Malthusianism

Malthusianism is the theory that population tends to grow faster than food and other resources, producing poverty, famine, and pressures that limit population growth.

Thomas Robert Malthus: An English cleric and political economist whose writings on population shaped Malthusianism. His 1798 argument gave the theory its classic formulation.
An Essay on the Principle of Population: Thomas Robert Malthus’s 1798 work arguing that population tends to outstrip subsistence. This essay first set out the argument later called Malthusianism.
Boserupian theory: The theory that population pressure can stimulate agricultural innovation and raise food production. It reverses Malthus’s emphasis by treating population growth as a possible driver of productivity.
Thomas Malthus and the Poor Laws: Malthus’s critique of British poor relief, which he argued could encourage population growth without easing poverty. His policy conclusions applied population theory to relief for the poor.
Dismal science: A nickname for economics, associated with its stark accounts of scarcity and human welfare. Malthus’s bleak population argument helped shape this reputation for political economy.
Geometric progression: A sequence whose terms grow by a constant multiplicative factor. Malthus contrasted geometric population growth with slower growth in food production.
William Godwin: An English political philosopher whose writings envisioned social progress and reduced inequality. Malthus framed his population argument partly as a response to Godwin’s optimism.
Demographic transition: The shift from high birth and death rates to low birth and death rates as societies change. It explains population decline through changing fertility and mortality rather than subsistence checks alone.
Population control: Policies and practices intended to influence the size or growth rate of a population. Malthusian reasoning has often been used to justify interventions in fertility.
Charles Darwin: An English naturalist who developed the theory of evolution by natural selection. Darwin credited Malthus’s account of population pressure with inspiring his idea of natural selection.

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