Question: Population Geography, Capitalism, and Immigration
1. What is meant by the "tragedy of the commons"?
2. Political economy is the study of what?
3. Be able to distinguish between the "classical" and "critical" perspectives of political economy Why does the expansion of capitalism require population growth?
4. How is the geography of population growth related to the geography of industrial capitalism? What are the basic principles promoted through the ideology of capitalism?
5. What was the argument made by Thomas Malthus in relation to the inevitable consequences of perpetual population growth? And what was Marx's response?
6. What are the various drivers of immigration from Mexico to the United States? What is, and how do you read, a population (or age-sex) pyramid?
7. What are Maquiladoras, the Zapatistas, and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement)? What is Jamie Peck's argument about the role of immigration policy within capitalist societies? Where are the most densely populated parts of the world?
8. From the critical perspective of political economy (i.e., David Harvey), what is ultimately to blame for the loss of US jobs to Mexican immigrants?
9. What is the difference between "push" and "pull" factors of migration?
10. What are the biggest issues that face the baby boom generation in the United States and the other various countries facing similar problems?
11. Be able to describe the theory of the "demographic transition"
Humans and Nature
1. What is the topic of study for scholars working in Political Ecology? Out of what paradigms and/or sub-fields did Political Ecology emerge? Describe nature as a social construct and a physical realm?
2. Following Neil Smith, be able to describe the "western" conception of nature Following Neil Smith, what is meant by the "nature/society" dualism?
3. The western conception of nature has its origins in what philosophical idea? What is meant by the "duality of nature"?
4. What regions and cities in the United States are most in danger of experiencing completely depleted water resources?
5. What and who is associated with the "Cartesian split"?
6. Be able to identify the various factors of climate change, and understand why they're important, such as increased temperature, increased CO2 emissions, and how these factors are related to increased water scarcity, forest fires, etc.
7. What regions of the world are most and least vulnerable to the impacts from climate change? What was the Kyoto Protocol about?
8. Be able to distinguish between the various environmental philosophies, and the conception of nature exhibited in each
9. As the world continues to industrialize, what are the impacts of this on current and future consumption of oil?
10. What is meant by "peak oil"?