Events

The New Malthusianism: A Symposium

Recent studies project populations reaching levels of 12-14 billion individuals by the end of the century. This raises a set of questions regarding food security, pandemic threats, and environmental crisis. These issues relate back to Thomas Malthus and the concerns he raised relating to resource scarcity and human population levels, and the interaction between these. On the occasion of the 220th anniversary of Malthus’ Essay on Population, a small workshop will be convened at his Cambridge College to consider more recent explorations of Malthus and Malthusianism. Twenty participants will be invited to present papers addressing an issue arising out of Malthusian thought – motivated by current studies, new projections or historical data. The symposium will convene a group of economic historians, population/land use modellers, growth theorists, and resource economists – with the object of considering whether there are new or current insights to be derived from more recent studies related to Malthusianism.