Resources, and the Environment

by Robert J. Mayhew (Editor), Paul S. Sutter (Foreword by), Paul S. Sutter (Editor)

Overview

Introducing students to the place of population in environmental thinking

For centuries, thinking about the earth's increasing human population has been tied to environmental ideas and political action. This highly teachable collection of contextualized primary sources allows students to follow European and North American discussions about intertwined and evolving concepts of population, resources, and the natural environment from early contexts in the sixteenth century through to the present day.

Edited and introduced by Robert J. Mayhew, a noted biographer of Thomas Robert Malthus—whose Essay on the Principle of Population (1798), excerpted here, is an influential and controversial take on the topic—this volume explores themes including evolution, eugenics, war, social justice, birth control, environmental Armageddon, and climate change. Other responses to the idea of new "population bombs" are represented here by radical feminist work, by Indigenous views of the population-environment nexus, and by intersectional race-gender approaches. By learning the patterns of this discourse, students will be better able to critically evaluate historical conversations and contemporary debates.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295749907
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Series:	Weyerhaeuser Environmental Classics
Pages:	278
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert J. Mayhew is Fellow and Senior Tutor at Pembroke College, Cambridge and Honorary Professor of Historical Geography at the University of Bristol. He has published extensively on the history of Malthusian thought, including Malthus: The Life and Legacies of an Untimely Prophet (2014) and New Perspectives on Malthus (editor, 2016). He has also edited Malthus's selected works for Penguin Classics. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Table of Contents

Foreword: The Many Moments of Malthusianism Paul S. Sutter ix

Acknowledgments xv

A Note Regarding Texts and Usage xvii

Introduction: On an Overgrown Path-Linking Population and Environmental History 1

Part 1 Before Malthus

From Anon., Certayne Causes Gathered Together, Wherin Is Shewed the Decaye of England (1552) 17

From Giovanni Botero, The Cause of the Greatnesse of Cities (1635) 20

From Gabriel Plattes, A Discovery of Infinite Treasure (1639) 23

From John Graunt, Natural and Political Observations (1662) 25

From Charles de Montesquieu, The Spirit of the Laws (1750) 28

From David Hume, "Of the Populousness of Ancient Nations" (1742) 33

From Robert Wallace, A Dissertation on the Numbers of Mankind, in Antient and Modern Times (1753) 39

From Benjamin Franklin, "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind" (1755) 44

From Thomas Short, A Comparative History of the Increase and Decrease of Mankind in England (1767) 48

From Richard Price, Observations on Reversionary Payments (1772) 51

Part 2 The Malthus Wars

From William Godwin, An Enquiry Concerning Political Justice (1793) 61

From Marquis de Condorcet, Outlines of an Historical View of the Progress of the Human Mind (1795) 66

From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798) 72

From William Godwin, Of Population (1820) 82

From Thomas Robert Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (1826) 89

From Thomas Robert Malthus, A Summary View of the Principle of Population (1830) 91

From Mary Shelley, The Last Man (1826) 93

Part 3 Evolving Debates

From Charles Darwin, "Extracts from an Unpublished Work on Species" (1839) 102

From Petr Kropotkin, Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902) 107

From W. Stanley Jevons, The Coal Question (1865) 112

From Alfred Russel Wallace, "Free-Trade Principles and the Coal Question" (1873) 116

From John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy (1848) 121

From John Ruskin, Unto Tins Last: Four Essays on the First Principles of Political Economy (1862) 124

From Annie Besant, The Law of Population and Its Relation to Socialism (1886) 128

From John Maynard Keynes, Vie Economic Consequences of the Peace (1919) 131

From Aldous Huxley, "What Is Happening to Our Population?" (1934) 134

From Josué de Castro, "The Cycle of the Crab" (1937) 138

Part 4 The Population Bomb

From William Vogt, The Road to Survival (1948) 147

From Radhakamal Mukerjee, "Population Theory and Politics" (1941) 150

From John Boyd Orr, The White Man's Dilemma (1953) 156

From Paul Ehrlich, The Population Bomb (1968) 159

From Garrett Hardin, "The Tragedy of the Commons" (1968) 164

From Committee on Agriculture, House of Representatives, Malthus and America: A Report about Food and People (1974) 169

From Barry Commoner, "A Bulletin Dialogue on The Closing Circle: Response" (1972) 174

From Mahmood Mamdani, "The Ideology of Population Control" (1976) 178

From Amartya Sen, "Famines as Failures of Exchange Entitlements" (1976) 181

From Norman Borlaug, "The Green Revolution, Peace, and Humanity" (1970) 184

From Elinor Ostrom, Governing the Commons (1990) 189

From Julian Simon, "Resources, Population, Environment: An Oversupply of False Bad News" (1980) 193

Part 5 The Malthus Wars Today

From Jessica Tuchman Mathews, "Redefining Security" (1989) 203

From Robert D. Kaplan, "The Coming Anarchy" (1994) 206

From Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (2005) 209

From Jack A. Goldstone, "The New Population Bomb: The Four Megatrends That Will Change the World" (2010) 213

From John Beddington, "Professor Sir John Beddington's Speech at SDUK 09" (2009) 217

From Joel E. Cohen, "Population and Climate Change" (2010) 222

From Brian O'Neill et al., "Global Demographic Trends and Future Carbon Emissions" (2010) 225

From Paul J. Crutzen, "Geology of Mankind" (2002) 228

From Johan Rockström et al., "Planetary Boundaries: Exploring the Safe Operating Space for Humanity" (2009) 230

From Committee on Women, Population, and the Environment, "Women, Population, and the Environment: Call for a New Approach" (1993) 233

From Betsy Hartmann, "Population, Environment and Security: A New Trinity" (1998) 236

From Winona LaDuke, All Our Relations (1999) 241

From Jade Sasser, "From Darkness into Light: Race, Population, and Environmental Advocacy" (2014) 245

Index 249

What People are Saying About This

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson

"An erudite and stimulating work that addresses Malthus's neglected legacy within environmental history. Debating Malthus is the only sourcebook to provide a deeper historical approach with such a wide chronological scope."