Overview

In the space of another generation, the population of the earth will rise by 2.5 billion. Yet the real problem we face is not so much the increase in numbers as the fact that growth will be highly uneven. Whereas rich countries will see aging populations with little growth, populations in poor countries will double or even triple, having a much higher percentage of young people. Against this backdrop, demographer Massimo Livi Bacci examines the implications of this disproportionate demographic development for domestic social stability, international migration flows, the balance of power among nations and the natural environment. Covering 10,000 years of human history from the Stone Age to the present, Livi Bacci shows how the space available for every inhabitant of the planet has decreased by a factor of a thousand. The notion of limits to the world's capacity - which once seemed a remote matter - is now among the most pressing issues we face, and the need to create effective global mechanisms for sustainable development is now more urgent than ever.  An indispensable book for anyone concerned with the moral and political implications of our ever more crowded planet.

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9781509515844

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Reviews

Livi Bacci thinks deeply and writes broadly about population in the context of our planet's history, environmental constraints and the future, from a constructive rather than alarmist perspective. He is concerned equally with unsustainably low fertility in rich countries and high fertility in poor ones, and the global tensions that result. Ronald D. Lee, University of California, Berkeley In this succinct and eclectic essay, one of the great demographers of our time reflects on past, present, and likely future trends in population, migration, and aging and their impacts on the environment, on politics, and on much more besides. A timely tour de force. J.R. McNeill, Georgetown University

Livi Bacci thinks deeply and writes broadly about population in the context of our planet's history, environmental constraints and the future, from a constructive rather than alarmist perspective. He is concerned equally with unsustainably low fertility in rich countries and high fertility in poor ones, and the global tensions that result. Ronald D. Lee, University of California, Berkeley

A welcome reminder of how geographical differences in demography have a profound affect on people's lives. New Scientist In this succinct and eclectic essay one of the great demographers of our time reflects on past, present, and likely future trends in population, migration, and aging and on their impacts on the environment, on politics, and on much more besides. A timely tour de force. J.R. McNeill, Georgetown University Livi Bacci thinks deeply and writes broadly about population in the context of our planet's history, environmental constraints, and the future - from a constructive rather than alarmist perspective. He is concerned equally with unsustainably low fertility in rich countries and high fertility in poor ones, and with the global tensions that result. Ronald D. Lee, University of California, Berkeley In this authoritative, beautifully synthesized analysis of global population, demographer Massimo Livi Bacci pinpoints a planet-sized problem. Nature

Author Information

Massimo Livi Bacci is Emeritus Professor of Demography at the University of Florence.

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