Changes in Population,Affluence, and Environmental Pressures During Industrialization: The Case of Austria 1830–1995

This paper relates changes in aggregate population, affluence (measured as GDP), and indicators for environmental pressures, the latter being based upon the socioeconomic metabolism concept, for Austria from 1830 to 1995. During this period of time Austria underwent a transition from a predominantly agricultural mode of substistence to an industrial economy. The Austrian population increased by a factor of 2.3, total GDP by a factor of 28.2 and per capita GDP by a factor of 12.2. Environmental indicators change by factors of between 0.85 and over 1000. In general we find that although efficiencies (environmental pressure per unit of GDP) increased dramatically, total environmental pressures increased considerably for most indicators, except for those that are related to an agricultural mode of subsistence. Our results indicate that environmental policies that aim to reduce the environmental pressure per unit of GDP (i.e., increase ecological efficiency) are not likely to be sufficient for sustainable development because efficiency gains are more than compensated for by increases in affluence. Instead, sustainability policy should focus on reducing total environmental pressures.     

Parental Resources, Schooling Achievements, and Gender Schooling Gaps: Evidence of Change over 25 years in Rural Guatemala

We use village census data and linear regression models to examine changes between 1975 and 2002 in the associations of parental resources with boys’ and girls’ schooling in four rural Guatemalan villages. Levels of schooling in 1975 were universally low for children 7–17 years. Large increases in schooling achievements occurred between 1975 and 2002. By 2002, schooling levels were comparable for younger boys and girls (7–12 years, N = 3,525) and favored older boys compared to older girls (13–17 years, N = 2,440) by about 0.5 grades. The associations of household standard of living and maternal schooling with schooling among girls diminished over time and became more comparable with these associations among boys, and the associations of household standard of living with schooling among older boys declined and became more comparable with these associations among girls. Thus, as increased social investments reduce the costs of schooling or increase the supply and quality of schooling to families, the magnitudes of the associations between parental resources and children’s schooling decline and become more gender equitable at all ages. However, our results show that older boys may benefit more than older girls from social investments in schooling. These changes suggest potential needs to monitor gender gaps in schooling retention among older children, to insure gender equitable access to social investments in schooling, and to encourage parents to invest in schooling as joint measures to achieve greater schooling achievements of girls and boys.     

Drought,Migration and Population Growth in the Sahel: The Case of the Malian Gourma: 1900–1991

This paper explores the development of the population of the Gourma in Northern Mali from the beginning of this century to the present. As part of Northern Sahel, the area has been hard-hit by at least four droughts this century and is among the least developed in Mali. The data used include the available population censuses, colonial records and recent survey research. The droughts of 1973 and 1984 may have increased child mortality, but the most important effects may have been short-term reductions in fertility, as well as increased migration. While approximately 30 per cent of adult men are absent, the overall picture of migration is much more complex than simply one of emigration, as migration into the Gourma and internal redistribution of population also play an important role.     

Sun Belt Rising: Regional Population Change and the Decline in Black Residential Segregation, 1970–2009

The goal of this study is to examine the extent to which population shifts over the post–Great Migration period and divergent trends in segregation across regions contributed to the overall decline in black segregation in the United States in recent decades. Using data from the 1970 to 2000 decennial censuses and the 2005–2009 American Community Survey (ACS), our analysis indicates that black dissimilarity and isolation declined more in the South and West than in the Northeast and Midwest. Nevertheless, regional population shifts account for only a modest amount (8 % to 12 %) of the decline in black-white segregation over the period and for an even smaller proportion of the decline in black-nonblack segregation, in part because the largest declines in segregation occurred in the West while the region with the largest relative increase in the black population was the South. Using more refined census divisions rather than census regions provided some additional explanatory power (shifts across divisions explained 15 %–16 % of the decline in black-white segregation): divisions with larger gains in their share of the black population tended to have larger declines in black segregation. Overall, although the effect of the regional redistribution of the black population on declines in segregation was significant, of even greater importance were other causes of substantial declines in segregation in a wide array of metropolitan areas across the country, and especially in the West, over the past 40 years.     

On Development,Demography and Climate Change: The End of the World as We Know it?

This paper comments on the issue of global warming and climate change, in an attempt to provide fresh perspective. Essentially, five main arguments are made. First, that the process of modern economic development has been based on the burning of fossil fuels, and that this will continue to apply for the foreseeable future. Second, that in large part due to momentum in economic and demographic processes, it is inevitable that there will be a major rise in atmospheric CO₂ during the present century. Third, that available data on global temperatures suggest strongly that the coming warming will be appreciably faster than anything that humanity has experienced during historical times. Moreover, especially in a system that is being forced, the chance of an abrupt change in climate happening must be rated as fair. Fourth, that while it is impossible to attach precise probabilities to different scenarios, the range of plausible unpleasant climate outcomes seems at least as great as the range of more manageable ones. The consequences of future climate change may be considerable; indeed, they could be almost inconceivable—with several negative changes occurring simultaneously and to cumulative adverse effect. There is an urgent need to improve ways of thinking about what could happen. Fifth, the paper maintains that the human response to other difficult ‘long’ threats—such as that posed by HIV/AIDS—reveals a broadly analogous sequence of social reactions (e.g. denial, avoidance, recrimination) to that which is unfolding with respect to carbon emissions and climate change. Therefore the view expressed here is that major behavioral change to limit world carbon emissions is unlikely in the foreseeable future, and that the broad sway of future events is probably now set to run its course.This paper is a personal assessment of what is occurring with respect to the subject of global warming and climate change. Nevertheless it is an attempt to examine the topic objectively. The paper tries to concentrate on the essentials—from both the social and the environmental sciences—and, quite deliberately, it presents basic data on the subject for the reader's own consideration. The paper's subtitle is taken from a television program broadcast in January 2005 as part of UK Channel Four's War on Terra season. I thank Tim Forsyth, Chris Wilson, and especially Brian O'Neill for their help and advice. However, and most certainly, the usual disclaimer applies.     

Cartoons and AIDS: Safer Sex,HIV, and AIDS in Ralf König's Comics

Ralf König is the best-selling author of comic book novels, and his stories of gay men coming to terms with contemporary society have resonated with hundreds of thousands of German readers and film-goers. König's characters, like the author himself, have great difficulty adhering to the demand that condoms be used. The article describes how König develops this theme through a variety of works from 1985 through 1999, and analyzes the intertwined relationships among the author, his characters, and the society that is both portrayed in his works and that reads his works.     

Mobile Air Monitoring: Measuring Change in Air Quality in the City of Hamilton, 2005–2010

This paper examines the change in air pollutant concentrations between 2005 and 2010 occurring in the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. After analysis of stationary air pollutant concentration data, we analyze mobile air pollutant concentration data. Air pollutants included in the analysis are CO, PM_2.5, SO₂, NO, NO₂, and NO_X. Stationary monitoring indicates a continuous reduction in air pollutant concentrations. Stationary monitors only cover a small spatial extent of Hamilton. Mobile monitoring of air pollutant concentrations, averaged over census tract boundaries, indicates both improvement and decline in air quality. These improvements and declines in air quality are spatially clustered throughout Hamilton. Mobile data indicated significant decline in median pollutant concentration for CO, SO₂, PM_2.5, and NO₂; but significant increase for NO and NO_X. Air quality change in Hamilton is spatially heterogeneous, and is not captured based on the current stationary monitoring network. Coupling of mobile and stationary air pollutant concentration monitoring provides a more accurate spatial assessment of local air quality.     

Research Note: Regional Dynamics of Tibetan Population Change in Eastern Tibet,ca. 1940–1982

Population and Environment -     

Queer Blindfolding: A Case Study on Difference “Blindness” Toward Persons Who Identify as Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual,and Transgender

The purpose of this article is to introduce and explore the narrative strategy of queer blindfolding. Utilizing psycho-discursive qualitative methodology, the authors will draw from a case study to demonstrate how some beneficent, well-intended persons who identify as heterosexual adopt the narrative strategy of queer blindfolding as they negotiate the discourse of heteronormativity. We will map this narrative strategy, compare and contrast it to racial colorblindness, and unpack the accompanying intra-psychic conflict and defense mechanisms that are utilized by the participant in the case study. We will also demonstrate how this discursive strategy positions participants within systemic heterosexism.     

The Gender of “Energy”: Language,Social Theory,and Cultural Change in Women’s Lands in the United States

Within women’s intentional communities, women use the phrase women’s energy to describe certain social interactions, a sense of community, and ideas about how gender is done or performed. For example, energy can express both difference in communication style between men and women and male dominance in social situations. During my fieldwork in these communities, I explored how this phrase suggests a reference to a precultural female body, but it is also sometimes used to explicitly reject biological reasons for gender difference. The term is easily understandable to a wide range of women from varying class backgrounds and encompasses both the unconscious side of social interactions and a possibility for future change.     

Quality of Parent–Child Relationship, Family Conflict, Peer Pressure, and Drinking Behaviors of Adolescents in an Asian Context: The Case of Singapore

Analyzing data from a probability sample representative of secondary school students in Singapore (N = 1,599), this study examined the independent impact between the quality of mother–child relationship, the quality of father–child relationship and family conflict on the frequency of drinking and drunkenness, and whether each dyadic parent–child relationship quality and family conflict moderate the effect of direct peer pressure on the frequency of drinking and drunkenness among Singaporean adolescents. A series of ordered logit analyses revealed the following results: The quality of father–child relationship had no main effect on either drinking behavior, yet had a moderating effect on the association between direct peer pressure and drunkenness, with the stronger effect of direct peer pressure for adolescents on good terms with their fathers than for those on poor terms with their fathers. Family conflict had a main effect on drunkenness and a moderating effect on the association between direct peer pressure and the frequency of drinking, with the stronger effect of direct peer pressure on the frequency of drinking for adolescents experiencing high family conflict than those experiencing low family conflict. The importance of the father–child relationship quality and family conflict for adolescents’ well-being in Singapore as an Asian context was discussed.     

Family Planning and Child Health Care: Effect of the Peruvian Programa de Salud Reproductiva y Planificación Familiar, 1996–2000

Our study estimates the effects of exposure to a family planning program which promoted surgical contraception for the first time in Peru on women's use of birth control methods and their children's health. While a broad program, the Programa de Salud Reproductiva y Planificación Familiar forced many indigenous women to undergo sterilization. We compare provinces affected by the program earlier with provinces affected later, before and after the policy. Overall, the results indicate that women in treated areas were more likely to use both temporary and permanent contraceptive methods and their children were less likely to die within their first year of life, partly due to longer breastfeeding. However, we observe heterogeneity by ethnicity. In treated provinces, nonindigenous children benefited from the policy regardless of their mothers’ choice of contraceptive method, while there were few positive impacts for indigenous children whose mothers underwent sterilization. This suggests that coercive or aggressively implemented family planning programs may not confer health benefits on children.