This time is different! Or is it? NeoMalthusians and environmental optimists in the age of climate change
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3915979 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nils Petter Gleditsch (0000-0003-2393-9515, Peace Research Institute Oslo & Norwegian University of Science and Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 177-185 |
| Publication date | 2021-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Peace Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0022-3433 • E-ISSN: 1460-3578 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343320969785 |
| OpenAlex | W3116474986 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 22 |
| References cited | 32 |
Warning about dire effects of climate change on armed conflict is a recent variation of a scenario that has been promoted by environmental pessimists for over two centuries. The essence is that human activities lead to resource scarcities that in turn will generate famine, pestilence, and war. This essay reviews three stages of the argument: first, the original Malthusian thesis that focused on food production. Second, the broader neoMalthusian concern from the 1970s about limits to growth and developing scarcities in a range of necessities. And recently, the specter of climate change. In each phase, the Malthusians have met firm opposition from environmental optimists, who argue that emerging scarcities can be countered by human ingenuity, technological progress, and national and international economic and political institutions and that environmental change is not in itself a major driver of human violence. In the third phase, the Malthusian case appears to be stronger because human activities have reached a level where they have a truly global impact. Environmental optimists still insist that these problems can be overcome by human ingenuity and that the long-term trend towards less violence in human affairs is unlikely to be reversed by climate change. The stakes seem higher, but the structure of the debate remains largely the same
Climate change · Development economics · Economics · Environmental ethics · Famine · Ingenuity · Market economy · Opposition (politics) · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Scarcity · Ecology · Global Energy and Sustainability Research · Health and Conflict Studies · Law · Transboundary Water Resource Management
Pathways from Climate Change to Conflict in U.S. Central Command
Conflict Projections in U.S. Central Command
A review of the global climate change impacts, adaptation, and sustainable mitigation measures
Human–environment Dynamics and Stages of Water Conflict in Shared-well Irrigation
Agricultural Geography and International Water Conflict
Coping with Complexity
Decomposition and Decoupling Analysis of CO2 Emissions Based on LMDI and Two-Dimensional Decoupling Model in Gansu Province, China
Analysis of the coordinated development and influencing factors between urban population and environment
Environmental Malthusianism and demography
Climate change, global population and the capitalist axiomatic
Recomposing the climate-security nexus
Ecological engineering or nature-based solutions
Population and environment
West Africa's Socioeconomic Conditions
Natural hazards, internal migration and protests in Bangladesh
Imagined communities of conflict and development
Strata
The eternal return
Beyond internal conflict
Science-policy dimensions of research on climate change and conflict
Security implications of climate change
First comes the river, then comes the conflict? A qualitative comparative analysis of flood-related political unrest
The Ultimate Resource 2
The Economic Impacts of Climate Change
Emissions – the ‘business as usual’ story is misleading
Resource Wars
Environment, Scarcity, and Violence
The conditions of agricultural growth
The Denial of Nature
The Skeptical Environmentalist
Greed and grievance in civil war
Hydro-Political Hyperbole
Constructing Environmental Conflicts from Resource Scarcity
Labor productivity and employment gaps in Sub-Saharan Africa
Globalization, Structural Change, and Productivity Growth, with an Update on Africa
Population, resources, environment
Climate Change and Conflict
Conflicting messages? The IPCC on conflict and human security
Beyond internal conflict
Science-policy dimensions of research on climate change and conflict
The Militarisation and Marketisation of Nature
Human security of urban migrant populations affected by length of residence and environmental hazards
First comes the river, then comes the conflict? A qualitative comparative analysis of flood-related political unrest
| Unique citing works | 22 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,4 |
| Citation span | 2021 - 2026 (6) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 22 |