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Street based sex workers experience some of the highest levels of stigma and violence of all sex work. According to Cimino (2014), in the United States, street-based sex workers are seen as “deviant” and “dangerous” by society, while escorts or so-called “high-class” sex workers are viewed as “seeking economic independence and personal empowerment”. Armstrong (2019) documents the connection between stigma and violence, and argues for the decriminalization of sex work, in order to protect sex workers. Street-based sex workers often do not have the option to assess clients for safety before getting in a car or going to a private space with them. They have less control over who their clients are, and they are also at higher risk of harassment and violence by law enforcement. They are subject to loitering laws that criminalize them for being on the street. This allows the police to profile, harass, and arrest them repeatedly (Chabria, 2022).
McCracken (2013) draws connections between stigma, systemic violence and victim status. She speaks to the danger of attributing a victim status to street-based sex workers. “These individuals have power, expertise and knowledge, and others can learn from them on both individual and systemic levels. Understanding every individual is capable of agentic choice, shifts the kaleidoscope and subsequently changes the view” (McCracken, 2013, p. 239).
Sidebar 15.2: From Behind the Glass
Stripping falls under the umbrella of sexuality work that engages the body. Within stripping, there are various subcategories. The classic Burlesque shows (a variety show, typically including striptease), pole dancing, lap dancing and peep-shows are all forms of stripping. Here, “stripping” will be defined as “any act in which money is exchanged for the pleasure of watching another human dance or/and remove items of clothing”. This section will include stories from a former sex worker who worked in San Francisco, where various forms of stripping exist as part of the legal sex work trade. Over the years, the number of these establishments have ebbed and flowed, coinciding with various laws and restrictions on sex work in this area of the industry. Support for the workers themselves is as fluid as the laws and attitudes towards sexuality of the culture. As shown throughout this text, the laws about sex work is varied and constructed by norms and values. There are many types of stripping, which can appeal to different people based on their individual preferences. This section will include only strip clubs and venues that housed women strippers and traditionally catered to men, because that is the only sex work experience the author has had.
The Cinema on Market Street housed a classic stage, where women would perform dances while removing their clothes. Men in the audience would watch as other women dressed in lingerie would ask to sit on their laps for personal dances. The rules were: no touching below the waist, and a woman would dance on the man’s lap for money. Rules were not strictly followed, and in reality, the women would at times rub their thighs/buttocks or use their hands to help the men ejaculate, and in some cases, there was penetration.
Across the street was the Regal Show World, which housed pornography booths where customers could drop quarters into a slot to watch pornographic movies. There were also rentals of movies and booths for longer viewings of the movies. These booths included a bench for sitting, tissue for cleaning up and a locked door. The Show World also had booths with live girls that worked behind glass. As you walked into the Regal Show World, it was like walking into a large movie theater with a sloped ramp leading you down to the action. On the right hand side, there was a desk where typically two men worked, mostly making change, renting and selling movies and “cashing out” the workers. On the wall next to the counter was a window to a hallway, where women would check in and out of work. As customers walked past the counter, there were booths of women on one side and movies on the other, and at the end of the hall was a dome for pole dancing. The dome was closed with small booths with signal doors around the stage for viewing. Customers could talk to the women that were in the booths preceding the “dome” and negotiate what might happen if they were to enter a signal booth, or they could duck right in. The women would close the booth door where they were sitting and wait for the customer behind the glass to insert at least \$5 to clear the glass window. The worker was sitting on a very small “bed” and had a phone, with which they could communicate with the customer. These conversations would range from complex fantasy work and role playing of sexual intercourse, to simply watching the women take off their clothes. The women generally started in a bra and panties, so the layers of clothes needed to be removed was minimal. Since the glass only stayed clear as long as money was being pumped in through an electronic slot, the worker’s skill was to continue to prolong a session so that the customer would “feed the meter.” The women that worked there would informally discuss the pay scale in the upstairs dressing room prior to our shifts. There was an understanding that for \$5 (of which the worker got half), the viewer would get the bra off, and \$10 would call for the removal of the panties. This of course was part of the game. The skill involved trying to get the customer to pick up the phone and ask, “what do you like?” While slowly negotiating this, we would remove our bra so that just as it came off the glass would fade. At this point in the transaction the customer would either leave or insert another \$5, or a larger tender depending on the situation. Upstairs in the dressing room, the conversations about money, shows and what the women would or would not do continued. For example, “Betsey would masturbate with a coke bottle for \$5” and, “Maria, she always got guys in her booth for \$20 off the bat.” Thinking back on these situations, the conversations and interactions in the dressing room were rich and complex. The women were diverse in age, race and life choices.
Workers were paid half of all the money they got in their booth during their 4 hour shift, but it was set up so that the worker actually was paying a fee to the theater to rent the booth. This fee was 50% of the money made during the rental time. In most of the stripping world, both women and men were paid as independent contractors. There was no guarantee of work or healthcare, which led to a unionization movement in San Francisco during the late 1990’s. Unlike prostitution, this field of sex work is legal, and therefore, workers could mobilize. In a similar way to prostitution, the world of strippers provided a needed service for people that desired human touch or fantasy. In many cases, stripping did border towards prostitution, with lines blurred, or in many cases, even crossed. For example, in the lap dancing world of a dark theater, sometimes penetration took place.
The author for this section worked in both peep-shows and lap dance theaters, but found greater comfort in the peepshow area. The glass provided a safety net, the phone and the “booths” provided an intimate environment to exchange nudity, sexual interactions and fantasies. In the era this took place, the workers were all women, and the majority of the customers were men. The story below describes a real experience the author had with a client who was seeking an outlet for their sexual needs.
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At the Regal Show World, there was a man who regularly visited the girls that worked there. He was a tall, older, and professional man that worked in the financial district in San Francisco. After you had been working consistently for a number of months, he might pop into your booth. The first time, he would slip in a \$20, which was always delightful for any of the women working. Once the window was clear, he introduced himself and asked a few introductory type questions. This was always welcomed in this workplace, since each \$5 put about 2 minutes on the clock, and so burning time was essential. Keeping the customer talking about what they “liked” was a necessary skill and could take a good 3-5 minutes. This man liked to “eat” the cum of other men, and specifically, off the window. His request was, “please get one of the men to cum on the window” (easy!), but to convince him not to clean up after themselves. This was always tricky since most of the men would automatically wipe their bodily fluids off the glass. Once the request was explained, the man would leave the booth and linger outside of the booth area and wait for the signal. If you were lucky, the cum eater would come in a second time and drop another \$20. Interestingly, he wanted you to watch him lick the cum off the window, which he would do in a way that suggested he was eating the most delicious delicacy. He would scoop it off with his fingers and play with it around his face. He would stick out his tongue and let the cum wrap around his lips and tongue. This would go on until the time ran out on the \$20. I always wondered if his fantasy was to gross out the worker that watched. At some point, this man asked me to come to his house and do a private show. This was a common request, and the terms of this show were usually negotiated in the booth. Interestingly, I had never stripped for this particular customer.
The cum eater and I discussed the terms and agreed that I would go to his home, strip and masturbate there for him. There would be no touching and the price was \$100 in cash. He lived close to Dolores Park in SF. I rang the bell and he answered dressed much more casually than I was used to seeing him at the Regal. I distinctly remember that the front door was a glass pane with a deadbolt, because after letting me in, he deadbolted the door with a key on the inside and took the key out of the lock and placed it into his pocket. This really freaked me out, but I continued up the stairs into this flat. It was nice, and he showed me around and played tapes of his wife having sex with other men. After about 15-20 minutes of this, I stripped for him while he sat in his living room on this couch. After I was nude I sat next to him so he could watch me masturbate. I distinctly remember him touching my leg and feet with his feet which was technically breaking the agreed upon “rules” but I let him. After a while he came, gave me my money and I was on my way.
I experienced a world of diversity in terms of the sexual needs of clients during my time in the field of sexuality work that engages with the body. I have no regrets working in this industry; I found it both humane and lucrative. Stripping is a good paying job that allows for a flexible schedule. This was important for me as a college student at the time, and was a great way to pay off debt.
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Pornography is the ‘portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purpose of arousal.” Pornography has been around for as long as human beings have been creating art. Before the internet, film, photography, and the printing press, there were people creating sexual imagery for the purpose of arousal, as depicted by ancient drawing, painting and sculpture.
The professional porn industry is often referred to as the “adult industry.” Child pornography, or any sexual imagery depicting people under the age of 18, is illegal in the United States. We also see a lot of what is known as “amateur porn” on the Internet today. This refers to pornography that someone is creating on their own, not as a job, but often for their own enjoyment, and for others to enjoy as well. There are big differences between professional porn created by the adult industry and amateur pornography.
Professional porn does not represent reality, nor is it meant to. It is a fantasy. Just as in other professional films, many techniques are used to create that fantasy. Lighting, makeup, camera angles, photoshopping are all used to create visual imagery and to enhance how people look. As far as obtaining and maintaining erections, there are fluffers off camera (people to help with erections). The use of pills such as Viagra, penis pumps and penile injections are all also commonly used for this purpose. Keeping this in mind, it is best not to compare oneself or one’s sex life with pornography (LAD Bible, 2022).
For many young people today, pornography is being used as an unofficial sex education. Due to a lack of comprehensive sex education and porn literacy in the United States, it is easy to see why some young people may believe that real sex should look like sex in pornography. This creates a false sense of what real sex is like (LAD Bible, 2022).
Many sex educators believe it is important youth receive education about pornography, but not be shamed for being curious about it, or for receiving pleasure from it. Education should include teaching that it is illegal to consume pornography if you’re under the age of 18, that although the naked human body is not shameful, they should not take or share naked pictures of themselves or others, or pictures or videos that are sexual in nature. This could be considered child pornography, and there could be serious legal and social consequences for this.
The largest online adult content sites average about 3 trillion monthly visitors. This is more than popular sites such as Amazon, Netflix and Reddit. The annual revenue from pornography is anywhere from \$6-\$15 billion in the United States (Grant, 2020). Clearly, there is a high demand for pornography, and the industry is not going anywhere. However, it is going through changes. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, when everything shut down at first, many porn actors began working from home, offering their own content online. Some predict that this trend will continue to have an effect on the adult industry, as more people opt to work for themselves (Grant, 2020).
Sidebar 15.3: Adult Pornography Industry - The Industry Response to an HIV Outbreak in 2013
By Sam Zia, LMFT
In the Summer of 2013, the adult film industry was in flux. The industry was transitioning from the distribution of traditional, physical forms of media, such as DVD and VHS, to online streaming services. Los Angeles had just passed Measure B (requiring condoms to be used on porn sets) the previous year, a decision that was in the process of being appealed. The argument from the adult film industry, in defense of not needing condoms in porn, was based around the idea that with mandated, frequent testing of performers (every two weeks, at most 4 weeks), they could “police themselves,” and prevent major outbreaks of STIs.
This idea was put to the test that August, when an adult film star tested positive for HIV. The ripple effect was immediate. The industry called for a moratorium on all shooting, allowing for any performers testing positive to be removed from the talent pool before resuming production/filming. Over a period of a month, four performers were found to have contracted HIV. It was determined that none of the cases of transmission occurred on-set (the last known case of on-set HIV transmission occurred in 2004). This incident, however, highlighted a glaring problem within the Adult Film industry. Although testing is mandated by production companies on shoots featuring a man and women, or two women, some companies that shoot scenes involving two men do not require STD/STI testing. Despite this, the only times the industry had to shut down filming since 2013, was in 2017, when three performers tested positive for HIV, and in 2020, with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since the 2013 HIV outbreak, the industry has continued to evolve. Many production companies left Los Angeles County, settling in surrounding counties, or Las Vegas. With the Covid-19 pandemic, shooting shut down temporarily, with many adult film stars creating their own websites and webcamming pages to continue to make money. However, since the industry has had experience with transmissible illnesses, it was not long before production companies adapted to the need for more stringent testing, and filming resumed.
Sidebar 15.4: Men in Sex Work - A Personal Story
My name is Lance and I began doing sex work when I was 29, and it has been my career for the last 12 years. During the 2008 recession, I was laid off from my retail management job, so I decided to explore my passion for massage therapy, and went to school to learn more technique. I was quite comfortable with my body and a very sexual person, and had previously attended a few all-male massage workshops that were rooted in The Body Electric School, which seeks to connect the erotic and the sacred.
Doing erotic work felt like a very natural extension to my massage work, though there was certainly a learning and growth curve.
One of the questions I often get from others is how do I have sex with someone that I’m not attracted to, and in all honesty, it took some effort in the beginning. I’ve observed that most people tend to look at themselves and rather than focus on all that is beautiful and blessed we focus on what is “imperfect” and we tend to place that judgment on other people as well. As I grew to love myself more, I began to see others differently. While in the beginning, focusing on what was attractive about a client was something I had to make a conscious effort to do, it soon became natural. I soon began to realize that the vulnerability and trust they showed me was not only beautiful but was also sacred and spiritual.
As a white, cisgender male at 6’3” I do recognize my privilege in this industry. I don’t have to be nearly as cautious or do as much screening of my clients as cis & trans women, and I’m rarely the focus of legal persecution, which unfairly equates sex work with human trafficking, as some feel that through their pious efforts, they need to “save” people from their work.
I absolutely love my work and even though making money is a motivator (just like any job) there really is nothing else I would rather be doing. I have had the honor to share erotic energy with a man in his 70’s, who was recently widowed and had never been with a man, though had been longing for it for 50+ years. I’ve laid in a hospice bed and held a man dying of brain cancer, because his best friend wanted him to experience one last time naked with a man (I’m crying while I type this).
Though everyone’s experience and motivation in this industry is different, for me, bringing deep intimacy in every session is my hope and intention. One can have sex and an erotic experience without much intimacy, but it’s intimacy that really gets to the heart and soul and, that’s where I hope to reside with my clients, even if it’s just for an hour or so. As I like to say Sex Work is Soul Work.
Sidebar 15.5: What are FOSTA, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, and SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act?
Because many types of sexuality work that engages with the body are currently illegal in most of the United States, workers face additional risk of legal prosecution for doing their job. While the issue remains complicated, this new pair of laws, FOSTA, the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, and SESTA, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act essentially pose greater risk to sex workers who rely on the internet to make a living.
Watch the following for more information, and also read FOSTA-SESTA, a law intended to curb sex trafficking, threatens the internet's future - Vox
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In order to understand the sex worker right’s movement, it is important to understand the differences between decriminalization, legalization, and what is referred to as the Nordic model, of sex work. With decriminalization, it would no longer be a crime to trade sex for money or other goods. No aspect of the transaction would be criminalized. Legalization, which is what we have in the United States in a few areas of Nevada, makes it legal to trade sex for money, but only under strict policies, and this excludes most people and keeps law enforcement in control. In fact, Nevada has the highest arrest rate for prostitution in the U.S. Finally, the Nordic model makes it a crime for the person purchasing the sex, but not for the person selling it. This model also does not protect sex workers, as people purchasing services are scared of arrest, and therefore, it pushes sex work into more desolate areas, leaving sex workers more vulnerable to violence and abuse (Decriminalize Sex Work, 2022). Most sex workers advocate for decriminalization over the other options.
Two new United States laws passed in 2018 known as the SESTA (Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers (SESTA) and Fight Online Sex Trafficking (FOSTA) Acts, have had a negative impact on the safety of sex workers in the U.S. The law shut down websites that sex workers used to advertise and find clients. The purpose of the law, as it is written, is to fight human trafficking. Human trafficking is when coercion or force is used to make someone engage in sex acts. This is not the same as consensual adult sex work (Decriminalize Sex Work, 2022). Unfortunately, the law has not been successful in fighting trafficking, and actually, agencies that work to fight trafficking say that it has made it more difficult to find human traffickers, since the websites were shut down due to the law (Schmidt & Lang, 2019). These websites allowed sex workers to advertise safely, find and screen clients before meeting them, and have more ownership over their work (Transgender Law Center, 2022). It also allowed for sex workers to exchange information with one another, in order to keep each other safe. Due to the loss of these websites, sex work was once again pushed into the underground market, and many sex workers returned to the streets to work, where they are at higher risk for violence from law enforcement and predators who pose as clients.
Transgender women of color are far more likely to be targeted by law enforcement for sex work, resulting in higher rates of harassment, assault, rape and arrest by law enforcement officers. Transgender women of color who engage in sex work are also more often victims of murder (Transgender Law Center, 2022).
As Black and brown transgender sex workers, we demand the full decriminalization of sex work and the end to the stigma, violence, and policing that plagues our communities. It is impossible to be genuinely committed to ending violence against trans communities, particularly trans women of color, without a commitment to decriminalizing sex work. (Transgender Law Center, 2022)
Decriminalizing sex work decreases rates of human trafficking, and increases the safety and well-being of sex workers (Decriminalize Sex Work, 2022). Some states are realizing the disproportionate effect that these laws have on populations already at risk of harm, specifically, Black, Brown and Trans sex workers. In July of 2022, CA Governor Gavin Newsom signed CA senate bill 357 into law, which repeals a law regarding loitering for the intent to sell sex. A few other cities, including Seattle, WA, have already done so, along with the State of New York. While seen as controversial by some, repealing the loitering law adds a protective layer for sex workers who work at the margins and are often forced into dangerous meeting spaces in order to make a living. In a July 2022 interview by LA Times Reporter Hannah Wiley, Ayako Miyashita-Ochoa, co-director of the Southern California HIV/AIDS Policy Research Center and adjunct professor at the UCLA Lushkin School of Public Affairs says criminalization “pushes sex workers into isolated and unsafe spaces with scant evidence of any positive health outcomes (Wiley, 2022).
Sidebar 15.6: Social Media and Sexuality Based Work that Engages with the Body
Social media has played a major role in shaping the way people perceive sexuality based work that engages with the body. While stigma surrounding this work persist, platforms like OnlyFans have helped legitimize sexuality based work that engages with the body, and has given people opportunities to generate more income as a result.
Due to the expansion of social media, virtually anybody can participate in sexuality based work that engages with the body through the gig economy, where there are less ‘middle-men’ involved in the process. Many people who participate in sexuality based work that engages with the body in the twenty-first century are able to build sustainable businesses from their work, allowing them to enter the world of entrepreneurship. Digital technology is extremely helpful in the new age of sexuality based work that engages with the body because it provides safer opportunities for people to participate in this type of work.
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Our sexuality is a part of our overall wellness. As we’ve discussed in other chapters of this book, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other health related organizations see sexual health as a necessary part of our well-being. Work in this field, whether currently legal or not, is a therapeutic intervention for some. To revisit, the WHO asserts:
Sexual health is fundamental to the overall health and well-being of individuals, couples and families, and to the social and economic development of communities and countries.
Sexual health, when viewed affirmatively, requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence.
The ability of men and women to achieve sexual health and well-being depends on their:
• access to comprehensive, good-quality information about sex and sexuality
• knowledge about the risks they may face and their vulnerability to adverse consequences of unprotected sexual activity
• ability to access sexual health care
• living in an environment that affirms and promotes sexual health (World Health Organization, 2022).
If our sexual health is suffering for whatever reason and we wish to intervene, many of the professions discussed in this chapter could potentially serve as a remedy. Western culture, particularly in the United States, has stigmatized sex and sexuality to a point where we are all a bit conflicted when it comes to sexual expression and freedom. In particular, we have a history that presupposes that sex is just for procreation, or that only cisgender, straight, white, male people are supposed to enjoy sex. When sexual relationships happen between gendered male and gendered female people, there is often a disconnect because of these cultural messages. When we force people into gendered boxes that come accompanied with prescribed behaviors around sexuality, we come together and are not sure how everything works with our partners, because we’ve been taught entirely different sexual scripts. Sex education often does not teach students about pleasure and the parts of the body that are designed for sexual enjoyment. I’ve looked long and hard, and have not heard of a high school class that teaches their students the beauty of erectile tissue. Imagine how empowering that knowledge could potentially be. In a society that touts freedom as one of their main cultural values, this is ironic.
Because many of us were forced to unlearn some of those messages and reclaim our sexuality, sex(uality) work that engages with the body can be a useful tool. Whether it be gendered messages around our sexuality, past traumas, or lack of knowledge about our bodies and what they are capable of, sometimes finding support in this realm is a great option. I encourage everyone to watch GOOD LUCK TO YOU, LEO GRANDE | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures. It is a beautiful, awkward, and messy story about a woman finding her pleasure through the help of a kind and compassionate sex worker. As pointed out in this chapter, this type of work can offer someone lifesaving wellness.
Decriminalizing sex(uality) work that engages with the body could potentially be a step in the direction of removal of stigma. The result of cultural messages that conflate sexuality with sin is that people don’t talk openly about sex. What if we were to celebrate sexuality and teach students from a young age that our sexuality is part of our overall physical health? I think the world would be a better place. I know that’s a large assertion, but take a moment and think about how your life would be if you had no sexual or body hang-ups. Hypothetically, remove those barriers from your life, and imagine what would be different for you.
As we mentioned earlier in the chapter, decriminalizing sex(uality) work that engages with the body would also help protect sex workers. We see what happens to sex workers as restrictions against their work increases, forcing them deeper into secretive websites that put them at great danger. If, as is the case with new SESTA/FOSTA internet guidelines, people are forced to arrange appointments and services in only the darkest corners of the internet, workers have little to no protection from client harm. Those who provide legal health services of any kind, including legal sex work, have the option to call law enforcement to intervene if they feel in danger, and may be protected by various workplace measures. Those working illegally cannot. Sex(uality) work that engages with the body is part of societies worldwide. How each nation decides to institutionalize it varies, and these decisions have consequences. It would be a large but doable leap to shift how we view sexuality. Other models exist, and nations like Norway and Sweden who have adopted more inclusive and accepting policies and attitudes toward sexuality have not fallen into moral decay. In fact, their overall quality of life is far better than those in the United States based on multiple measures (Eglitis, n.d.).
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The ways in which sexuality is policed, stigmatized and separated from our overall wellness in the U.S. creates a specific backdrop to learn about our sexuality. There is nothing natural about the way in which children learn about sex; we have demonstrated in this text that the sex education children receive growing up varies drastically from nation to nation. It is steeped in culture and disseminated to us based on social norms. Because of the frame in which sexuality appears in U.S. culture, it may even be strange for you to read a book discussing the idea that all consensual sex work should be legal.
There is a vast array of sexuality-related workers who engage with the body that fulfill needs for intimacy and sexual desire. The work provides much needed sexual health care to many people and yet, it remains highly stigmatized, pathologized and criminalized. This type of prejudice goes unchallenged, whereas others would be called out. Sexuality workers are often seen as morally suspect, and much of public discourse denies them any agency over their profession. Media representations of sexuality-related workers who engage with the body, intimacy and sexual desire are often laden in stereotypes and tropes that are insulting and inaccurate. Because the cultural narrative around sexuality is still framed in the white, cis, heteronormative, monogamous, penis in vagina (PIV) sex, anyone who engages in sex for reasons other than love and intimacy with one committed partner challenge the sexual scripts we’ve learned to follow.
15.12: Conclusion
The field of sex(uality) work that engages with the body is diverse and serves many purposes. Some services are legal in the U.S., and others are illegal. Sexological Bodywork, Surrogate Partner Therapy, and working with a trained BDSM bodyworker can help individuals or partners explore arousal and pleasure using a variety of modalities including erotic massage, breathwork, and how to teach and manage consent and boundaries. Camming, Porn, Street Based Sex Work, and Stripping all provide outlets of sexual desire and gratification. Depending on the nation where this work is being done, it is either legally sanctioned and protected, or it is not, and workers put themselves at considerable risk. Sex(uality) work that engages with the body is not illegal in every nation. Decriminalizing the types of consensual sex(uality) work that engages with the body that are now illegal in the United States would allow for added protection of the workers.
15.13: Discussion Questions
Discussion Questions
1. Thinking of the various types of sex(uality) work that engages with the body, can you identify any common themes throughout in terms of the intended outcome that go beyond sexual gratification? Explain.
2. What are some of the issues that people seek support with when they enlist the services of sex(uality) workers who engage with the body?
3. If the U.S. had quality sex education throughout a student’s life what would be different in society? (very broad, I know, so think big)
4. What if all sex work was legal? Debate this idea.
5. Do we “live in an environment that affirms and promotes sexual health” (World Health Organization, 2022)? There may be ways that we do and we do not, you get to assess this. Provide examples for your answer.
15.14: For Further Exploration
Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers - https://sexologicalbodyworkers.org/
Podcasts - On the Whorizon and Peepshow
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-whorizon/id1588429195
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/peepshow-podcast/id1291753966
International Professional Surrogates Association - https://www.surrogatetherapy.org/
Certified Surrogate Partner - www.surrogatepartner.us
Surrogate Partner Collective - www.surrogatepartnercollective.org
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1. Burlesque: a variety show, typically including striptease.
2. Camming: the internet streaming of adult content” (Dictionary, 2022)
3. Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA): adds penalties for hosting illegal sex work-related content
4. Kink: consensual, non-traditional sexual, sensual, and intimate behaviors such as sadomasochism, domination and submission, erotic roleplaying, fetishism, and erotic forms of discipline
5. Pornography: the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purpose of arousal
6. Professional Dominatrix: paid professional who takes the dominant role in BDSM/kink activities, sometimes referred to as a pro-domme.
7. Sexological Bodywork: body-based educational modality that supports individuals, couples, and groups to learn to direct their erotic development and to deepen their erotic wellbeing and embodiment” (Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers, 2022)
8. Street-based sex-work: a form of sex work in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc.
9. Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA): The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act are the U.S. Senate and House bills that as the FOSTA-SESTA package became law on April 11, 2018
10. Surrogate Partner Therapy (SPT): is based on the work of sex researchers Masters and Johnson and uses their technique of sensate focus (touching for one’s own pleasure) as a basis for exploring physical intimacy
15.16: References
Anna, P. (2016, updated 2021). Beginning and Ending a Relationship in 12 days: My Training As a Sexual Surrogate. https://www.kinkly.com/2/13959/sexual-health/bdsm/beginning-and-ending-a-relationship-in-12-days-my-training-as-a-sexual-surrogate
Armstrong, L. (2019). Stigma, decriminalization, and violence against street-based sex workers: Changing the narrative. Sexualities, 22(7–8), 1288–1308. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460718780216
Association of Certified Sexological Bodyworkers (n.d.). What is Sexological Bodywork? https://sexologicalbodyworkers.org/whatis
Bernstein, E. (2007). Sex Work for the Middle Classes. Sexualities, 10(4), 473–488. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460707080984
Chabria, A. (2022, January 3). Sex Workers are pitted against each other in fight over California’s loitering law: Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/s...-for-loitering
Cimino, A.N. (2014, January). Online and Street-Based Sex Work Exposed: Differences in Perceived of Risk and Stigma. Conference: The Society for Social Work and Research 2014 Annual Conference. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/268106372_Online_and_Street-Based_Sex_Work_Exposed_Differences_in_Perceived_of_Risk_and_Stigma
Comte, J. (2014). Decriminalization of sex work: feminist discourses in light of research. Sexuality & Culture : An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 18(1), 196–217. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-013-9174-5
Decriminalize Sex Work (2022). Why Decriminalization of Sex Work. https://decriminalizesex.work/why-decriminalization/
Decriminalize Sex Work (2022). What is SESTA/FOSTA? https://decriminalizesex.work/advoca...s-sesta-fosta/
Dictionary (2022). https://www.dictionary.com/browse/camming
Drolet, G. (2020, April 10). The Year Sex Work Came Home. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/10/style/camsoda-onlyfans-streaming-sex-coronavirus.html
Eglitis, L. (n.d.). Country Comparison. In World Data. Retrieved from https://www.worlddata.info/country-c...R&country2=USA
Feder, T. (2014). Sex is the Least of It: Surrogate Partners Discuss Love, Life and Intimacy. Pleasure Plus Publishing.
Friedman, J. (2021). Surrogate Partner Therapy: Why aren’t we doing it? Sexual Health Research Lab. https://www.sexlab.ca/blog/2021/1/12/surrogate-partner-therapy-why-arent-we-doing-it
Grant, K. (2020, December 20). You need to think about pornography more. Business Casual. https://column.businesscasual.fm/adult-entertainment-business
International Professional Surrogates Association (2020). What is Surrogate Partner Therapy? https://www.surrogatetherapy.org/what-is-surrogate-partner-therapy
IPSA Surrogate Partner Therapy. (2020, January 19). Supervising SPT, Dr. Vena Blanchard, AASECT. [Video] YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6uTdiyKx3E
LADbible TV, (2022, February 20). Porn Director Reveals Secrets of the Adult Industry. [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8z7bQBVufM
Lampe, N. M. (2021). Book Review: Camming: Money, Power, and Pleasure in the Sex Work Industry. Teaching Sociology, 49(3), 305–306. https://doi.org/10.1177/0092055X211023693
McCracken, J. (2013). Street sex workers' discourse: realizing material change through agential choice (1st ed., Ser. Routledge research in gender and society, 34). Routledge.
Rose, C.M. & Rose, C.M. (Hosts). Speaking of Sex with the Pleasure Mechanics. (2019, August 2). In The Origin of Erotic Massage: Joseph Kramer interview part one (No. 345) [Audio podcast episode].Blubrry Podcasting. https://www.pleasuremechanics.com/th...erview-part-1/
Rose, C.M. & Rose, C.M. (Hosts). Speaking of Sex with the Pleasure Mechanics. (2019, August 9). In The Origin of Erotic Massage: Joseph Kramer interview part two (No. 346) [Audio podcast episode].Blubrry Podcasting. https://www.pleasuremechanics.com/sh...erview-part-2/
Schmidt, S. & Lang, M.J. (2019). Transgender Sex Workers Feel Under Attack. These women are working to protect their own. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/transgender-sex-workers-feel-under-attack-these-women-are-working-to-protect-their-own/2019/09/16/2cfa1856-d58b-11e9-86ac-0f250cc91758_story.html
Shewey, D. (1992). Joseph Kramer: Portrait of a Sexual Healer. https://www.donshewey.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/joe-kramer-interview.pdf
Snow, A. (2020, June 20). The Porn Industry Is Having a Major Meltdown. In The Daily Beast. Retrieved from https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-porn-industry-is-having-a-major-meltdown
Transgender Law Center (2022). Defining the Problem. https://transgenderlawcenter.org/tra...freedom-thrive
Urban Justice Center Sex Workers Project (2022). https://swp.urbanjustice.org/
Wiley, H. (2022, July 1). California repeals anti-loitering law that sparked debate over decriminalizing sex work. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-01/gavin-newsom-signs-bill-to-repeal-californias-anti-loitering-law-debate-sex-work
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Module 1: Foundations of A Psychology of Gender
Module Overview
In our first module, we will lay the foundation for the rest of the book by contrasting gender with the concepts of sex and sexual orientation and differentiate health and wellness. We will discuss dimensions of gender and why gender congruence is important, and then move to a listing of terms important to the study of gender. With this done, we will briefly overview movements specific to women (i.e. feminism) and men and then outline some of the professional societies and journals committed to studying gender issues.
Module Outline
• 1.1.Defining Terms
• 1.2.Movements Linked to Gender
• 1.3.Connecting with Other Psychologists of Gender
Module Learning Outcomes
• Contrast gender with sex and sexual orientation and describe the key components of gender.
• Describe movements geared to women and men.
• Identify professional societies and journals committed to the study of gender issues.
1.1. Defining Terms
Section Learning Objectives
• Define psychology.
• Contrast health and wellness.
• Differentiate sex and gender.
• List the dimensions of gender.
• Clarify the importance of gender congruence.
• Differentiate gender and sexual orientation.
• Define key terms in relation to the language of gender.
1.1.1. What is Psychology?
Welcome to your course on the psychology of gender which this book supports. Of course, you may be expecting a definition of gender in this module and we will definitely provide one. But since some students taking this class are not psychology majors or minors, and most of you had your introductory class some time ago, we want to ensure you have a solid foundation to build on. So to get us started we need to understand what psychology is.
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Yes, that is correct. Psychology is scientific. Psychology utilizes the same scientific process and methods practiced by disciplines such as biology and chemistry. We will discuss this in more detail in Module 2 so please just keep this in the back of your mind for now. Second, it is the study of behavior and mental processes. Psychology desires to not only understand why people engage in the behavior that they do, but also how. What is going on in the brain to control the movement of our arms and legs when running downfield to catch the game winning touchdown, what affects the words we choose to say when madly in love, how do we interpret an event as benign or a threat when a loud sound is heard, and what makes an individual view another group in less than favorable terms? Such prejudicial or discriminatory behavior could be directed at a person due to their gender or sexual orientation. These are just a few of the questions that we ask as psychologists and our focus in this book is on the psychology of gender.
1.1.2. What is Health and Wellness?
As we discuss the psychology of gender, we will cover numerous topics that affect a person’s health and wellness. So, it seems logical that we should explain what these terms mean. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) defines wellness as “being in good physical and mental health.” They add, “Remember that wellness is not the absence of illness or stress. You can still strive for wellness even if you are experiencing these challenges in your life.” Most people see wellness as just focused on the physical or mental. These are part of the picture, but definitely not the whole picture.
SAMHSA proposes eight dimensions of wellness as follows (this information is directly from their website):
• Physical – Recognizing the need for physical activity, healthy foods, and sleep.
• Emotional – Coping effectively with life and creating satisfying relationships.
• Environmental—Good health by occupying pleasant, stimulating environments that support well-being
• Financial—Satisfaction with current and future financial situations
• Intellectual—Recognizing creative abilities and finding ways to expand knowledge and skills
• Occupational—Personal satisfaction and enrichment from one’s work
• Social— Developing a sense of connection, belonging, and a well-developed support system
• Spiritual— Expanding a sense of purpose and meaning in life
As we tackle the content of the remaining modules consider the various dimensions of wellness that are affected by topics related to gender such as stereotypes, identity formation, aggression, relationships, health, sexuality, development, mental disorders, and physiology. As you will see, all eight are involved at different times.
1.1.3. What is a Psychology of Gender?
Alright. Now to the business at hand – defining what gender is. Before we can do that we have to understand what the term sex means. But why? Aren’t they the same thing. Though typically considered synonyms by many, sex and gender have distinct meanings that become important when collecting data and engaging in research. First, sex refers to the biological aspects of a person due to their anatomy. This includes the individual’s hormones, chromosomes, body parts such as the sexual organs, and how they all interact. When we say sex, we are generally describing whether the person is male or female and this is assigned at birth.
In contrast, gender is socially constructed (presumed after a sex is assigned) and leads to labels such as masculinity or femininity and their related behaviors. People may declare themselves to be a man or woman, as having no gender, or falling on a continuum somewhere between man and woman. How so? According to genderspectrum.org, gender results from the complex interrelationship of three dimensions – body, identity, and social.
First, body, concerns our physical body, how we experience it, how society genders bodies, and the way in which others interact with us based on our body. The website states, “Bodies themselves are also gendered in the context of cultural expectations. Masculinity and femininity are equated with certain physical attributes, labeling us as more or less a man/woman based on the degree to which those attributes are present. This gendering of our bodies affects how we feel about ourselves and how others perceive and interact with us.”
Next is gender identity or our internal perception and expression of who we are as a person. It includes naming our gender, though this gender category may not match the sex we are assigned at birth. Gender identities can take on several forms from the traditional binary man-woman, to non-binary such as genderqueer or genderfluid, and ungendered or agender (i.e. genderless). Though gaining an understanding of what gender we are occurs by age four, naming it is complex and can evolve over time. As genderspectrum.org says, “Because we are provided with limited language for gender, it may take a person quite some time to discover, or create, the language that best communicates their internal experience. Likewise, as language evolves, a person’s name for their gender may also evolve. This does not mean their gender has changed, but rather that the words for it are shifting.”
Finally, we have a social gender or the manner in which we present our gender in the world, but also how other people, society, and culture affect our concept of gender. In terms of the former, we communicate our gender through our clothes, hairstyles, and behavior called gender expression. In terms of the latter, children are socialized as to what gender means from the day they are born and through toys, colors, and clothes. Who does this socialization? Anyone outside the child can to include parents, grandparents, siblings, teachers, the media, religious figures, friends, and the community. Generally, the binary male-female view of gender is communicated for which there are specific gender expectations and roles. According to genderspectrum.org, “Kids who don’t express themselves along binary gender lines are often rendered invisible or steered into a more binary gender presentation. Pressures to conform at home, mistreatment by peers in school, and condemnation by the broader society are just some of the struggles facing a child whose expression does not fall in line with the binary gender system.” The good news is that gender norms do change over time such as our culture’s acceptance of men wearing earrings and women getting tattoos.
1.1.4. Gender Congruence
When we feel a sense of harmony in our gender, we are said to have gender congruence. It takes the form of naming our gender such that it matches our internal sense of who we are, expressing ourselves through our clothing and activities, and being seen consistently by other people as we see ourselves. Congruence does not happen overnight but occurs throughout life as we explore, grow, and gain insight into ourselves. It is a simple process for some and complex for others, though all of us have a fundamental need to obtain gender congruence.
When a person moves from the traditional binary view of gender to transgender, agender, or non-binary, they are said to “transition” and find congruence in their gender. Genderspectrum.org adds, “What people see as a “Transition” is actually an alignment in one or more dimensions of the individual’s gender as they seek congruence across those dimensions. A transition is taking place, but it is often other people (parents and other family members, support professionals, employers, etc.) who are transitioning in how they see the individual’s gender, and not the person themselves. For the person, these changes are often less of a transition and more of an evolution.” Harmony is sought in various ways to include:
• Social – Changing one’s clothes, hairstyle, and name and/or pronouns
• Hormonal – Using hormone blockers or hormone therapy to bring about physical, mental, and/or emotional alignment
• Surgical – When gender-related physical traits are added, removed, or modified
• Legal – Changing one’s birth certificate or driver’s license
The website states that the transition experience is often a significant event in the person’s life. “A public declaration of some kind where an individual communicates to others that aspects of themselves are different than others have assumed, and that they are now living consistently with who they know themselves to be, can be an empowering and liberating experience (and moving to those who get to share that moment with them).”
1.1.5. Gender and Sexual Orientation
As gender was shown to be different from sex, so too we must distinguish it from sexual orientation which concerns who we are physically, emotionally, and/or romantically attracted to. Hence, sexual orientation is interpersonal while gender is personal. We would be mistaken to state that a boy who plays princess is gay or that a girl who wears boy’s clothing and has short hair is necessarily lesbian. The root of such errors comes from our confusing gender and sexual orientation. The way someone dresses or acts concerns gender expression and we cannot know what their sexual orientation is from these behaviors.
1.1.6. The Language of Gender
Before we move on in this module and into the rest of the book, it is critical to have a working knowledge of terms related to the study of gender. Consider the following:
• Agender – When someone does not identify with a gender
• Cisgender – When a person’s gender identity matches their assigned sex at birth
• FtM – When a person is assigned a female sex at birth but whose gender identity is boy/man
• Gender dysphoria – When a person is unhappy or dissatisfied with their gender and can occur in relation to any dimension of gender. The person may experience mild discomfort to unbearable distress.
• Genderfluid – When a person’s gender changes over time; they view gender as dynamic and changing
• Gender role – All the activities, functions, and behaviors that are expected of males and females by society
• Genderqueer – Anyone who does not identify with conventional gender identities, roles, expectations, or expression.
• MtF – When a person is assigned a male sex at birth but whose gender identity is girl/woman
• Nonbinary – When a gender identity is not exclusively masculine or feminine
• Transgender – When a person’s gender identity differs from their assigned sex
To learn more about gender, we encourage you to explore the https://www.genderspectrum.org/ website.
The World Health Organization also identifies two more key concepts in relation to gender. Gender equality is “the absence of discrimination on the basis of a person’s sex in opportunities, the allocation of resources and benefits, or access to services” while gender equity refers to “the fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits and responsibilities between women and men.” We will tackle these two issues throughout the book in numerous places.
Additional Resources:
1.2. Movements Linked to Gender
Section Learning Objectives
• Define feminism.
• Outline the three waves of feminism.
• List and describe the types of feminism.
• Describe and exemplify types of movements related to men.
1.2.1. Feminism
Simply, feminism states that men and women should be equal socially, economically, and politically. According to Ropers-Huilman (2002) feminist theory is grounded in three main principles. First, is the assertion that women having something of value to contribute to every aspect of the world. Second, due to oppression, women have not been able to achieve their full potential or gain full participation in society. Third, feminist research should go beyond just critiquing and include social transformation.
Feminism has developed over three waves. The first, occurring during the late 19th to early 20th centuries, was linked to the women’s suffragist movement and obtaining the right to vote for women, as well as abolitionism. Key figures included Elizabeth Cady Stanton who convened the Seneca Falls Convention in July 1848 at which it was proposed in the “Declaration of Sentiments” that women be given the right to vote, Susan B. Anthony who started the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) with Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and Matilda Joslyn Gage. The second wave spanned the 1960s to the 1990s and unfolded during the antiwar and civil rights movements and drew in women of color as well as women from developing nations. During this time, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed and the National Organization for the Women was started. On January 22, 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision made abortion legal with the Supreme Court asserting that a woman’s right to an abortion was implicit in the right to privacy which was protected in the 14th amendment. Finally, the third wave began in the 1990s and continues until today. Feminists in this wave are proud to wear tattoos, lipstick, and high heels, and display cleavage.
Feminism also takes several forms. First, liberal feminism was rooted in the first wave and seeks to level the playing field so that women can pursue the same opportunities that men can. It also attempts to dispel the belief that women are by nature not as intelligent or physically capable as men. Second, radical feminism states that its liberal counterpart is not drastic enough to address centuries of oppression on the individual, institutional, and systemic levels. It seeks to have society place higher value on feminine qualities which they believe would lessen gender oppression.
Third, multicultural feminism suggests that women in a country such as the United States have different interconnected identities. Fourth, eco feminism links the destruction of the planet with the exploitation of women worldwide by the patriarchy. It investigates racism, socioeconomic privilege, and speciesism. Fifth, cultural feminism states that fundamental differences exist between men and women and those special qualities of women should be celebrated.
1.2.2. Men’s Movements
Interestingly, movements geared to men take on three forms according to Fox (2004). First, the mythopoetic men’s movement focuses inward and on interpersonal issues related to their own manhood. They believe that modern society has feminized men and use self-help approaches to bring men back into manhood. They are characterized by such groups as the ManKind Project and Promise Keepers. In terms of the former, their website states: “The ManKind Project empowers men to missions of service, supporting men to make a difference in the lives of others – men, women, and children around the world. We help men through any transition, men at all levels of success, men facing almost any challenge. Our flagship training, is described by many as the most powerful men’s training available: New Warrior Training Adventure. The ManKind Project (MKP) is not affiliated with any religious practice or political party. We strive to be increasingly inclusive and affirming of cultural differences, especially with respect to color, class, sexual orientation, faith, age, ability, ethnicity, and nationality.” The New Warrior Training Adventure is described as a “modern male initiation and self-examination” that has men stop living vicariously through movies, television, an addiction and to step into their own adventure. For more on the ManKind Project, please visit: https://mankindproject.org/.
In terms of the Promise Keepers, their website states that masculinity is in crisis and the soul of men is at stake due to society turning up its nose to biblical definitions of manhood. They write, “Men are seeking authentic relationships and real connections. They long to be men of influence within the workplace, among their friends, and within their own households. But these connections, these relationships, these identities are difficult to establish and maintain successfully.” They cite 7 promises – honor, brotherhood, virtue, commitment, changemaking, unity, and obedience. For more on the Promise Keepers, please visit: https://promisekeepers.org/.
Second, some men’s movements are pro-feminist such as the National Organization for Men Against Sexism (NOMAS). In their Statement of Principles, they write, “NOMAS advocates a perspective that is pro-feminist, gay affirmative, anti-racist, dedicated to enhancing men’s lives, and committed to justice on a broad range of social issues including class, age, religion, and physical abilities… We believe that the new opportunities becoming available to women and men will be beneficial to both. Men can live as happier and more fulfilled human beings by challenging the old-fashioned rules of masculinity that embody the assumption of male superiority. Traditional masculinity includes many positive characteristics in which we take pride and find strength, but it also contains qualities that have limited and harmed us.” They call on men to spend more time with their children, have intimacy and trust with other men, display emotional expressiveness, build their identity around more than just a career, rethink a man’s obsession with winning, unlearn aggressiveness, and to not fear femininity. For more on the group, please visit: http://nomas.org/.
And not surprisingly, some of these movements are geared to the rights of men such as the National Coalition for Men (NCFM) and focus on legislative, political, and cultural change. They write, “Perhaps you are a victim of paternity fraud, lost your children in family court, were falsely accused of a gender targeted crime, were denied health services or protection by a domestic violence shelter… the list of possible discrimination’s against males is seemingly endless. Here, you may quickly realize that you are not alone…you are among friends.” To learn more about NCFM, please visit: https://ncfm.org/. As well, the website, www.avoiceformen.com states its mission is, “… to provide education and encouragement to men and boys; to lift them above the din of misandry, to reject the unhealthy demands of gynocentrism in all its forms, and to promote their mental, physical and financial well-being without compromise or apology.”
1.3. Connecting with Other Psychologists of Gender
Section Learning Objectives
• Clarify what it means to communicate findings.
• Identify professional societies related to the study of gender and related issues.
• Identify publications related to the study of gender and related issues.
One of the functions of science is to communicate findings. Testing hypotheses, developing sound methodology, accurately analyzing data, and drawing cogent conclusions are important, but you must tell others what you have done too. This is accomplished via joining professional societies and submitting articles to peer reviewed journals. Below are some of the societies and journals important to the study of gender and related issues.
1.3.1. Professional Societies
• APA Division 35 – Society for the Psychology of Women
• Website – https://www.apa.org/about/division/div35
• Mission Statement – “Division 35: Society for the Psychology of Women provides an organizational base for all feminists, women and men of all national origins, who are interested in teaching, research, or practice in the psychology of women. The division recognizes a diversity of women’s experiences which result from a variety of factors, including ethnicity, culture, language, socioeconomic status, age and sexual orientation. The division promotes feminist research, theories, education, and practice toward understanding and improving the lives of girls and women in all their diversities; encourages scholarship on the social construction of gender relations across multicultural contexts; applies its scholarship to transforming the knowledge base of psychology; advocates action toward public policies that advance equality and social justice; and seeks to empower women in community, national and global leadership.”
• Publication – Psychology of Women Quarterly (journal) and Feminist Psychologist (quarterly newsletter)
• Other Information – The division has 5 special sections for the psychology of black women; concerns of Hispanics women/Latinas; lesbian, bisexual, and transgender concerns; psychology of Asian Pacific American women; and Alaska Native/American Indian/Indigenous women.
• APA Division 44 – Society for the Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
• Website – https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44
• Mission Statement – “Div. 44 (SPSOGD) is committed to advancing social justice in all its activities. The Society celebrates the diversity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender nonconforming and queer people and recognizes the importance of multiple, intersectional dimensions of diversity including but not limited to: race, ethnicity, ability, age, citizenship, health status, language, nationality, religion and social class.”
• Publication – Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity (journal) and Division 44 Newsletter
• APA Division 51 – Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities
• Website – https://www.apa.org/about/division/div51
• Mission Statement – “Division 51: Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinities (SPSMM) advances knowledge in the new psychology of men through research, education, training, public policy and improved clinical services for men. SPSMM provides a forum for members to discuss the critical issues facing men of all races, classes, ethnicities, sexual orientations and nationalities.”
• Publication – Psychology of Men and Masculinities (journal)
• Other Information – The division has five special interest groups focused on applied and professional practice, racial ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, students, and violence and trauma.
1.3.2. Publications
• Psychology of Women Quarterly
• Website: https://www.apadivisions.org/division-35/publications/journal/index
• Published by: APA Division 35
• Description: “The Psychology of Women Quarterly (PWQ) is a feminist, scientific, peer-reviewed journal that publishes empirical research, critical reviews and theoretical articles that advance a field of inquiry, teaching briefs and invited book reviews related to the psychology of women and gender.” Topics include violence against women, sexism, lifespan development and change, therapeutic interventions, sexuality, and social activism.”
• Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity
• Website: https://www.apadivisions.org/division-44/publications/journal
• Published by: Division 44 of APA
• Description: “A quarterly scholarly journal dedicated to the dissemination of information in the field of sexual orientation and gender diversity, PSOGD is envisioned as the primary outlet for research particularly as it impacts practice, education, public policy, and social action.”
• Psychology of Men & Masculinities
• Website: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/men
• Published by: Division 51 of APA
• Description: “Psychology of Men & Masculinities is devoted to the dissemination of research, theory, and clinical scholarship that advances the psychology of men and masculinity. This discipline is defined broadly as the study of how boys’ and men’s psychology is influenced and shaped by both gender and sex, and encompasses the study of the social construction of gender, sex differences and similarities, and biological processes.”
• Journal of Gender Studies
• Website: https://tandfonline.com/toc/cjgs20/current
• Published by: Taylor and Francis
• Description: “The Journal of Gender Studies is an interdisciplinary journal which publishes articles relating to gender and sex from a feminist perspective covering a wide range of subject areas including the Social, Natural and Health Sciences, the Arts, Humanities, Literature and Popular Culture. We seek articles from around the world that examine gender and the social construction of relationships among genders.”
• International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies
• Website: http://ijgws.com/
• Description: “International Journal of Gender and Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary international journal which publishes articles relating to gender and sex from a feminist perspective covering a wide range of subject areas including the social and natural sciences, the arts, the humanities and popular culture. The journal seeks articles from around the world that examine gender and the social construction of relationships among genders.”
• Journal of Research in Gender Studies
• Website: https://addletonacademicpublishers.com/journal-of-research-in-gender-studies
• Published by: Addleton Academic Publishers
• Description: “TheJournal of Research in Gender Studiespublishes mainly original empirical research and review articles focusing on hot emerging topics, e.g. same-sex parenting, civil partnership, LGBTQ+ rights, mobile dating applications, digital feminist activism, sexting behavior, robot sex, commercial sex online, etc.”
Module Recap
If you asked a friend or family member what the difference between sex and gender was, they would likely state that they are synonyms for one another or can be used interchangeably. After reading this module, you know that this is incorrect and that sex is a biological concept while gender is socially constructed. Gender is further complicated by the fact that it consists of the three dimensions of body, identity, and social. As human beings, we have a psychological need to have gender congruence or a sense of harmony in our gender, though at times to get there we have to transition. We also contrasted gender and sexual orientation and outlined some of the language of gender you will encounter throughout this book. Movements linked to gender include feminism and men’s movements, the latter which were said to be either mythopoetic, pro-feminist, or men’s rights focused. Finally, we featured three divisions of the American Psychological Association which study gender and several journals that publish research on it, all in an effort to communicate findings and connect with other psychologists studying gender.
In our next module, we will discuss how psychology as a discipline is scientific and demonstrate the ways in which the psychology of gender is studied. This discussion will conclude Part I: Setting the Stage of this book.
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Module 2: Studying Gender Using the Scientific Method
Module Overview
In Module 2 we will address the fact that psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. We will do this by examining the steps of the scientific method and describing the five major designs used in psychological research. We will also differentiate between reliability and validity and their importance for measurement. Psychology has very clear ethical standards and procedures for scientific research. We will discuss these but also why they are needed. The content of this module relates to all areas of psychology, but we will also point out some methods used in the study of gender that may not be used in other subfields as frequently or at all.
Module Outline
• 2.1. The Scientific Method
• 2.2. Research Designs Used in the Study of Gender Issues
• 2.3. Reliability and Validity
• 2.4. Research Ethics
Module Learning Outcomes
• Clarify what it means for psychology to be scientific by examining the steps of the scientific method and the three cardinal features of science.
• Outline the five main research methods used in psychology and clarify how they are utilized in social psychology.
• Differentiate and explain the concepts of reliability and validity.
• Describe key features of research ethics.
2.1. The Scientific Method
Section Learning Objectives
• Define scientific method.
• Outline and describe the steps of the scientific method, defining all key terms.
• Identify and clarify the importance of the three cardinal features of science.
In Module 1, we learned that psychology was the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. We will spend quite a lot of time on the behavior and mental processes part, but before we proceed, it is prudent to elaborate more on what makes psychology scientific. In fact, it is safe to say that most people not within our discipline or a sister science, would be surprised to learn that psychology utilizes the scientific method at all.
So what is the scientific method? Simply, the scientific method is a systematic method for gathering knowledge about the world around us. The key word here is that it is systematic meaning there is a set way to use it. What is that way? Well, depending on what source you look at it can include a varying number of steps. For our purposes, the following will be used:
Table 2.1: The Steps of the Scientific Method
Step Name Description
0 Ask questions and be willing to wonder. To study the world around us you have to wonder about it. This inquisitive nature is the hallmark of critical thinking, or our ability to assess claims made by others and make objective judgments that are independent of emotion and anecdote and based on hard evidence and required to be a scientist. We might wonder if men engaged in a heterosexual relationship act differently when communicating with their significant other on a date than with close male friends while watching a football game in the Man Cave.
1 Generate a research question or identify a problem to investigate. Through our wonderment about the world around us and why events occur as they do, we begin to ask questions that require further investigation to arrive at an answer. This investigation usually starts with a literature review, or when we conduct a literature search through our university library or a search engine such as Google Scholar to see what questions have been investigated already and what answers have been found, so that we can identify gaps or holes in this body of work. For instance, in relation to communication and gender, we would execute a search using those words as our parameters. Google Scholar and similar search engines would look for communication and gender in the key words authors identify when writing their abstract. The search would likely return quite a few articles at which time you would pick and choose which ones to read from the abstracts (the short summary of what the article is about; it is sort of like the description of a book found on the back cover or sometimes the inside cover of a book jacket). As you read articles you would try and figure out what has and has not been done to give your future research project direction.
2 Attempt to explain the phenomena we wish to study. We now attempt to formulate an explanation of why the event occurs as it does. This systematic explanation of a phenomenon is a theory and our specific, testable prediction is the hypothesis. We will know if our theory is correct because we have formulated a hypothesis which we can now test. In the case of our example, we might develop a general theory of communication which states that individuals will alter their communication style depending on who they are speaking to and the situational context. We could hypothesize that males on a date with a female may act more formal and restrained than a male watching a football game with friends. We might even (likely in future studies) examine if this effect goes away if their girlfriend/wife enjoys watching sports too or how a man may interact with friends in other contexts than sports events. We might even examine cultural norms for such interactions. Really, the sky is the limit here and we can introduce other group dynamics and relationships to examine communication patterns in a more universal way.
3 Test the hypothesis. It goes without saying that if we cannot test our hypothesis, then we cannot show whether our prediction is correct or not. Our plan of action of how we will go about testing the hypothesis is called our research design. In the planning stage, we will select the appropriate research method to answer our question/test our hypothesis. In this case we might wish to use naturalistic observation to watch heterosexual couples on a date and then groups of males watching a football game in a public place. Alternatively, we could use a survey method and ask the man’s friends and significant other to describe his behavior in a variety of situations. We might employ a case study or experimental procedure as well. More on these in the next section.
4 Interpret the results. With our research study done, we now examine the data to see if the pattern we predicted exists. We need to see if a cause and effect statement can be made, assuming our method allows for this inference. The statistics we use take on two forms. First, there are descriptive statistics which provide a means of summarizing or describing data and presenting the data in a usable form. You likely have heard of the mean or average, median, and mode. Along with standard deviation and variance, these are ways to describe our data. Second, there are inferential statistics which allow for the analysis of two or more sets of numerical data to determine the statistical significance of the results. Significance is an indication of how confident we are that our results are due to our manipulation or design and not chance. Typically we set this significance at no higher than 5% due to chance.
5 Draw conclusions carefully. We need to accurately interpret our results and not overstate our findings. To do this, we need to be aware of our biases and avoid emotional reasoning so that they do not cloud our judgment. How so? In our effort to stop a child from engaging in self-injurious behavior that could cause substantial harm or even death, we might overstate the success of our treatment method. In the case of our communication study, if we are a male experimenter, we may downplay or suppress unfavorable results about communication patterns of males when interacting with friends than our girlfriend/wife.
6 Communicate our findings to the larger scientific community. Once we have decided on whether our hypothesis is correct or not, we need to share this information with others so that they might comment critically on our methodology, statistical analyses, and conclusions. Sharing also allows for replication or repeating the study to confirm its results. Communication is accomplished via scientific journals, conferences, or newsletters released by many of the organizations mentioned in Section 1.3.
Science has at its root three cardinal features that we will see play out time and time again throughout this book. They are:
1. Observation – In order to know about the world around us we must be able to see it firsthand. In relation to the study of gender issues, we have chosen our hypothesis to test because in the past we believe we have seen a pattern in how males interact with male friends and their female significant other and now want to test to see if it is correct. As part of our research design, we could use naturalistic observation to gather data.
2. Experimentation – To be able to make causal or cause and effect statements, we must be able to isolate variables. We have to manipulate one variable and see the effect of doing so on another variable. Experimentation is a major method used by psychologists studying gender to test its hypotheses.
3. Measurement – How do we know whether or not males interact differently with male friends or the female significant other? As you might expect, we would gather data through observation and counting each time a specific behavior was performed, or by using a survey and subsequently correlating variables. With either research design, we are measuring the variable called communication and though we are looking for differences within males as a group we could expand our research in the future to look for differences across genders or even other relationship types. It is important for researchers to ensure the scales that are used measure the actual variable they are interested in and they can make conclusions beyond the experimental situation. Likewise, we need to make sure the same results are obtained across raters (i.e. interrater) such as in the case of observation, or if the same person took a survey at different times (such as pre and posttest; i.e. intra-rater). More on what are called validity and reliability, respectively, in Section 2.3. These concepts are very important where measurement is concerned and help us to know that the conclusions we infer from our data are drawn from sources or techniques we can trust.
2.2. Research Designs Used in the Study of Gender Issues
Section Learning Objectives
• List the five main research methods used in psychology.
• Describe observational research, listing its advantages and disadvantages.
• Describe case study research, listing its advantages and disadvantages.
• Describe survey research, listing its advantages and disadvantages.
• Describe correlational research, listing its advantages and disadvantages.
• Describe experimental research, listing its advantages and disadvantages.
• State the utility and need for multimethod research.
Step 3 called on the scientist to test his or her hypothesis. Psychology as a discipline uses five main research designs. These include observational research, case studies, surveys, correlational designs, and experiments. Note that research can take two forms, one focused on numbers and called quantitative and the other focused on words or descriptions and called qualitative. Be advised that the latter is not readily accepted within the field of psychology which traditionally has used the quantitative approach to conduct statistical analyses for which significance could be determined. It is, or maybe has been, believed that because the qualitative approach could not be reduced to numbers for analysis, it is more subjective while the quantitative approach is more objective, an important feature/requirement for science. Fortunately, we have new computer software programs that can analyze qualitative responses for trends which adds weight to any conclusions drawn from this type of data.
2.2.1. Observational Research
In terms of naturalistic observation, the scientist studies human or animal behavior in its natural environment which could include the home, school, or a forest. The researcher counts, measures, and rates behavior in a systematic way and at times uses multiple judges to ensure accuracy in how the behavior is being measured. This is called inter-rater reliability as you will see in Section 2.3. The advantage of this method is that you witness behavior as it occurs and it is not tainted by the experimenter. The disadvantage is that it could take a long time for the behavior to occur and if the researcher is detected then this may influence the behavior of those being observed. In the case of the latter, the behavior of the observed becomes artificial.
Laboratory observation involves observing people or animals in a laboratory setting. The researcher might want to know more about parent-child interactions and so brings a mother and her child into the lab to engage in preplanned tasks such as playing with toys, eating a meal, or the mother leaving the room for a short period of time. The advantage of this method over the naturalistic method is that the experimenter can use sophisticated equipment and videotape the session to examine it at a later time. The problem is that since the subjects know the experimenter is watching them, their behavior could become artificial from the start.
2.2.1.1. Example of a psychology of gender study utilizing observation. Olino et al. (2012) indicate that a growing body of literature points to gender differences in child temperament and adult personality traits throughout life but that many of these studies rely solely on parent-report measures. Their investigation used parental-report, maternal-report, and laboratory observation. The laboratory batteries took approximately two hours and children were exposed to standardized laboratory episodes with a female experimenter. These episodes were intended to elicit individual differences in temperament traits as they relate to behavioral engagement, social behavior, and emotionality. They included Risk Room, when children explore a set of novel, ambiguous stimuli such as a black box; Stranger Approach or when the child is left alone in the room briefly and a male research accomplice enters the room and speaks to the child; Pop-up Snakes or when the child and experimenter surprise the child’s mother with a can of potato chips that contain coiled snakes, and Painting a Picture which allowed the child to play with watercolor pencils and crayons. Observers assigned a 1 for low intensity, 2 for moderate intensity, and 3 for high intensity in relation to facial, bodily, and vocal positive affect, fear, sadness, and anger displays. Outside of these affective codes, observers also used behavioral codes on a similar three-point scale to assess engagement, sociability, activity, and impulsivity. The sample included 463 boys and 402 girls.
Across the three different measures, girls showed higher positive affect and fear and lower activity level compared to boys. When observed in the laboratory, girls showed higher levels of sociability but lower levels of negative emotionality, anger, sadness, and impulsive behavior. Maternal reports showed higher levels of overall negative emotionality and sadness for girls while paternal reports showed higher levels of sociability for boys.
Read the study for yourself: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3532859/
2.2.2. Case Studies
Psychology can also utilize a detailed description of one person or a small group based on careful observation. This was the approach the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, took to develop his theories. The advantage of this method is that you arrive at a rich description of the behavior being investigated but the disadvantage is that what you are learning may be unrepresentative of the larger population and so lacks generalizability. Again, bear in mind that you are studying one person or a very small group. Can you possibly make conclusions about all people from just one or even five or ten? The other issue is that the case study is subject to the bias of the researcher in terms of what is included in the final write up and what is left out. Despite these limitations, case studies can lead us to novel ideas about the cause of behavior and help us to study unusual conditions that occur too infrequently to study with large sample sizes and in a systematic way.
2.2.2.1. Example of a psychology of gender study utilizing a case study. Mukaddes (2002) studied cross-gender behavior in children with high functioning autism. Specifically, two boys were followed over a period of about four years who showed persistent gender identity problems. Case 2, called A.A., was a 7-year old boy referred to a child psychiatry department in Turkey due to language delay and issues with social interaction. The author goes on to describe in detail the family history and how the child showed a “persistent attachment to his mother’s and some significant female relative’s clothes and especially liked to make skirts out of their scarves. After age 5 years, he started to ‘playhouse’ and ‘play mother roles’… His parents have tried to establish good bonding between him with his father as an identification object. Despite this, his cross-gender behaviours are persistent (pg. 531).” In the discussion of both cases, the authors note that the report of cross-gender behavior in autistic cases is rare, and that their case study attempts to, “…underline that (1) diagnosis of GID in autistic individuals with a long follow-up seems possible; and (2) high functioning verbally able autistic individuals can express their gender preferences as well as other personal preferences” (pg. 532).
To learn more about observational and case study designs, please take a look at our Research Methods in Psychology textbook by visiting:
2.2.3. Surveys/Self-Report Data
As survey is a questionnaire consisting of at least one scale with some number of questions which assess a psychological construct of interest such as parenting style, depression, locus of control, communication, attitudes, or sensation seeking behavior. It may be administered by paper and pencil or computer. Surveys allow for the collection of large amounts of data quickly but the actual survey could be tedious for the participant and social desirability, when a participant answers questions dishonestly so that he/she is seen in a more favorable light, could be an issue. For instance, if you are asking high school students about their sexual activity, they may not give genuine answers for fear that their parents will find out. Or if you wanted to know about prejudicial attitudes of a group of people, you could use the survey method. You could alternatively gather this information via an interview in a structured or unstructured fashion. Important to survey research is that you have random sampling or when everyone in the population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. This helps the survey to be representative of the population and in terms of key demographic variables such as gender, age, ethnicity, race, sexual orientation, education level, and religious orientation.
2.2.3.1. Example of a psychology of gender study utilizing a survey. Weiser (2004) wanted to see to what extent a gender gap existed in internet use. Utilizing a 19-item survey given to introductory psychology students, he found that males used the internet for entertainment and leisure activities while females used it for interpersonal communication and educational activities. Interestingly, he found that age and internet experience mediated the gender differences.
To learn more about the survey research design, please take a look at our Research Methods in Psychology textbook by visiting:
2.2.4. Correlational Research
This research method examines the relationship between two variables or two groups of variables. A numerical measure of the strength of this relationship is derived, called the correlation coefficient, and can range from -1.00, a perfect inverse relationship meaning that as one variable goes up the other goes down, to 0 or no relationship at all, to +1.00 or a perfect relationship in which as one variable goes up or down so does the other. In terms of a negative correlation we might say that as a parent becomes more rigid, controlling, and cold, the attachment of the child to parent goes down. In contrast, as a parent becomes warmer, more loving, and provides structure, the child becomes more attached. The advantage of correlational research is that you can correlate anything. The disadvantage is that you can correlate anything. Variables that really do not have any relationship to one another could be viewed as related. Yes. This is both an advantage and a disadvantage. For instance, we might correlate instances of making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with someone we are attracted to sitting near us at lunch. Are the two related? Not likely, unless you make a really good PB&J but then the person is probably only interested in you for food and not companionship. The main issue here is that correlation does not allow you to make a causal statement.
2.2.4.1. Example of a psychology of gender study utilizing a correlational method. In a study investigating the relationship of gender role identity, support for feminism, and willingness to consider oneself a feminist, Toller, Suter, and Trautman (2004) found that when men scored high on the Sexual Identity Scale which indicates high levels of femininity, they were supportive of the women’s movement and were more willing to consider themselves a feminist (positive correlations). In contrast, high scores on the Personal Attributes Questionnaire (PAQ) masculinity index resulted in reports of being less likely to consider themselves a feminist (a negative correlation). In terms of female participants, a positive correlation was found between highly masculine women and positive attitudes toward nontraditional gender roles. The authors note, “Possible explanations for these findings may be that women often describe feminists with masculine traits, such as “dominating” and “aggressive.” Thus, the more feminine women in our study may have viewed feminism and nontraditional gender roles as masculine.”
To learn more about the correlational research design, please take a look at our Research Methods in Psychology textbook by visiting:
2.2.5. Experiments
An experiment is a controlled test of a hypothesis in which a researcher manipulates one variable and measures its effect on another variable. The variable that is manipulated is called the independent variable (IV) and the one that is measured is called the dependent variable (DV). A common feature of experiments is to have a control group that does not receive the treatment or is not manipulated and an experimental group that does receive the treatment or manipulation. If the experiment includes random assignment participants have an equal chance of being placed in the control or experimental group. The control group allows the researcher to make a comparison to the experimental group, making a causal statement possible, and stronger.
2.2.5.1. Example of an experimental psychology of gender study. Wirth and Bodenhausen (2009) investigated whether gender played a moderating role in the stigma of mental illness in a web-based survey experiment. They asked participants to read a case summary in which the patient’s gender was manipulated along with the type of disorder. These cases were either of male-typical or female-typical disorders. Their results showed that when the cases were gender typical, participants were less sympathetic, showed more negative affect, and were less likely to help than if the cases were gender atypical. The authors proposed that the gender-typical cases were much less likely to be seen as genuine mental disturbances by the participants.
To learn more about the experimental research design, please take a look at our Research Methods in Psychology textbook by visiting:
2.2.6. Multi-Method Research
As you have seen above, no single method alone is perfect. All have their strengths and limitations. As such, for the psychologist to provide the clearest picture of what is affecting behavior or mental processes, several of these approaches are typically employed at different stages of the research process. This is called multi-method research.
2.2.7. Archival Research
Another technique used by psychologists is called archival research or when the researcher analyzes data that has already been collected and for another purpose. For instance, a researcher may request data from high schools about student’s GPA and their SAT and/or ACT score(s) and then obtain their four-year GPA from the university they attended. This can be used to make a prediction about success in college and which measure – GPA or standardized test score – is the better predictor.
2.2.8. Meta-Analysis
Meta-analysis is a statistical procedure that allows a researcher to combine data from more than one study. For instance, Marx and Kettrey (2016) evaluated the association between the presence of Gay-straight alliances (GSAs) for LGBTQ+ youth and their allies and the youth’s self-reported victimization. In all, the results of 15 studies spanning 2001 to 2014 were combined for a final sample of 62,923 participants and indicated that when a GSA is present, homophobic victimization, fear for safety, and hearing homophobic remarks is significantly lower. The authors state, “The findings of this meta-analysis should therefore be of value to advocates, educators, and policymakers who are interested in alleviating school-based victimization of youth, as those adolescents who are perceived to be LGBTQ? are at a marked risk for such victimization.”
2.2.9. Communicating Results
In scientific research, it is common practice to communicate the findings of our investigation. By reporting what we found in our study other researchers can critique our methodology and address our limitations. Publishing allows psychology to grow its knowledge base about human behavior. We can also see where gaps still exist. We move it into the public domain so others can read and comment on it. Scientists can also replicate what we did and possibly extend our work if it is published.
There are several ways to communicate our findings. We can do so at conferences in the form of posters or oral presentations, through newsletters from APA itself or one of its many divisions or other organizations, or through research journals and specifically scientific research articles. Published journal articles represent a form of communication between scientists and in them, the researchers describe how their work relates to previous research, how it replicates and/or extends this work, and what their work might mean theoretically.
Research articles begin with an abstract or a 150-250-word summary of the entire article. The purpose is to describe the experiment and allows the reader to make a decision about whether he or she wants to read it further. The abstract provides a statement of purpose, overview of the methods, main results, and a brief statement of the conclusion. Key words are also given that allow for students and other researchers alike to find the article when doing a search.
The abstract is followed by four major sections as described:
• Introduction – The first section is designed to provide a summary of the current literature as it relates to your topic. It helps the reader to see how you arrived at your hypothesis and the design of your study. Essentially, it gives the logic behind the decisions you made. You also state the purpose and share your predictions or hypothesis.
• Method – Since replication is a required element of science, we must have a way to share information on our design and sample with readers. This is the essence of the method section and covers three major aspects of your study – your participants, materials or apparatus, and procedure. The reader needs to know who was in your study so that limitations related to generalizability of your findings can be identified and investigated in the future. You will also state your operational definition, describe any groups you used, random sampling or assignment procedures, information about how a scale was scored, etc. Think of the Method section as a cookbook. The participants are your ingredients, the materials or apparatus are whatever tools you will need, and the procedure is the instructions for how to bake the cake.
• Results – In this section you state the outcome of your experiment and whether they were statistically significant or not. You can also present tables and figures.
• Discussion – In this section you start by restating the main findings and hypothesis of the study. Next, you offer an interpretation of the findings and what their significance might be. Finally, you state strengths and limitations of the study which will allow you to propose future directions.
Whether you are writing a research paper for a class or preparing an article for
publication, or reading a research article, the structure and function of a research article is the same. Understanding this will help you when reading psychology of gender research articles.
2.3. Reliability and Validity
Section Learning Objectives
• Clarify why reliability and validity are important.
• Define reliability and list and describe forms it takes.
• Define validity and list and describe forms it takes.
Recall that measurement involves the assignment of scores to an individual which are used to represent aspects of the individual such as how conscientious they are or their level of depression. Whether or not the scores actually represent the individual is what is in question. Cuttler (2019) says in her book Research Methods in Psychology, “Psychologists do not simply assume that their measures work. Instead, they collect data to demonstrate that they work. If their research does not demonstrate that a measure works, they stop using it.” So how do they demonstrate that a measure works? This is where reliability and validity come in.
2.3.1. Reliability
First, reliability describes how consistent a measure is. It can be measured in terms of test-retest reliability, or how reliable the measure is across time, internal consistency, or the “consistency of people’s responses across the items on a multiple-item measure,” (Cuttler, 2019), and finally inter-rater reliability, or how consistent different observers are when making judgments. In terms of inter-rater reliability, Cuttler (2019) writes, “If you were interested in measuring university students’ social skills, you could make video recordings of them as they interacted with another student whom they are meeting for the first time. Then you could have two or more observers watch the videos and rate each student’s level of social skills. To the extent that each participant does, in fact, have some level of social skills that can be detected by an attentive observer, different observers’ ratings should be highly correlated with each other.”
2.3.2. Validity
A measure is considered to be valid if its scores represent the variable it is said to measure. For instance, if a scale says it measures depression, and it does, then we can say it is valid. Validity can take many forms. First, face validity is “the extent to which a measurement method appears “on its face” to measure the construct of interest” (Cuttler, 2019). A scale purported to measure values should have questions about values such as benevolence, conformity, and self-direction, and not questions about depression or attitudes toward toilet paper.
Content validity is to what degree a measure covers the construct of interest. Cuttler (2019) says, “… consider that attitudes are usually defined as involving thoughts, feelings, and actions toward something. By this conceptual definition, a person has a positive attitude toward exercise to the extent that he or she thinks positive thoughts about exercising, feels good about exercising, and actually exercises.”
Often times, we expect a person’s scores on one measure to be correlated with scores on another measure that we expect it to be related to, called criterion validity. For instance, consider parenting style and attachment. We would expect that if a person indicates on one scale that their father was authoritarian (or dictatorial) then attachment would be low or insecure. In contrast, if the mother was authoritative (or democratic) we would expect the child to show a secure attachment style.
As researchers we expect that our results will generalize from our sample to the larger population. This was the issue with case studies as the sample is too small to make conclusions about everyone. If our results do generalize from the circumstances under which our study was conducted to similar situations, then we can say our study has external validity. External validity is also affected by how real the research is. Two types of realism are possible. First, mundane realism occurs when the research setting closely resembles the real world setting. Experimental realism is the degree to which the experimental procedures that are used feel real to the participant. It does not matter if they really mirror real life but that they only appear real to the participant. If so, his or her behavior will be more natural and less artificial.
In contrast, a study is said to have good internal validity when we can confidently say that the effect on the dependent variable (the one that is measured) was due solely to our manipulation or the independent variable. A confound occurs when a factor other than the independent variable leads to changes in the dependent variable.
To learn more about reliability and validity, please visit:
2.4. Research Ethics
Section Learning Objectives
• Exemplify instances of ethical misconduct in research.
• List and describe principles of research ethics.
Throughout this module so far, we have seen that it is important for researchers to understand the methods they are using. Equally important, they must understand and appreciate ethical standards in research. The American Psychological Association identifies high standards of ethics and conduct as one of its four main guiding principles or missions. To read about the other three, please visit https://www.apa.org/about/index.aspx. So why are ethical standards needed and what do they look like?
2.4.1. Milgram’s Study on Learning…or Not
Possibly, the one psychologist students know about the most is Stanley Milgram, if not by name, then by his study on obedience using shock (Milgram, 1974). Essentially, two individuals came to each experimental session but only one of these two individuals was a participant. The other was what is called a confederate and part of the study without the participant knowing. The confederate was asked to pick heads or tails and then a coin was flipped. As you might expect, the confederate always won and chose to be the learner. The “experimenter,” who was also a confederate, took him into one room where he was hooked up to wires and electrodes. This was done while the “teacher,” the actual participant, watched and added to the realism of what was being done. The teacher was then taken into an adjacent room where he was seated in front of a shock generator. The teacher was told it was his task to read a series of word pairs to the learner. Upon completion of reading the list, he would ask the learner one of the two words and it was the learner’s task to state what the other word in the pair was. If the learner incorrectly paired any of the words, he would be shocked. The shock generator started at 30 volts and increased in 15-volt increments up to 450 volts. The switches were labeled with terms such as “Slight shock,” “Moderate shock,” “Danger: Severe Shock,” and the final two switches were ominously labeled “XXX.”
As the experiment progressed, the teacher would hear the learner scream, holler, plead to be released, complain about a heart condition, or say nothing at all. When the learner stopped replying, the teacher would turn to the experimenter and ask what to do, to which the experimenter indicated for him to treat nonresponses as incorrect and shock the learner. Most participants asked the experimenter whether they should continue at various points in the experiment. The experimenter issued a series of commands to include, “Please continue,” “It is absolutely essential that you continue,” and “You have no other choice, you must go on.”
Any guesses as to what happened? What percent of the participants would you hypothesize actually shocked the learner to death? Milgram found that 65 percent of participants/teachers shocked the learner to the XXX switches which would have killed him. Why? They were told to do so. How do you think the participant felt when they realized that they could kill someone simply because they were told to do so?
Source: Milgram, S. (1974). Obedience to authority. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
If you would like to learn more about the moral foundations of ethical research, please visit:
kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/chapter/moral-foundations-of-ethical-research/
2.4.2. Ethical Guidelines
Due to these studies, and others, the American Psychological Association (APA) established guiding principles for conducting psychological research. The principles can be broken down in terms of when they should occur during the process of a person participating in the study.
2.4.2.1. Before participating. First, researchers must obtain informed consent or when the person agrees to participate because they are told what will happen to them. They are given information about any risks they face, or potential harm that could come to them, whether physical or psychological. They are also told about confidentiality or the person’s right not to be identified. Since most research is conducted with students taking introductory psychology courses, they have to be given the right to do something other than a research study to likely earn required credits for the class. This is called an alternative activity and could take the form of reading and summarizing a research article. The amount of time taken to do this should not exceed the amount of time the student would be expected to participate in a study.
2.4.2.2. While participating. Participants are afforded the ability to withdraw or the person’s right to exit the study if any discomfort is experienced.
2.4.2.3. After participating. Once their participation is over, participants should be debriefed or when the true purpose of the study is revealed and they are told where to go if they need assistance and how to reach the researcher if they have questions. So can researchers deceive participants, or intentionally withhold the true purpose of the study from them? According to the APA, a minimal amount of deception is allowed.
Human research must be approved by an Institutional Review Board or IRB. It is the IRB that will determine whether the researcher is providing enough information for the participant to give consent that is truly informed, if debriefing is adequate, and if any deception is allowed or not.
If you would like to learn more about how to use ethics in your research, please read:
kpu.pressbooks.pub/psychmethods4e/chapter/putting-ethics-into-practice/
Module Recap
In Module 1 we stated that psychology studied behavior and mental processes using the strict standards of science. In Module 2 we showed you how that is done via adoption of the scientific method and use of the research designs of observation, case study, surveys, correlation, and experiments. To make sure our measurement of a variable is sound, we need to have measures that can are reliable and valid. And to give our research legitimacy we have to use clear ethical standards for research to include gaining informed consent from participants, telling them of the risks, giving them the right to withdraw, debriefing them, and using nothing more than minimal deception.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/01%3A_Setting_the_Stage/1.02%3A_Module_2__Studying_Gender_Using_the_Scientific_Method.txt
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Module 3: Gender Through a Social Psychological Lens
Module Overview
In our third module we will put on a social psychological lens and tackle the complicated issues of relationships, stereotypes and aggression. We start by covering the need for affiliation that drives relationships and then consider factors affecting who we are attracted to. Loneliness and social rejection are discussed too as they can have a serious affect on mental health, discussed in more detail in Module 8. Mate selection strategies and specific types of relationships round out the first section, moving us into a discussion of stereotypes. We finish with information on aggression and its forms.
Module Outline
• 3.1. Relationships
• 3.2. Stereotypes
• 3.3. Aggression
Module Learning Outcomes
• Describe the need for affiliation and the negative effects of social rejection and loneliness.
• Clarify factors that increase interpersonal attraction between two people.
• Identify types of relationships and the components of love.
• Describe the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse as they relate to relationship conflicts, how to resolve them, and the importance of forgiveness.
• Clarify how stereotypes drive prejudice and discrimination.
• Outline ways to promote and teach tolerance.
• Define aggression and its types.
• Identify and describe forms aggression can take.
3.1. Relationships
Section Learning Objectives
• Define interpersonal attraction.
• Define the need for affiliation.
• Report what the literature says about the need for affiliation.
• Define loneliness and identity its types.
• Describe the effect of loneliness on health.
• Describe social rejection and its relation to affiliation.
• Clarify how proximity affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how familiarity affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how beauty affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how similarity affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how reciprocity affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how playing hard to get affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Clarify how intimacy affects interpersonal attractiveness.
• Describe mate selection strategies used by men and women.
• List and describe types of relationships.
• Describe the importance of familial relationships.
• Describe the importance of friendships.
• Define love and describe its three components according to Sternberg.
• Define and describe jealousy.
• Describe Gottman’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
• Propose antidotes to the horsemen.
• Clarify the importance of forgiveness in relationships.
• Clarify one potential factor on dissolution.
3.1.1. Defining Key Terms
Have you ever wondered why people are motivated to spend time with some people over others or why they chose the friends and significant others they do? If you have, you have given thought to interpersonal attraction or showing a preference for another person (remember, inter means between and so interpersonal is between people).
This relates to the need to affiliate/belong which is our motive to establish, maintain, or restore social relationships with others, whether individually or through groups (McClelland & Koestner, 1992). It is important to point out that we affiliate with people who accept us though are generally indifferent while we tend to belong to individuals who truly care about us and for whom we have an attachment. In terms of the former, you affiliate with your classmates and people you work with while you belong to your family or a committed relationship with your significant other or best friend. The literature shows that:
• Leaders high in the need for affiliation are more concerned about the needs of their followers and engaged in more transformational leadership due to affiliation moderating the interplay of achievement and power needs (Steinmann, Otting, & Maier, 2016).
• Who wants to take online courses? Seiver and Troja (2014) found that those high in the need for affiliation were less, and that those high in the need for autonomy were more, likely to want to take another online course. Their sample included college students enrolled in classroom courses who had taken at least one online course in the past.
• Though our need for affiliation is universal, it does not occur in every situation and individual differences and characteristics of the target can factor in. One such difference is religiosity and van Cappellen et al. (2017) found that religiosity was positively related to social affiliation except when the identity of the affiliation target was manipulated to be a threatening out-group member (an atheist). In this case, religiosity did not predict affiliation behaviors.
• Risk of exclusion from a group (not being affiliated) led individuals high in a need for inclusion/affiliation to engage in pro-group, but not pro-self, unethical behaviors (Thau et al., 2015).
• When affiliation goals are of central importance to a person, they perceive the estimated interpersonal distance between them and other people as smaller compared to participants primed with control words (Stel & van Koningsbruggen, 2015).
Loneliness occurs when our interpersonal relationships are not fulfilling and can lead to psychological discomfort. In reality, our relationships may be fine and so our perception of being alone is what matters most and can be particularly troublesome for the elderly. Tiwari (2013) points out that loneliness can take three forms. First, situational loneliness occurs when unpleasant experiences, interpersonal conflicts, disaster, or accidents lead to loneliness. Second, developmental loneliness occurs when a person cannot balance the need to relate to others with a need for individualism, which “results in loss of meaning from their life which in turn leads to emptiness and loneliness in that person.” Third, internal loneliness arises when a person has low self-esteem and low self-worth and can be caused by locus of control, guilt or worthlessness, and inadequate coping strategies. Tiwari writes, “Loneliness has now become an important public health concern. It leads to pain, injury/loss, grief, fear, fatigue, and exhaustion. Thus, it also makes a person sick and interferes in day to day functioning and hampers recovery…. Loneliness with its epidemiology, phenomenology, etiology, diagnostic criteria, adverse effects, and management should be considered a disease and should find its place in classification of psychiatric disorders.” What do you think? Is loneliness a disease, needing to be listed in the DSM?
Loneliness kills.” These were the opening words of a March 18, 2015 Time article describing alarming research which shows that loneliness increases the risk of death. How so? According to the meta-analysis of 70 studies published from 1980 to 2014, social isolation increases mortality by 29%, loneliness does so by 26%, and living alone by 32%; but being socially connected leads to higher survival rates (Holt-Lunstad et al., 2015). The authors note, as did Tiwari (2013) earlier, that social isolation and loneliness should be listed as a public health concern as it can lead to poorer health and decreased longevity, as well as CVD (coronary vascular disease; Holt-Lunstad & Smith, 2016). Other ill effects of loneliness include greater stimulated cytokine production due to stress which in turn causes inflammation (Jaremka et al., 2013); greater occurrence of suicidal behavior (Stickley & Koyanagi, 2016); pain, depression, and fatigue (Jarema et al., 2014); and psychotic disorders such as delusional disorders, depressive psychosis, and subjective thought disorder (Badcock et al., 2015).
On a positive note, Stanley, Conwell, Bowen, and Van Orden (2013) found that for older adults who report feeling lonely, owning a pet is one way to feel socially connected. In their study, pet owners were found to be 36% less likely than non-pet owners to report feeling lonely. Those who lived alone and did not own a pet had the greatest odds of reporting loneliness. But the authors offer an admonition – owning a pet, if not managed properly, could actually be deleterious to health. They write, “For example, an older adult may place the well-being of their pet over the safety and health of themselves; they may pay for meals and veterinary services for their pet at the expense of their own meals or healthcare.” Bereavement concerns were also raised, though they say that with careful planning, any negative consequences of owning a pet can be mitigated.
Being rejected or ignored by others, called ostracism, hurts. No literally. It hurts. Research by Kross, Berman, Mischel, Smith, and Wager (2011) has shown that when rejected, brain areas such as the secondary somatosensory cortex and dorsal posterior insula which are implicated in the experience of physical pain, become active. So not only are the experience of physical pain and social rejection distressing, the authors say that they share a common somatosensory representation too.
So what do you do if you have experienced social rejection? A 2012 article by the American Psychological Association says to seek inclusion elsewhere. Those who have been excluded tend to become more sensitive to opportunities to connect and adjust their behavior as such. They may act more likable, show greater conformity, and comply with the requests of others. Of course, some respond with anger and aggression instead. The article says, “If someone’s primary concern is to reassert a sense of control, he or she may become aggressive as a way to force others to pay attention. Sadly, that can create a downward spiral. When people act aggressively, they’re even less likely to gain social acceptance.” The effects of long-term ostracism can be devastating but non-chronic rejection can be easier to alleviate. Seek out healthy positive connections with both friends and family as a way to combat rejection.
For more on the APA article, see https://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/04/rejection.
3.1.2. Factors on Attraction
On April 7, 2015, Psychology Today published an article entitled, The Four Types of Attraction. Referred to as an attraction pyramid, it places status and health at the bottom, emotional in the middle, and logic at the top of the pyramid. Status takes on two forms. Internal refers to confidence, your skills, and what you believe or your values. External refers to your job, visual markers, and what you own such as a nice car or house. The article states that confidence may be particularly important and overrides external status in the long run. Health can include the way you look, move, smell, and your intelligence. The middle level is emotional which includes what makes us unique, trust and comfort, our emotional intelligence, and how mysterious we appear to a potential suitor. And then at the top is logic which helps us to be sure this individual is aligned with us in terms of life goals such as having kids, getting married, where we will live, etc. The article says – “With greater alignment, there is greater attraction.” Since online romance is trending now, the pyramid flips and we focus on logic, then emotion, and then status and health, but meeting in person is important and should be done as soon as possible. This way, we can be sure there is a physical attraction and can only be validated in person.
To read the article for yourself, visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/valley-girl-brain/201504/the-four-types-attraction
So how accurate is the article? We will tackle several factors on attraction to include proximity, familiarity, physical attractiveness, similarity, reciprocity, the hard-to-get effect, and intimacy, and then close with a discussion of mate selection.
3.1.2.1. Proximity. First, proximity states that the closer two people live to one another, the more likely they are to interact. The more frequent their interaction, the more likely they will like one another then. Is it possible that individuals living in a housing development would strike up friendships while doing chores? This is exactly what Festinger, Schachter, and Back (1950) found in an investigation of 260 married veterans living in a housing project at MIT. Proximity was the primary factor that led to the formation of friendships. For proximity to work, people must be able to engage in face-to-face communication which is possible when they share a communication space and time (Monge & Kirste, 1980) and proximity is a determinant of interpersonal attraction for both sexes (Allgeier and Byrne, 1972). A more recent study of 40 couples from Punjab, Pakistan provides cross-cultural evidence of the importance of proximity as well. The authors write, “The results of qualitative analysis showed that friends who stated that they share same room or same town were shown to have high scores on interpersonal attraction than friends who lived in distant towns and cities” (pg. 145; Batool & Malik, 2010).
3.1.2.2. Mere exposure – A case for familiarity?. In fact, the more we are exposed to novel stimuli, the greater our liking of them will be, called the mere exposure effect. Across two studies, Saegert, Swap, & Zajonc (1973) found that the more frequently we are exposed to a stimulus, even if it is negative, the greater our liking of it will be and that this holds true for inanimate objects but also interpersonal attitudes. They conclude, “…the mere repeated exposure of people is a sufficient condition for enhancement of attraction, despite differences in favorability of context, and in the absence of any obvious rewards or punishments by these people” (pg. 241).
Peskin and Newell (2004) present an interesting study investigating how familiarity affects attraction. In their first experiment, participants rated the attractiveness, distinctiveness, and familiarity of 84 monochrome photographs of unfamiliar female faces obtained from US high school yearbooks. The ratings were made by three different groups – 31 participants for the attractiveness rating, 37 for the distinctiveness rating, and 30 for the familiarity rating – and no participant participated in more than one of the studies. In all three rating studies, a 7-point scale was used whereby 1 indicated that the face was not attractive, distinctive, or familiar and 7 indicated that it was very attractive, distinctive, or familiar. They found a significant negative correlation between attractiveness and distinctiveness and a significant positive correlation between attractiveness and familiarity scores, consistent with the literature.
In the second experiment, 32 participants were exposed to 16 of the 24 most typical and 16 of the 24 most distinctive faces from experiment one with the other 8 faces serving as controls. The controls were shown once during the judgment phase while the 16 typical and 16 distinctive faces were shown six times for a total of 192 trials. Ratings of attractiveness were given during the judgment phase. Results showed that repeated exposure increased attractiveness ratings overall, and there was no difference between typical and distinctive faces. These results were found to be due to increased exposure and not judgment bias or experimental conditions since the attractiveness ratings of the 16 control faces were compared to the same faces from experiment 1 and no significant difference between the two groups was found.
Overall, Peskin and Newell (2004) state that their findings show that increasing the familiarity of faces by increasing exposure led to increased attractiveness ratings. They add, “We also demonstrated that typical faces were found to be more attractive than distinctive faces although both face types were subjected to similar increases in familiarity” (pg. 156).
3.1.2.3. Physical attractiveness. Second, we choose who we spend time with based on how attractive they are. Attractive people are seen as more interesting, happier, smarter, sensitive, and moral and as such are liked more than less attractive people. This is partly due to the halo effect or when we hold a favorable attitude to traits that are unrelated. We see beauty as a valuable asset and one that can be exchanged for other things during our social interactions. Between personality, social skills, intelligence, and attractiveness, which characteristic do you think matters most in dating? In a field study randomly pairing subjects at a “Computer Dance” the largest determinant of how much a partner was liked, how much he wanted to date the partner again, and how frequently he asked the partner out, was simply the physical attractiveness of the partner (Walster et al., 1966).
In a more contemporary twist on dating and interpersonal attraction, Luo and Zhang (2009) looked at speed dating. Results showed that the biggest predictor of attraction for both males and females was the physical attractiveness of their partner (reciprocity showed some influence though similarity produced no evidence – both will be discussed shortly so keep it in mind for now).
Is beauty linked to a name though? Garwood et al. (1980) asked 197 college students to choose a beauty queen from six photographs, all equivalent in terms of physical attractiveness. Half of the women in the photographs had a desirable first name while the other half did not. Results showed that girls with a desirable first name received 158 votes while those with an undesirable first name received just 39 votes.
So why beauty? Humans display what is called a beauty bias. Struckman-Johnson and Struckman- Johnson (1994) investigated the reaction of 277 male, middle-class, Caucasian college students to a vignette in which they were asked to imagine receiving an uninvited sexual advance from a casual female acquaintance. The vignette displayed different degrees of coercion such as low-touch, moderate-push, high-threat, and very high-weapon. The results showed that men had a more positive reaction to the sexual advance of a female acquaintance who was attractive and who used low or moderate levels of coercion than to an unattractive female.
What about attractiveness in the workplace? Hosoda, Stone-Romero, and Coats (2006) found considerable support for the notion that attractive individuals fare better in employment-related decisions (i.e., hiring and promotions) than unattractive individuals. Although there is a beauty bias, the authors found that its strength has weakened over the past few decades.
3.1.2.4. Similarity. You have likely heard the expressions “Opposites attract” and “Birds of a feather flock together.” The former expression contradicts the latter, and so this leads us to wonder which is it? Research shows that we are most attracted to people who are like us in terms of our religious and political beliefs, values, appearance, educational background, age, and other demographic variables (Warren, 1966). Thus, we tend to choose people who are similar to us in attitudes and interests as this leads to a more positive evaluation of them. Their agreement with our choices and beliefs helps to reduce any uncertainty we face regarding social situations and improves our understanding of the situation. You might say their similarity also validates our own values, beliefs, and attitudes as they have arrived at the same conclusions that we have. This occurs with identification with sports teams. Our perceived similarity with the group leads to group-derived self-definition more so than the attractiveness of the group such that, “… a team that is “crude, rude, and unattractive” may be appealing to fans who have the same qualities, but repulsive to fans who are more “civilized”.” The authors suggest that sports marketers could emphasize the similarities between fans and their teams (Fisher, 1998). Another form of similarity is in terms of physical attractiveness. According to the matching hypothesis, we date others who are similar to us in terms of how attractive they are (Feingold, 1988; Huston, 1973; Bersheid et al., 1971; Walster, 1970).
3.1.2.5. Reciprocity. Fourth, we choose people who are likely to engage in a mutual exchange with us. We prefer people who make us feel rewarded and appreciated and in the spirit of reciprocation, we need to give something back to them. This exchange continues so long as both parties regard their interactions to be mutually beneficial or the benefits of the exchange outweigh the costs (Homans, 1961; Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). If you were told that a stranger you interacted with liked you, research shows that you would express a greater liking for that person as well (Aronson & Worchel, 1966) and the same goes for reciprocal desire (Greitmeyer, 2010).
3.1.2.6. Playing hard to get. Does playing hard to get make a woman (or man) more desirable than the one who seems eager for an alliance? Results of five experiments said that it does not though a sixth experiment suggests that if the woman is easy for a particular man to get but hard for all other men to get, she would be preferred over a woman who is uniformly hard or easy to get, or is a woman for which the man has no information about. Men gave these selective women all of the assets (i.e. selective, popular, friendly, warm, and easy going) but none of the liabilities (i.e. problems expected in dating) of the uniformly hard to get and easy to get women. The authors state, “It appears that a woman can intensify her desirability if she acquires a reputation for being hard-to-get and then, by her behavior, makes it clear to a selected romantic partner that she is attracted to him” (pg. 120; Walster et al., 1973). Dai, Dong, and Jia (2014) predicted and found that when person B plays hard to get with person A, this will increase A’s wanting of B but simultaneously decrease A’s liking of B, only if A is psychologically committed to pursuing further relations with B. Otherwise, the hard to get strategy will result in decreased wanting and liking.
3.1.2.7. Intimacy. Finally, intimacy occurs when we feel close to and trust in, another person. This factor is based on the idea of self-disclosure or telling another person about our deepest held secrets, experiences, and beliefs that we do not usually share with others. But this revealing of information comes with the expectation of a mutual self-disclosure from our friend or significant other. We might think that self-disclosure is difficult online but a study of 243 Facebook users shows that we tell our personal secrets on Facebook to those we like and that we feel we can disclose such personal details to people with whom we talk often and come to trust (Sheldon, 2009).
This said, there is a possibility we can overshare, called overdisclosure, which may lead to a reduction in our attractiveness. What if you showed up for class a few minutes early and sat next to one of your classmates who proceeded to give you every detail of their weekend of illicit drug use and sexual activity. This would likely make you feel uncomfortable and seek to move to another seat.
3.1.2.8. Mate selection. As you will see in a bit, men and women have vastly different strategies when it comes to selecting a mate. This leads us to ask why and the answer is rooted in evolutionary psychology. Mate selection occurs universally in all human cultures. In a trend seen around the world, Buss (2004) said that since men can father a nearly unlimited number of children they favor signs of fertility in women to include being young, attractive, and healthy. Since they also want to know that the child is their own, they favor women who will be sexually faithful to them.
In contrast, women favor a more selective strategy given the incredible time investment having a child involves and the fact that she can only have a limited number of children during her life. She looks for a man who is financially stable and can provide for her children, typically being an older man. In support of the difference in age of a sexual partner pursued by men and women, Buss (1989) found that men wanted to marry women 2.7 years younger while women preferred men 3.4 years older. Also, this finding emerged cross-culturally.
3.1.3. Types of Relationships
Relationships can take on a few different forms. In what are called communal relationships, there is an expectation of mutual responsiveness from each member as it relates to tending to member’s needs while exchange relationships involve the expectation of reciprocity in a form of tit-for-tat strategy. This leads to what are called intimate or romantic relationships in which you feel a very strong sense of attraction to another person in terms of their personality and physical features. Love is often a central feature of intimate relationships and will be discussed more in a bit.
3.1.3.1. Family. Of course, our first relationships that are formed are with our family members whether it be our mother or father, siblings, grandparents, or other extended family members. Which of these relationships do you think would be considered the most important? If you said the relationship a child has to its mother, you would be correct, and we know more about how this relationship works than we do of the one that exists between child and father. One strategy some mothers use to punish bad behavior is to withdraw displays of affection to the child until he/she behaves again, called love withdrawal. The strategy should be effective, right? Possibly not. A study of 133 first-generation Chinese American mothers who self-reported psychologically controlling parenting of their children, showed subsequent bullying aggressive behaviors by their child in school as reported by preschool teachers. Love withdrawal was compared with another frequently used control mechanism, guilt induction, which was shown to predict less bullying behavior in children six moths later (Yu, Cheah, Hart, & Yang, 2019).
Another important relationship that is established in childhood is the one we form with our siblings. Research has shown that a child’s attachment security with mother and father predicts a significant portion of the relationships that are formed with siblings and peers, and that additionally, one’s relationship with siblings predicts later relationships with peers (Roskam, Meunier, & Stievenart, 2015).
3.1.3.2. Friendships. Based on our previous discussion of interpersonal attraction, it should not be surprising to learn that we tend to spend time with people who are similar to us, called homophily, and those who are more available to use likely due to spatial proximity, called propinquity (Echols & Graham, 2013). Friendships are a way for us to self-disclose with the expectation that our friends will do the same, called reciprocity. So, if I tell you my deepest, darkest secret, I expect that you will do the same. One way many adolescents self-disclose is on social media sites such as Facebook. Utz (2015) found that positive and entertaining self-disclosures increased feelings of connection especially for updates posted by their friends but that the most intimate conversations took place in private conversations.
Social constructivist models of gender state that gendered attitudes and subsequent behaviors are context-dependent. One such example is masculinity and femininity. Using a sample of cisgender participants from a small liberal arts college in the northeast, Mehta and Dementieva (2016) found that men reported higher levels of femininity when with women than men, and that both men and women reported higher levels of masculinity when with men and not women. The authors state their results support these social constructivist models of gender.
Finally, a study examining the close friendship patterns of transgender individuals considered the role of gender identity and LGBTQ affiliation on the identity of their friends. Using a sample of 495 transgender individuals, Boyer and Galupo (2018) found that the majority of their friendships occurred in a cross-gender identity context. In general, participants had more cisgender (vs. transgender) friends and more sexual minority (i.e. heterosexual) friends. When the participant was LGBT affiliated, they had more transgender, sexual minority, and LGBT affiliated friends than their non-affiliated counterparts. Trans men had more sexual minority and more LGBT affiliated friends while tans women reported more non-affiliated friends.
3.1.3.3. Love/Romantic. On April 7, 2015, Psychology Today published an article entitled, The Four Types of Attraction. Referred to as an attraction pyramid, it places status and health at the bottom, emotional in the middle, and logic at the top of the pyramid. Status takes on two forms. Internal refers to confidence, your skills, and what you believe or your values. External refers to your job, visual markers, and what you own such as a nice car or house. The article states that confidence may be particularly important and overrides external status in the long run. Health can include the way you look, move, smell, and your intelligence. The middle level is emotional which includes what makes us unique, trust and comfort, our emotional intelligence, and how mysterious we appear to a potential suitor. And then at the top is logic which helps us to be sure this individual is aligned with us in terms of life goals such as having kids, getting married, where we will live, etc. The article says – “With greater alignment, there is greater attraction.” Since online romance is trending now, the pyramid flips and we focus on logic, then emotion, and then status and health, but meeting in person is important and should be done as soon as possible. This way, we can be sure there is a physical attraction and can only be validated in person.
To read the article for yourself, visit: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/valley-girl-brain/201504/the-four-types-attraction
One outcome of this attraction to others, or the need to affiliate/belong, is love. What is love? According to a 2011 article in Psychology Today entitled ‘What is Love, and What Isn’t It?’ love is a force of nature, is bigger than we are, inherently free, cannot be turned on as a reward or off as a punishment, cannot be bought, cannot be sold, and cares what becomes of us). Adrian Catron writes in an article entitled, “What is Love? A Philosophy of Life” that “the word love is used as an expression of affection towards someone else….and expresses a human virtue that is based on compassion, affection and kindness.” He goes on to say that love is a practice and you can practice it for the rest of your life. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-is-love-a-philosophy_b_5697322). And finally, the Merriam Webster dictionary online defines love as “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties” and “attraction based on sexual desire: affection and tenderness felt by lovers.” (Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/love).
Robert Sternberg (1986) said love is composed of three main parts (called the triangular theory of love): intimacy, commitment, and passion. First, intimacy is the emotional component and involves how much we like, feel close to, and are connected to another person. It grows steadily at first, slows down, and then levels off. Features include holding the person in high regard, sharing personal affect with them, and giving them emotional support in times of need. Second, commitment is the cognitive component and occurs when you decide you truly love the person. You decide to make a long-term commitment to them and as you might expect, is almost non-existent when a relationship begins and is the last to develop usually. If a relationship fails, commitment would show a pattern of declining over time and eventually returns to zero. Third, passion represents the motivational component of love and is the first of the three to develop. It involves attraction, romance, and sex and if a relationship ends, passion can fall to negative levels as the person copes with the loss.
This results in eight subtypes of love which explains differences in the types of love we express. For instance, the love we feel for our significant other will be different than the love we feel for a neighbor or coworker, and reflect different aspects of the components of intimacy, commitment, and passion as follows:
Table 3.1. Types of Love (According to Sternberg)
Type of Love Intimacy Commitment Passion Example
Nonlove No No No
Liking Yes No No Friendships
Infatuation No No Yes Experiencing love at first sight or being obsessed with a person
Empty No Yes No Stagnant relationships
Fatuous No Yes Yes Relationships motivated by passion
Companionate Yes Yes No Relationships lacking passion such as those between family members or close friends
Romantic Yes No Yes Being bonded emotionally and physically to another person
Consummate Yes Yes Yes Complete love
3.1.4. Relationship Conflict
3.1.4.1. Jealousy. The dark side of love is what is called jealousy, or a negative emotional state arising due to a perceived threat to one’s relationship. Take note of the word perceived here. The threat does not have to be real for jealousy to rear its ugly head and what causes men and women to feel jealous varies. For women, a man’s emotional infidelity leads her to fear him leaving and withdrawing his financial support for her offspring while sexual infidelity is of greater concern to men as he may worry that the children he is supporting are not his own. Jealousy can also arise among siblings who are competing for their parent’s attention, among competitive coworkers especially if a highly desired position is needing to be filled, and among friends. From an evolutionary perspective, jealousy is essential as it helps to preserve social bonds and motivates action to keep important relationships stable and safe. But it can also lead to aggression (Dittman, 2005) and mental health issues.
3.1.4.2. The four horsemen of the apocalypse. John Gottman used the metaphor of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the New Testament to describe communication styles that can predict the end of a relationship. Though not conquest, war, hunger, and death, Gottman instead used the terms criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Each will be discussed below, as described on Gottman’s website: https://www.gottman.com/blog/the-four-horsemen-recognizing-criticism-contempt-defensiveness-and-stonewalling/
First, criticism occurs when a person attacks their partner at their core character “or dismantling their whole being” when criticized. An example might be calling them selfish and saying they never think of you. It differs from a complaint which typically involves a specific issue. For instance, one night in March 2019 my wife was stuck at work until after 8pm. I was upset as she did not call to let me know what was going on and we have an agreement to inform one another about changing work schedules. Criticism can become pervasive and when it does, it leads to the other, far deadlier horsemen. “It makes the victim feel assaulted, rejected, and hurt, and often causes the perpetrator and victim to fall into an escalating pattern where the first horseman reappears with greater and greater frequency and intensity, which eventually leads to contempt.”
The second horseman is contempt which involves treating others with disrespect, mocking them, ridiculing, being sarcastic, calling names, or mimicking them. The point is to make the target feel despised and worthless. “Most importantly, contempt is the single greatest predictor of divorce. It must be eliminated.”
Defensiveness is the third horseman and is a response to criticism. When we feel unjustly accused we have a tendency to make excuses and play the innocent victim to get our partner to back off. Does it work though? “Although it is perfectly understandable to defend yourself if you’re stressed out and feeling attacked, this approach will not have the desired effect. Defensiveness will only escalate the conflict if the critical spouse does not back down or apologize. This is because defensiveness is really a way of blaming your partner, and it won’t allow for healthy conflict management.”
Stonewalling is the fourth horseman and occurs when the listener withdraws from the interaction, shuts down, or stops responding to their partner. They may tune out, act busy, engage in distracting behavior, or turn away and stonewalling is a response to contempt. “It is a result of feeling physiologically flooded, and when we stonewall, we may not even be in a physiological state where we can discuss things rationally.”
Conflict is an unavoidable reality of relationships. The good news is that each horseman has an antidote to stop it. How so?
• To combat criticism, engage in gentle start up. Talk about your feelings using “I” statements and not “you” and express what you need to in a positive way. As the website demonstrates, instead of saying “You always talk about yourself. Why are you always so selfish?” say, “I’m feeling left out of our talk tonight and I need to vent. Can we please talk about my day?”
• To combat contempt, build a culture of appreciation and respect. Regularly express appreciation, gratitude, affection, and respect for your partner. The more positive you are, the less likely that contempt will be expressed. Instead of saying, “You forgot to load the dishwasher again? Ugh. You are so incredibly lazy.” (Rolls eyes.) say, “I understand that you’ve been busy lately, but could you please remember to load the dishwasher when I work late? I’d appreciate it.”
• To combat defensiveness, take responsibility. You can do this for just part of the conflict. A defensive comment might be, “It’s not my fault that we’re going to be late. It’s your fault since you always get dressed at the last second.” Instead, say, “I don’t like being late, but you’re right. We don’t always have to leave so early. I can be a little more flexible.”
• To combat stonewalling, engage in physiological self-soothing. Arguing increase one’s heart rate, releases stress hormones, and activates our flight-fight response. By taking a short break, we can calm down and “return to the discussion in a respectful and rational way.” Failing to take a break could lead to stonewalling and bottling up emotions, or exploding like a volcano at your partner, or both. “So, when you take a break, it should last at least twenty minutes because it will take that long before your body physiologically calms down. It’s crucial that during this time you avoid thoughts of righteous indignation (“I don’t have to take this anymore”) and innocent victimhood (“Why is he always picking on me?”). Spend your time doing something soothing and distracting, like listening to music, reading, or exercising. It doesn’t really matter what you do, as long as it helps you to calm down.”
3.1.4.3. Forgiveness. According to the Mayo Clinic, forgiveness involves letting go of resentment and any thought we might have about getting revenge on someone for past wrongdoing. So what are the benefits of forgiving others? Our mental health will be better, we will experience less anxiety and stress, we may experience fewer symptoms of depression, our heart will be healthier, we will feel less hostility, and our relationships overall will be healthier.
It’s easy to hold a grudge. Let’s face it, whatever the cause, it likely left us feeling angry, confused, and sad. We may even be bitter not only to the person who slighted us but extend this to others who had nothing to do with the situation. We might have trouble focusing on the present as we dwell on the past and feel like life lacks meaning and purpose.
But even if we are the type of person who holds grudges, we can learn to forgive. The Mayo Clinic offers some useful steps to help us get there. First, we should recognize the value of forgiveness. Next, we should determine what needs healing and who we should forgive and for what. Then we should consider joining a support group or talk with a counselor. Fourth, we need to acknowledge our emotions, the harm they do to us, and how they affect our behavior. We then attempt to release them. Fifth, choose to forgive the person who offended us leading to the final step of moving away from seeing ourselves as the victim and “release the control and power the offending person and situation have had in your life.”
At times, we still cannot forgive the person. They recommend practicing empathy so that we can see the situation from their perspective, praying, reflecting on instances of when you offended another person and they forgave you, and be aware that forgiveness does not happen all at once but is a process.
Read the article by visiting: www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/forgiveness/art-20047692
3.1.5. Dissolution
Relationships end from time to time. We do not tend to pair with the first partner we see and stay with him or her forever. What we thought was attraction at first may not have really been. Maybe we were rebounding from a previous relationship. Maybe we were worried about not finding someone and latched on to someone too quickly. Or maybe the relationship, or in this case, the marriage, failed because there was an imbalance in household chores. Really? Could not doing housework end a relationship? It can and that is what Ruppanner, Branden, and Turunen (2017) found in a sample of 1057 Swedish couples. When women reported having to do more housework, they were less likely to be satisfied with their relationship and more likely to consider breaking up or actually dissolve the union. There is a simple solution. The authors state, “…acknowledging partners’ housework contributions, in particular women’s contributions, has important consequences for relationship quality and stability.” Note that this imbalance in housework has a name. Called the second shift it reflects the fact that often, women come home from a hard day’s work and have to do household chores (Hochschild & Machung, 1989).
3.2. Gender Stereotypes
Section Learning Objectives
• Restate the three components of attitudes.
• Differentiate between stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.
• Define and describe stereotype threat.
• Contrast explicit and implicit attitudes.
• Describe the various forms prejudice and discrimination can take.
• Define stigma and list and describe its forms.
• Clarify how social identity theory and social categorization explain prejudice and discrimination.
• Describe how negative group stereotypes and prejudice are socialized.
• Explain whether emotions can predict intolerance.
• Discuss theories explaining the inevitability of intergroup rivalry and conflict over limited resources.
• Clarify how attribution theory explains prejudice and discrimination.
• Define tolerance.
• Describe ways to promote tolerance and improve intergroup relations.
• Describe Allport’s intergroup contact theory and state whether it is supported by research.
• Describe the Jigsaw classroom and evidence supporting it.
3.2.1. Attitudes About Other Groups
To distinguish the terms stereotype, discrimination, and prejudice we have to take a step back. The tripartite model is used to examine the structure and function of an attitude. It states that attitudes are composed of three components – affective or emotional, behavioral, and cognitive. Affective indicates our feelings about the source of our attitude. Cognitive indicates our thoughts about it and behavioral indicates the actions we take in relation to the thoughts and feelings we have about the source of the attitude. If we consider our attitude towards puppies, the affective component would manifest by our feeling or outwardly saying that we love puppies. We might base this affection for them on thinking about how they are fluffy or cute (the cognitive component). Finally, our thoughts and feelings produce the behavior of petting them whenever one is near. So how does this relate to the current discussion?
3.2.1.1. Stereotypes. A group stereotype is our beliefs about what are the typical traits or characteristics of members of a specific group. Notice the word beliefs in the definition. Hence, in terms of our attitude about another group, our stereotype represents the cognitive component.
The group that is the subject of the stereotype may experience what is called stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995) or the social-psychological predicament that arises from widely-known negative stereotypes about one’s group. Steele & Aronson (1995) state, “the existence of such a stereotype means that anything one does or any of one’s features that conform to it make the stereotype more plausible as a self-characterization in the eyes of others, and perhaps even in one’s own eyes” (pg. 797). Consider the stereotypes for feminists or White males. There is a definite stereotype of these groups which may be true of some individuals in the group, and lead to others seeing them that way too. The exact implications of these stereotypes are often negative and could be self-threatening enough to have disruptive effects on the person’s life. In one experiment, the authors gave black and white college students a 30-minute test composed of items from the verbal section of the GRE (Graduate Record Exam). In the stereotype threat condition, the test was described as diagnostic of intellectual ability and in the non-stereotype threat condition it was described as a laboratory problem-solving task that was nondiagnostic of ability. A second nondiagnostic condition was included which told participants to view the difficult test as a challenge. Results showed that black participants performed worse than white participants when the test was framed as a measure of their ability but performed as well as their White counterparts when told that it was not reflective of their ability. Statistical analyses also showed that black participants in the diagnostic condition saw their relative performance as poorer than black participants in the non-diagnostic-only condition. Follow up work found that helping African American students see intelligence as malleable reduced their vulnerability to stereotype threat (Good, Aronson, & Inzlicht, 2003; Aronson, Fried, & Good, 2002).
Schmader (2002) applied a social identity perspective to stereotype threat and hypothesized that when the participant identified highly with the group to which a negative stereotype applies, they be more likely to be inhibited by the performance inhibiting effects of the stereotype. The sample included male and female college students and specifically looked at their gender identity. The results showed that when gender identity was linked to performance on a math test, women with higher levels of gender identification performed worse than men, but for women with lower levels of gender identification, their performance was on par with men. When gender identity was not linked to performance on the math test, there were no gender differences, regardless of the importance either gender placed on gender identity.
One stereotype is that women are not as good as men in mathematics classes such as statistics. This thereby can lead them to avoid taking the class and be underrepresented in many professions, particularly STEM related ones. Kapitanoff and Pandey (2017) proposed that gender of the instructor can play a role too and examined whether a female role model can reduce the negative effects of a gender/mathematics stereotype threat in women as well as improve their academic performance and retention rate. So which types of anxiety might be most relevant to stereotype threat? They found that for women, mathematics anxiety and anxiety about the specific class led to acceptance of the stereotype while for men no significant relationships were found. For women, performance on the first exam was initially lower due to having a female instructor but after some time and additional interaction with her, performance went up on subsequent exams.
3.2.1.2. Prejudice and discrimination. Prejudice occurs when someone holds a negative feeling about a group of people, representing the affective component. As noted above, our thoughts and feelings lead to behavior and so discrimination is when a person acts in a way that is negative against a group of people. What might the effect of such behavior be on the target of the discrimination? According to a 2018 report by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, “Discrimination affects people’s opportunities, their well-being, and their sense of agency. Persistent exposure to discrimination can lead individuals to internalize the prejudice or stigma that is directed against them, manifesting in shame, low self-esteem, fear and stress, as well as poor health” (For more on the report, please visit https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/2018/02/prejudice-and-discrimination/.)
If you think about these terms for a bit, stereotype and prejudice seem to go together. Taking a step back from the current conversation, think about a political candidate. You likely hold specific thoughts about their policies, how they act, the overall likelihood of success if elected, etc. In conjunction with these thoughts, you also hold certain feelings about them. You might like them, love them, dislike them, or hate them. These thoughts and feelings lead us to behave in a certain way. If we like the candidate, we will vote for him or her. We might also campaign for them or mention them to others in conversation. The point is that the thoughts and feelings generally go together and you really cannot have one without the other. Behavior arises as a result of them. The same would be true of stereotypes and prejudice which go together, and these lead to behavior.
Consider this now. Can a person could be prejudicial and adopt certain stereotypes of other groups, but not discriminate against them? The answer is yes. Most people do not act on prejudices about others due to social norms against such actions. Let’s face it. If you make a snide comment about a fellow employee of another race, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnic group this could lead to disciplinary action up to being fired. Outside of work, comments like that could lead to legal action against you. So even if you hold such beliefs and feelings, you tend to keep them to yourself.
Now is it possible to be discriminatory without being prejudicial? The answer is yes, though this one may not be as obvious. Say an employer needs someone who can lift up to 75lbs on a regular basis. If you cannot do that and are not hired, you were discriminated against but that does not mean that the employer has prejudicial beliefs about you, especially if say you were a woman. The same would be said if a Ph.D. was required for a position and you were refused the job since you only have a Bachelor’s degree. One more example is useful. The online psychology students at Washington State University recently were able to establish a chapter of Psi Chi, the Psychology National Honor Society (done in the spring 2019 for context). Based on national chapter rules, students cannot be accepted unless they have at least 3.3 cumulative and psychology GPAs. So if a student has a 3.1, they would be excluded from the group. This is discrimination but we are not prejudicial against students with a GPA under the cutoff. Given that this is an honor society a certain level of performance is expected. These aforementioned types of behaviors occur every day but are not indicative of a larger problem, usually.
3.2.2. Implicit Attitudes
Section 3.1.1. describes what are called explicitattitudes, or attitudes that are obvious and known or at the level of conscious awareness. Is it possible that we might not even be aware we hold such attitudes towards other people? The answer is yes and is called an implicit attitude. Most people when asked if they hold a racist attitude would vehemently deny such a truth but research using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) show otherwise (Greenwald et al., 1998). The test occurs in four stages. First, the participant is asked to categorize faces as black or white by pressing the left- or right-hand key. Next, the participant categorizes words as positive or negative in the same way. Third, words and faces are paired and a participant may be asked to press the left-hand key for a black face or positive word and the right-hand key for a white face or negative word. In the fourth and final stage, the task is the same as in Stage 3 but now black and negative are paired and white and good are paired. The test measures how fast people respond to the different pairs and in general the results show that people respond faster when liked faces are paired with positive words and similarly, when disliked faces are paired with negative words. In another study using the IAT, Dasgupta et al. (2000) found that positive attributes were more strongly associated with White rather than Black Americans and the effect held when equally unfamiliar faces were used as stimuli for both racial groups.
Check out the Project Implicit website at – https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/
So do implicit attitudes exist in relation to sexual preference? A study of health care providers (n = 2,338 medical doctors, 5,379 nurses, 8,531 mental health providers, 2,735 other treatment providers, and 214,110 nonproviders in the United States and internationally) found that among heterosexual providers, implicit preferences favored heterosexual people over lesbian and gay, and heterosexual men over women. Heterosexual nurses had the strongest implicit preference for heterosexual men over gay men. For all groups, the explicit preferences for heterosexual versus lesbian or gay people were weaker than implicit preferences. The researchers suggest future research examine the effect that such implicit attitudes have on care (Sabin, Riskind, and Nosek, 2015).
3.2.3. Types of Prejudice and Discrimination
It is not illegal to hold negative thoughts and feelings about others, though it could be considered immoral. What is illegal is when we act on these prejudices and stereotypes and treat others different as a result. Discrimination can take several different forms which we will discuss now. Be advised that though these forms of discrimination can happen in almost any environment, we will focus primarily on the workplace as guidelines exist at the federal level.
3.2.3.1. Racism. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), “Race discrimination involves treating someone (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features). Color discrimination involves treating someone unfavorably because of skin color complexion.” But race/color discrimination also occurs when we treat someone differently because they are married to a person of a certain race or color. Discrimination on the basis of race can take the form of not hiring, firing, denying or offering lower pay to, skipping for promotion, not training, or laying off a person of another race or color. Harassment on the basis of race/color is said to have occurred if racial slurs are used, offensive or derogatory remarks are made, or racially-offensive symbols are used. The key is that harassment is prevalent when the offensive behavior occurs so frequently, or is so severe, that it creates a hostile environment or in the case of work environments, it leads to an adverse employment decision such as firing or a demotion. How prevalent is race-based discrimination in the workplace? According to EEOC, in 1997 there were 29,199 charges filed with a total of 28,528 in 2017. The highest number of charges filed occurred in 2010 with 35,890. For more on race/color discrimination in the workplace, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/race_color.cfm.
A few types of racism are worth distinguishing. First, old-fashioned racism is the belief that whites are superior to all other racial groups and lead to segregation and some of the forms of discrimination mentioned above. This is contrasted with modern racism which only appears when it is safe and socially acceptable to do so. According to Entman (1990) modern racism is composed of three closely intertwined but distinct components. First, is the “anti-black” effect or a general emotional hostility toward blacks. Second, is resistance to the political demands of African Americans. Third, is the belief that racism is dead and that blacks are no longer denied the ability to achieve due to racial discrimination.
Aversive racism occurs when a person denies personal prejudice but has underlying unconscious negative feelings toward another racial group. This could result in uneasiness, discomfort, disgust, and even fear. The person may find a Hispanic person as aversive but at the same time any suggestion that they are prejudiced equally aversive. As Dovidio and Gaertner (2004) wrote, “Thus, aversive racism may involve more positive reactions to whites than to blacks, reflecting a pro-in-group rather than an anti-out-group orientation, thereby avoiding the sigma of overt bigotry and protecting a nonprejudiced self-image” (pg. 4). Another study found that self-reported prejudice was lower in 1998-1999 than it was in 1988-1989. During both time periods, though, white participants did not engage in discriminatory selection decisions when a candidate’s qualifications were clearly weak or strong but did discriminate when the appropriate decision was more ambiguous (Dovidio & Gaertner, 2000).
Finally, symbolic racism (Sears & Kinder, 1971) occurs when negative views of another racial group are coupled with values such as individualism. It includes four components measured as such (Sears & Henry, 2005):
1. Denial of continuing discrimination – Agreement with the following statement would indicate symbolic racism – ‘Discrimination against blacks is no longer a problem in the United States’ while symbolic racism would be evident if you said there has been a lot of real change in the position of black people over the past few years.
2. Work ethic and responsibility for outcomes – If you agree with the following statement symbolic racism would be apparent – ‘Its really a matter of some people not trying hard enough; if blacks would only try harder they could just be as well off as whites.’
3. Excessive demands – Consider this question. ‘Some say that the Civil Rights people have been trying to push too fast. Others feel that they haven’t pushed fast enough. How about you?’ If you say push too fast you are displaying symbolic racism.
4. Undeserved advantage – If you disagree with ‘Over the last few years, blacks have gotten less than they deserve’ but agree with ‘Over the past few years, blacks have gotten more economically than they deserve’ you are displaying aversive racism.
3.2.3.2. Sexism. Sex discrimination involves treating a person unfavorably due to their sex. EEOC states, “Harassment can include “sexual harassment” or unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical harassment of a sexual nature. Harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature, however, and can include offensive remarks about a person’s sex. For example, it is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general.” The victim and the harasser can be either a man or woman, and of the same sex. In 1997, the EEOC had 24,728 charges filed for sex-based discrimination and in 2017 this number was 25,605. The peak charges filed was 30,356 in 2012. For more on sex discrimination in the work place, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/sex.cfm.
3.2.3.3. Aegism. According to the EEOC, age discrimination occurs when an applicant or employee is treated less favorably due to their age. EEOC writes, “The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) forbids age discrimination against people who are age 40 or older. It does not protect workers under the age of 40, although some states have laws that protect younger workers from age discrimination.” Interestingly, it is not illegal for an employer to favor an older worker over a younger one, even if both are over the age of 40. In 1997, the EEOC had 15,785 charges filed for age discrimination and in 2017 this number was 18,376. The peak charges filed was 24,582 filed in 2008. For more on age discrimination in the work place, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/age.cfm.
3.2.3.4. Weight discrimination. Discrimination does occur in relation to a person’s weight, or as the Council on Size and Weight Discrimination says, “for people who are heavier than average.” They call for equal treatment in the job market and on the job; competent and respectful treatment by health care professionals; the realization that happy, attractive, and capable people come in all sizes; and state that each person has the responsibility to stand up for themselves and others suffering weight discrimination. The group also notes that the media often portrays the obese in a negative light and promotes people’s fear of fat and obsession with thinness. Finally, they write, “We stand in solidarity with those who experience discrimination based on based on ethnicity, skin color, gender, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or other traits. Our mission is to make people aware of discrimination based on size, shape, and weight, and to work to end such discrimination.” For more on the council, please visit: http://cswd.org/.
To read about workplace weight discrimination issues, please check out the Time article from August 16, 2017.: http://time.com/4883176/weight-discrimination-workplace-laws/
3.2.3.5. Disability discrimination. According to EEOC, disability discrimination occurs when an employer or other entity, “treats an applicant or employee less favorably because she has a history of a disability (such as cancer that is controlled or in remission) or because she is believed to have a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory (lasting or expected to last six months or less) and minor (even if she does not have such an impairment).” The law also requires an employer (or in the cases of students, a university) to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee with a disability, unless it would cause significant difficulty or expense. For more on disability discrimination in the workplace, please visit: www.eeoc.gov/laws/types/disability.cfm.
3.2.3.6. Sexual orientation (LGBT) discrimination. According to the EEOC, sex discrimination is forbidden based on gender identity or sexual orientation Examples include not hiring someone because they are a transgender woman, firing an employee planning to make a gender transition, or denying an employee equal access to a common restroom corresponding to the employee’s gender identity. In 2015, EEOC received a total of 1,412 charges that included allegations related to sexual orientation and/or gender identity/transgender status. This was a 28% increase over the total LGBT charges file in 2014. For more on sexual orientation discrimination in the workplace, please visit: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/enforcement_protections_lgbt_workers.cfm
3.2.4. Stigmatization
Overlapping with prejudice and discrimination in terms of how people from other groups are treated is stigma, or when negative stereotyping, labeling, rejection, devaluation, and/or loss of status occur due to membership in a particular social group such as being Hispanic, Homosexual, Jewish, or a Goth; or due to a specific characteristic such as having a mental illness or cancer. Stigma takes on three forms as described below:
• Public stigma – When members of a society endorse negative stereotypes of people from another group and discriminate against them. They might avoid them all together resulting in social isolation. An example is when an employer intentionally does not hire a person because their mental illness is discovered.
• Label avoidance – In order to avoid being labeled as “crazy” or “nuts” people needing care may avoid seeking it all together or stop care once started. Due to these labels, funding for mental health services or aid to compromised groups could be restricted and instead, physical health services funded.
• Self-stigma – When people from another group internalize the negative stereotypes and prejudice, and in turn, discriminate against themselves. They may experience shame, reduced self-esteem, hopelessness, low self-efficacy, and a reduction in coping mechanisms. An obvious consequence of these potential outcomes is the why try effect, or the person saying ‘Why should I try and get that job. I am not worthy of it’ (Corrigan, Larson, & Rusch, 2009; Corrigan, et al., 2016).
Another form of stigma that is worth noting is that of courtesy stigma or when stigma affects people associated with the person with a mental disorder, physical disability, or who is overweight or obese. Karnieli-Miller et. al. (2013) found that families of the afflicted were often blamed, rejected, or devalued when others learned that a family member had a serious mental illness (SMI). Due to this they felt hurt and betrayed and an important source of social support during the difficult time had disappeared, resulting in greater levels of stress. To cope, they had decided to conceal their relative’s illness and some parents struggled to decide whether it was their place to disclose versus the relative’s place. Others fought with the issue of confronting the stigma through attempts at education or to just ignore it due to not having enough energy or desiring to maintain personal boundaries. There was also a need to understand responses of others and to attribute it to a lack of knowledge, experience, and/or media coverage. In some cases, the reappraisal allowed family members to feel compassion for others rather than feeling put down or blamed. The authors concluded that each family “develops its own coping strategies which vary according to its personal experiences, values, and extent of other commitments” and that “coping strategies families employ change over-time.”
3.2.5. Social Identity Theory and Social Categorization
Social identity theory asserts that people have a proclivity to categorize their social world into meaningfully simplistic representations of groups of people. These representations are then organized as prototypes, or “fuzzy sets of a relatively limited number of category defining features that not only define one category but serve to distinguish it from other categories” (Foddy & Hogg, 1999). This social categorization process leads us to emphasize the perceived similarities within our group and the differences between groups and involves the self. We construct in-groups, or groups we identify with, and out-groups, or groups that are not our own, and categorize the self as an in-group member. From this, behavior is generated such that the self is assimilated to the salient in-group prototype which defines specific cognitions, affect, and behavior we may exhibit. We favor ingroups, called ingroup favoritism, to enhance our own self-esteem and produce a positive self-concept. Another consequence is that we tend to see members of the outgroup as similar to one another while our ingroup is seen as varied, called the outgroup homogeneity effect (Park & Rothbart, 1982). One reason why this might occur is that we generally have less involvement with individual members of outgroups and so are less familiar with them. If we have contact, then they are less likely to be seen as homogeneous.
Tajfel et al. (1979) stated that we associate the various social categories with positive or negative value connotations which in turn lead to a positive or negative social identity, based on the evaluations of groups that contribute to our social identity. We also evaluate our group by making a social comparison to other groups. They write, “positively discrepant comparisons between in-group and out-group produce high prestige; negatively discrepant comparisons between in-group and out-group result in low prestige” (pg. 60). We desire favorable comparisons between the in-group and some relevant out-groups meaning the in-group is seen as distinct. Our self-esteem can be boosted through our personal achievements or by being associated with successful groups.
3.2.6. Socialization of Negative Group Stereotypes and Prejudice
It should not be a surprise to learn that one way we acquire stereotypes and prejudice is to simply learn them in childhood. Three main, complementary and not competitive, learning models explain how this might occur. In fact, they explain how we acquire and then subsequently maintain such cognitions and emotional reactions to other groups. They could also account for why discriminatory acts are committed.
First, observational learning is learning by simply watching others, or you might say we model their behavior. Albert Bandura conducted the pivotal research on observational learning in which children were first brought into a room to watch a video of an adult playing nicely or aggressively with a Bobo doll. This was a model. Next, the children are placed in a room with a lot of toys in it. In the room is a highly prized toy but they are told they cannot play with it. All other toys are fine and a Bobo doll is in the room. Children who watched the aggressive model behaved aggressively with the Bobo doll while those who saw the nice model, played nice. Both groups were frustrated when deprived of the coveted toy. In relation to our discussion of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination, a child may observe a parent utter racial slurs, make derogatory gestures, or engage in behavior intended to hurt another group. The child can learn to express the same attitudes both in terms of cognitions and affect, and possibly through subsequent actions they make. So the child may express the stereotype of a group and show negative feelings toward that group such as the LGBTQ movement, and then later state a slur at a member of the group or deny them some resource they are legally able to obtain in keeping with discrimination…. And all because they saw their parents or other key figures do the same at some earlier time in life. Keep in mind this all can happen without the parent ever actually ever trying to teach the child such attitudes.
Second, respondent conditioning occurs when we link a previously neutral stimulus (NS) with a stimulus that is unlearned or inborn, called an unconditioned stimulus (US). With repeated pairings of NS and US, the organism will come to make a response to the NS and not the US. How so? According to respondent conditioning, learning occurs in three phases: preconditioning, conditioning, and postconditioning. Preconditioning signifies that some learning is already present. There is no need to learn it again. The US yields an unconditioned response (UR). It is un-conditioned meaning it is not (un) learned (conditioned). Conditioning is when learning occurs and in respondent conditioning this is the pairing of the neutral stimulus and unconditioned stimulus which recall yields an UR. Postconditioning, or after (post) learning (conditioning) has occurred, establishes a new and not naturally occurring relationship of a conditioned stimulus (CS; previously the NS) and conditioned response (CR; the same response). In Pavlov’s classic experiments, dogs salivated in response to food (US and UR); no learning was necessary. But Pavlov realized that dogs salivated even before they had the food in front of them. They did so when the heard footsteps coming down or at the sound of a bell (the NS which cause no response initially). With enough pairings, the dogs came to realize that the bell (NS formerly and now a CS) indicated food was coming and salivated (previously the UR and now the CR). How does this relate to learning prejudice and stereotypes? Children may come to associate certain groups (initially a NS) with such things as crime, poverty, and other negative characteristics. Now in respondent conditioning these stimuli were initially neutral like the groups but through socialization children learned these were bad making the relationship of such characteristics as being negative a CS-CR relationship. The new NS is linked to a CS and eventually just thinking of a specific racial group (now a new CS) for example will yield the negative feelings (CR) because we have learned that the group consists of poor criminals who may be dirty or vile for instance.
Third, operant conditioning is a type of associative learning which focuses on consequences that follow a response or behavior that we make (anything we do, say, or think/feel) and whether it makes a behavior more or less likely to occur. A contingency is when one thing occurs due to another. Think of it as an If-Then statement. If I do X then Y will happen. For operant conditioning this means that if I make a behavior, then a specific consequence will follow. The events (response and consequence) are linked in time. What form do these consequences take? There are two main ways they can present themselves. First, in reinforcement, the consequences lead to a behavior/response being more likely to occur in the future. It is strengthened. Second, in punishment, a behavior/response is less likely to occur in the future or is weakened, due to the consequences. Operant conditioning says that four contingencies are then possible based on whether something good or bad is given or taken away. Let’s go through each and given an example related to the topic of this module.
• Positive Punishment (PP) – If something bad or aversive is given or added, then the behavior is less likely to occur in the future. If you talk back to your mother and she slaps your mouth, this is a PP. Your response of talking back led to the consequence of the aversive slap being delivered or given to your face. In relation to our discussion, if you make a demeaning comment about women at work and are reprimanded by being given a demerit or verbally scolded by HR, then you will be less likely to make one again.
• Positive Reinforcement (PR) – If something good is given or added, then the behavior is more likely to occur in the future. If you study hard and earn, or are given, an A on your exam, you will be more likely to study hard in the future. Likewise, if you make a negative comment about a lesbian at home and are praised by your parents, then you will be likely to do this again in the future.
• Negative Reinforcement (NR) – This is a tough one for students to comprehend because the terms don’t seem to go together and are counterintuitive. But it is really simple and you experience NR all the time. This is when something bad or aversive is taken away or subtracted due to your actions, making it that you will be more likely to make the same behavior in the future when some stimuli presents itself. For instance, what do you do if you have a headache? You likely answered take Tylenol. If you do this and the headache goes away, you will take Tylenol in the future when you have a headache. NR can either result in current escape behavior or future avoidance behavior. What does this mean? Escape occurs when we are presently experiencing an aversive event and want it to end. We make a behavior and if the aversive event, like the headache, goes away, we will repeat the taking of Tylenol in the future. This future action is an avoidance event. We might start to feel a headache coming on and run to take Tylenol right away. By doing so we have removed the possibility of the aversive event occurring and this behavior demonstrates that learning has occurred. In the case of discrimination, if a transgender individual moved into our apartment building, we might engage in hostile behavior to encourage him/her to move. If the person does so, then this is NR and specifically escape behavior. The apartment building (and maybe complex) may get the reputation of not welcoming a diverse range of people and cause future outgroup members to take up residence elsewhere (avoidance behavior).
• Negative Punishment (NP) – This is when something good is taken away or subtracted making a behavior less likely in the future. If you are late to class and your professor deducts 5 points from your final grade (the points are something good and the loss is negative), you will likely be on time in all subsequent classes. Back to the work example for NR, we might also be sent home with pay or lose a promotion.
3.2.7. Do Emotions Predict Intolerance?
A 2004 article in the Monitor on Psychology notes that though most research points to the fact that intolerance is caused by negative stereotypes, at least in part, research by Susan Fiske of Princeton University indicates that pity, envy, disgust, and pride – all emotions – may play a larger role. Fiske’s research team found that the emotions are not only tied to prejudice, but to discriminatory behavior as well. “It’s not illegal to have a bad thought or feeling in your head,” said Fiske. “What really matters is the behavior.” This behavior can include bringing harm to others or excluding them, and through a meta-analysis she conducted of 57 studies done over 50 years on attitude behavior and racial bias, she found that emotions predict behaviors twice as much as negative stereotypes.
Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, and Xu (2002) proposed that the content of stereotypes be studied and argued that stereotypes are captured by the dimensions of warmth and competence. The researchers wrote, “subjectively positive stereotypes on one dimension do not contradict prejudice but often are functionally consistent with unflattering stereotypes on the other dimension” (pg. 878). It is also predicted that status and competition, two variables important for intergroup relations, predict the dimensions of stereotypes such that for subordinate, noncompetitive groups (i.e. the elderly) the positive stereotype of warmth will act jointly with the negative stereotype of low competence to give privileged groups an advantage. They add that for competitive out-groups such as Asians, there is a positive stereotype of competence in conjunction with a negative stereotype of low warmth which justifies the in-group’s resentment of them. Finally, they predicted that different combinations of stereotypic warmth and competence bring about unique intergroup emotions, directed toward various societal groups such that “pity targets the warm but not competent subordinates; envy targets the competent but not warm competitors; contempt is reserved for out-groups deemed neither warm nor competent” (pg. 879).
The data provided from nine survey samples show that perceived competence and warmth did indeed differentiate out-group stereotypes; that many out-groups are perceived as competent but not warm (or warm but not competent); that perceived social status predicted perceived competence and perceived competition predicted perceived lack of warmth; and that pity, envy, contempt, and admiration differentiated the four combinations of perceived warmth and competence. In relation to the last finding, the authors speculated, “Both envy items (i.e., envious, jealous) reflect the belief that another possesses some object that the self desires but lacks; this, then, acknowledges the out-groups’ possession of good qualities and also that the out-group is responsible for the in-group’s distress. In short, envy and jealousy are inherently mixed emotions. Ina similar way, pity and sympathy directed toward warm but incompetent out-groups suggest a mixture of subjectively good feelings and acknowledgement of the out-groups’ inferior position. Again, pity is inherently a mixed emotion” (pg. 897). The results of the study fly in the face of the consensus of social psychologists that prejudice involves simultaneous dislike and disrespect for an out-group, but instead, shows that out-group prejudice often focuses on one or the other, but not both.
For more from the Monitor on Psychology article, please visit: https://www.apa.org/monitor/oct04/prejudice
3.2.8. Is Intergroup Rivalry Inevitable Due to Competition for Limited Resources?
Another line of thinking does assert that groups will engage in prejudicial and discriminatory practices because they are competing for limited resources. The interesting thing is that competition comes about due to either real imbalances of power and resources, called the realistic group conflict theory (LeVine & Campbell, 1972) or perceived imbalances, called relative deprivation. In the case of the former, groups competing for limited jobs may engage in discriminatory practices or make prejudicial comments about the other group. In the case of the latter, simply believing that your situation is improving but slower than other groups, can lead to instances of intergroup conflict. Using the realistic group conflict theory as a base, Brief et al. (2005) found that the closer whites lived to blacks and the more interethnic conflict they perceived in their communities, the more negative their reaction was to diverse workplaces.
Dominant groups likewise want to maintain the status quo or continue their control over subordinate groups. Those with a social dominance orientation (SDO) view their ingroup as dominant and superior to outgroups and seek to enforce the hierarchy as it exists now. They take on roles that enhance or attenuate inequality; are generally intolerant; are not empathetic and altruistic; express less concern for others; are generally more conservative, patriotic, nationalistic, and express cultural elitism; support chauvinist policies; do not support gay rights, women’s rights, social welfare programs, ameliorative racial policy, and environmental policy; generally support military programs; support wars for dominance but not war unconditionally; and finally the orientation is more present in males than females (Pratto et al., 1994). The orientation was also found to be distinct from an authoritarian personality in which a person displays an exaggerated submission to authority, is intolerant of weakness, endorses the use of punitive measures toward outgroup members or deviants, and conformity to ingroup leaders (Adorno et al., 1950), though Pratto et al. (1994) do indicate that SDO does predict many of the social attitudes conceptually associated with authoritarianism such as ethnocentrism, punitiveness, and conservatism. It is also distinct from social identity theory such that, “Social identity theory posits out-group denigration as a device for maintaining positive social identity; social dominance theory posits it as a device to maintain superior group status” (pg. 757).
The system justification theory proposes that people are motivated to varying degrees, to defend, bolster, and justify existing social, political, and economic arrangements, also known as the status quo, to maintain their advantaged position. These behaviors legitimatize the social hierarchy as it currently exists, even if they hold a disadvantaged place in this system (Jost, 2011). In the case of the disadvantaged, they may assert that the system is fair and just and display outgroup favoritism to those who perform well in the system.
3.2.9. Attribution Theory
Attribution theory (Heider, 1958) asserts that people are motivated to explain their own and other people’s behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to either something in themselves or a trait they have, called a dispositional attribution, or to something outside the person called a situational attribution. We also commit the fundamental attribution error (FAE; Jones & Harris, 1967) which is an error in assigning a cause to another’s behavior in which we automatically assume a dispositional reason for his or her actions and ignore situational factors. Related to the current discussion of prejudice and discrimination, we commit the cognitive error of group-serving bias by ignoring an outgroup member’s positive behavior and assigning dispositional attributions to their negative behavior while attributing negative behavior to situational factors and positive behavior to dispositional ones for ingroup members. One study investigated harmful behavior and found evidence of the group-serving bias insofar as members of the Italian Communist party said outgroup actors were more aggressive and intentional in their harmful actions than in-group actors (Schruijer et al., 1994).
Finally, attributional ambiguity refers to the confusion a person may experience over whether or not they are being treated prejudicially (Crocker & Major, 1989). Though no one would want to be discriminated against or experience prejudice, knowing this is the cause of negative feedback can actually protect one’s self-esteem. Women in one experiment received negative feedback from an evaluator they knew was prejudiced and showed less depression than women who received negative feedback from a nonprejudiced evaluator. In a second experiment, white and black college students were given interpersonal feedback from a white evaluator who could either see them or not. Black participants were more likely to attribute negative feedback to prejudice than positive feedback. Additionally, being seen by the evaluator protected the self-esteem of Black participants from negative feedback but lowered the self-esteem of those who were given positive feedback (Crocker, Voelkl, Testa, & Major, 1991).
3.2.10. Teaching Tolerance
As a starting point, one way to reduce prejudice and discrimination (or reduce negative feelings rooted in cognitions about another group and negative behavior made in relation to the group) is by teaching tolerance or “respect, acceptance and appreciation of the rich diversity of our world’s cultures, our forms of expression and ways of being human. Tolerance is harmony in difference.” The Teaching Tolerance movement (https://www.tolerance.org/), founded in 1991 by the Southern Poverty Law Center to prevent the growth of hate, provides free resources to teachers, educators, and administrators from kindergarten to high school. The program centers on social justice, which includes the domains of identity, diversity, justice, and action; and anti-bias, which encourages children and young people to challenge prejudice and be agents of change in their own lives. They write, “We view tolerance as a way of thinking and feeling—but most importantly, of acting—that gives us peace in our individuality, respect for those unlike us, the wisdom to discern humane values and the courage to act upon them.”
The group proposes 13 principles to improve intergroup relations. Briefly, they include:
1. Principle 1 – Sources of prejudice and discrimination should be addressed at the institutional and individual levels and where people learn, work, and live. The group notes that power differences, whether real or imagined, have to be dealt with as they are at the heart of intergroup tensions.
2. Principle 2 – We have to go beyond merely raising knowledge and awareness to include efforts to influence the behavior of others. Strategies to improve intergroup relations must also include lessons about how one is to act in accordance with this new knowledge. Also, as prejudice and discrimination are socially influenced to change our own behavior we may need to look to others for support and our efforts may involve change the behavior of those who express such negative views of others and who possibly act on it.
3. Principle 3 – Strategies should include all racial and ethnic groups involved as “diversity provides an opportunity for learning and for comparison that can help avoid oversimplification or stereotyping.”
4. Principle 4 – There should be cooperative, equal-status roles for persons from different groups. Activities should be cooperative in nature to ensure that people from different backgrounds can all contribute equally to the task.
5. Principle 5 – People in positions of power should participate in, and model, what is being taught in race relations programs as an example to those being taught and to show that the learning activities matter.
6. Principle 6 – Positive intergroup relations should be taught to children at an early age but at the same time, we need to realize that these lessons may not stick even though they do make later lessons easier to teach and learn. The group states, “People cannot be inoculated against prejudice. Given the differences in living conditions of various racial and ethnic groups, as well as the existence of discrimination throughout our society, improving intergroup relations is a challenge that requires ongoing work.” The last two words are by far the most important in this principle.
7. Principle 7 – Building off Principle 6, a one-time workshop, course, or learning module is not enough and there needs to be “highly focused activities and efforts to ensure that positive intergroup relations are pursued throughout the organization involved.”
8. Principle 8 – Similarities between racial and ethnic groups need to be emphasized as much as differences in social class, gender, and language. Though there are differences between groups, they also have a lot in common. “Making “the other” seem less different, strange, or exotic can encourage positive interactions and avoid stereotyping.”
9. Principle 9 – Most Americans of European descent value the concept of the “melting pot” but expect persons of color and immigrants to assimilate into the dominant white culture and resent them if they do not. Others insist that individuals choose a single cultural identity but by doing so communicate a lack of respect for people with bicultural or multicultural identities and discriminate against them. Hence, we must recognize the value of these varied identities as they represent a bridge to improved intergroup relations.
10. Principle 10 – Oftentimes it is myths and misinformation that sustain stereotypes and prejudices. The inaccuracies of these myths must be exposed to undermine the justifications for prejudice.
11. Principle 11 – Those who are to implement learning activities should be properly trained and their commitment firm to increase the effectiveness of the effort.
12. Principle 12 – The exact problems involved in poor intergroup relations within a setting should be diagnosed so that the correct strategies can be used and then follow-up studies of individual and organization change should follow.
13. Principle 13 – The strategies we use to reduce prejudice toward any particular racial or ethnic group may not transfer to other races or groups. “Since most people recognize that racism is inconsistent with democratic values, it is often the case that prejudiced persons have developed what they think are reasonable justifications for prejudices and discriminatory behavior that are specific to particular groups.”
The group notes that all 13 principles do not need to be included in every strategy, and some effective strategies and intervention programs incorporate as few as two or three. The principles presented above are meant to provide guidelines for action and are not guaranteed to work. Even the best-designed strategies can be undermined by weak implementation. The principles are also meant to focus research and discussion on what an effective program would look like.
For Your Consideration
So do interventions to reduce prejudice and create an inclusive environment in early childhood work? A systematic review was conducted by Aboud et al. (2012) and provided mixed evidence. Check out the article for yourself:
3.2.11. Intergroup Contact Theory
According to an APA feature article in 2001, to reduce bias among conflicting groups, all you need is contact (https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/contact). In the 1950s, psychologist Gordon Allport proposed his “contact hypothesis” which states that contact between groups can promote acceptance and tolerance but only when four conditions are met. First, there must be equal status between the groups in the situation as if the status quo of imbalance is maintained, the stereotypes fueling prejudice and discrimination cannot be broken down. Second, the groups must share common goals that are superordinate to any one group which leads to the third condition of intergroup cooperation. The groups must work together and share in the fruits of their labor. Finally, there has to be support at the institutional level in terms of authorities, law, or custom (Allport, 1954).
A 2006 meta-analysis by Thomas Pettigrew and Linda Tropp confirm Allport’s hypothesis. The researchers synthesized the effects from 696 samples and found that greater intergroup contact is associated with lower levels of prejudice. They also found that intergroup contact effects generalize beyond participants in the immediate contact situation. They write, “Not only do attitudes toward the immediate participants usually become more favorable, but so do attitudes toward the entire outgroup, outgroup members in other situations, and even outgroups not involved in the contact. This result enhances the potential of intergroup contact to be a practical, applied means of improving intergroup relations” (pg. 766).
To read the meta-analysis for yourself, please visit: http://blogs.law.columbia.edu/genderandsexualitylawblog/files/2012/04/A-Meta-Analytic-Test-of-Intergroup-Contact-Theory.pdf
3.2.12. Jigsaw Classroom
The Jigsaw classroom was created in the early 1970s by Elliot Aronson and his students at the University of Texas and the University of California (Aronson et al., 1978). It has a proven track record of reducing racial conflict and increasing positive educational outcomes. These include reducing absenteeism, increasing a student’s liking of school, and improving test performance. Like a jigsaw puzzle, each student represents a piece and is needed to complete and fully understand the final product. So how does it work? According to https://www.jigsaw.org/:
1. The class is divided into smaller groups of 5-6 students, each group diverse in terms of gender, race, ability, and ethnicity.
2. One student is appointed as the group leader and should be the most mature student in the group.
3. The lesson for the day is divided into 5-6 segments. As the website says, if you were presenting a lesson on Eleanor Roosevelt, you would break it up into covering her childhood, life with Franklin and their children, her life after he contracted polio, her work in the White House as First Lady, and her life and work after her husband died.
4. Each student is then assigned to learn one segment ONLY.
5. The students are given time to read over their segment and learn it at least twice. Memorization of the script is not needed.
6. Temporary “expert” groups are next created by having students from each jigsaw group join other students assigned the same segment. The students are given time to discuss the main points with others in the expert group and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group.
7. Students are returned to their jigsaw groups.
8. The students are then asked to present his or her segment to the group and the other group members are encouraged to ask questions for clarification.
9. The teacher is asked to move from group to group and observe the process. If there is a problem in the group such as one member being disruptive or dominating, the teacher will make an intervention appropriate to the situation. With time, the group leader will handle such situations but needs to be trained. The teacher could do this by whispering instructions to the leader.
10. Once the session is over, the teacher gives a quiz on the material. This reinforces that the sessions are not fun and games, but really count.
So does it work? Results show that once a group begins to work well, barriers break down and the students show liking for one another and empathy too (Aronson, 2002). The same results were observed in a study of Vietnamese tertiary students such that they reported appreciating working with others, getting help, and discussing the content with each other (Tran & Lewis, 2012). Outside of reducing intergroup rivalries and prejudice, an adaptation has been shown to help reduce social loafing in college student group projects (Voyles, Bailey, & Durik, 2015).
For more on the jigsaw classroom, please visit: https://www.jigsaw.org/
3.3. Defining Aggression
Section Learning Objectives
• Define aggression.
• Identify and define the three forms aggression can take.
• Clarify what domestic violence is and its prevalence.
• Clarify what rape is and its prevalence.
• Clarify what sexual harassment is and its prevalence.
• Clarify what bullying and cyberbullying are.
3.3.1. Aggression and Its Types
Aggression can be defined as any behavior, whether physical or verbal, that is carried out with the intent to harm another person. The key here is determining the intention or motive for the aggressive behavior. Aggression should also be distinguished from being angry which is an emotional reaction to an event but can just stay that – an emotion. Just because someone is angry does not mean they will necessarily act on it and engage in aggressive behavior. If they do aggress, how intense is the behavior? To understand that, consider that aggressive acts occur along a continuum of least harmful to most harmful. On the extreme side are violent acts or violence. The World Health Organization (WHO) defined violence in their 2002 World Report on Violence and Health, as “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation” (pg. 5). They state that violence can be self-directed in the form of suicidal behavior or self-abuse, interpersonal and between family members or individuals who are unrelated, or collective in terms of social, political, and economic and suggest motives for violence. They add that violence acts can be physical, sexual, psychological, or involve deprivation or neglect. For more on the report, and to view the 2014 report on violence prevention, please visit:
Aggression has three types. First, instrumental aggression occurs when a person attempts to obtain something but does not intend to harm others. The behavior serves as a means to another end. An example would be if a toddler tries to take a toy from another toddler. Second, hostile or physical aggression occurs when a person intends to harm another person by hitting, shooting, kicking, punching, or stabbing them, or by simply threatening such action. The behavior is an end in itself. Third, relational aggression occurs when efforts are made to damage another person’s relationships and could include spreading rumors, name calling, ignoring a person, or social exclusion.
3.3.2. Behavioral Manifestations of Aggression
3.3.2.1. Domestic violence. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV), domestic violence is “the willful intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power and control perpetrated by one intimate partner against another.” It can include telling the victim they never do right; complete control of finances; embarrassing or shaming the victim with put-downs; telling the victim how to dress; threatening to kill or injure the victim’s friends, loved ones, or pets; forcing sex with others; preventing the victim from working or going to school; and destroying the victim’s property. They estimate that on average, “nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States” and “1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men experience severe intimate partner physical violence, intimate partner contact sexual violence, and/or intimate partner stalking with impacts such as injury, fearfulness, post-traumatic stress disorder, use of victim services, and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases.” Finally, intimate partner violence accounts for 15% of all violent crime.
There is an interesting intersection of age, gender, and marital aggression. Bookwala, Sobin, and Zdaniuk (2005) compared conflict resolution strategies, physical aggression, and injuries in a sample of 6,185 married couples, ranging from young to middle to older aged men and women. Younger participants were found to use more maladaptive conflict resolution strategies, had more physical arguments, and sustained more injuries than older participants. To deal with conflict, women used calm discussions less and heated arguments more, but for the young and middle-aged women, they reported more injuries due to their spouse.
For more on domestic violence, please visit: https://ncadv.org
3.3.2.2. Rape. According to womenshealth.gov, rape occurs when there has been sexual penetration, without consent. The U.S. Department of Justice adds that consent involves clearly stating ‘yes’ to any type of sexual activity. Rape also occurs if you are drunk, high, drugged, passed out, or asleep as in these situations you cannot give consent. It is a type of sexual assault and during their life, 1 in 5 women and 1 in 71 men will be raped. NCADV adds that “Almost half of female (46.7%) and male (44.9%) victims of rape in the United States were raped by an acquaintance. Of these, 45.4% of female rape victims and 29% of male rape victims were raped by an intimate partner.” Violence of a sexual nature culminating in rape starts early with as many as 8.5 million women reporting an incident before the age of 18.
For more information, please visit: https://www.womenshealth.gov/relationships-and-safety/sexual-assault-and-rape/rape
3.3.2.3. Sexual harassment. Sexual harassment occurs when unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or sexually charged words or gestures have been made. In the workplace, the sexual harassment comes with the expectation of submission, whether stated implicitly or explicitly, and as a term of one’s employment. It includes unwanted pressure for sexual favors, pressure for dates, sexual comments, cat calls, sexual innuendos or stories, questions about sexual fantasies or fetishes, kissing sounds, howling, hugging, kissing, stroking, sexually suggestive signals, staring at someone, winking, etc. A February 21, 2018 article by NPR (National Public Radio) reported that 81% of women and 43% of men had experienced sexual harassment of some sort during their life.
“The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) is an ongoing survey that collects the most current and comprehensive national- and state-level data on intimate partner violence, sexual violence and stalking victimization in the United States.” To view the report and other resources yourself, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/datasources/nisvs/index.html.
To read the full NPR article, please visit:
3.3.2.4. Bullying and cyberbullying. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), defines bullying as “…any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths, who are not siblings or current dating partners, involving an observed or perceived power imbalance. These behaviors are repeated multiple times or are highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm.” Stopbullying.gov adds that this behavior can include verbal (teasing, name-calling, taunting, threats of harm, or inappropriate sexual comments), social (spreading rumors or excluding someone intentionally), or physical (spitting on, hitting, kicking, breaking someone’s things, or making rude hand gestures) bullying. The BJS reports that during the 2015-2016 school year, 22% of middle schools reported at least one incident of student bullying each week while 15% of high schools, 11% of combined schools, and 8% of primary schools reported incidents.
Cyberbullying involves the use of technology such as social media, e-mail, chatrooms, texting, video games, Youtube, or photographs to humiliate, embarrass, intimidate, or even threaten someone to gain power and control over them. According to the National Bullying Prevention Center, cyberbullying involves an electronic form of contact, an aggressive act, intent, repetition, and harm to the target (Hutson, 2016) and in 2015 the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) reported that 15.5% of high school students and 24% of middle school students were cyberbullied. Unlike bullying done outside of the online environment, the target may not know who is actually bullying them or why, the cyberbullying could go viral and to a large audience, parents and adults may have difficulty managing it, and the harmful effects of cyberbullying on the target may not be easily seen by the bully, thereby perpetuating it.
For more on bullying, please visit:
For more on cyberbullying, please visit:
3.3.3. Explaining Violence Through a Gender Lens
One explanation for violence is the stress that adhering to gender roles causes, called gender role stress. Consider that men experience a great deal of pressure to adhere to masculine norms, of which being aggressive and violence are included. In a study examining the mediating role of male gender role stress for adherence to hegemonic masculinity and being hostile to women, it was found that gender role stress did mediate status and antifeminity norms while being hostile to women was mediated by a toughness norm (Gallagher & Parrott, 2011). Another study found that fearful attachment and gender role stress predicted controlling behaviors in a sample of 143 men court mandated to attend a batter’s intervention program (Mahalik et al., 2005).
Another explanation is gender role conflict (GRC) theory which asserts that to understand aggression and violence, one has to look beyond mere gender role stress and examine sociopsychological factors that influence a man’s conception of masculinity in a patriarchal and sexist society (O’Neil, 1981a, 1981b). Hence, gender role conflict can lead to negative consequences and pressure to conform to social and cultural expectations of masculinity, at times resulting in exaggerated expression and incarceration (Amato, 2012). Well-being can also be affected negatively if a man attempts to subscribe to masculine norms such as power and playboy, though the norm of winning is positively associated with prospective well-being (Kayla et al., 2019). Hence, adherence to traditional masculine norms can have both positive and negative effects on men’s health.
Module Recap
This concludes our discussion of relationships, stereotypes, and aggression, which asked you to apply a social psychology lens to the topic of gender. We hope you found it interesting and are ready to continue examining gender through other lenses. Next up, physiological.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/02%3A_Applying_Social_and_Developmental_Lenses/2.01%3A_Module_3__Gender_Through_a_Social_Psychological_Lens.txt
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Module 5: Gender Through a Developmental Psychology Lens
Module Overview
In this module, we will focus on various theories that have attempted to explain gender development. We will begin by taking a look back to the very beginning – psychoanalytic theories. We will then take a very detailed look at various factors that impact gender socialization while also uncovering two common social theories – social learning theory and social cognitive theory. Next, we will learn about Kohlberg’s cognitive development theory and how he explained gender development. We will also learn about gender schema theory. Finally, we will end by taking a brief, but important, glance at various biologically-based theories of gender development.
Module Outline
• 5.1. Psychoanalytic Theories
• 5.2. Gender Socialization
• 5.3. Cognitive Theories
• 5.4. Etiological Theories
Module Learning Outcomes
• To become familiar with the basic principles of one of the first theories in psychology, psychoanalysis, and how it relates to gender development.
• To learn about social theories and how socialization of gender occurs.
• To understand cognitive theories of psychology and how they apply to gender.
• To gain a basic understanding of biological factors as they relate to gender in psychology.
5.1. Psychoanalytic Theories
Section Learning Objectives
• To gain a basic understanding of psychoanalytic theory.
• To increase understanding of how Freud theorized gender and how his theory applies to gender in psychology.
• To increase understanding of how Horney theorized gender and how her theory applies to gender in psychology.
• To understand potential strengths as well as weaknesses and criticisms of these theories.
You may remember learning about psychoanalytic theory in your Introduction to Psychology class. If not, no worries, we are about to have a crash course to catch you up! Psychoanalysis was one of the very first theories in psychology, and we have Sigmund Freud to thank for that. Sigmund Freud is often considered the father of psychology. For the purposes of this class, we are going to focus on how his theory specifically relates to gender development. But to allow for that, let’s be sure we have some important foundational knowledge of psychoanalytic theory, in general. Overall, psychoanalytic theory focuses on very early life experiences. Essentially, it was theorized that one’s psyche is impacted significantly by major and minor events, even in infancy. This later impacts one’s functioning as an adult, and is the cause of psychopathology that may be seen. Ultimately, Freud theorized that an individual’s psychosomatic distress (physical symptoms that occur due to psychological distress) distress was a manifestation of internal conflicts. Moreover, the internal conflict was often considered to occur in the subconscious, meaning one did not realize events had occurred and/or were impacting one’s current functioning. As such, the idea was that one must uncover these subconscious events through talk therapy. Freud and other psychoanalysts believed this was the only way to resolve the internal conflict in the subconscious, and to then alleviate the physical and psychological maladjustment that was presenting in the individual.
5.1.1. Sigmund Freud’s Psychosexual Theory
One thing that is not commonly mentioned about Freud is that he was one of the first theorists to really focus in on the fact that the two sexes may actually develop differently, meaning he was one of the first to focus on gender differences. However, he did assume that the male experience was the “norm” of development, which is evident in his theory and concepts. However, to his credit, he recognized that biology did not necessarily equal gender. As you have probably learned in many other courses, his theory comes under heavy criticism and is riddled with biases. However, there are some concepts that seem to have endured, including the concept of internal conflicts and how the unconscious motivates us, to some degree.
Despite a few enduring concepts, there are other pieces of his theory that are, as I mentioned, heavily criticized. For example, his theory assumes that healthy and mature development results in heterosexuality with very strict conformity to one’s prescribed gender. In fact, his theory would suggest that someone that is not heterosexual experienced a fixation in one of his stages (described below) and thus did not resolve a primary conflict. As such, one would need to attempt to be “cured” of homosexuality. He also suggested that, although biology does not predict gender development, gender development is always related to sexuality.
If you remember from your Introduction to Psychology course, Freud’s theory is well known for coining the constructs of id, ego, and superego and for centering much of his theory around the libido (or sex drive). For the crash-coursers here, the id can be thought of as our primal instincts – sex and aggression, the ego can be thought of as our logical thinking brain area – rational, practical thinking, and the superego can be thought of as our moral compass – the mediator between the id and ego. Ultimately, Freud indicated that the libido (sex drive, part of the id) was the driving factor that moved individuals through development, and the location of this libido moved throughout development. “The libido moved?”, you ask. Yes. In the beginning, the libido is centered in the oral area, known as the Oral Stage. An individual gets pleasure from feeding, swallowing, sucking, etc. If a child develops appropriately in this stage, they learn that they are loved by their mother, and their ego begins to develop, to deal with frustration from going from being breastfed to eating solid foods. If they do not resolve this stage appropriately, they may later have issues with over eating, smoking, etc. In each stage, there is a goal to resolve a conflict successfully. If the individual resolves the conflict, the child develops adaptively. According to Freud, if the individual does not resolve the conflict successfully, there are negative consequences to development. Below is a list of the stages pulled directly from https://www.simplypsychology.org/Psychosexual%20Development.pdf (Table 8.1). In this class, we will focus on the Phallic Stage, as this is the area in which the Oedipus complex emerges and most directly relates to gender development from Freud’s theory.
Table 8.1 Freudian Stages Directly Sourced
Stage & Age Source of Libido & Pleasure Important Influences Consequences of Fixation
Oral 0-1 The mouth. The child enjoys feeding, sucking, swallowing, putting things in mouth etc. The child equates its mother and feeding with love, so deprivation or forceful feeding can lead to later problems. In the latter half of this stage, the child is weaned onto solid food and starts having to wait to be fed. This causes frustration and aggression. In order to deal with these, the child develops an ego, and starts to differentiate itself from the people around it (especially the mother). Smoking, chewing pens & fingernails etc. Overeating & drinking. Sarcasm and verbal hostility.
Anal 1-3 The anus. The child derives pleasure from expelling or withholding feces. Toilet training. The child is expected to expel feces only at the appropriate times and locations. It realizes that its parents’ approval/love depends on this, the first sign that love is not unconditional. However, it also realizes that it can control its parents by controlling its bowel movements. Toilet training that is too harsh or too lax can lead to problems. Anal-retentive: obsessive tidiness, neatness, intolerance, meanness and passive aggression.
Anal expulsive: sloppiness, disorganization, untidiness, defiance, recklessness and excessive generosity.
Phallic 3-5 The penis or clitoris. The child derives pleasure from masturbation. At this point, girls and boys diverge as the Oedipus complex begins (see below). If the Oedipus complex is successfully negotiated, then the child develops a superego by incorporating the morals and values of their same-sex parent. Men: feelings of anxiety and guilt about sex, fear of castration, possible vanity, self-obsession and narcissism.
Women: feelings of inferiority and envy.
Latent 5-Puberty Sexual drives are repressed. During this stage the child represses all of what has happened previously. It focuses on adjusting to its environment and acquiring the knowledge and skills it will need as an adult. Fixation does not happen in this stage.
Genital Puberty-Death The genitals. The adult derives pleasure from masturbation and sexual intercourse. At puberty, the sexual drives from the id are re-awoken, and the remainder of adult life is dedicated to the pursuit of sex and sexual relationships. Fixation at this stage is what should happen, and indicates a well-adjusted adult.
Oedipus complex. Ultimately, until the Phallic stage, Freud viewed development to be the same for both boys and girls. The penis, or absence of, is the differentiating factor here, as the libido moves to the penis or clitoris in the Phallic stage. He viewed this stage as the time in which ‘boys become men’.
So why did Freud describe the conflict in the Phallic stage as the Oedipus complex? Well, let’s take a very brief look at Oedipus himself. Oedipus was a man that killed his father and married his mother in Greek mythology. As this isn’t a lesson in Greek mythology, we will keep the story extremely brief. Oedipus had an early life that separated him from his true mother and father. He later ended up killing his father in battle (not knowing it was his father). Events occurred and ultimately, he married. However, he nor his wife knew that his new bride was actually his mother. When this was learned, his mother/wife hung herself and Oedipus poked both of his eyes out, blinding him (McLeod, 2008).
So, what does this have to do with Freud’s stages and theory? Great question! In the Phallic stage, the penis (or absence thereof) is the focus of the libido, and thus, will be the focus of the conflict that must be resolved in that stage. Ultimately, in this stage, boys begin to develop sexual desires for their mother and become jealous of their father. This desire then leads to a strong fear that his father will ultimately castrate him due to his attraction, which is known as castration anxiety. As always, there is a conflict in Freud’s stage, and here it is. To help manage this conflict, the superego develops and the boy transfers his desire for his mother onto other women, in general. Thus, the stage is resolved (McLeod, 2008; Sammons, n.d.).
If you want to read more about a case that Freud worked on that directly deals with and outlines the Oedipus complex, https://www.simplypsychology.org/little-hans.html has a nice summary of the story of Little Hans.
So how does this work for girls if they do not have a penis to fear castration of? Excellent question. Sometimes referred to as the Electra Complex, Freud theorized that girls were upset and distressed that they had no penis (referred to as penis envy) and resented their mother for this. He theorized that girls begin desiring their father at this time and become jealous of their mother. Similar to boys, the development of the superego allows the girl to resolve this conflict. Ultimately, she begins to accept that she cannot gain a penis, nor have her father, and she transfers this desire onto other men and later transfers her desire for a penis to a desire for a baby (and maybe even more so, a baby boy; Sammons, n.d.).
The following link provides a nice summary of how the two genders move through the Phallic Stage: https://www.simplypsychology.org/Psychosexual%20Development.pdf . Overall, for both genders, identification is the ultimate resolution of the internal conflict in the Phallic stage. This results in the individual identifying with the same-sex parent, and adopting that parent’s behaviors, roles, etc. (McLeod, 2008).
Following the Phallic stage is the Latency stage, in which Freud indicated that no real psychosexual development is occurring, rather impulses are repressed. However, in the Genital stage, Freud theorized that this is a time in which adolescents experiment sexually, and begin to settle into romantic relationships. Freud theorized that healthy development leads to sexual drive being released through heterosexual intercourse; however, fixations or incomplete resolutions of conflict in this stage may lead to sexual atypicalities (e.g., preference for oral sex rather than intercourse, homosexual relations, etc.; McLeod, 2008). Again, you can see, very clearly, that there is an underlying assumption that healthy development equals heterosexuality, which is a major criticism of Freud’s theory (Sammons, n.d.).
5.1.2. Karen Horney
Horney developed a Neo-Freudian theory of personality that recognized some points of Freud’s theory as acceptable, but also criticized his theory as being overly bias toward the male. There is truth in this if you think about Freud’s theory. Ultimately, to really develop fully, one must have a penis – according to Freud’s theory. A female can never “fully” resolve penis envy, and thus, she is never fully able to resolve the conflict. As such, according to Freud’s theory, if taken literally, a female can never fully resolve the core conflict of the Phallic Stage and will always have some fixation and thus, some maladaptive development. Horney disputed this (Harris, 2016). In fact, she went as far as to counter Freud’s penis envy with womb envy (a man envying a woman’s ability to have children). She theorized that men looked to compensate for their lack of ability to carry a child by succeeding in other areas of life (Psychodynamic and neo-freudian theories, n.d.)
The center of Horney’s theory is that individuals need a safe and nurturing environment. If they are provided such, they will develop appropriately. However, if they are not, and experience an unsafe environment, or lack of love and caring, they will experience maladaptive development which will result in anxiety (Harris, 2016). An environment that is unsafe and results in abuse, neglect, stressful family dynamics, etc. is termed by Horney as basic evil. As mentioned, these types of experiences (basic evil) lead to maladaptive development which was theorized to occur because the individual began to believe that, if their parent did not love them then no one could love them. The pain that was produced from basic evil then led to basic hostility. Basic hostility was defined as the individual’s anger at their parents while experiencing high frustration that they must still rely on them and were dependent on them (Harris, 2016).
This basic evil and basic hostility ultimately led to anxiety. Anxiety resulted in an individual developing interpersonal strategies of defense (ways a person relates to others). These strategies are considered to fall in three categories (informed by Harris, 2016):
Table 8.2: Interpersonal Strategies
Interpersonal Strategy Key Direction Actions the Person Takes How This Presents in Their Personalities
Compliant Solution Toward The individual moves toward people. They seek out another person’s attention. This is the people pleaser and dependent person. The person that avoids failure and always takes the “safe” option.
Detachment Solution Away These individuals move away from others and attempt to protect themselves by eluding connection and contact with others. These individuals want independence and struggle with commitment. They often try to hide flaws
Expansive Solution Against These individuals move against others. They seek interaction with others, not to connect with them, rather to gain something from them. They seek power and admiration from others, as well as being seen as highly attention seeking. This category is further split into three types of individuals:
1. The Narcissist.
2. The Perfectionist.
3. The Arrogant-Vindictive person.
Although Horney disputed much of Freud’s male biased theories, she recognized that females are born into a society dominated by males. As such, she recognized that females may be limited due to this, which then leads to developing a masculinity complex. This is the feeling of inferiority due to one’s sex. She noted that one’s family can strongly influence one’s development (or lack thereof) of this complex. She described that if a female was disappointed by males in her family (such as their father or brother, etc.), or if they were overly threatened by females in their family (especially their mothers), they may actually develop contempt for their own gender. She also indicated that if females perceived that they had lost the love of their father to another woman (often to the mother) then the individual may become more insecure. This insecurity then would lead to either (1) withdrawal from competing or (2) becoming more competitive (Harris, 2016). The need for the male attention was referred to overvaluation of love (Harris, 2016).
5.2. Gender Socialization
Section Learning Objectives
• To gain a basic understanding of the theory of socialization
• To increase understanding of how gender is socialized
• To increase understanding of how socialization theories regarding gender.
• To understand potential strengths as well as weaknesses and criticisms of these theories.
It’s clear that even very early theories of gender development recognized the importance of environmental or familial influence, at least to some degree. As theories have expanded, it has become clearer that socialization of gender occurs. However, each theory has a slightly different perspective on how that may occur. We will discuss a few of those in brief detail, but will focus more on major concepts and generally accepted processes.
Before we get started, I want you to ask yourself a few questions – When do we begin to recognize and label ourselves as boy or girl, and why? Do you think it happens very young? Is it the same across countries? Let’s answer some of those questions.
Theories that suggest that gender identity development is universal across countries and cultures (e.g., Eastern versus Western cultures, etc.) have been scrutinized. Critics suggest that, although biology may play some role in gender identity development, the environmental and social factors are perhaps more powerful in most developmental areas, and gender identity development is no different. It is the same “nature versus nurture” debate that falls on the common response of both nature and nurture playing important roles and to ignore one is a misunderstanding of the developmental process (Magnusson & Marecek, 2012). In this section, we are going to focus on the social, environmental, and cultural aspects of gender identity development
5.2.1. Early Life
Infants do not prefer gendered toys (Bussey, 2014). However, by age 2, they show preferences. (Servin, Bhlin, & Berlin, 1999). Did you know that infants can differentiate between male and female faces and voices in their first year of life (typically between 6-12 months of age; Fagan, 1976; Miller, 1983)? Not only that, they can pair male and female voices with male and female faces (known as intermodal gender knowledge; Poulin-Dubois, Serbin, Kenyon, & Derbyshire, 1994). Think about that for a moment – infants are recognizing and matching gender before they can ever talk! Further, 18-month old babies associated bears, hammers, and trees with males. By age 2, children use words like “boy” and “girl” correctly (Leinbach & Fagot, 1986) and can accurately point to a male or female when hearing a gender label given. It appears that children first learn to label others’ gender, then their own. The next step is learning that there are shared qualities and behaviors for each gender (Bussey, 2014).
By a child’s second year of life, children begin to display knowledge of gender stereotypes. Research has found this to be true in preverbal children (Fagot, 1974), which is really incredible, if you think about it. After an infant has been shown a gendered item (doll versus a truck) they will then stare at a photograph of the “matching gender” longer. So, if shown a doll, they will then look at a photograph of a girl, rather than a boy, for longer (when shown photographs of both a boy and girl side by side). This is specifically true for girls as young as 18-24 months; however, boys do not show this quite as early (Serbin,Poulin-Dubois, Colburne, Sen, & Eichstedt, 2001). Although interpretations and adherence to gender stereotypes is very rigid, initially, as children get older, they learn more about stereotypes and that gender stereotypes are flexible and varied. We actually notice a curved pattern in how rigid children are to stereotyped gender behaviors and expectations (Bussey, 2014). Initially, children are very rigid in stereotypes and stereotyped play. As they reach middle childhood, they become more flexible. However, in adolescents, they become more rigid again. And, generally, boys are more rigid and girls are more flexible with gender stereotypes, comparatively (Blakemore et al., 2009).
There are many factors that may lead to the patterns we see in gender socialization. Let’s look at a few of those factors and influencers.
5.2.2. Parents
Parents begin to socialize children to gender long before they can label their own. Think about the first moment someone says they are pregnant. One of the first questions is “How far along are you?” and then “Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?” We begin to socialize children to gender before they are even born! We pick out boy and girl names, we choose particular colors for nurseries, types of clothing, and decor, all based on a child’s gender, often before they are ever born (Bussey, 2014). The infant is born into a gendered world! We don’t really give infants a chance to develop their own preferences – parents and the caregivers in their life do that for them, immediately. Parents even respond to a child differently, based on their gender. For example, in a study in which adults observed an infant that was crying, adults described the infant to be scared or afraid when they were told the infant was a girl. However, they described the baby as angry or irritable when told the infant was a boy. Moreover, parents tend to reinforce independence in boys, but dependence in girls. They also overestimate their sons’ abilities and underestimate their daughters’ abilities. Research has also revealed that prosocial behaviors are encouraged more in girls, than boys (Garcia & Guzman, 2017).
Parents label gender even when not required. When observing a parent reading a book to their child, Gelman, Taylor, & Nguyen (2004) noted that parents used generic expressions that generalized one outcome/trait to all individuals of a gender, during the story. For example, “Most girls don’t like trucks.” Essentially, parents provided extra commentary in the story, and that commentary tended to include vast generalizations about gender. Initially, mothers engaged in this behavior more than the children did; however, as children aged, children began displaying this behavior more than their mothers did. Essentially, mothers modeled this behavior, and children later began to enact the same behavior. Further, as children got older, mothers then affirmed children’s gender generalization statements when made.
Boys are more gender-typed and fathers place more focus on this (Bvunzawabaya, 2017). As children develop, parents tend to also continue gender-norm expectations. For example, boys are encouraged to play outside (cars, sports, balls) and build (Legos, blocks), etc. and girls are encouraged to play in ways that develop housekeeping skills (dolls, kitchen sets; Bussey, 2014). What parents talk to their children about is different based on gender as well. For example, they may talk to daughters more about emotions and have more empathic conversations, whereas they may have more knowledge and science-based conversations with boys (Bussey, 2014).
Parental expectations can have significant impacts on a child’s own beliefs and outcomes including psychological adjustment, educational achievement, and financial success (Bvunzawabaya, 2017). When parents approach more gender-equal or neutral interactions, research shows positive outcomes (Bussey, 2014). For example, girls did better academically if their parents took this approach versus very gender-traditional families.
5.2.3. Peers
Peers are strong influences regarding gender and how children play. As children get older, peers become increasingly influential. In early childhood, peers are pretty direct about guiding gender-typical behaviors. As children get older, their corrective feedback becomes subtler. So how do peers socialize gender? Well, non-conforming gender behavior (e.g., boys playing with dolls, girls playing with trucks) is often ridiculed by peers and children may even be actively excluded. This then influences the child to conform more to gender-traditional expectations (e.g., boy stops playing with a doll and picks up the truck).
We begin to see boys and girls segregate in their play, based on gender, in very early years. Children tend to play in sex-segregated peer groups. We notice that girls prefer to play in pairs while boys prefer larger group play. Boys also tend to use more threats and physical force whereas girls do not prefer this type of play. Thus, there are natural reasons to not intertwine and to instead segregate (Bussey, 2014). The more a child plays with same-gender peers, the more their behavior becomes gender-stereotyped. By age 3, peers will reinforce one another for engaging in what is considered to be gender-typed or gender-expected play. Likewise, they will criticize, and perhaps even reject a peer, when a peer engages in play that is inconsistent with gender expectations. Moreover, boys tend to be very unforgiving and intolerant of nonconforming gender play (Fagot, 1984).
5.2.4. Media and Advertising
Media includes movies, television, cartoons, commercials, and print media (e.g., newspapers, magazines). In general, media tends to portray males as more direct, assertive, muscular, in authority roles, and employed, whereas women tend to be portrayed as dependent, emotional, low in status, in the home rather than employed, and their appearance is often a focus. Even Disney movies tend to portray stereotyped roles for gender, often having a female in distress that needs to be saved by a male hero; although Disney has made some attempts to show women as more independent and assertive in more characters. We have seen a slight shift in this in many media forms, although it is still very prevalent, that began to occur in the mid to late 1980s and 1990s (Stever, 2017; Torino, 2017). This is important, because we know that the more children watch TV, the more gender stereotypical beliefs they have (Durkin & Nugent, 1998; Kimball 1986).
Moreover, when considering print media, we know that there tends to be a focus on appearance, body image, and relationships for teenage girls, whereas print media tends to focus on occupations and hobbies for boys. Even video games have gender stereotyped focuses. Females in videogames tend to be sexualized and males are portrayed as aggressive (Stever, 2017; Torino, 2017).
5.2.5. School Influences
Research tends to indicate that teachers place a heavier focus, in general, on males – this means they not only get more praise, they also receive more correction and criticism (Simpson & Erickson, 1983). Teachers also tend to praise boys and girls for different behaviors. For example, boys are praised more for their educational successes (e.g., grades, skill acquisition) whereas girls are acknowledged for more domesticate-related qualities such as having a tidy work area (Eccles, 1987). Overall, teachers place less emphasis on girls’ academic accomplishments and focus more on their cooperation, cleanliness, obedience, and quiet/passive play. Boys, however, are encouraged to be more active, and there is certainly more of a focus on academic achievements (Torino, 2017).
The focus teachers and educators have on different qualities may have a lasting impact on children. For example, in adolescence, boys tend to be more career focused whereas girls are focused on relationships (again, this aligns with the emphasis we see placed by educators on children based on their gender). Girls may also be oriented toward relationships and their appearance rather than careers and academic goals, if they are very closely identifying with traditional gender roles. They are more likely to avoid STEM-focused classes, whereas boys seek out STEM classes (more frequently than girls). This may then impact major choices if girls go to college, as they may not have experiences in STEM to foster STEM related majors (Torino, 2017). As such, the focus educators place on children can have lasting impacts. Although we are focusing on the negative, think about what could happen if we saw a shift in that focus!
Okay, so we talked above about how children are socialized to gender – but how? Well there are a few areas we should discuss. We will cover social theories, cognitive theories, social cognitive theories, and biological theories.
5.2.6. Social Theories
5.2.6.1. Social learning theory. Do you remember Albert Bandura from Introduction to Psychology? He’s the guy that had children watch others act aggressively toward a doll (the BoBo doll), and then observed children’s behaviors with the same doll. Children that watched aggressive acts then engaged in aggression with the doll. Essentially, a behavior was modeled, and then they displayed the behavior. Here is a link to a video with Albert Bandura and footage from his experiment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmBqwWlJg8U. Let’s think about this in a current-life example. You walk into a gym for the first time. It is full of equipment you aren’t sure how to use. What do you do if you want to know how to use it (let’s assume the nice little instructions with pictures are not posted on the equipment)? The most likely thing, if there is no trainer/employee around to ask, is to watch what someone does on the machine. You watch what how they set it up, what they do, etc. You then go to the equipment and do the same exact thing! This is modeling. You modeled the behavior the person ahead of you did. The same thing can happen with gender – modeling applies to gender socialization.
We receive much of our information about gender from models in our environment (think about all the factors we just learned about – parents, media, school, peers). If a little girl is playing with a truck and looks over and sees three girls playing with dolls, she may put the truck down and play with the dolls. If a boy sees his dad always doing lawn work, he may too try to mimic this, in the immediacy. Here is the interesting part: modeling does just stop after the immediate moment is over. The more we see it, the more it becomes a part of our socialization. We begin to learn rules of how we are to act and what behavior is accepted and desired by others, what is not, etc. Then we engage in those behaviors. We then become models for others as well! Now, some theories question modeling; although, further research has shown that modeling appears to be imperative in development, but the level of specificity or rigidity to gender norms of the behavior being modeled is also important (Perry & Bussey, 1979). Other’s incorporate modeling into their theory with some caveats. Kohlberg is one of those theorists, and we will learn about later.
5.2.6.2. Social cognitive theory. Another theory combines the theory of social learning with cognitive theories (we will discuss cognitive theories below). While modeling in social learning explains some things, it does not explain everything. This is because we don’t just model behavior, we also monitor how others react to our behaviors. For example, if a little girl is playing with a truck her peers laugh at her, that is feedback that her behavior is not gender-normative and she then may change the behavior she engages in. We also get direct instruction on how to behave as well. Again, girls don’t sit with their legs open, boys don’t play with dolls, girls don’t get muddy and dirty, boys don’t cry – you get the point. When peers or adults directly instruct another on what a girl or boy is or is not to do, although not modeling, is a heavily influential socializing factor. To explain this, social cognitive theory posits that one has enactive experiences (this is essentially when a person receives reactions to gendered behavior), direct instruction (this is when someone is taught knowledge of expected gendered behavior), and modeling (this is when others show someone gendered behavior and expectations). This theory posits that these social influences impact children’s development of gender understanding and identity (Bussey, 2014). Social cognitive theories of gender development explain and theorize that development is dually influenced by (1) biology and (2) the environment. Moreover, the theory suggests that these things impact and interact with various factors (Bussey & Bandura, 2005). This theory also accounts for the entire lifespan when considering development, which is drastically different than earlier theories, such as psychodynamic theories.
5.3. Cognitive Theories
Section Learning Objectives
• To gain a basic understanding of cognitive theories
• To increase understanding of how Kohlberg theorized gender, and how his theory applies to gender in psychology
• To increase knowledge about gender schema theory
5.3.1. Kohlberg’s Cognitive Developmental Theory
Lawrence Kohlberg theorized the first cognitive developmental theory. He theorized that children actively seek out information about their environment. This is important because it places children as an active agent in their socialization. According to cognitive developmental theory, a major component of gender socialization occurs by children recognizing that gender is constant and does not change which is referred to this as “gender constancy”. Kohlberg indicated that children choose various behaviors that align with their gender and match cultural stereotypes and expectations. Gender constancy includes multiple parts. One must have an ability to label their own identity which is known as gender identity. Moreover, an individual must recognize that gender remains constant over time which is gender stability and across settings which is gender consistency. Gender identity appears to be established by around age three and gender constancy appears to be established somewhere between the ages of five and seven. Although Kohlberg’s theory captures important aspects, it fails to recognize things such as how gender identity regulates gender conduct and how much one adheres to gender roles through their life (Bussey, 2014).
Although Kohlberg indicated that modeling was important and relevant, he posited that it was only relevant once gender constancy is achieved. He theorized that constancy happens first, which then allows for modeling to occur later (although the opposite is considered true in social cognitive theory). The problem with his theory is children begin to recognize gender and model gender behaviors before they have cognitive capacities for gender constancy (remember all that we learned about how infants show gender-based knowledge?!).
5.3.2. Gender Schema Theory
Gender schema theory, although largely a cognitive theory, does incorporate some elements of social learning as well. Schemas are essentially outlines – cognitive templates that we follow, if you will. Thus, a gender schema is an outline about genders – a template to follow regarding gender. The idea is that we use schemas about gender to guide our behaviors and actions. Within this theory, it is assumed that children actively create their schemas about gender by keeping or discarding information obtained through their experiences in their environment (Dinella, 2017).
Interestingly, there are two variations of gender schema theory. Bem created one theory while Martin and Halverson created another. We won’t get into too many details about the variations for the purposes of this class (Dinella, 2017).
Overall, it is widely accepted that there are two types of schemas that are relevant in gender schema theory – superordinate schemas and own-sex schemas. Essentially, superordinate schemas guide information for gender groups whereas own-sex schemas guide information about one’s own behaviors as it relates to their own gender group (Dinella, 2017).
So why have schemas? Well, it’s a cheat sheet that makes things easier and quicker, essentially. Think about it, if you have an outline for a test that told you that the shortest answer is always the right answer, you wouldn’t even have to study. Heck, you don’t even have to ‘read’ the question options. You can simply find the choice that has the least amount of words, pick it, and you’ll ace the test (wouldn’t that be nice?!). So, gender schemas make it easier to make decisions in the moment, regarding gendered behavior. Here is an example. If a child has created a schema that says boys play with trucks, when the boy is handed a truck, he will quickly choose to play with it. However, if the truck is handed to a girl, she may quickly reject it (Dinella, 2017)
So how do children develop schemas? Well, it likely occurs in three different phases. First, children start recognizing their own gender groups and begin to build schemas. Then, a rigid phase occurs in which things are very black or white, (or, girl or boy, if you will). Things can only be one or the other, and there is very little flexibility in schemas. This occurs somewhere between ages five and seven. Lastly, a phase in which children begin to recognize that schemas are flexible and allow for a bit more of a “gray” area occurs (Dinella, 2017).
Let’s think of how schemas are used to begin to interpret one’s world. Once a child can label gender of themselves, they begin to apply schemas to themselves. So, if a schema is “Only girls cook”, then a boy may apply that to themselves and learn he cannot cook. This then guides his behavior. Martin, Eisenbud, and Rose (1995) conducted a study in which they had groups of boy toys, girl toys, and neutral toys. Children used gender schemas and gravitated to gender-normed toys. For example, boys preferred toys that an adult labeled as boy toys. If a toy was attractive (meaning a highly desired toy) but was label for girls, boys would reject the toy. They also used this reasoning to predict what other children would like. For example, if a girl did not like a block, she would indicate “Only boys like blocks” (Berk, 2004; Liben & Bigler, 2002).
5.4 Biological Theories
Section Learning Objectives
• To gain a basic understanding of biological theories
• To increase understanding of how biology may impact gender development through evolution, genetics, epigenetics, and learning.
In regard to biological theories, there tends to be four areas of focus. Before we get into those areas, let’s remember that we are talking about gender development. That means we are not focusing on the anatomical/biological sex development of an individual, rather, we are focusing on how biological factors may impact gender development and gendered behavior. So, back to ‘there are four main areas of focus.’ The four areas of focus include (1) evolutionary theories, (2) genetic theories, (3) epigenetic theories, and (4) learning theories (don’t worry, I’ll explain how this is biology related, rather than cognitively or socially related).
5.4.1. Evolution Theories
Within evolution-based theories, there are three schools of thought: sex-based explanations, kinship-based explanations, and socio-cognitive explanations. Sex-based explanations explain that gendered behaviors have occurred as a way to adapt and increase the chances of reproduction. Ultimately, gender roles get divided into females focusing on rearing children and gathering food close to home, whereas males go out and hunt and protect the family. To carry out the required tasks, males needed higher androgens/testosterone to allow for higher muscle capacity as well as aggression. Similarly, females need higher levels of estrogen as well as oxytocin, which encourages socialization and bonding (Bevan, 2017). Although this may seem logical at surface level, it does not account for what we see in more egalitarian homes and cultures. This theory does seem to explain everything, doesn’t it?
Then, there is kinship-based explanations that rationalize that very early on, we lived in groups as a means of protection and survival. As such, the groups that formed tended to be kin and shared similar DNA. Essentially, the groups with the strongest DNA that allowed for the best traits for survival, survived. Further, given that this came down to “survival of the fittest” it made sense to divvy up tasks and important behaviors. Interestingly, this was less based on sex and more on qualities of an individual, essentially using people’s strengths to the group’s advantage. This theory tends to be more supported, than sex-based theories (Bevan, 2017).
Lastly, socio-cognitive explanations explain that we have changed our environment, and that, thus, we have changed in the environment in which natural selection occurs. Essentially, when we use our cognitive abilities to create things, such as tools, we thus change our environment. We are then changing the environment that defined what behaviors/assets were necessary to survive. For example, if we can now use tools to hunt more effectively, the traditional needs of a male (as explained in sex-based theories) may be less critical in this task (Bevan, 2017).
5.4.2. Genetic-based Theories
We can be “genetically predisposed” to many things, mental illness, cancer, heart conditions, etc. It is theorized that we also are predisposed to gendered behavior and identification. This theory is most obvious when individuals are predisposed to a gender that does not align with biological sex, also referred to as transgender. Research has actually revealed that there is some initial evidence that gender involves somewhat of a genetic predisposition. Specifically, twin studies have shown that nonconforming gender traits, or transgender, is linked to genetic gender predispositions. More specifically, when one twin is transgender, it is more likely that the other twin is transgender as well. This phenomenon is not evidenced in fraternal twins or non-twin siblings to the same degree (Bevan, 2017).
Genetic gender predisposition theorists further reference case studies in which males with damaged genitalia undergo plastic surgery as infants to modify their genitalia to be more female aligned. These infants are then raised as girls, but often become gender nonconforming. David Reimer is an example of one of these cases (Bevan, 2017). To learn more about this case, you can read his book, As Nature Made Him. I’ve also attached an educational YouTube video that does a decent job summarizing David’s case (linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfeGf4Ei7F0) as well as a short clip from an Oprah show in which David’s family appears on (linked here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz_7EQWZjmM).
5.4.3. Epigenetics
This area of focus does not look at DNA, but rather things that may impact DNA mutations or the expression of DNA. Really, this area falls into two subcategories: prenatal hormonal exposure and prenatal toxin exposure.
Let’s quickly recap basic biology. It is thought that gender, from a biological theory stance, begins in the fetal stage. This occurs due to varying levels of exposure to testosterone. Shortly after birth, boys experience an increase in testosterone, whereas girls experience an increase in estrogen. This difference has actually been linked to variations in social, language, and visual development between sexes. Testosterone levels have been linked to sex-typed toy play and activity levels in young children. Moreover, when females are exposed to higher levels of testosterone, they are noted to engage in more male-typical play (e.g., preference for trucks over dolls, active play over quiet), rather than female-typical play compared to their counterparts (Hines et al., 2002; Klubeck, Fuentes, Kim-Prieto, 2017; Pasterski et al., 2005). Although this has been found to be true predominantly utilizing only animal research, it is a rather simplified theory. What we have learned is that, truthfully, things are pretty complicated and other hormones and chemicals are at play. However, for this class, we will not get into the nitty gritty details (Bevan, 2017).
Prenatal toxin exposure appears to be relevant when examining diethylstilbestrol (DES), specifically. DES was prescribed to pregnant women in late 1940’s through the early 1970’s. DES was designed to mimic estrogen, and it does; however, it has many negative side effects that estrogen does not. One of the negative side-effects is that it mutates DNA and alters its expression. The reason it was finally taken off the market was because females were showing higher rates of cancer. In fact, they found that this drug had cancer-related impacts out to three generations! While there was significant research done on females, less research was done on males. However, recent studies suggest that 10% of registrants (in a national study) that were exposed to DES reported identifying as transgender or transsexual. For comparison, only 1% of the general population identifies as transgender or transsexual. Thus, it is theorized that gender development in those exposed to DES, particularly males, were impacted (Bevan, 2017).
5.4.4. Learning
Okay, before we get too far, you are probably wondering how learning is related to biological theories. Well, really, it is due to the areas of the brain that are impacted. So, as we very briefly review this, focus on the different brain structures that impact the learning capacities of each area. Within learning-based biological theories, there are five types of learning theorized to occur. First, declarative episodic learning is learning that occurs by observing or modeling behavior, which requires an individual to be able to verbally recall what has been observed. The verbal recall component is the declarative component and the individual actually experiencing the events (not simply being told about them) is the episodic component. Next, declarative fact learning, is simply learning by being presented factual information. Third is nondeclarative motor learning, which heavily involves the cerebellum. This is learning essentially done through motor practice. Fourth is declarative procedural learning. This learning relies on subcortical striatum structures. This focuses on learning sequencing for behaviors. And lastly, nondeclarative emotional learning involves the amygdala and hypothalamus. This is learning in which we get behavioral feedback from people and our environment and incorporate this (Bevan, 2017).
Module Recap
In this module, we created a foundational knowledge of several theories of gender development. We learned about the beginning theories, with psychodynamic theories from Freud and Horney. We then jumped into learning about social-based theories of social learning and social-cognitive theory. We took a detailed look into various socializing factors that children encounter. Then we uncovered two cognitive-based theories – Kohlberg’s theory and gender schema theory. And lastly, we took a brief look at various biological explanations of gender development.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/02%3A_Applying_Social_and_Developmental_Lenses/2.03%3A_Module_5__Gender_Through_a_Developmental_Psychology_Lens.txt
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Module 6: Gender Through a Human Sexuality Lens
Module Overview
In this module, we will focus on a variety of domains regarding human sexuality. We will first examine the foundational studies of sexology. Then we will learn about sexual orientation and sexual fluidity. We will also learn about what it means to be transgender and the process of transitioning. Finally, we will examine gender and sexual roles including double standards in sexual behavior and “hookup culture.”
Module Outline
• 6.1. Sexology
• 6.2. Sex Education
• 6.3. Sexual Orientation
• 6.4. Transgender
• 6.5. Gender Roles and Rules for Sexual Behavior
Module Learning Outcomes
• Understand the origins of the study of sexual behavior.
• Overview sex education programs in the U.S.
• Gain foundational understanding of sexual orientation and the complexities of identity, attraction, expression, and anatomical sex.
• Understand how gender roles impact sexual behaviors.
6.1. Sexology
Section Learning Objectives
• Gain a brief and basic understanding of the beginnings of sexology by Dr. Alfred Kinsey.
• Understand Masters and Johnsons contribution to our knowledge about the human sexual response cycle
• Discuss the largest U.S. study of sexual behaviors.
6.1.1. Alfred C. Kinsey
Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey was a biology professor that founded the Institute for Sex Research in 1947. The institute is located at Indiana University and is still active. Although originally named the Institute for Sex Research, in 1981 the institute was renamed The Kinsey Institute for Sex research (“Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey,” n.d.).
Kinsey is often credited for shifting society’s perception and understanding of human sexuality. His research focused on understanding the frequencies and occurrences of sexual behavior and consisted of conducting thousands of face-to-face interviews to obtain sexual histories (“Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey,” n.d.). He felt that face-to-face interviews would be the most likely way to obtain honest answers. However, he recognized that he and his team would have to be carefully trained so as not to react in a judgmental way in order to gain as much trust from their interviewees as possible. He assured interviewees of confidentiality, and to this date, there is no known comprise of the interviewees’ identities.
In Kinsey’s beginning stages of researching human sexuality, he collected approximately 2,000 individuals’ sexual histories. In his career total, his team gathered 18,000 sexual histories! You can watch one here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIGzC_Fmh5c . The sexual histories that were gathered were published by Kinsey in two separate works: Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, published in 1948, and Sexual Behavior of the Human Female, published in 1953. Collectively, the reports that Kinsey’s team gathered are often referred to as the Kinsey Reports (“Dr. Alfred C. Kinsey,” n.d.).
Dr. Kinsey also developed the Kinsey Scale (originally known as the Heterosexual-Homosexual Rating Scale). I would link the test here, but it is not an actual physical test! Rather, the scale is used by an interviewer from Kinsey’s team to rank an individual based on their sexual history gathered from 0 to 6. The numbers reflect a continuum in which the extreme low score indicates solely heterosexual behaviors and attraction and the highest extreme reflects solely same-sex behavior/attraction. whereas the middle area of the continuum reflects varying attraction and behavior for both sexes. (“The Kinsey Scale,” n.d.).
6.1.2. Masters and Johnson
Shortly after Kinsey laid the foundation for sexual research, William Masters and Virginia Johnson began researching human sexual responses. Their work began in the later end of the 1950’s. Although Kinsey had focused on the frequency of various sexual behaviors, Masters and Johnson sought to study the anatomy and physiological responses in the human body during sexual experiences. They began their work in St. Louis at Washington University and later founded the Reproductive Biology Research Foundation which later was known as the Masters and Johnson Institute (“Masters & Johnson Collection,” n.d.). Their work required the direct observation of sexual activity (i.e., manual masturbation or sexual intercourse). Although somewhat scrutinized, their method of participant selection was more heavily scrutinized. Initially, they enlisted prostitutes into their sample until they were able to recruit more participants.
Masters and Johnson are most known for their sexual response cycle theory. Prior to this, not much information about the actual cycle and process of sexual responses were known. Their theory posited that sexual response occurs in four stages. For both men and women, the sexual response has four phases: Excitement (1), Plateau (2), Orgasm (3), Resolution (4) (Crooks & Baur, 2013).
1. Excitement Phase – When myotonia (when muscle tension increases throughout the body and both involuntary contractions as well as voluntary muscle contractions) as well as vasocongestion (when tissue fills with blood due to arteries dilating which allows blood to flow to tissue at a rate faster than veins can move the blood out of the tissue, leading to swelling), high heart and breathing rates, and increased blood pressure occurs.
2. Plateau Phase – This is really the opposite of how it sounds. This is when there is actually a surge of tension that occurs and tension continues to increase in the body. Blood pressure and heart rates surge. This usually lasts anywhere between a few seconds to a few minutes. The longer this phase is, typically, the more intense an orgasm is.
3. Orgasm Phase – The climax period in which blood pressure and heart rates peak and involuntary muscle spasms occur. Typically speaking, this is the shortest phase.
4. Resolution Phase – When myotonia and vasocongestion dissipates.
This same cycle, and order, is experienced no matter the sexual stimulation/activity (e.g., masturbation, vaginal intercourse). However, how intense the cycle/phases are and how rapid one moves through them may vary depending on the sexual stimulation/activity. Moreover, men and females experience all of these stages in the same order. However, there are some slight differences within the cycle between men and women. For example, women may more easily experience multiple orgasms than men. Moreover, men experience a refractory period (minimum amount of time that men must wait before the body can actually climax again, following ejaculation)., whereas, women do not (Crooks & Baur, 2013).
6.1.3. National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior
Also coming out of Indiana University was the largest sex-focused survey to be conducted in the United States – the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior. The survey’s first wave of participants and data was collected in 2009. The study, in total, has over 20,000 participants ranging in ages as young as 14 and as old as 102. The survey data has led to over 30 different research publications/articles. In general, the survey has included items that address and explore a variety of sex-related domains including, but not limited to: condom use, intimate behaviors (e.g., kissing, cuddling) as they relate to sexual arousal and intimacy, sexual behavior patterns in varying sexual orientations, sexual identities, sexually transmitted disease knowledge, and relationships/relationship patterns (“NSSHB,” n.d.).
From the first wave of data collection, results from the NSSHB revealed that a majority of U.S. youth are not engaging in regular intercourse; condom use was not perceived by adults to reduce sexual pleasure; men are likely to have an orgasm during vaginal intercourse, but women’s experiences of orgasms are more varied (e.g., orgasms may be more likely when various acts occur such as oral sex); although less than 7-8% of participants identified as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, a much higher percentage reported engaging in same-sex behavior at some point; women are more likely to identify as bisexual rather than lesbian; males perceive that their partners orgasm more often than women report actually orgasming (and male/male sexual occurrences do not account for the discrepancy); older adults continue to report active sex lives, and the lowest rate of condom use is in adults over 40. From more recent waves of data, the following has been found: women tend to be more open and accepting of individuals that identify as bisexual than males are, most people report being in a monogamous relationship, same-gender sexually oriented individuals are less likely than opposite-gender sexually oriented individuals to report monogamy, (“NSSHB,” n.d.).
6.2. Sex Education
Section Learning Objectives
• Gain foundational understanding about varieties of sex education programs
• Learn about the effectiveness of comprehensive sex education
6.2.1. Overview
Sex education is varied in the United States. Before we talk specifics, let’s talk about the variations. Sex education is either abstinence-only (AO) in which abstaining from sexual activity is taught to be the only option to avoid negative outcomes related to sex, abstinence-plus (Aplus) in which abstinence is focused on and stressed, but some information about contraception and condoms is given, and comprehensive sex education (CSE) in which medically-accurate information about sex, reproduction, protection and contraception, gender identity, and sexual orientation is covered. Although about half of the US states require that some form of sex education be provided, only 13 require the material presented to be medically accurate. Moreover, a majority of states require that if sex education is presented, abstinence must be included whereas only a minority require that contraception education be included (Abstinence Education Programs, 2018).
Abstinence-only was heavily federally funded in the 1980’s and, thus, was a strong incentive to implement AO education in schools. AO programs peaked during the Bush administration and then began dropping in Obama’s administration. In 2017, about 1/3 of funds were provided for AO programming. Proponents of abstinence-based education argue that this type of education delays teens first sexual encounter and reduces teen pregnancy. However, research does not support most of the claims made. In fact, studies reveal that teens that received abstinence-based education are more likely to have unprotected sex when they do have sex. Additionally, although youth with this education provided have more knowledge about STIs, they actually have less knowledge about condoms and how effective condoms are at preventing STIs (Abstinence Education Programs, 2018). Moreover, some statistics show that an emphasis on AO programs may actually be correlated with higher teen pregnancy rates (Stangler-Hall & Hall, 2011), which is consistent with the above statistic revealing that youth that receive AO programming are more likely to have unprotected sex.
6.2.2. Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE)
Comprehensive sexual education programs cover sexual education in depth and are not simply limited to concerns of risk reduction. These programs focus on human development, physical anatomy of humans and sexual responses, attraction, gender identity and sexual orientation, and contraception and protection. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommended that CSE programs contain medically accurate information that is appropriate for the age of the audience. A CSE program may focus on providing not only information about pregnancy and STIs, but also other benefits to delaying intercourse, as well as information about reproduction and contraception (The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2016).
CSE has been shown to reduce sexual activity, risky behaviors, STIs and teen pregnancy in youth. Kohler, Manhart, and Lafferty (2008) compared abstinence-only to CSE programing and found that youth that received CSE programming had less occurrence of teen pregnancy compared to youth that received no programming, but a significant difference in rates was not found between AO and CSE. However, AO had no impact on delaying initial intercourse, whereas CSE had minor impacts on lowering the likelihood of intercourse (Kohler, Manhart, and Lafferty, 2008).
A meta-analysis comparing AO and CSE showed that AO does not delay initial intercourse and less than half of programs had a positive impact on sexual behavior; however, 60% of CSE programs showed positive impacts including delayed initial intercourse and increased use of condoms/contraception (Kirby, 2008). Individuals receiving CSE were also 50% less likely to become pregnant as a minor compared to youth that received AO programming. Youth receiving CSE programming are less likely to have sex compared to youth that receive AO programming, but are more likely to delay their first sexual encounter, have less sexual partners, and engage in more protected sex (Abstinence Education Programs, 2018).
6.3. Sexual Orientation
Section Learning Objectives
• Understand the Genderbread Person and how it helps conceptualize sexual orientation and identity.
• Review various sexual orientations.
Definition. A part of one’s identity that involves attraction to another person, may that be in a sexual, emotional, physical, or romantic way. Broadly speaking, orientation has been defined as binary: either heterosexual (opposite-sex/gender attraction) or homosexual (same-sex/gender attraction). However, sexuality research and awareness efforts have led to discussions regarding orientation to take place more on a continuum, and including a variety of orientations, which we will discuss.
6.3.1. Genderbread Person
Before we go into detail with some of the broader orientations, let’s first discuss the genderbread person (Killerman, 2017). This is important because it helps us understand orientation, on a continuum, as it relates to various aspects such as birth sex, anatomical sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual attraction, and romantic attraction.
6.3.1.1.Sex. We are all born with a biological sex. However, one’s current anatomical sex may or may not align with one’s birth sex, particularly if a transsexual individual has undergone sexual reassignment surgery (we will discuss this more later on).
6.3.1.2.Identity. This deals more with our cognitions and thoughts about ourselves. This is how we identify. We may be, biologically speaking, female, but identify as a male. We may be male and identify as male. We may have some continuum of identification as well. Identity is not determined by either anatomical sex, gender expression, or sexual or romantic attractions. One may be female, and identify as male, but dress and express themselves as a female, be attracted sexually to males, and be attracted romantically to females – or any combination or variation.
6.3.1.3.Gender expression. Gender expression is how one acts, dresses, and portrays themselves in regard to gender norms. One may present themselves as extremely masculine or feminine. One may present as androgynous, meaning gender-neutral or equally masculine and feminine. Gender expression can also change, not only from day to day, but moment to moment. For example, a female getting ready for a date with her husband may dress up and express very feminine gender norms; however, that same female may have expressed very masculine norms and behaviors an hour earlier when playing in her rec dodgeball league.
6.3.1.4.Attraction. When discussing attraction, there is sexual attraction and romantic attraction. Remember, just like everything else we have discussed, one does not determine the other. For example, one may be romantically attracted to men, but sexually attracted to females. One may have romantic attraction to either or both men and women, but not be sexually attracted to either, etc. Sexual attraction refers to who you are aroused by and desire to be sexually intimate with. Romantic attraction refers to who you seek and desire in an emotional way.
A link to the Genderbread Person that visually illustrates all of these concepts on a continuum (and is shown in Figure 10.1) can be found here:
Figure 1. Genderbread Person (direct source: Sam Killerman – https://www.genderbread.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Genderbread-Person-v4.pdf)
6.3.2. Asexuality
Asexuality is a sexual orientation characterized by the lack of sexual attraction to another individual – it is not a sexual disorder. Asexuality is one of the most understudied orientations, and there is some debate on if asexuality is the lack of orientation or an orientation itself. Only about .5- 1% of the population identifies asexual, but it is thought that this is potentially a slight underestimate.. Individuals that identify as asexual are predominately white (Deutsch, 2017).
Despite misconception, being asexual does not mean that an individual does not engage in sexual behavior or intercourse. It is also not defined by virginity, having a low sex drive, or masturbation. Individuals that are asexual may experience physical, sexual arousal. Although some may be disturbed or disgusted by their own arousal, others may simply not feel connected to individuals or their arousal which is known as autocrissexualism (Deutsch, 2017).
Asexuality exists in various forms – we will cover some, but not all. For example, gray asexuality is an orientation in which an individual experiences low levels of attraction, whereas demisexuality is an orientation in which an individual only experiences sexual attraction when a close bond is formed. Keep in mind, an individual that identifies as asexual may still have romantic attractions toward any gender (Deutsch, 2017).
6.3.3. Heterosexual
Heterosexual is defined as being attracted to the opposite gender. A majority of the population identifies as heterosexual, and much of our cultural assumptions and biases are due to this. Historically, heterosexuality has been considered ‘normative,’ and thus, anything other than heterosexualism was ‘abnormal.’ Fortunately, there has been significant efforts to shift this mindset, but the lasting impacts of this are still present today.
6.3.4. Same-Gender Sexuality
Although rates vary depending on which study and statistic is cited, approximately 3.5% of the U.S. population identifies as being sexually attracted to the same-gender (same-gender sexuality, homosexuality; Gates, 2011). Specifically, about 2-4% of males and 1-2% of females identify as being homosexual. However, women are actually 3 times more likely to report having engaged in some same-gender sexual behavior at some point in life compared to men. Moreover, although less than 5% identify as homosexual, about 11% of individuals report being attracted, to some degree, to same-gender individuals and 8.2% reported same-gender sexual behavior (Gates, 2011).
Same-gender attraction can be exclusive, meaning that the individual is only attracted to same-gendered individuals, and individuals may use labels such as gay (males) or lesbian (females) to define/describe their orientation. However, some individuals may be attracted to both same- and opposite-gendered individuals, which is often defined/described as bisexual. Females are more likely to identify as bisexual than males (Copen, Chandra, and Febo-Vazquez, 2016). Women are more accepting of bisexual individuals then men. Moreover, in general, female bisexual individuals are more accepted than male bisexual individuals (Dodge et al., 2016).
6.3.5. Sexual Fluidity
Sexual fluidity is a concept in which we move away from thinking in binary ways (heterosexual or homosexual) and move into a more fluid understanding – essentially the entire premise behind the Genderbread Person. An individual that is bisexual, may be considered to have sexual fluidity; however, pansexual individuals likely align with sexual fluidity a bit more. Pansexual is a word used to identify individuals that are attracted to all genders either in sexual, romantic, or spiritual ways (Rice, 2015). How are pansexual and bisexual different? Well, bisexual (in the name) indicates a binary requirement (male or female) whereas pansexual indicates an individual is attracted to a spectrum of genders (and does not consider gender to be binary; Rice, 2105).
6.4. Transgender
Section Learning Objectives
• Define the term transgender.
• Provide psychoeducation on terminology and appropriate verbiage.
• Understand, at a basic level, the process of transitioning.
6.4.1. Defining Transgender
Transgender and transsexual do not refer to a sexual orientation. These terms define an individual’s gender identity and/or anatomical sex. Transgender is a term used to define an individual that identifies with a gender that does not align with their biological sex. For example, an individual that is born a female, but identifies as male, may label themselves as transgender. Transsexual is an older term that is used less often today. This term was used to specifically identify individuals that identify with a gender inconsistent with their biological birth sex and sought medical interventions (such as hormone therapies, surgical reassignment) to change their hormonal and/or anatomical makeup to more closely align with their self-identified gender. Although some transgender individuals may wish to seek medical interventions, one should not assume that someone that is transgender has a desire to pursue interventions. Also, sexual orientation varies in transgender individuals, just as it does in cisgender (when a person’s gender identity and birth sex align) individuals.
Male-to-female (MtF) and female-to-male (FtM) are terminology often used to help individuals communicate and understand their identity. Specifically, MtF indicates an individual who was born with male genitalia and chromosomal/hormonal makeup and that has transitioned to female genitalia and/or hormonal therapy or they may perhaps even change legal documents or how they dress to more closely align with their gender identity if they don’t desire medical interventions. When referring to a transgender person’s gender, one should use the pronouns the individual uses for themselves, which often is related to their stage of transitioning. For example, if a FtM individual is transitioned and refers to himself as male, one should also use male pronouns and not female pronouns.
Approximately .3% of adults identify as transgender. About 27% to MtF individuals are attracted to men, 35% to women, and 38% to both men and women. About 10% to FtM individuals are attracted to men, 55% to women, and 5% to both men and women (Gates, 2011; Copen, Chandra, & Febo-Vazquez, 2016).
6.4.2. Gender Dysphoria
Transgender is not a disorder. However, the DSM-5 includes a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, which is generally defined as when a person has significant internal distress due to feeling that their biological sex is incongruent with their gender identity. Many transgender individuals experience gender dysphoria. In fact, gender dysphoria in children persists to adulthood in anywhere between 12 to 27 percent of individuals (Coleman, et al., 2012). However, heterosexual and homosexual individuals may experience gender dysphoria alike, as gender identity is independent form sexual orientation.
6.4.3. Transitioning
Transitioning is the process of moving from living one’s life as the gender that aligns to their birth sex, to the gender the individual identifies as. Transitioning can involve a variety of things, including changing one’s name on legal documents, dressing in a way that aligns with one’s gender identity, utilizing noninvasive procedures (hair removal, makeup tattooing), hormone therapies, and sex reassignment surgeries.
6.4.3.1. MtF. Surgery may consist of facial feminization in which plastic surgeries are conducted to feminize one’s face, breast augmentations, either the enhancement/reduction of the buttock, vaginoplasty (conversion of male scrotum and penis to a vagina with a clitoris and labia), and thyroid cartilage removal (to reduce the appearance of an Adams Apple). Nonsurgical options might include hormone therapy, voice training, hair removal, and other minor procedures such as Botox (The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, n.d.).
6.4.3.2. FtM. Surgery may consist of chest masculinization (removal of the female breasts), phalloplasty/metoidioplasty (either constructing a penis and scrotum or releasing the clitoris to create a micropenis), buttock reduction, etc. Nonsurgical options include hormone therapy and voice training (The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, n.d.).
Before surgery options can occur, various prerequisites must be met by an individual, typically including (1) the individual is experiencing true gender dysphoria., (2) at least one, but often two, mental health providers that specialize in gender identity concerns recommending the individual for surgery (must specialize in gender identity), (3) has received hormone treatment for at least one year, (4) has been living as the gender they identify as for at least one year, (5) is considered emotionally stable, and (6) is medically healthy. (The Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery, n.d.).
Hormone therapy involves taking a prescribed amount of hormones to produce secondary sex characteristics in the gender one identifies with. Hormone therapies appears relatively safe for transgender men (FtM), but for women (MtF), there is a 12% risk for a negative medical event such as thromboembolic or cardiovascular occurrence (Wierckx, 2012).
6.5. Gender Roles and Rules for Sexual Behavior
6.5.1. Scripts for Sexual Behavior
Sexual script theory posits that we engage in particular sexual behaviors due to learned interactions and patterns. We learn this “script” from our environment, culture, etc. We adjust our behaviors to fit the script so as to align with general expectations. Scripts are often influenced, largely, by culture and are frequently heteronormative. We learn scripts from people in our life, and those same people, as well as society and media, reinforce those scripts. Scripts are also influenced by our interpersonal experiences (experiences with others) and intrapersonal experiences (internalization of scripts). What our culture teaches us about scripts, then plays out in interpersonal experiences. How we interact with our partner may be largely based on engaging in behaviors that align with culturally congruent scripts. This often leads to patterned script behavior within partners. For example, if the male in a relationship is the one that initiates sex in the beginning (largely based on sexual script), then over time, the female may continually wait for the male to initiate sea, rather than initiate it herself. This is now an interpersonally-based script that started from a broader, culturally-based script. This may then become internalized and repeated in other relationships for the female (intrapersonal influence on scripts). There may also be very negative feelings if one contradicts a generally accepted sexual script (e.g., guilt for not acting like other females, etc.; intrapersonal experience).
The heterosexual script is the most prominent in the US, and it consists largely of three specific components including a doubles standard (e.g., men are supposed to desire sex where as women should resist it), courtship roles (e.g., men are responsible for initiating things such as sex and dates whereas women are to wait and response), and desire for commitment (women desire committed relationships and male avoid it; Helgeson, 2012). Women are often scripted to be timid, hesitant, and passive in sexual encounters and interactions, whereas men are scripted to be aggressive, dominant, and in control. There is a double standard within sexual scripts, often in which women are expected not to engage in sex outside of a relationship, whereas men are expected, and often praised, for doing so. Women are scripted to desire committed relationships whereas men desire sex with minimal emotional investment (Seabrook, et al., 2016). Men are scripted to initiate sex and to be more sexually advanced and experienced than women, desire sex in uncommitted contexts, and have more sexual partners than women. Women are scripted to be desired, have lower sex drives than men, to wait for a male to initiate sex and then resist it, and be less sexually experienced than men. Whereas women are scripted to desire intimacy, trust, and committed relationships, men are not (Masters, Casey, Wells, & Morrison, 2013).
Why do we adhere to scripts? Well, not adhering to them has a risk involved. For example, if you are interested in someone that holds the beliefs of traditional sexual scripts, and you engage in a way that is inconsistent with the script, they may no longer be interested in you. Essentially, you risk losing the interest of someone you are interested in. You also risk being judged negatively and experiencing direct or indirect ‘punishment’ or negative consequences (as just discussed). Let’s take an example. It is a common expectation in sexual scripts that a male will pay for dinner on a date. What if he doesn’t and the female follows traditional scripts? Will she go on another date with him? What if a female makes the first move towards a kiss, and a male subscribes to traditional scripts? Will he want to go on another date with her? (Garcia, 2010).
6.5.2. The Double Standard
The double standard in sexual behavior began to be researched in the 1960’s by Ira Reiss. Reiss was one of the first to study the double standard in the context that society prohibited women to engage in premarital sexual behavior, but allowed men to (as cited by Mihausen & Herold, 1999). The double standard impacts a variety of sexual factors such as age of first intercourse (men having a younger age), number of sexual partners (men having a more), etc. Regarding sexual behavior, males, even in adolescence, are often praised for sexual conduct and promiscuity whereas girls are often shamed. Boys are more accepted by their peers as sexual partner counts increase whereas girls are less accepted by their peers (Kraeger & Staff, 2009). Kraeger (2016) also found that a girl having a sexual history (e.g., reported having sex), led to a gradual decline in peer acceptance, whereas males with the same history experienced an increase in peer acceptance. Interestingly, although much of the above information is related to the double standard related to sex, may that be intercourse, oral sex, etc., there appears to be a slightly different story with kissing or “making out.” Girls are more accepted by their peers, whereas boys are less accepted, when it comes to making out (Kraeger, 2016). Reflections of the double standard may not be just in perceptions and attitudes, but in actual sexual encounters. In general, in hookups, males reach orgasm more often than females (Garcia et al., 2010).
Milhausen and Herold (1999) found that although women believe there is still a sexual double standard, they denied that they held the double standard themselves. Moreover, participants believed other women, more than men, held the double standard belief. Conversely, data shows that men tend to hold double standard beliefs. Overall, on average, the double standard still is present. Although young men and women are challenging it, in general, the double standard persists. For example, ¾ of individuals reject the double standard when considering hooking up, but at least ½ of individuals hold some amount of a double standard belief (Sprecher, Treger, & Sakaluk, 2013; Allison and Risman, 2013).
6.5.3. Hookup Culture
A ‘hookup’ is defined as an event in which two individuals that are not committed to each other, or dating, engage in sexual behavior, which can include intercourse but may also include oral sex, digital penetration, kissing, etc. Typically speaking, there is no expectation of forming a romantic relationship or connection with each other (Garcia, Reiber, Massey, & Merriwether, 2013). ‘Hooking up’ is becoming more socially acceptable and a common experience for young adults in the US. But what has led to this? In the 1920’s, sexual promiscuity and casual sex became more open and accepted. As time progressed, and medicine advanced (e.g., birth control), the acceptance of openly discussing sex and the frequency of casual sex, or sexual behavior that broke previous, traditional and/or moral/religious boundaries (e.g., only having sex in marriage) became more common. Today, the media often focuses on sexuality and may overly portray sexuality (e.g., over 75% of tv programming has sexual content; as cited by Garcia, 2010). This may lead to a misunderstanding of actual sexual behavior for youth. For example, college students tend to significantly overestimate how promiscuous their peers are (Chia & Gunther, 2006; Reiber & Garcia, 2010). Recent data suggest that anywhere between 60-80% of young adults in the US have had a hookup. Even in adolescents, 60-70% of youth that are currently sexually active reported having at least one hook up (as cited by Garcia et al., 2013). Friends with benefits (FWB) is a relationship in which two people contract to have purely sexual intimacy but do not date, emotionally-bond, etc. Sixty percent of college students report having a FWB relationship at some point.
There are some gender differences in frequency and feelings after hooking up. Women are more conservative than men regarding causal sex attitudes. In general, both males and females report varied feelings. About half of men report feeling positive after hooking up, about 25% report feeling negative, and the remaining 25% report mixed feelings. For women, things are slightly reversed – about 25% feel positive, 50% feel negative, and 25% report mixed feelings. Although data is mixed, statistics often show that around ¾ of people, in general, report feeling regret after a hookup. Two factors that seem to lead to regret is a hookup with someone that the individual just met (known less than 24 hours) and someone that they hookup with only once. Men may be more regretful because they feel they used someone whereas women may feel regret because they felt used. In general, women have the most negatively affective impacts from hookups (Garcia et al., 2013).
A majority of college students did not fear contracting an STI following a hookup and less than half used condoms during a hookup. Factors leading to hooking ups vary. Substance use is highly comorbid with hooking up, especially alcohol. This often leads to unintended hookups. Feeling depressed, isolated, or lonely is a common factor leading to hookups. In general, individuals who usually have lower self-esteem tend to participate in hooking up. (Garcia et al., 2013). The impact of hookups vary as well. If an individual experienced high levels of depression and loneliness, they sometimes report actually experiencing a reduction in this following a hookup. However, if an individual did not have depressive symptoms prior to a hookup, they actually may be more at risk for developing depressive symptoms afterward (Garcia et al., 2013).
Module Recap
In this module, we first focused on understanding the beginning stages of researching human sexuality. We then examined and learned about various sexual orientations. Additionally, we discussed transgender and the process one goes through to transition. Finally, we examined gender and sexual roles including double standards in sexual behavior and “hookup culture.”
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/03%3A_Applying_a_Biological_Lens/3.01%3A_Module_6__Gender_Through_a_Human_Sexuality_Lens.txt
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Module 7: Gender Through a Cognitive Psychology Lens
Module Overview
In this module, we will learn about the actual and perceived differences in cognitive development and functioning in males and females. First, we will take a look at language and how languages impact gender, as well as how gender impacts the way in which we utilize language and communicate. Next, we will learn about cognitive differences between males and females. Are males really better at math than females? Well, we will see. Finally, we discuss how perceived differences may impact our performance.
Module Outline
• 7.1. Language
• 7.2. Cognition
Module Learning Outcomes
• To become familiar with gendered versus nongender language
• To understand how gender impacts communication and language patterns
• To recognize the similarities and differences in cognitive development and abilities across gender
• To begin to decipher real differences in abilities and perceived differences in abilities across gender
• To gain an understanding of how perceived differences may impact stereotypes and how those stereotypes then impact performance.
7.1. Language
Section Learning Objectives
• Gain foundational knowledge on the differences in how males and females communicate and use language
• Understand gender versus nongendered language and their impacts
7.1.1. Sex and Gender Differences in Language
Language can impact many components of our lives. The words we choose, how we are spoken to, and the meaning that is attached to those experiences can completely make or break an experience. Have you ever noticed you have a different way of communicating than a friend or coworker? Have you ever noticed that you change your way of communicating based on who you are interacting with? You probably answered yes, and that is common. How about this – do you think that you change how you communicate depending on if you are talking to a male or female? What about your own gender – does that impact how you communicate? Let’s find out!
Before we get started, lets discuss affiliative and assertive speech. Affiliative speech consists of a speech style in which an individual’s speech includes high levels of attempts to relate and support the listener/other individual. Assertive speech focuses on ensuring one’s needs/points/ are communicated to the listener/other individual. For example, someone using affiliative speech may say something like, “I understand why you are frustrated that you cannot attend the event. I would be frustrated, too.” whereas someone using assertive speech may say something such as, “It is not logical for you to attend the event. I need you here to manage the calls.”
Women traditionally are generally stereotyped as more talkative, warmer, and more affiliative in their speech and men are stereotyped to be less talkative and more assertive and direct in their speech (Carli, 2017; Leaper & Ayres, 2007). However, research actually shows, although in childhood, girls talk more than boys (Carli, 2017; Leaper & Smith, 2004), in adulthood, men actually talk more than females (Leaper & Ayres, 2007)! In childhood, boys appear to use more assertive speech, whereas girls engage in more affiliative speech, but again, these differences are small (Carli, 2017; Leaper & Smith, 2004).
The stereotype of women being more affiliative, and men more assertive, does have some evidence backing into adulthood (Leaper & Ayres, 2007). In general, women tend to disclose more about themselves and their personal lives to others. They offer more support in conversations, and search for areas of “relatedness.” Women also tend to be less direct in their communication (Carli, 2017). In contrast, men tend to be much more direct in their communication, offer more suggestions and corrections, and interrupt more frequently. However, women and men tend to show more affiliative interactions when they are interacting with women, than they do if they are interacting with men. More pleasant tones are used, more compliments are provided, and smiles offered, when interacting with women (Carli, 2017). So, it is not just our own sex that impacts our language, but also those who we are interacting with matters (Carli, 2017; Leaper & Ayers, 2007). For example, men are shown to evidence increased talking when they are with strangers or are in a group. Even more interesting, when we are with people we do not know, we are more likely to use more gender stereotypical language use (Leaper & Ayers, 2007). However, when we are discussing areas in which we feel we have an expertise, or are in a position of having more power, we engage in more assertive communication, despite our sex or gender.
Although there are some sex differences in the way we communicate, men and women equally engage in providing cues of acknowledging that they are listening, giving directives, offering criticism, and presenting as agreeable. Moreover, when differences are noted between men and women, the differences found tend to be fairly small (Carli, 2017).
What about nonverbal communication? The biggest differences between men and women appears to be the frequency in which one smiles (Carli, 2017). It seems women smile more than men (LaFrance, Hecht, & Paluck, 2003). The frequency in which one touches another person, when the other person is the opposite gender, while communicating is the same between men and women (Hall & Veccia, 1990). Essentially, women touch men and men touch women to a largely equal frequency when communicating. However, women will more frequently touch another woman while communicating than a man will touch another man.
7.1.2. Gender Influences on Language
Why is it that males and females tend to use language differently? One theory is explained by the social role theory. Social role theory outlines that the reason there are differences in the behavior of males and females is due to roles that each have within society. Essentially, societal structure influences the behaviors of individuals. A large component of society and societal structure is work and labor. Thus, labor division strongly dictates the behavior of men and women. Typically, labor of women is focused on domestic tasks and labor of men is focused more on work and tasks outside of the home. Social role theorists would explain that biology has a place within this theory because the physical makeup, influenced by biology, helped to define the labor roles. For example, men are bigger and stronger, physically, and thus, they were better able to do manual labor outside the home that required strength. Thus, this led to male roles being more focused to tasks outside of the home. Whereas women are able to bear children, and thus, biologically they are primed for domestic tasks and nurturing. However, as society has changed, the biological basis of the establishment of some of these roles has become less relevant; thus, in societies in which this is true, we see a decline in division of roles (Helgeson, 2012).
So, what does that have to do with language? Well, because women’s roles have been focused on the home and nurturing, it fosters more communal and affiliative behaviors. Social role theory posits that the female role is primed to be agreeable, and to engage in more smiling, and nonverbal acknowledgement, all in efforts to build relationships. Adults are also more likely to command a girl to do something than a boy, thus, again, foster agentic behavior in boys and communal behavior in girls (Whiting & Edwards, 1988). Males fostered agentic may contribute to males using less attempts, through language, to attempt to foster relationships, and may partially explain their more assertive, direct communication patterns.
7.1.3. Gendered Language
He sat on the table – this is an example of language with gendered pronouns. There are actually three categories of language, as it relates to gender. There are gendered languages, natural gender languages, and genderless languages. Gendered languages are languages in which people, as well as objects, have a gender. These languages often assign a gender to non-living items. For example, in Spanish the word paper is masculine, and table is feminine. Examples of gendered languages are Spanish, Russian, German, and French. In gendered languages, gender is often “built into” the word which does not make adjusting the language for individuals that are transgender easy. Natural gender languages are language in which humans and animals are gendered, but non-human items and objects are not. English is an example of a natural gender language. Other examples include Norwegian and Swedish. Natural gender languages allow for additional pronouns such as ze/zir/zie/hir for individuals that do not identify as female or male, or prefer to be referred to with gender-neutral pronouns. Natural gender languages also allow for nonspecific pronouns such as “they” to avoid falsely gendering an individual as well. Unlike gendered languages, natural gender languages also can accommodate using words that do not require a pronoun such as student, partner, and employee, and avoids gendering all together. Genderless languages are languages in which no nouns are categorized. Examples of these languages include Chinese, Estonian, and Finnish.
So how does gendered versus nongendered language impact us? Does it impact us at all? Are there differences in equality in countries in which the predominant language is genderless versus gendered? Actually, there are differences noted, but it may be different than what you would initially assume. Research does indicate that language that has grammatical gender within it can shape interactions and perceptions. These perceptions may then lead to changes in our judgement, decisions, behaviors, and ideas which then may change how one is treated and one’s status. Given this, one may assume that a country that has genderless language would have the most equality. This is actually not the case. What research has shown is, when gendered language (fully gendered, not natural gender language) is the predominant language, then there is less equality (e.g., considering economic factors despite controlling for any confounding factors such as governmental systems, religion, etc.) than natural gender and genderless language. However, natural gender language countries show higher equality than genderless language countries. Why is this? Well, research shows that gender neutral terms in genderless languages tend to be perceived with a male bias. Thus, genderless languages may actually lead to females missing opportunity to emphasize their role and visibility. Languages that allow for gender pronouns (natural gender languages) are hypothesized to promote more inclusion of women (Braun, 2001; Nissen, 2002). These languages also allow for gender-inclusive language, whereas gendered languages in which nearly everything is gendered are more difficult to implement neutral terms to promote gender inclusiveness (Prewitt-Freilino, Caswell, & Laakso, 2011).
7.2. Cognition
Section Learning Objectives
• Obtain basic knowledge of how cognitive development differs between males and females.
• Understand the differences in cognitive abilities between males and females.
• Recognize the perceived differences in cognitive abilities between genders.
• Learn about stereotype threats as it relates to gender and performance/outcomes.
7.2.1. Sex Differences in Cognitive Development
Cognitive development is the development of one’s intellectual ability to solve problems, reason, and learn. Intellectual ability is spread across several areas and domains, including, but not limited to: memory, language, logic reasoning, math reasoning, processing speed, etc. There are various theories on cognitive development. Some theorize that cognitive development happens in a continuous, but gradual, way whereas others hypothesize it develops in stages. Some theorize that there is one single trajectory path, whereas others hypothesize that there are multiple paths. Additionally, nativists theorize that cognition is largely influenced by nature (genes, biology) whereas environmentalists hypothesize that cognition is influenced more by nurture (Duffy, 2017).
So, do males and females develop similarly in their intellectual development? Although society perceives many differences, research shows that while there are some differences, there are actually more similarities than differences. Moreover, the differences typically are not large, and by adulthood, many of the slight differences even out (Duffy, 2017).
Let’s talk about the actual sex differences. Research indicates that, in childhood and continuing into adulthood, males’ brains are about 10% larger than females. This difference is maintained, even when researchers control for the fact that males, typically, are physically larger than females in all aspects. When going further into detail, studies have shown that the interstitial nuclei, which is largely responsible for sexual behavior, is larger and contains more cells in males than females. Interestingly, heterosexual men’s interstitial nuclei is larger than homosexual men’s. Another area of difference is with the amygdala. The amygdala is responsible for several functions, but the most prominent being emotion regulation and processing. In males, the amygdala grows during adolescence, but not in females,. This increase in size appears to persist, with research showing that even into adulthood, males have larger amygdala. Another area of structural difference is in the hippocampus. The hippocampus is largely responsible for memory. This area increases in females during adolescence, but does not show the same growth in males during adolescence. The caudate (an area in the basal ganglia responsible for procedural and associative learning as well as inhibitory control) is also larger in females (Grose-Fifer & diFilipo, 2017).
7.2.2. Sex Differences in Cognitive Abilities
7.2.2.1. Spatial abilities. Who performs better? Males are shown to perform better at a specific task – mental rotation. Mental rotation tasks are tasks in which an individual is shown variations of a stimuli that is rotated and must select the appropriate response. For an example, click here: https://www.psytoolkit.org/lessons/experiment_mentalrotation.html. Males tend to outperform females in mental rotation tasks, especially when there are timed elements of the task (e.g., limited time to respond; time pressures). Differences in spatial abilities can be seen in as young as 3 months old (Quinn & Liben, 2008). Research has also shown that females that have had a higher exposure to androgens do better on these spatial tasks than females that have not had increased androgen exposure. As such, there appears to be some biological bases. However, some environmental components cannot be ignored. For example, boy toys/interests (e.g., video games, building blocks) tend to focus in more on visual-spatial abilities compared to girl toys/interests (Grose-Fifer & diFilipo, 2017).
How males and females solve problems, particularly mental rotation tasks, may vary. It appears that women tend to activate the frontal cortex area more whereas as males engage in a more automatic process. As such, females approach the tasks with a more analytical approach. Different areas of the brain being utilized, depending on sex, is found even when males and females perform similarly on a task. As such, even when males and females have similar abilities, how they solve problems may be different (Grose-Fifer & diFilipo, 2017).
7.2.2.2. Verbal-based abilities. Females tend to outperform males in verbal fluency tasks. However, this difference is relatively small – smaller than the differences found in mental rotation tasks. There is not a found difference in the size of vocabulary between sexes; rather, it appears that girls have an increased ability to produce that vocabulary when a timed element is in play. Moreover, the advantage females have in verbal fluency early on begins to fade away around the age of six years old. (Grose-Fifer & diFilipo, 2017).
Somewhat relatedly, males (children and adults) have poorer handwriting and struggle more to compose complex written language compared to females. Again, although males are not as quick and accurate in reading, their actual core reading capacity and abilities are equal to females (Berniger, Nielsen, Abbott, Wijsman, & Raskind, 2008).
7.2.2.3. Math abilities. Abilities in mathematics do not appear to differ between males and females. Despite previous theories that have attempted to explain why males may have an advantage in mathematics, research simply fails to consistently support this. Males are not equipped with an innate advantage to outperform females in mathematics or science (Spelke, 2005). Although males tend to major in mathematics/sciences in college, and pursue more math-based careers, this does not seem to be due to a genuine cognitive advantage in this skillset. It is theorized that there may be more sociological reasons for this (as you will soon find out; Spelke, 2005).
7.2.3. Stereotype Threat
What if you were told before you went into a job interview, you were not at all qualified and would never get the job? What if you were told that most girls can’t get into STEM programs, just before you filled out your application for a STEM program (assuming you are a girl)? Do you think this would impact your performance on the interview or how you filled out your application? This is the idea of a stereotype threat. Essentially, a stereotype threat is when (1) a person is a member of the group being stereotyped, (2) in a situation in which the stereotype is relevant (a female taking a math test), and (3) the person is engaging in an activity that can be judged/evaluated (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014).
Claude Steele is one of the main researchers in stereotype threat. He began his work in this area focusing on stereotype threat for African American and minority students in the university setting. He began to notice racial minorities and women underperformed academically, despite standardized testing that revealed these populations were capable of achieving equivalently to their white, male peers. He hypothesized that simply knowing about a stereotype (e.g., women aren’t as good at math, racial minorities are not high achieving, etc.) could hinder performance. In groundbreaking research, he revealed his hypothesis to be true (Steele & Aronson, 1995). In this study, Steel and Aronson (1995) conducted a series of mini-studies in which they manipulated the presence of a stereotype threat, the context of testing, etc. For example, one of their mini-studies consisted of having Black and White college students take a GRE. In one condition, the participants were told it would be diagnostic of their intellectual capacities whereas in another condition, participants were told the test was simply a problem-solving task that did not directly relate to intellectual ability. They conducted four different mini-studies that manipulated factors such as the ones described above. Some of the results of their study indicated that if Black participants were expecting a difficult, ability/diagnostic test, Black participants tended to be more aware of stereotypes, have increased concerns about their ability, show reluctance to have their racial identity somehow linked to performance, and even begin to make excuses for their performance. In general, the cumulation of findings from these mini-studies indicated that African American participants’ performance on standardized testing was negatively impacted (i.e., performed lower) when reminders of negative stereotypes of their abilities were strong. Likewise, when those conditions were removed, their standardized performance improved. Thus, their study provided significant support for stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995).
Think about this, his research showed that it wasn’t that African American and other minority groups had a lower, innate ability (biology), and it wasn’t that they were less motivated, or that instructors were harsher toward them/their grading, it was knowledge about a stereotype about them regarding ability and performance that contributed to their lower performance (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014). Spencer, Steele and Quinn (1999) expanded this research from racial minorities to women, particularly as it relates to math performance. Similar to Steele and Aronson’s 1995 study, Spencer, Steele, and Quinn (1995) conducted several mini-studies to manipulate factors and presence of stereotype threat. For example, one of the studies consisted of administering GRE math problems. In one condition, participants were told that gender differences had been found in the test whereas in the other condition, participants were told that there had not been a gender difference found in the test. The overall results of the study showed that when women experienced stereotype threat, their performance was hindered (Spencer, Steele, & Quinn, 1999).
This does not mean that someone believes they are actually worse at math, etc. It does not mean that they have internalized that stereotype and now believe it to be true about themselves. Not believing the stereotype, but being aware that others believe it, is enough to create a stereotype threat outcome (Huguet & Regner, 2007; Wheeler & Petty, 2001).
7.2.3.1. Stereotype threat in school. As you may have gathered from the description of Spencer, Steele, and Quinn’s 1999 study, girls frequently experience stereotyped threats in school. It appears that around ages 7 to 8, gender stereotype awareness emerges (i.e., 5 to 7-year-old females were unaware, but 8 to 9-year-old females were aware whereas 5 to 7-year-old boys were aware of the stereotype regarding math abilities in girls; as cited in Galdi, Cadinu, & Tomasetto, 2014). Research has shown that females preform worse in math when under stereotype threat, but perform equivalently to males when the threat is removed. Stereotype threats have shown to reduce test performance, but these threats can also impact a female’s ability to incorporate and receive helpful feedback if they are overly focused and worried about providing confirmation of negative stereotypes. For example, if a female is overly worried about behavior or performing in such a way so as not to confirm a negative stereotype (e.g., women are bad in math), when someone, such as a teacher give constructive feedback or corrections, the female may be more reactive or defensive, and thus, unable to incorporate the helpful feedback that is being provided. When overly worried about confirming negative stereotypes, individuals may also pull away and avoid class discussions at school, etc. (Betz, Ramsey, & Sekaquaptewa, 2014).
Gender stereotype threats may be more of an issue when a female’s identity is strongly rooted in being a female (versus their identity being strongly rooted in another area that is not negatively stereotyped). This is actually true for many stereotype threats, not just gender related threats. Essentially, if an individual sees their gender (or insert other negatively stereotyped group) as a major part of their identity, and the individual is highly focused on doing well in an area that is negatively stereotyped (for example, a female wanting to be an engineer), they may experience increased negative impacts from gender stereotype threats. This is even stronger when an individual strongly identifies with multiple groups that experience stereotype threats (e.g., a black woman; Bouche & Rydell, 2017).
But why does the stereotype threat impact test performance? There are various theories, but one of the most commonly accepted is that by Toni Schmader. He theorized that when one is overly worried about a stereotype threat (e.g., reminded that because she belongs to the female group, she is likely to do poorly on the math test she is about to take), the worry ties up valuable cognitive resources. This worrying then impacts the capacity that one has to draw on their memory and to attend and focus on the task before them. As such, they are unable to utilize their abilities to their fullest and focus fully, impacting task performance. Research has shown that stereotype threats do not just impact test performance, it also impacts an individual’s ability to learn. This has been specifically shown to be true for females when learning perceptual tasks (Boucher, Rydell, Van Loo, & Rydell, 2012; Rydell, Shiffrin, Boucher, Van Loo, Rydell, 2010).
However, some have argued against the actual validity of the idea of stereotype threats. Early on, a common argument was that most of these studies were conducted in labs and not natural settings, and thus, could not be generalized. Some researchers, such as Paul Sackett, believed that there would be a small effect in a natural setting. This began to spark an interest in conducing more natural setting studies. Naturalistic research has confirmed that stereotype threats indeed have negative impacts on academic experiences, performance, and career goals. Moreover, these negative impacts are accumulating.
Other psychologists have argued that factors such as socialization, discrimination, and poverty stereotype threats do not explain everything. While these individuals are right, stereotype threats are found to be significant and important components. For example, when demographic surveys are moved from the beginning of an exam to the end of an exam, test performances were different. Specifically, researchers moved that moving a demographic study to the end of an AP calculus exam led to an increase in the number of female students that achieved exam scores high enough to receive college credit. This wasn’t small either – it increased to more than 47,000 females getting this passing score, per year (Stricker & Ward, 2004)!
The above study is an example of what can be done to reduce the impacts of stereotype threats. Small logistical changes may have sizable impacts. Other strategies such as reframing tests as puzzles that need to be solved or framing critiques as opportunities for one to grow and learn may be helpful ways to reduce the impact of stereotype threats. Helping individuals learn to cope with concerns of stereotype threats and to use self-affirming statements may also be beneficial. Moreover, simply teaching individuals more about stereotype threat may be beneficial. Finally, having increased same-sex role models and higher rations of females represented in a class may be helpful (this is true for stereotype threats in general. For example, same-race role models and representation of same-race individuals may reduce race-related stereotype threat impacts; Boucher & Rydell, 2017).
The number of cues in a class that remind an individual of a gender stereotype may be able to be reduce and lead to positive impacts. For example, as mentioned above, if there are few female classmates or teachers, increasing this can be helpful. Also, if patterns of who sits where or who is more frequently called upon is present, it may be helpful to reduce this. Additionally, if only one gender’s accomplishments are discussed or one gender’s interests are overly displayed in the classroom (e.g., classroom decorations strongly geared to males), efforts to reduce this could prove beneficial.
Module Recap
In this module, we learned about the actual and perceived differences in cognitive development and functioning in males and females. We gained knowledge about the differences in how men and women communicate. We also learned about how language impacts our understanding of gender and how our audience and status may impact how we communicate as well. We learned about differences in cognitive abilities between males and females. We discussed how there are very few differences in abilities, when truly looking at cognitive abilities. We also discussed how perceived differences impact the development of stereotypes that then lead to the presence of stereotype threats. We discovered how impactful these threats can be.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/03%3A_Applying_a_Biological_Lens/3.02%3A_Module_7__Gender_Through_a_Cognitive_Psychology_Lens.txt
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Module 8: Gender Through a Physiological Psychology Lens
Module Overview
We often hear of books such as “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus” and “Men Are Like Waffles- Women Are Like Spaghetti: Understanding and Delighting in Your Difference” which suggest that men and women are opposites. While there is some disagreement as to how similar and different men and women truly are, the purpose of this module is to examine the biological differences in observed cognition, behavior, and gender roles with regards to one’s genes, hormones, and structure/function of the brain. We know that an individual’s genetic make-up, the production (or lack thereof) of hormones, as well as their brain anatomy can drastically impact their behavior. Therefore, the goal of this module is to explore the differences between men and women through a physiological psychology lens.
Module Outline
• 8.1. Basic Building Blocks
• 8.2. Endocrine System
• 8.3. Hormones
• 8.4. The Brain
Module Learning Outcomes
• To understand the relationship between DNA, genes, and chromosomes
• To gain a better understanding of the most common chromosomal abnormalities
• To better understand how the endocrine system functions and how the production of (or lack thereof) hormones impact ones social, cognitive, and behavioral development
• To understand gender differences in brain function and how this might impact differences in behavior
8.1. Basic Building Blocks
Section Learning Objectives
• To identify how genetic information is transferred from generation to generation
• To gain a better knowledge of both sex and non-sex linked chromosomal abnormalities
8.1.1. DNA
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the most basic hereditary material in humans and most other organisms. Nearly every cell in your body (usually in the nucleus of the cell) contains some DNA which is comprised of four chemical bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). Each DNA base attaches to each other- A with T and C with G; these attached bases form base pairs. The backbone of DNA is comprised of a sugar and a phosphate molecule. One base pair along with its backbone form what is called a nucleotide. The nucleotides form two long strands that twist in a ladder-like structure forming a double helix (National Institute of Health, 2019).
8.1.2. Genes
While DNA neatly packages the hereditary material, genes are the basic physical and functional unit of heredity (National Institute of Health, 2019). DNA within each human gene varies from a few hundred DNA bases to more than 2 million bases! While most genes are the same among all individuals, there are a small number of genes (roughly 1%) that differ; these small differences are what make us all unique (National Institute of Health, 2019). Given the large number of DNA bases within a gene, you can imagine that “mistakes” or changes can occur. While some of these changes do not affect the individual, some can have catastrophic consequences. We will discuss this in more detail in section 8.1.3.1.
8.1.3 Chromosomes
We’ve already discussed that base pairs and a sugar/phosphate backbone create nucleotides. Several nucleotides form together to create DNA. Thousands to millions of DNA sequences create a gene. Hundreds to thousands of genes are packaged into chromosomes which are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of a cell (National Institute of Health, 2019).
In humans, every cell should contain 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46. Twenty-two of these pairs of chromosomes are autosomes, and one pair of chromosomes is an allosome. The 22 pairs of autosomes are (essentially) the same in males and females, however, the allosome, also known as the sex-chromosome, differs between males and females. Thus, this chromosome determines whether a fetus becomes genetically a male or female.
How does this happen? Males have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, whereas females have TWO X chromosomes. The Y chromosome in males carries the genes that determine male sex. While other cells are produced by mitosis, gametes, or sex cells, are produced by meiosis cell division which results in the cells having only half of the number of chromosomes as the parent (National Institute of Health, 2019). Therefore, when the chromosomes split during meiosis, the two female cells each contain one X chromosome; however, when the male chromosomes split, one cell contains an X chromosome and the other contains a Y chromosome. Seeing as the Y chromosome contains the genetic information for the male sex, the sex of the fetus is determined by the male (father).
8.1.3.1. Chromosomal abnormalities. Chromosomal abnormalities occur when there is an anomaly, aberration, or mutation of chromosomal DNA (Genetic Alliance, 2009). This can occur during either egg/sperm development or during the early development of fetus. There are two ways in which these abnormalities can occur: numerical or structural. A numerical abnormality occurs when a whole chromosome is either missing OR an extra chromosome is attached to the pair. A structural abnormality occurs when part of an individual chromosome is missing, extra, or switched to another chromosome (Genetic Alliance, 2009). The range of effects of chromosomal abnormalities vary depending on the specific abnormality, with some as minimal as developmental delays to as severe as inability to sustain life.
We will now briefly discuss a few of the most common chromosomal abnormalities. While the first two chromosomal abnormalities are not sex-linked abnormalities, they are the most commonly observed, and therefore, worth mentioning. The final two chromosomal abnormalities are sex-linked and therefore, occur within specific genders.
Down syndrome (Trisomy 21). Down syndrome occurs when there is an extra chromosome on chromosome pair 21, hence the term trisomy 21. Trisomy 21 is the most common chromosomal condition in the United States and occurs in roughly 1 out of every 700 babies and generally effects males and females equally (Parker et al., 2010). Individuals with Down syndrome have distinct physical characteristics that include: flattened face, small head, short neck, protruding tongue, upward slanting eyelids, poor muscle tone, excessive flexibility, and shortened stature (National Library of Medicine, 2019). In addition, individuals with Down syndrome are more susceptible to congenital heart defects, gastrointestinal defects, sleep apnea, and dementia- with symptoms appearing around age 50. The lifespans of individuals with Down syndrome have increased dramatically over the years, with an average life expectancy of 60 years (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
The effects of the extra chromosome range from moderate to severe. Intellectual and developmental difficulties rage from mild to severe, however, research routinely supports the effectiveness of early intervention programs involvement in reduced developmental issues. Similarly, delayed developmental milestones are also common, usually related to low muscle tone. Early interventions with occupational, physical and speech therapists have been shown to reduce delay in both physical and speech development (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
While researchers are still unclear why this chromosomal abnormality occurs, advanced maternal age is one commonly identified risk factor for having a child with Down syndrome as the risk of conceiving a child with Down syndrome increases after 35 years of age. With that said, most children with Down syndrome are born to women under 35 years of age as there are more women having children prior to age 35 (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Trisomy 18 (Edwards syndrome). Trisomy 18 occurs when there is a third chromosome on chromosome 18. A Trisomy 18 error occurs in about 1 out of every 2500 pregnancies in the US and 1 in 6000 live births (National Library of Medicine, 2019). The number of total births is higher because it includes a significant number of stillbirths that occur in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters of pregnancy.
Individuals with Trisomy 18 have significant medical complications that are potentially life-threatening, which is why this chromosomal abnormality has a high mortality rate. In fact, only 50% of babies that are carried to term will be born alive (National Library of Medicine, 2019). The birth rate is higher in baby girls than baby boys; baby girls also out-perform baby boys in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Those born alive have a low birth rate due to slowed intrauterine growth. Physical abnormalities such as a small, abnormally shaped head, small jaw and mouth, clenched fists with overlapping fingers, as well as many other organ abnormalities are common in individuals with Trisomy 18 (Trisomy18 Foundation, 2019). Due to the severity of these abnormalities, only 5-10% of live births live to their first birthday. There have been rare cases of individuals with Trisomy 18 living into their twenties, however, they are unable to live independently without full time caregiving due to their significant developmental delays (Trisomy18 Foundation, 2019).
Klinefelter syndrome. Klinefelter syndrome is a rare sex chromosome disorder in males that occurs from the presence of an extra X chromosome. Individuals with Klinefelter syndrome have the normal XY chromosomes, plus an extra X chromosome for a total of 47 Chromosomes (XXY; National Library of Medicine, 2019). It is believed that the activity from the extra copy of multiple genes on the X chromosome disrupt many aspects of development from sexual development to developmental and physical development.
Occurring in about 1 in 650 newborn boys, Klinefelter syndrome is among the most common sex chromosome disorders. Symptoms can be so mild that the condition is not diagnosed until puberty or adulthood. In fact, researchers believe that up to 75% of affected individuals are never diagnosed (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Individuals with Klinefelter syndrome typically have small testes that produce a reduced amount of testosterone. Because of the reduced hormone production, individuals with Klinefelter syndrome may have delayed or incomplete puberty, thus causing infertility. Unless treated with hormone replacement, the lack of testosterone can lead to breast enlargement, decreased muscle mass, decreased bone density, and a reduced amount of facial and body hair (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Developmentally, individuals with Klinefelter syndrome often have learning disabilities, particularly with speech and language development. With that said, receptive language skills appear to supersede expressive language skills thus individuals with Klinefelter syndrome will understand speech but have difficulty communicating and expressing themselves (National Library of Medicine, 2019). Due to this language disruption, individuals with Klinefelter syndrome also often have difficulty learning to read.
While there are additional physical characteristics associated with Klinefelter syndrome, they are subtle. As adolescents and adults, these individuals may be taller than their peers. Children may have low muscle tone and problems with motor development such as sitting, standing, walking (National Library of Medicine, 2019). Similar to individuals with Down syndrome, early intervention programs are helpful in reducing the delay of motor development.
Psychiatrically, individuals with Klinefelter syndrome often experience anxiety, depression, and impaired social skills. There is a higher rate of ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder than that of the general public. Medically, they also experience complications related to metabolic issues (National Library of Medicine, 2019). More specifically half of men with Klinefelter syndrome develop conditions such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), and high cholesterol. They are also at an increased risk for developing osteoporosis, breast cancer, and autoimmune disorders compared to unaffected men (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Turner syndrome. Unlike Klinefelter syndrome where there is an additional X chromosome, Turner syndrome occurs when there is one normal X chromosome and the other sex chromosome is missing or altered. Due to the altered X chromosome and lack of Y chromosome, individuals with Turner syndrome are genetically female. Turner syndrome is equally as rare as Klinefelter syndrome and occurs in about 1 in 2,500 newborn girls (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Due to the altered or absence of the 2nd X chromosome, girls with Turner syndrome have a short stature which becomes apparent in early elementary years. Additional physical characteristics include low hairline at back of the neck, swelling of hands and feet, skeletal abnormalities, and kidney problems. Additionally, one third to half of girls born with Turner syndrome are born with a heart defect (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Early developmental problems in girls with Turner syndrome vary significantly, with some experiencing developmental delays, nonverbal learning disabilities, and behavioral problems and others not requiring any early intervention. Despite these early developmental issues, girls and women with Turner syndrome typically have normal intelligence (National Library of Medicine, 2019).
Due to the altered sex chromosomes, women with Turner syndrome often experience early loss of ovarian function. While early prenatal development of ovaries is normal, egg cells die prematurely and majority of ovarian tissue degenerates before birth (National Library of Medicine, 2019). Due to ovarian loss, many affected girls do not undergo puberty unless they undergo hormone replacement therapy. Even with the hormone treatment, most women with Turner syndrome are unable to conceive children.
8.2. Endocrine System
Section Learning Objectives
• To identify the key organs involved in the endocrine system
• To understand the function of the endocrine system
• To understand why the endocrine system is important in behavior
8.2.1. Anatomy and Function
The endocrine system is made up of a network of glands that secrete hormones into the circulatory system that are then carried to specific organs (Tortora & Derrickson, 2012). While there are many glands that make up the endocrine system, it is often helpful to organize them by location. The hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the pineal gland are in the brain; the thyroid and parathyroid glands are in the neck; the thymus is between the lungs; the adrenal glands are on top of the kidneys; and the pancreas is behind the stomach. Finally, the ovaries (for women) or testes (for men) are located in the pelvic region.
While all of the organs are important, there are two main organs that are responsible for the execution of the entire system: the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. The hypothalamus is important because it connects the endocrine system to the nervous system. Its main job is to keep the body in homeostasis, or a balanced body state (Johnstone et al., 2014). When the body is out of balance, it is the hypothalamus’ job to identify the need (i.e. food to increase energy, water to increase hydration, etc.), and through the pituitary gland, identify how to achieve balance once again.
The pituitary gland is the endocrine system’s master gland. Through the help of the hypothalamus and the brain, the pituitary gland secretes hormones into the blood stream which “transmits information” to distant cells, regulating their activity (Johnstone et al., 2014). Non sex-related hormones that are released from the pituitary gland include: Growth hormone (GH), the hormone that stimulates growth in childhood and impacts healthy muscles and bones; Adrenocorticotropin (ACTH), the hormone responsible for production of cortisol which is activated in a stress response, and Thyroid-Stimulating hormone (TSH), the hormone responsible for regulating the body’s metabolism, energy balance, and growth. The pituitary gland also produces sex-related hormones that are involved in reproduction. For example, the pituitary gland is responsible for producing prolactin and oxytocin, which are both implicated in milk production for new mothers. Oxytocin may also play an important role in bonding between mother and child. Additional hormones including Luteinizing hormone (LH), which stimulates testosterone production in men and ovulation in women and Follicle-Stimulating hormone (FSH), which promotes sperm production in men and develops eggs in women are also maintained by the pituitary gland. LH and FSH work together to produce normal function of ovaries and testes. Deficits in any of these hormones may impact one’s reproductive ability.
Under the control of the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, the remaining glands are responsible for manufacturing specific hormones that are carried throughout the body and help carry out specific functions. While it is beyond the scope of this course to identify all of the hormones and functions of the endocrine system, it is important to identify the five main functions of the endocrine system (Johnstone et al., 2014):
1. Maintain homeostasis through the regulation of nutrient metabolism, water, and electrolyte balance.
2. Regulate growth and production of cells.
3. Control the responses of the body to external stimuli, especially stress.
4. Control reproduction.
5. Control and integrate circulatory and digestive activities with the autonomic nervous system.
8.2.2 Hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) Axis
As mentioned above, the endocrine system is involved in a lot of different body functions, however, one of the most important aspects of the endocrine system with regards to psychology is the HPA Axis. The HPA axis connects the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) to the hormonal system. While there are many functions of this system, the most important (for this text purpose) is the stress-response system.
When in stress, the hypothalamus releases corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH). CRH then activates the pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH travels down to the adrenal gland on top of the kidneys which initiates the secretion of glucocorticoids from the adrenal cortex. The most common type of glucocorticoid in humans is cortisol, which plays a critical role in providing energy when presented with stressful or threatening situations (Kudielka & Kirschbaum, 2005). The elevated levels of cortisol produce a negative feedback loop, signaling brain functions to shut off the stress response system. A good video showing this response system can be found here https://www.neuroscientificallychallenged.com/glossary/hpa-axis.
As you will see more in other modules, particularly Module 10 when discussing clinical disorders, the HPA axis is responsible for keeping the body at homeostasis during stressful situations. A dysfunctional HPA axis has been associated with psychosomatic and mental health disorders. More specifically, HPA hyperactivity (i.e. too much activity) has been linked to major depression, whereas hypoactivity (i.e. too little activity) is associated with a host of autoimmune disorders, as well as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome (Kudielka & Kirschbaum, 2005). Chronic HPA axis dysregulation has also been associated with the development of mood and anxiety disorders that will be discussed in more detail in Module 10.
8.2.2.1. Gender Differences in HPA Axis. Studies exploring the HPA axis hormonal response to stress among men and women have yielded conflicting findings. Kirschbaum and colleagues (1995a, b) identified higher cortisol and ACTH responses in men than women. Additional studies also found that men yielded greater cortisol and ACTH response to a psychological challenge (i.e. public speaking) than women. With that said, other studies have reported no significant gender differences in response to stress.
Some studies have indicated that a women’s menstrual cycle may be implicated in gender differences among activation of the HPA axis. For example, Kirschbaum and colleagues (1999) showed that free cortisol responses were similar between men and women in the luteal phase of their menstrual cycle, however, women in the follicular phase or those taking oral contraceptives showed less free cortisol compared to males. While there appears to be some biological differences in men and women’s activation of the HPA axis, one cannot rule out other factors such as cognitive appraisals that may also implicate individual differences in the stress response. These additional factors will be discussed in more detail in Module 10.
8.3. Hormones
Section Learning Objectives
• To understand the difference between estrogen and androgens
• To define and describe intersex conditions
• To identify the effect hormones have on social behavior and cognition
• To define and describe complete androgen insensitivity syndrome
The word hormone is derived from the Greek word meaning “arouse to activity.” Hormones are the body’s “chemical messengers.” Produced via the endocrine system, hormones travel throughout one’s bloodstream helping tissues and organs carry out their respected functions. Because there are so many types of hormones, they are often categorized by their function such as: reproduction/sexual differentiation; development and growth, maintenance of the internal environment, and regulation of metabolism/nutrient supply (Nussey & Whitehead, 2001). It should be noted that although hormones are categorized into these main groups, there are many hormones that affect more than one of these functions, and thus, serve multiple purposes.
8.3.1. Estrogens vs. Androgens
There are two classes of sex-related hormones: estrogens and androgens. Estrogens are hormones associated with female reproduction whereas androgens (i.e. testosterone) are associated with male reproduction. These hormones are not mutually exclusive, therefore, both males and females have both estrogen and androgens in their bloodstream—the difference is the amount of each hormone in each gender. For example, females have higher amounts of estrogen and lower amounts of androgens; males have higher amounts of androgens and lower amounts of estrogen.
Occasionally, there can be a disruption in hormone production causing an excess or reduction of hormone level. This disruption can lead to changes in the brain as well as physical changes. This can be especially problematic in sex-linked hormones as it can alter the production of both primary and secondary sexual characteristics depending on when the hormone imbalance occurs.
Primary sexual characteristics include sex organs that are needed for sexual reproduction. Secondary sexual characteristics are features that present during puberty and imply sexual maturation. Physical characteristics such as developing breasts, increased pubic hair, facial hair, widening of hips (women) and deepening of voice (males) are among of the most common secondary sexual characteristics. Due to hormonal disruption, occasionally there are situations where there is a discrepancy between one’s chromosomal sex and phenotypical sex (or external genitals). Known as intersex conditions, these situations have allowed researchers to study the effects of hormones on various behaviors.
8.3.2. Hormone Disorders
As previously discussed, occasionally there is a disruption in hormone production. This is seen in many medical disorders such as hyperthyroidism, dwarfism, and Cushing’s syndrome to name a few; however, sometimes there is a disruption in sex-related hormones. Below we will discuss the two most common types of conditions where sex-related hormones are affected and assess the implications of these disorders.
8.3.2.1. Congenital adrenal hyperplasia. One of the most common types of intersex conditions is Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH). CAH is a genetic disorder that affects the adrenal glands and the production of hormones. More specifically, individuals with CAH have a significant enzyme deficiency that results in impaired synthesis of cortisol and aldosterone. The consistently low levels of cortisol results in an increase of ACTH by the pituitary gland which in response, causes an increase in synthesis of steroid precursors resulting in high androgen levels. While the hormonal effects of CAH can be of varying degrees, the most common, also known as Classic CAH, results in a complete lack of cortisol and an overproduction of androgens.
An individual with classic CAH will experience symptoms related to too little sodium in the body such as dehydration, poor feeding, low blood pressure, heart rate problems, and low blood sugar at birth (Mayoclinic, 2019). Due to the extensive nature of these symptoms, they are generally detected days or weeks within birth. In addition to the low cortisol related symptoms, individuals also experience effects related to high levels of androgens. Newborn females may present with ambiguous external genitalia despite having normal internal reproductive organs, whereas newborn males often have enlarged genitalia (Mayoclinic, 2019). Individuals with classic CAH will also experience significantly early onset of puberty—females may fail to menstruate or have irregular menstrual periods. Infertility in both males and females is also common.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia has allowed researchers to study the effects of excess sex hormones on individual’s behaviors. While studied more extensively in females due to the fact that women do not usually develop high levels of androgens, findings suggest that prenatal exposure to excess androgen may influence the development of regions in the brain responsible for sex difference behaviors (Dittman et al., 1990). For example, some studies have found higher levels of energy and aggressive behaviors, an increase participation in sports, and an increased interest in traditionally masculine games and behaviors in girls with CAH (Berenbaum & Hines, 1992; Berenbaum & Snyder, 1995; Berenbaum, 1999).
These findings have been replicated over the years with CAH females routinely displaying more male-typical play behaviors in childhood. Assessment of CAH females as they age into adulthood also suggest differences in sexual identity. More specifically, CAH females report less satisfaction with their female sex assignment as well as less heterosexual interest than unaffected women. When assessing the relationship between childhood play and adult sexual preference in CAH females, a significant relationship was observed between increased male-typical play in childhood and decreased satisfaction with the female gender. These findings were also found between increased male-typical play in childhood and reduced heterosexual interest in adulthood (Hines, Brook, & Conway, 2004). Studies assessing behavior and sexual orientation in males with CAH have failed to identify any significant differences between males with CAH and unaffected males. These results are not surprising given the fact that unaffected males have higher levels of androgens than unaffected females.
8.3.2.2.Complete androgen insensitivity syndrome. Unlike CAH where there is an overproduction of androgens, Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) is a rare condition that inhibits boys from responding to androgens. Occurring in approximately 2-5 per 100,000 births, individuals with CAIS are genetically male (XY), however, due to the body’s inability to respond to androgens, they display mostly female external sex characteristics. Despite the external female sex characteristics, these individuals are still genetically male and therefore, lack a uterus but do have undescended testes. While genetic testing in fetuses has expanded over the years, many individuals with CAIS are not diagnosed until menses fail to develop at puberty. While gender identity issues are likely, individuals with this syndrome are often raised female due to the external sexual characteristics at birth.
Physically, individuals with CAIS are generally taller than women without the disorder, but shorter than males. It is believed that part of this increased height is due to the effect of the growth controlling region on the long arm of the Y chromosome. There is little research on the psychological gender development of individuals with CAIS, however, the limited information available suggests that individuals with CAIS usually assume a gender identity and sexual orientation in line with their female sex rearing (Wisniewski et al., 2000). Individuals with CAIS report maternal interests and report high femininity from childhood to adulthood on global rating scales (Wisniewski et al., 2000). Psychologically, individuals with CAIS report similar levels of psychological well-being and overall quality of life as unaffected women. Similarly, there were no differences in psychological and behavioral domains suggesting CAIS women and unaffected women experience similar levels of psychological and behavioral symptoms (Hines, Ahmed, & Hughes, 2003).
8.3.3. Effects of Hormones on Behavior
We just briefly discussed how an atypical hormone levels via hormone disorders can have an effect on behavior, but what about the effect of typically producing hormones on men and women’s behaviors? Let’s take a look at how estrogen and testosterone can impact the way we behave!
8.3.3.1 Estrogen. Changing levels of estrogen across the reproductive lifespan have been associated with changes in incidence of anxiety in women. More specifically, women are more at risk for developing an anxiety disorder during onset of puberty, which is also associated with an increase of circulating estradiol from prepubertal to adult levels (Ojeda & Bilger, 2000). Furthermore, an increase in anxiety symptoms is also observed when estradiol levels drop post-menopause (Sahingoz, Ugus, & Gezginc, 2011). In women with anxiety disorders, there is an increase in anxiety symptoms during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, which is characterized by a dramatic decline in circulating estradiol levels (Cameron, Kuttesch, McPhee, & Curtis, 1988). Therefore, there appears to be a strong link between anxiety related behaviors and estradiol levels in women.
With the strong link between estrogen and anxiety related disorders, some argue that use of estrogen in treatment of these symptoms would be beneficial. Unfortunately, research exploring the use of various levels of estrogen to manage anxiety symptoms in rats has yielded conflicting evidence, thus has not been explored in humans (Kastenberger, Lutsch, & Schwarzer, 2012).
8.3.3.2. Testosterone. While estrogen has been linked to increased anxiety type behaviors, testosterone has most commonly been linked to aggression. Popular opinion suggests that testosterone is responsible for aggressive, violent, and other machismo behaviors, however, research suggests there is actually little empirical support for these assumptions (Booth, et al., 2006). In fact, this relationship is best explained by a bi-directional relationship that is dependent on many different intrinsic individual factors (Sapolsky, 1997). More specifically, it is assumed that testosterone increases the likelihood that certain (aggressive) behaviors will be expressed, if the individual’s intrinsic factors as well as the social contextual demands support the expression of this behavior (Booth et al., 2006). Therefore, testosterone alone is not responsible for aggressive behaviors, however, it may contribute to aggressive acts if other personal characteristics and environmental factors simultaneously occur.
A large meta-analysis indicated a weak positive relationship between testosterone and aggression suggesting individuals with higher levels of testosterone engage in more aggressive behaviors (Book, Starzyk & Quinsey, 2001). Interestingly, the largest effect in their findings was in males age 13-20 years of age. One possible explanation of increased aggressive behaviors during this age is a combination of increased testosterone due to puberty, in combination with increased impulsivity due to lack of prefrontal cortex development (Terburg, Morgan & van Honk, 2009). Furthermore, findings indicated that the most aggressive behaviors were related to a combination of high testosterone and low cortisol (Terburg, Morgan & van Honk, 2009). Low cortisol levels have long been implicated in aggressive and externalizing behavioral disorders.
Not surprisingly, aggressive behaviors have been examined in male prisoners. Findings routinely support the relationship between increased testosterone and more aggressive offenses (Dabbs et al., 1995). More specifically, testosterone levels are higher among men who committed personal crimes of sex and violence than those who committed property crimes of burglary, theft, or drugs (Dabbs et al., 1995). Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of testosterone were also more likely to have violated prison rules during their time served than their peers with lower levels of testosterone.
While there appears to be a relationship between testosterone and aggressive behavior, it is difficult to imply a causal role in aggression. Therefore, we must identify other possible explanations. Competitiveness of a situation is one variable researchers have explored. In examining aggressive behaviors during competitive video gaming, researchers found men made higher unprovoked attacks during the game than women. Furthermore, individuals with higher levels of testosterone also completed higher unprovoked attacks than those with lower levels of testosterone. From these findings, researchers imply that situational factors such as a threat to status or competition must interact with hormones to produce aggressive behaviors (McAndrew, 2009).
Another possible explanation for the sex-difference in aggressive behaviors is emotional arousal. More specifically, males are more easily aroused than females and more importantly, are often less able to regulate their emotions (Knight et al., 2002). This theory is supported by research identifying no sex differences in aggressive behaviors when arousal was zero, a large sex difference in small to medium arousal levels, and again no difference when there was high arousal (Campbell, 2006). Researchers assumed the sex-difference in aggressive behaviors at small and medium arousal levels was due in large part to impulsivity, with men being more impulsive than women.
8.3.4. Effects of Hormones on Cognition
Sex hormones influence cognition at many stages of life, however, the focus of most of the research is the relationship between estrogen and testosterone and the decline of cognition in older age. General findings suggest that estrogen may serve as a protective factor in cognitive decline in elderly women, whereas lack of testosterone in men may be linked to a general decline in cognition. In this section we will discuss the implications of hormones on men and women’s cognitive functioning throughout the lifespan.
Studies in women have identified a relationship between specific brain regions and estrogen. More specifically, the prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus have been identified as areas that improve in function due to increased estrogen (Hara, Waters, McEwen & Morrison, 2015). The hippocampus, the brain region responsible for memory and learning, appears to be affected by stress differently in men and women. Researchers found that women have a heightened sensitivity to stress within the hippocampus region. For example, ten days of a significant stressor in men causes the opioid system within the hippocampus to “shut down,” whereas in women, the system is “primed.” This priming encourages excitement and learning when the individual is exposed to activation of the opioid system again (Marrocco & McEwen, 2016). As you will see in Module 10, this may have implication on the development of psychological symptoms post stressful situations (i.e. depression, anxiety, PTSD) as women’s systems may have learned to fear a specific situation due to the “primed” system.
Endocrine changes appear to be largely responsible for age-related cognitive decline in both men and women (Henderson, 2008). In women, the most significant change in hormones occurs during menopause. While menopause can occur naturally, it can also be medically induced via the removal of the ovaries and uterus due to a variety of reasons (i.e. cancer, pregnancy complications, etc.). Research examining cognitive effects in women experiencing either natural or medically induced menopause indicates that regardless of the menopause method, women are at an increased risk for cognitive decline once menopause is “complete.” Interestingly, cognitive decline in women who undergo menopause due to medical necessity respond to estrogen replacement, whereas those who undergo menopause naturally do not respond as favorably to estrogen support (Phillips & Sherwin, 1992). It should be noted that although cognitive declines due to reduced estrogen are observed, they are often mild and are generally observed as deficits in concentration and processing speed (Kok et al., 2006).
When examining the relationship between men and cognitive decline, testosterone has been identified as a variable that may significantly impact performance on a variety of cognitive tasks. For example, men with low levels of testosterone have been shown to perform lower on cognitive tasks such as memory (Barrett-Connor et al., 1999), executive functioning (Muller et al., 2005), and attention (Cappa et al., 1998). The effects of testosterone on these cognitive tasks appear to have a greater effect when assessed in elderly men; results on the effects of testosterone and cognition does not appear to impact young men (Yaffe et al., 2002; Barret-Connor et al., 1999).
Similar to that in women, researchers have also examined outcomes in performance with supplementation of testosterone in older men experiencing low levels of testosterone. Findings indicate that supplementation of testosterone is an effective method to improve working memory and other cognitive function in older men (Janowsky, Chavez, & Orwoll, 2000; Cherrier et al., 2001). It should be noted, however, that despite the support for increased testosterone and cognitive function, researchers are still unsure of how much testosterone is needed for “optimal” cognitive performance (Barrett-Connor et al., 1999).
8.4. The Brain
Section Learning Objectives
• To identify gender differences in the lateralization of the brain
• To identify gender differences in cortical thickness of the brain
• To identify gender differences in myelination of the brain
Another attempt to explain sex differences is through the anatomy of the brain. Sexual dimorphism, or the “condition where two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond the differences in their sexual organs” (https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_dimorphism), has long suggested that differences in brain anatomy, size, and volume among genders are responsible for the differences in behavior. The purpose of this section is to explore these brain differences and determine how they may impact men and women’s behavior.
8.4.1 Lateralization
The brain is divided into two hemispheres and connected via the corpus collosum. The right hemisphere is thought to be dominant in spatial abilities whereas the left hemisphere is dominant in verbal tasks. While early researchers proposed that women were more right brained and men were more left brain, their theory has been continually refuted over the years with many studies suggesting that both genders utilize both brain hemispheres equally (Bishop & Wahlsten, 1997).
So, if men and women use both sides of their brain equally, maybe men and women utilize the brain regions differently? More specifically, what if women were more bilateral (utilizing both hemispheres) whereas men were more lateralized, thus using each hemisphere for distinct functions? Again, researchers failed to support these findings consistently. One consistent argument against the bilateral argument is if women were more bilateral, one would expect women to have a larger corpus collosum due to the increased communication between the hemispheres. Unfortunately, while some studies have found an increased corpus collosum size in women, others have found no significant difference between genders (Steinmetz et al., 1995).
Given these findings, are there any differences between genders regarding lateralization of brain? Despite the lack of evidence for sex differences in lateralization, there is some support for lateralization of spatial skills. Findings indicate that men would use their right hemisphere whereas women were more bilateral (Vogel, Bowers, & Vogel, 2003). Thus, many researchers fail to find a difference in hemisphere use between the genders, however, of those that do, they are consistent in that men appear to utilize their right hemisphere, whereas women are more bilateral.
8.4.2 Cortical Thickness
Cortical thickness, or the tissue volume and tissue composition of the cerebrum, has long been explored as a possible explanation for behavioral differences in men and women. Magnetic Resource Image (MRI) studies have shown that gray matter, white matter, and brain size are smaller in women than men, even after controlling for body size. When both gray and white matter normalize, adult men have a greater proportion of white matter, whereas women demonstrate a greater proportion of gray matter (Allen et al., 2003; Gur et al., 1999). Women also demonstrate significantly greater global and regional cortical thickness, while no significant thickening is observed in men. This significant cortical thickening in women is localized in anatomical regions consistent with studies that support sexual dimorphism (Kiho et al., 2006).
During childhood and adolescence, white matter volume increases faster in boys than in girls. When examining specific brain regions, greater diffusivity was found in the corticospinal tract and the frontal white matter in the right hemisphere for boys, whereas greater diffusivity was found in the occipital-parietal regions and the most superior aspect of the corticospinal tracts in the right hemisphere in girls (Rabinowicz, Dean, Petetot, & de Courten-Myers, 1999). Coincidently, girls show a greater organization in the right hemisphere compared to the left hemisphere for boys. These differences in brain matter and diffusivity may indicate differing developmental trajectories for both boys and girls, as well as possibly explain gender-specific abilities and/or behavioral differences between sexes.
8.4.3 Myelination
Myelination, or the development of an insulating myelin sheath around nerves so they can transmit information more quickly, develops earlier in boys than girls. More specifically, by the age of two, myelination of long fiber tracks in the brain is more developed in males than females, thus allowing information to transmit faster in males.
One particular study examined brain density changes in girls and boys through childhood and adolescents. The findings from the study indicated that boys showed significantly greater loss of grey matter volume and an increase in both white matter and corpus collosum area compared with girls over a similar age range. Girls did show significant developmental changes with age, but at a slower rate than boys (DeBellis et al., 2001). The researchers argue that grey matter decreases are likely to reflect dendritic pruning which typically occurs during puberty. Dendritic pruning essentially eliminates extra neurons and synaptic connections to increase the efficiency of neuronal transmissions. It is suspected that the white matter density increase is related to increased myelination and/or axonal size, which also helps improve the efficiency of neuronal transmission.
Another aspect of myelination that appears to be different in men and women is related to Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system that causes inflammation, demyelination and axonal damage, leading to a wide range of neurological symptoms. It is found to be more prevalent in women. In fact, women are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with MS than men. While the ultimate cause of MS is damage to the myelin, nerve fibers, and neurons in the brain and spinal cord, the onset of this degeneration is unknown. There is suspect that it is a combination of both genetic and environmental factors, however, further research is needed on this disease (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, 2019).
Regardless of these anatomical differences between males and females, it is important to note that difference in brain structure does not translate into a sex difference in brain function (DeVries & Sodersten, 2009). In fact, researchers observe activation of different brain areas in men and women when they are performing the same task. Therefore, differential activation does not always translate to differential performance. Further support for this finding comes from studies that observe men and women utilizing different strategies to complete the same task. Due to differences in strategies, it is not surprising that different brain regions are activated in men and women on the same task. Finally, it is important to remember that the brain is not constant and that behavior also has an impact on brain activation.
Module Recap
Module 8 explored the biological differences between males and females. We are all comprised of billions of cells that contain DNA, genes, and chromosomes. While most of our genetic make-up is the same, there are some small differences that lead to significant physical differences. We learned that occasionally, cell division can go array and chromosomal abnormalities can occur. We briefly discussed some of the most common sex and non-sex linked chromosomal abnormalities.
We discussed the importance of the endocrine system and how the HPA axis responds to stressful situations. We identified different anatomy that is involved in regulating hormones- both for sexual reproduction and basic bodily function (homeostasis). Hormones can have significant implications on behavior and we discussed the literature on the relationship between sex hormones and men and women’s behaviors and cognition. Finally, we discussed differences in brain structure and function in men and women. Although sex differences in brain anatomy and function are not clear, there are some implications for differences in male and female brains that may account for behavior differences between genders.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/03%3A_Applying_a_Biological_Lens/3.03%3A_Module_8__Gender_Through_a_Physiological_Psychology_Lens.txt
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Module 9: Gender Through a Health Psychology Lens
Module Overview
Unequivocally, women are sicker than men. They report more pain, more mental health problems- including a higher diagnosis rate of most psychological disorders (See Module 10), and report more physical symptoms. Despite this increase in overall illness, women live longer than men! In fact, men are more likely than women to die in 9 or the 10 leading causes of death!
The purpose of this module is to explore the gender differences in mortality and morbidity rates, as well as general statistics regarding men and women’s health. We will also explore the differences between men and women’s health behaviors, including negative health behaviors that may impact their own mortality and morbidity. Finally, we will briefly discuss environmental factors that may impact an individual’s perceived and actual physical well-being.
Module Outline
• 9.1. Mortality
• 9.2. Morbidity
• 9.3. Health Behaviors
• 9.4. Environmental Factors and Physical Health
Module Learning Outcomes
• To understand the difference between mortality and morbidity with respect to gender
• To identify the leading causes of mortality in the United States
• To identify and explain the morbidity factors that contribute to mortality
• To identify the gender differences among these morbidity factors
• To identify the implications of positive and negative health behaviors on morbidity
• To identify the impact of environmental factors such as marriage, parenting, and bereavement on one’s overall well-being
9.1. Mortality
Section Learning Objectives
• To increase knowledge about factors that contribute to men and women’s life expectancy
• To identify leading causes of death in men and women
• To increase knowledge on crime statistics specific to men and women
9.1.1. Life Span/Expectancy
Men die younger than women across all ethnicities within the United States. Although boys are born at a slightly higher rate than girls, more boys die than girls at every age group. After birth, males have higher death rates than females. In fact, infant girls in the NICU outperform boys with decreased time spent in the NICU. The higher death rate in males continues throughout every age group of the lifespan. Because of these differences in birth and death rates, there are more boys than girls until age 18, where girls outnumber boys.
According to the 2017 CDC statistics, the life expectancy at birth was 78.6 years for the total US population. Since we know men do not live as long as women, and that there are differing mortality rates across ethnic groups, it’s important to identify the life expectancy of each gender with respect to ethnicity. The life expectancy at birth for White men was 76.4, and 81.2 for White women. Life expectancy for Black women was less than White women at 78.5, and Black men were significantly lower than White men at 71.9. Hispanic men and women had the highest life expectancy across both genders with Hispanic women living on average to age 84.3 and Hispanic men 79.1 (Arias & Xu, 2019). On average, women outlive men across ethnicities by approximately 5 years!
Figure 9.1. Life Expectancy by Gender and Ethnicity
There hasn’t always been a significant difference in life expectancy between men and women. When looking back to the 20th century, the life expectancy for White men in 1900 was age 47 and age 49 for women. Over the years, thanks to improved technology and advancement in medicine, as well as improved nutrition and elderly care, these rates steadily rose. The sex difference in mortality reached its largest difference in 1979 when women outlived men by nearly 7.8 years. This increased sex difference is largely related to a reduction in women’s mortality during childbirth and the increase in men’s mortality from heart disease and lung cancer (Minino et al., 2002).
The gap continues to vary between genders, with the smallest gap in recent years occurring in 2010. This narrowing is most likely related to the proportionate decrease in heart disease and cancer mortality among men than women, in addition to the increased incidence of lung cancer among women (Rieker & Bird, 2005). Although we will discuss in more detail later in this chapter, between 1979 and 1986, the incidence of lung cancer in men was 7%, however, in women it rose to 44% (Rodin & Ickovics, 1990)! These incidence rates are likely attributed to increased smoking in women, along with an increase of men quitting smoking (Waldron, 1995).
It should be noted that there are sex differences in life expectancy in other countries across the world that are likely dependent on the development of their country. Resources such as access to medical care, clean drinking water, and availability of food have all been linked to the life expectancy across nations. As observed in Table 9.1, the life expectancy varies significantly among 1st, 2nd, and 3rd world countries. Less developed countries have higher rates of infant mortality, pregnancy-related deaths, as well as poverty-related deaths thus contributing to the mortality rate (Murphy, 2003). Despite the lower life expectancies, the trend that women outlive men continues across throughout the world, regardless of the resources.
Table 9.1 Life Expectancy Among Countries by Gender
Total Male Female
1st World
Hong Kong 84.3 81.3 87.2
Macau 84.1 81.2 87.1
Japan 84.1 80.8 87.3
Switzerland 83.7 81.7 85.5
Spain 83.5 80.7 86.1
2nd World
Germany 81.4 79.2 83.7
Slovenia 81.3 78.6 84.1
Czech Republic 79.1 76.2 81.9
Albania 78.7 76.7 80.8
Croatia 78.1 74.9 81.2
3rd World
Bangladesh 73.2 71.6 75
Cambodia 69.8 67.5 71.8
Senegal 67.9 65.8 69.8
Rwanda 67.8 65.7 69.9
Laos 67.5 65.8 69.1
* 2019 World Population Review: http://worldpopulationreview.com/countries/life-expectancy/
9.1.2. Causes of Death
The leading causes of death among men and women have changed over the last century due in large part to improvement in technology and advancement in medicine and medical care. In the 1900’s, the top three causes of death in the United States were pneumonia/influenza, tuberculosis, and diarrhea/enteritis (CDC, 2019), all of which are largely preventable today. Improvements in public health, sanitation, and medical treatments have led to dramatic declines in deaths from infectious diseases during the 20th century.
As you can see in Table 9.2, Heart Disease and Cancer have claimed the first and second leading causes of death in America, a rank they have held for over the last decade. In fact, together these two categories are responsible for 46% of deaths in the United States.
Table 9.2 Top 10 Leading Causes of Death in US
Disease Number of Deaths
Heart Disease 647,457
Cancer 599,108
Accidents 169,936
Chronic Lower Respiratory Disease 160,201
Stroke 146,383
Alzheimer’s Disease 121,404
Diabetes 83,564
Influenza and Pneumonia 55,672
Nephritis/Nephrotic syndrome/Nephrosis 50,633
Intentional Self-Harm 47,173
* CDC Leading Cause of Death 2017 https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm
The etiology of these diseases are significantly more complicated than the etiology of infectious diseases that once held the top mortality spot. Environmental and behavioral factors, along with negative health habits such as smoking, poor diet, and alcohol consumption all contribute to the increased mortality rates across these disorders. Details of these behavioral factors will be discussed in more detail later in this module (Section 9.3).
As you will see, the death rate among all of these disorders is higher in males than females, with the only exception being Alzheimer’s disease, where women have a higher death rate than males. Similar to gender, leading causes of death are also influenced by ethnicity and age. Accidents, suicide, and homicide account for majority of the sex differences in mortality among younger individuals while, heart disease and cancer account for majority of the sex difference in mortality among older individuals. In fact, the leading cause of death for Hispanic men and women, White men and women, and Black women age 15-24 is accidents. The leading cause of death for Black men age 15-24 is homicide. Interestingly, although HIV is not in the top 10 causes of overall mortality, it is among the top 5 leading causes of death for Black men and women between ages 25-44 and Hispanic women between ages 35-44 (CDC, 2019).
9.1.3. Crime Statistics
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, men are more likely than women to commit violent crimes. Men are also more likely to be the victims of violent crimes with the exception of rape. Therefore, men are more likely to not only commit, but also be victims of assault, robbery, and homicide. In fact, 96% of homicide perpetrators and 79% of victims of homicide are men. Majority of male homicides are drug-related (90.5%) and gang-related (94.6%), whereas female homicides are accounted for more domestic homicides (63.7%) and sex-related homicides (81.7%; Homicide Trends in the United States). Women who are victims of homicide are ten times as likely to be killed by a male than female. In fact, the female perpetrator/female victim situation is extremely rare.
In watching the nightly news, one may think that most homicides within the US are at random when in fact, national surveys estimate that only 12% of victims were murdered by strangers, and 44% of victims of violent crimes actually knew their perpetrator (US Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009). The perpetrator/victim relationship differs for men and women; women are more likely to be killed by someone they know.
9.2. Morbidity
Section Learning Objectives
• To understand factors that contribute to increase use of preventative care
• To understand gender specific factors that contribute to the development of cardiovascular disease
• To understand gender specific factors that contribute to an increased risk of various cancers
We have already talked a bit about how men are more likely to die than women, but what about gender differences in diagnosis of illnesses? Surprisingly, women are actually more likely to be diagnosed with an illness than men. There are many factors that contribute to this discrepancy, including preventative care and negative health behaviors (which we will discuss later). Additionally, because women do live longer than men, there is more time/opportunity for women to be diagnosed with an illness, particularly in their elderly age. Therefore, purpose of this section is to discuss the difference in morbidity rates and gender discrepancies among cardiovascular disease and cancer, seeing as these two disorders alone account for over half of all deaths in the United States.
9.2.1. Preventative Care
Before we discuss gender differences in diagnosis and death rates with regards to cardiovascular disease and cancer, it is important to discuss one factor that greatly contributes to not only diagnosis, but also prognosis: preventative care. In looking back at my grandparents, parents, and then even within my household, it is not surprising that women are more likely than men to seek out preventative care. From an early age, women are more conscious of health-related behaviors such as healthy eating habits and reduced sugar intake. Furthermore, women are more likely than men to engage in monthly self-exams and attend annual physicals (Courtenay et al., 2002). Women are also observed adhering to a prescribed medical regimen more closely than men and are more likely to follow-up with a physician’s instructions.
One factor that may contribute to the increase preventative care behaviors in women is reproductive issues. Women are encouraged to have yearly “well-women” visits that may include pap smears, breast exams/mammograms, and birth control evaluation. Additionally, women also have more medical appointments during and immediately following pregnancy, as well as older adults during menopause. Because men do not require similar medical care throughout their life, they may not have as well of an established resource as women.
What are the benefits of this established care? Well, if women are seen yearly for well check appointments, more serious medical conditions may be identified earlier than their male counterparts. Early diagnosis generally has a better prognosis. This may also explain why women tend to have a higher diagnosis rate of health disorders, yet a lower rate of mortality.
9.2.2. Cardiovascular Disease
Cardiovascular disease refers to any medical condition that is related to heart and blood vessel disease. Most of these diseases are related to atherosclerosis, or the build-up of plaque in the walls of the arteries. Overtime, this build-up can narrow or even completely block the blood flow through the arteries, thus causing heart attacks or strokes.
A heart attack occurs when the blood flow to a part of the heart is blocked by a clot, causing reduced blood flow and death to that artery. While most people survive their first heart attack, medications and lifestyle changes are important to ensure a long, healthy life (American Heart Association, 2019).
An ischemic stroke, which is the most common type of stroke, occurs when a blood vessel that feeds the brain is blocked. Due to the blockage, some brain cells will begin to die, thus causing loss of functions controlled by that part of the brain. A hemorrhagic stroke, which is when the blood vessel within the brain bursts, often occurs by uncontrolled hypertension (i.e. high blood pressure). One can also experience a TIA or transient ischemic stroke which is caused by a temporary clot (American Heart Association, 2019); the effects of a TIA stroke are often minimal compared to a hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke.
The effects of a stroke depend on a variety of details, the main being the location in the brain that the vessel is blocked or bursts. For example, if the stroke occurs in the left-brain hemisphere, it could cause right side paralysis, speech/language problems, slow physical movement, and/or memory loss. A right-side stroke could result in left side paralysis, vision problems, fast behavioral movements, and/or memory loss. A stroke can also occur in various other brain regions and can be of various size. Both the location and size of the blood clot will impact the severity of the effects (American Stroke Association).
Congestive heart failure, another condition under the umbrella term of cardiovascular disease, occurs when the heart is not pumping blood as effectively as it should within one’s body. The implications of congestive heart failure are vast as the individual is not able to receive adequate supply of blood and oxygen throughout their body. Prior to developing congestive heart failure, one will likely experience abnormal heart rhythms, or arrhythmia. Arrhythmia’s can be categorized as a heart rate that is too slow (i.e. less than 60 beats per minute; bradycardia) or a heart rate that is too fast (i.e. more than 100 beats per minute; tachycardia; American Heart Association, 2019). Again, the effects of congestive heart failure can range from difficulty breathing after increased activity to death.
9.2.2.1. Prevalence rates. According to the American Heart Association, 121.5 million American adults have some form of cardiovascular disease. It is the leading cause of death of men of most racial and ethnic groups in the United States. In fact, the only ethnic group that it is not the leading cause of death in is Asian American/Pacific Islander men for which it is second to cancer. In women, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for African American and White women; American Indian and Alaska natives have similar rates of cardiovascular disease and cancer; and Hispanic and Asian American/Pacific Islander women it is second to cancer.
Among cardiovascular disease in the United States, coronary heart disease was the leading cause of death (42.3%), followed by stroke (16.9%), high blood pressure (9.8%), heart failure (9.3%), diseases of the arteries (3.0%), and other cardiovascular diseases (17.7%; CDC, 2019). There are significant differences among gender and ethnicities of rates of coronary heart disease within the United States. More specifically, 7.7% of White men, 7.1% of Black men, and 5.9% of Hispanic men have coronary heart disease. Women follow a similar trend with 6.1% of White women, 6.5% of Black women, 6% of Hispanic women, and 3.2% of Asian women are diagnosed with coronary heart disease (CDC, 2019).
There is an observed difference in incidence rates of strokes between men and women. More specifically, men have a higher incidence of stroke until advanced age, with a higher incidence of stroke in women after age 85 (Rosamond et al., 2007). Despite the lower incidence rate in women until older age, more women than men die from stroke. Women also appear to have poorer functional outcome after strokes than men. One study found only 22.7% of women were fully recovered 6-months after an ischemic stroke compared to 26.7% of men. Women were also less likely to be discharged home after a stroke admission (40.9 vs 50.6%; Holroyd-Leduc, Kapral, Austin, & Tu, 2000). Researchers do caution that these studies did not account for age, and therefore, the poorer functional outcome may be related to age as women tend to have strokes older than men.
Similar to strokes, there is also an observed difference in age of first heart attack between men and women. More specifically, men tend to have heart attacks at younger ages than women with the average age at the first heart attack for men being 65.6 years and 72.0 years for females (Harvard Heart Letter, 2016). While this gender discrepancy is likely due to women living longer than men, thus having more heart attacks later in life, some also attribute the difference to the different heart attack symptoms between men and women. While both men and women primarily report chest pain as the primary discomfort prior to a heart attack, research indicates women are also more likely to identify symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, shortness of breath and fatigue more than chest pain. Because of these atypical symptoms, women may not seek medical care as immediately as men who are experiencing chest pain (Heart Attack Symptoms: Women vs. Men, 2019)
Women have a worse prognosis from heart disease compared to men (Berger et al., 2009). One explanation is that women are older when heart disease is diagnosed, as well as treated less aggressively than men. Most clinical trials that made important contributions to the advancement of care for heart disease have failed to include women in their research. The Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial Research Group (1983), one of the fundamental research studies on cardiovascular disease, included zero women in their 12,866 sample size. Because this study was critical in establishing diagnostic tests and treatment for cardiovascular disease, many argue that women are at a disadvantage in assessment and treatment as their physiology and symptom presentation was not included in the development of these tools.
9.2.3. Cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases that involves the growth of abnormal cells. There are more than 100 types of cancer that effect many different parts of the body. Although discussing every type of cancer is well beyond the scope of this course, it is important to identify the prevalence rates and death rates of the leading cancers specific to males and females.
According to the American Cancer Society’s statistics, the top 5 estimated new cases of cancer among all individuals in the US in 2019 include Breast (271,270), Lung and bronchus (228,150), Prostate (174,650), Colorectum (145,600), and Melanoma of the skin (96,480). Interestingly, the top 5 cancer deaths in 2019 were as followed: Lung and bronchus (142,670), Colorectum (51,020), Pancreas (45,750), Breast (42,260), and Liver (31,780). Despite the alarmingly high rate of breast cancer diagnoses, treatment and prognosis is generally good, thus the low percentage of death rates compared to incidence rates each year.
When examining gender differences, breast cancer is expected to account for 30% of female cancers and 14% of female deaths. While non-Hispanic White women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast cancer than African-Americans, African-American women are more likely to die from breast cancer. Second to breast cancer is lung cancer, which is expected to account for 12% of female cancer cases and 25% of female cancer deaths. Finally, colon and rectal cancer accounts for 8% of all cancer cases and 8% of female cancer deaths (Hook, 2017).
In men, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths, causing more deaths than the next three leading causes (prostate, colorectal, and pancreatic cancer) combined. While prostate cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer in men, it is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in men. In fact, the 5-year survival rate for prostate cancer is 99%. Finally, colon and rectal cancer is both the third most frequently diagnosed and third cancer causing death in men.
9.2.3.1. Risk factors. Given the large number of cancer diagnoses and deaths every year, it is important that individuals identify risk factors in efforts to reduce the likelihood of developing cancer throughout their lifespan. Many of the behaviors we are about to discuss in section 9.3 are risk factors for many types of cancers. For example, active and passive tobacco use is the main risk factor for lung cancer, the number one cause of cancer mortality in the US. Additional environmental exposures such as arsenic, and radon, as well as outdoor air pollution, are also implicated in the rise of lung cancer diagnoses. Other factors such as poor dietary intake have also been linked to an elevated risk of lung cancer development.
Colon and rectal cancer is largely related to a family history of colon related illnesses such as colon polyps, inflammatory bowel disease, and colorectal cancer itself. Additionally, negative behaviors such as smoking, increased alcohol consumption, obesity, and eating large amounts of red and processed meats also places an individual at risk for developing colon cancer.
Finally, reproductive cancers- cancers of the reproductive systems such as breast cancer and prostate cancer- have a strong genetic component. For example, the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes are found in some variations of breast cancer. In fact, women with these genetic mutations are also at greater risk for other reproductive cancers such as ovarian cancer. Some studies have also linked the BRCA mutations to prostate cancer in men, however, additional research is needed to fully understand this relationship. Additional risk factors for both breast and prostate cancer include being over the age of 50, increased alcohol consumption, and smoking (American Cancer Society, 2019).
9.3. Health Behaviors
Section Learning Objectives
• To understand how exercise may have a positive effect on an individual’s health
• To understand how obesity negatively impacts one’s overall health and contributes to an increased morbidity rate
• To understand how alcohol negatively impacts one’s overall health and contributes to an increased morbidity rate
• To understand how tobacco negatively impacts one’s overall health and contributes to an increased morbidity rate
• To understand how drugs negatively impacts one’s overall health and contributes to an increased morbidity rate
We just discussed a few of the most common types of illnesses diagnosed in the United States in both men and women. While we do not know exactly why some people develop some disorders and others do not, we do know there are some factors that have a positive impact (i.e. reducing the likelihood of developing a disorder) and others that have a negative impact (i.e. increase the likelihood of developing a disorder) on one’s overall health. Therefore, the focus of this section is to identify these factors that contribute to an increased morbidity rate. Additionally, we will discuss the gender discrepancies observed among these contributing factors
9.3.1. Exercise
Our first factor, exercise, is a positive health behavior that has shown to reduce the rates of mortality and morbidity. More specifically, increased activity level is associated with reduced heart disease, hypertension, colon cancer, Type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and depression. Conversely, reduced physical activity is associated with obesity and subsequent health complications (See section 9.3.2).
According to the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, the recommended guidelines for physical activity include 30-minutes, five days a week of moderate-intensity exercise such as walking, bicycling, gardening, or any other activities that produce a small increase in breathing or heart rate. It is estimated that 21.9% of adults met this criteria last year with 26.9% of adults not engaging in physical activity at all. This statistic varies significantly between ethnic groups. More specifically, 25% of non-Hispanic White adults, 20.8% of Non-Hispanic Black adults, 16.6% Hispanic adults, and 17% Asian adults reported meeting the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans within the last year (Center for Disease Control, 2019).
As we will discuss in the next section, childhood obesity has been on the rise, which has been attributed to a decrease in childhood physical activity and an increase in sedentary activities such as television watching and computer game playing. In a study by the CDC (2010a) an estimated 46% of high school boys and 28% of high school girls said they had been physically active for five of the past seven days. The rates of girls who reported not engaging in any physical activity over the past seven days was higher (30%) than boys (17%) suggesting the gender gap in exercise begins from an early age.
The gender gap in physical activity has long been attributed to gender specific behaviors. More specifically, boys are more likely to participate in sports, whereas girls are more likely to be involved in individual, noncompetitive sports such as dance. In fact, only 25% of girls participate in sports compared to 43% of boys. Despite these statistics, girls’ involvement in sports throughout the lifespan have been increasing over the past decade (CDC, 2010a).
9.3.1.1. Effects of exercise. Several longitudinal studies have examined the relationship between physical activity and disease incidence. Findings suggest strong evidence for a relationship between amounts of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and cardiovascular disease mortality. The risk of a cardiovascular event decreased with increased exposure of physical activity up to at least three to five times per week. When exploring the studies further, Sattelmair and colleagues (2011) reported a 14% reduction in developing coronary heart disease for those reporting moderate activity level compared to those with no leisure-time physical activity. Additionally, rates of ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, as well as coronary heart disease were significantly reduced for individuals participating in moderate physical activity level (Kyu et al., 2016). Interestingly enough, none of these studies reported a sex difference in findings suggesting that both men and women benefit equally from an increase in physical activity level.
Researchers have also explored the relationship between physical activity level and incidence of cancer. As one can imagine, it’s difficult to determine a relationship between physical activity and cancer in the general sense, however, strong relationships were found for specific cancers. More specifically, greater amounts of physical activity were associated with a reduced risk of developing bladder (Keimling, Behrens, Schmid, Jochem & Leitzmann, 2014), colon, gastric (Liu et al., 2016), pancreatic (Farris et al., 2015) and lung cancer (Moore et al., 2016). While most had similar effects between men and women, physical activity level appeared to have a stronger protective factor for women and lung cancer incidence rates.
The relationship between increased physical activity level and reduced incidence of breast cancer was also found, however, there appears to be a few factors impacting this relationship. More specifically, menopausal status appears to moderate the relationship between physical activity level and menopause status suggesting that physical activity has a smaller effect on postmenopausal women’s likelihood of developing breast cancer. This finding is not surprising given that postmenopausal women are already at an increased risk to develop breast cancer in general. Additionally, histology of breast cancer is another factor that impacts the relationship between physical activity and breast cancer incidence rate. Breast cancers that have a strong genetic histology are less likely to be impacted by physical activity level (Wu et al., 2013).
It is obvious from these studies that any amount of physical activity has greater benefit than no physical activity at all, although an increase in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity does appear to increase health benefits, particularly related to cardiovascular disease. It is important to note that physical activity also has an inverse relationship with mental health disorders as an increase in physical activity level is associated with a decrease in mood and anxiety disorders.
9.3.2. Obesity
While exercise is shown to improve cardiovascular function and overall physical health, obesity, or being excessively overweight, can have negative health implications. More specifically, obesity is a significant risk factor for mortality among a host of medical issues such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and some cancers. Before we discuss the health implications of obesity, it is important that we identity how an individual is categorized as obese.
The most common way to identify if an individual is obese is through the body mass index (BMI). The formula for BMI is one’s weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. For non-metric users, it can also be calculated by pounds divided by inches squared and then multiplied by 703. This number can then be compared to the National Institute of Health’s standards (see table 9.3). There are some arguments against the use of the BMI to determine obesity as it does not account for difference in muscle and fat density; however, it continues to remain the most common standard for assessing obesity in the US.
Table 9.3 NIH BMI Categories
Underweight < 18.5
Normal 18.5-24.9
Overweight 25-29.9
Obese >30
It is also important to note that obesity often looks different in men and women. Android obesity, more commonly known as the “apple” shape, is more commonly seen in men. These individuals tend to carry a lot of their weight in their abdomen. According to the android obesity measure, men with a waist to hip ratio greater than one and women with a waist to hip ratio greater than 0.8 are at significant risk for obesity related health problems. On the contrary, gynoid obesity, which is more commonly seen in women, is more commonly described as “pear” shape. These individuals tend to have more weight in their hip region, thus the description of a pear. Individuals with a physical shape consistent with android obesity are at greater health risks than those with gynoid obesity. This is true for both men and women, however, research indicates that obesity has a stronger relationship to mortality in men when individuals are under age 45, and a stronger relationship to mortality in women when individuals are over the age of 45 (Lean, 2000).
9.3.2.1. Prevalence rates. According to the CDC, the prevalence of obesity among US adults was 39.8%; however, the percentage of obese adults aged 40-59 (42.8%) was higher than among adults aged 20-39 (35.7%). While men are more likely to be overweight than women, women are more likely to be obese. This was also observed in the CDC statistics among individuals in the 40-59 age group (40.8% men; 44.7% women) and the 20-39 age group (34.8% men; 36.5% women). Overweight and obese men are less likely than women to perceive their weight to be a problem (Gregory et al., 2008).
There also appears to be a significant difference in obesity rates among different ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic Asian adults had the lowest (12.7%) rate of obesity compared to all other ethnic groups. Hispanic (47%) and non-Hispanic black (46.8%) adults had the higher prevalence rates of obesity than non-Hispanic white adults (37.9%). The gender difference among ethnicities reflects that of the general public with women having a higher rate of obesity than men (see Figure 9.2 below). Views of obesity differ across gender and races which may explain some of the difference in obesity among ethnic groups and gender. White women report more body dissatisfaction than Black and Hispanic women (Grabe & Hyde, 2006); however, women of all ethnicities report wishing they were thinner but the desire occurs at a lower BMI for White girls than Black and Hispanic girls (Fitzgibbon, Blackman & Avellone, 2000).
Figure 9.2 Obesity Rates among Gender and Ethnicity
Childhood obesity has also risen over the last few decades. The prevalence rates of obesity among US youth was 18.5% (CDC). The obesity rates were highest among adolescents (20.6%), followed by school-age children (18.5%) and preschool-age children (13.9%). Unlike the gender discrepancy in adulthood, childhood obesity does not differ significantly between adolescent boys and girls (20.2% and 20.9%, respectively) or school age boys and girls (20.4% and 16.3%, respectively). It should be noted that obesity in children is defined differently than that in adults. More specifically, obesity in children is categorized as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for one’s age and sex.
While it is obvious that obesity rates differ between genders, a discrepancy is also found by income and educational level. More specifically, obesity rates appear to increase as income level decreases, with individuals earning greater than 350% above the poverty level having significantly lower rates of obesity than those making less than 350% above the poverty level. Similarly, obesity rates also appear to increase as education level decreases; college graduates report significantly lower rates of obesity than individuals with some college and those who were high school graduates or less. Researchers attribute the increase obesity rates in lower SES and uneducated families to poor diets and less exercise. Obesity is not related to SES across all ethnic groups, as obesity is related to higher SES in white men, white women, and black women; lower SES among Black and Hispanic men; and unrelated to SES among Hispanic women (CDC, 2019).
9.3.2.2. Effects of obesity. Individuals who are overweight or obese are at an increased risk for many serious health diseases and health conditions. In general, individuals with obesity have a higher mortality rate than individuals within a normal weight range. This is likely related to the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in overweight individuals. More specifically, individuals who are obese are more likely to have high blood pressure as a result of the increased body fat tissue requiring additional oxygen and nutrients. Similarly, atherosclerosis is present 10 times more often in obese individuals than those of normal weight. Coronary heart disease is also another risk factor due to the increased fatty deposits build up in arteries. The narrowed arteries and reduced blood flow also make obese individuals at greater risk for having a heart attack or stroke (Lean, 2000).
Second to cardiovascular disease is diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is usually diagnosed in adults secondary to obesity; however, with the rise of childhood obesity, physicians are diagnosing Type 2 diabetes more frequently in children. Type 2 diabetes involves resistance to insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar. Due to the increased weight, the pancreas makes extra insulin to regulate blood sugar, however, overtime, the pancreas cannot keep up, thus sugar builds up in the blood stream. The effects of uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes can cause significant damage to one’s kidneys, eyes, and nerves, thus effecting your entire body. If left uncontrolled for a significant time period, it can lead to death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).
Overweight individuals are also at an increased risk for various types of cancers. More specifically, overweight women are more likely to be diagnosed with breast, colon, gallbladder, and uterine cancer than their normal weight peers. Men are also at an increased risk for colon cancer, as well as prostate cancer (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).
Finally, psychosocial effects of obesity across the lifespan are often observed, particularly in a culture where physical attractiveness is measured by body size. Overweight individuals are at risk for various mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. The link between obesity and depression is difficult to define as it could be related to the neuroendocrine changes associated with stress and depression, which may cause metabolic chances that predispose individuals to obesity (Vidya, 2006). Overweight children and adolescents are at an increased risk for bullying at school. Several studies have found that obese adolescents are more isolated and marginalized, and experience more teasing and bullying (Faulkner et al., 2001; Janssen et al., 2004; Strauss & Pollack, 2003).
9.3.3. Alcohol
Alcohol, unlike other substances, can have positive health benefits in moderation. For example, moderate alcohol consumption in both men and women may reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke. Although there is some support for this risk reduction, it may be offset at higher rates of alcohol use due to increased risk of death from other types of heart disease and cancer (Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption, 2000). With that said, alcohol in large quantities is detrimental to one’s health as evidenced by nearly 3 million deaths every year related to the harmful use of alcohol.
While the DSM-5 defines Alcohol Use Disorder as recurrent alcohol use that also impacts one’s ability to function in daily life, it is important to acknowledge that one does not need to meet diagnostic criteria for Alcohol Use Disorder to develop significant health consequences. With that said, there are “categories” established by researchers to help identify consumption rates of alcohol among individuals. Per the Center for Disease Control, binge drinking, which is the most common form of excessive drinking, can be defined as four or more drinks during a single occasion for women, and five or more drinks for men. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming 8 or more drinks per week for women and 15 or more drinks per week for men. Finally, moderate drinking is defined as up to one drink per day for women and up to two drinks per day for men.
9.3.3.1. Prevalence rates. Men are more likely to engage in binge and heavy drinking than women. An estimate from the CDC suggests that 23% of men binge drink 5 times a month, which is nearly two times more likely that women (12%). A study conducted by Wilsnack and colleagues (2000) found that men were more likely to drink alcohol more frequently, consume higher amounts of alcohol at one time, and had more episodes of heaving drinking. Because of this increase in consumption, men were also more likely to suffer adverse consequences of drinking compared to women. These findings have been replicated in college age students where men also report drinking more alcohol, as well as having more alcohol-related problems than women (Harrell & Karim, 2008); however, when examining alcohol related behaviors in high school students, rates of frequency and consumption are similar among both males and females (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010a).
9.3.3.2. Gender differences. While some attribute the gender difference in alcohol consumption to societal attitudes being more accepting of men to consume larger amounts of alcohol than women, others argue this is not applicable to the current generation due to the smaller discrepancy between genders over the past few years. Despite the narrowing differences, there does appear to be some social expectations on women to not consume large quantities of alcohol as it may interfere with her abilities to care for her family (Nolen-Hoeksema & Hilt, 2006).
Another more supported explanation for the gender difference in both effects and consumption of alcohol is due to differences in physiology. It takes proportionally less alcohol to have the same effect on a woman as a man, even when controlling for body weight. More specifically, if a man and a woman of similar height and weight consumed the same amount of alcohol, the woman would have a higher blood alcohol level. This difference is due in large part to the greater ratio of fat to water in a woman’s body; men have greater water available within their body to dilute the alcohol. Additionally, men have more metabolizing enzymes in their stomach, which also helps reduce the amount of alcohol quicker, thus reducing the effects of consumption. Because of these physiological differences, women are more vulnerable to long-term negative health consequences than men (Duke University, 2019).
9.3.3.3. Effects of alcohol. Alcohol consumption in excess (i.e. binge drinking) can have immediate health risks such as increased likelihood of injuries from accidents such as automobiles, falls, drownings, and burns. Additionally, individuals who are severely inebriated are also at risk for violence, particularly sexual assault and intimate partner violence. This also coincides with increased risky sexual behaviors that can result in unintended pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted diseases.
Women who drink excessively while pregnant also have an increased risk in miscarriage and stillbirth. Infants born to mothers who drank excessively during pregnancy are at risk for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). FASD causes a range of problems including abnormal appearance, small head size, poor coordination, low intelligence, behavioral problems, and hearing and/or vision problems.
Excessive alcohol use is also attributed to an increase cancer rate. More specifically, an increased rate of cancer in the mouth, throat, esophagus, liver, and colon are observed. While excessive alcohol consumption alone raises the risk of mouth, throat, and esophageal cancer, drinking and smoking together raises the risk even higher. It is believed that alcohol limits the repair of the cells in these regions, thus allowing chemicals in tobacco to permeate the cell membrane more easily (Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption, 2000).
Colon and rectal cancer have also been linked with a higher risk of cancer. Although the relationship between alcohol consumption and colon/rectal cancer is stronger in men, the link for an increased risk is found in both men and women. Finally, breast cancer is also found to have a link to alcohol consumption. Women who have only a few drinks a week appear to have a greater likelihood of developing breast cancer than those who do not drink at all (Health Risks and Benefits of Alcohol Consumption, 2000).
Given that the liver filters the body of harsh chemicals, it is not surprising that individuals who consume large amounts of alcohol also are at risk for liver cancer as well as liver disease. Cirrhosis, or scarring of the liver, is a common result of chronic alcoholism. Liver damage from cirrhosis cannot be undone, however, if it is diagnosed early, the initial scaring can be treated thus preventing further damage.
Additional long-term effects include cardiovascular disorders such as high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. More specifically, heavy drinking is related to an increased risk of having either a hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. Like mentioned above, minimal alcohol use may actually reduce the risk of stroke, however, this appears to be more protective for men than women. In fact, the risk of having a stroke increases in women when women drink more than one alcoholic beverage a day (Thun et al., 1997).
Individuals with an alcohol abuse problem are also likely to suffer from a comorbid mental health disorder. In fact, approximately one-third of individuals with an alcohol use disorder also met criteria for at least one anxiety or mood disorder in the past 12 months. According to one study, 17% of individuals with an alcohol abuse diagnosis also met criteria for a mood disorder, 16% met criteria for an anxiety disorder, and 35% met criteria for another substance abuse disorder. More specifically, Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder were among the specific disorders with the highest comorbidity rate (Burns, Teesson, Lynskey, 2001).
9.3.4. Tobacco
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smoking is the single most preventable cause of death. Tobacco accounts for one in five deaths and 30% of all cancer-related deaths including lung, lip, oral, esophagus, pancreas, and kidney. In addition to cancer, smoking has also been linked to heart disease, particularly in women (Tan, Gast, & van der Schouw, 2010). Fortunately, when individuals quit smoking, their risk of developing heart disease decreases dramatically. In fact, within five years of quitting, heart disease rates are similar to that of a nonsmoker.
9.3.4.1. Prevalence rates. According to the CDC’s 2017 survey, 14% of all adults were smokers: 15.8% of men and 12.2% of women. This rate is significantly lower than the 23.2% prevalence rate of cigarette smoking in 2000. Researchers suspect that the prevalence rate of smoking will decline through 2030. The reduction in smoking is attributed to an increase tax on cigarettes as well as the increased health warnings of the effects of smoking.
It is also important to mention children and adolescent smoking behaviors as nearly 90% of smokers begin to smoke during adolescence (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2010). Recent statistics estimate less than 1% of middle school students and 5.4% of high school students smoke cigarettes. These numbers have declined drastically since they peaked in 1997 with 9% of middle school and 25% of high school students reporting smoking cigarettes. Ethnic discrepancies are also present as white teens are more likely to smoke than their black or Hispanic peers (Kann et al., 2018).
9.3.4.2. Effects of tobacco. It’s hard to miss advertisements aimed at identifying the negative health effects of smoking. Most involve an older individual with a raspy voice talking about how they now require oxygen to complete daily activities; others showcase an individual missing part of their face or neck due to surgery to remove cancerous tumors. Given all of this public information, it should not come as a surprise that smoking has a strong relationship with lung cancer. In fact, smoking causes about 90% of all lung cancer deaths (US Department of Health and Human Services). Men who smoke are 25 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer than their nonsmoking peers; women smokers are 25.7 times more likely to be diagnosed with lung cancer (CDC). While the risk of developing lung cancer decreases once an individual quits, they still have a higher risk of developing lung cancer than nonsmokers.
In addition to an increased likelihood of developing lung cancer, individuals who smoke are at an increased risk for diseases caused by damage to the airways and the alveoli (found in the lungs). Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is an umbrella term used to describe a variety of lung diseases such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis, and refractory asthma. Individuals who smoke are 13 times more likely to die from COPD than nonsmokers (US Department of Health and Human Services). These statistics are even higher for individuals who have a diagnosis of asthma, smoking can trigger attacks or make them more severe.
Individuals who smoke are also at a greater risk for diseases that affect the heart and blood vessels, a relationship that appears to be stronger for women than men (Tan, Gast, & van der Schouw, 2010). Smoking has been linked to strokes and coronary heart disease, even in individuals who smoke irregularly. This increased heart disease is likely due to damages to blood vessels which cause them to thicken and grow narrower. Narrowed blood vessels make the heart beat faster which causes blood pressure to increase. Additionally, the narrowed blood vessel also increases an individual’s chance of developing a blood clot or blockage, thus increasing chances of stoke.
9.3.5. Drugs
For the purpose of this text, drug use refers to the use of illicit drugs which can be defined as any illegal drugs, including marijuana (according to federal law), as well as the misuse of prescription drugs. In 2013, there was an estimated 24.6 million Americans who reported using an illicit drug within the past year. This number has increased 8.3% since the 2002 data collection, which is likely due to the increase in marijuana use among both men and women across age groups. In fact, the use of all other drugs has stabilized or declined over the past decade (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2019).
When examining gender differences, men are more likely to have higher rates of illicit drug use or dependence than women, however, women are equally as likely as men to develop a substance use disorder (Anthony, Warner, & Kessler, 1994). Studies also suggest that despite the lower prevalence rate of drug use in women, they may be more susceptible to cravings and relapse, two important factors in the maintenance of addiction (Kennedy, Epstein, Phillips, & Preston, 2013; Kippin et al., 2005; Robbins, Ehrman, Childress, & O’Brien, 1999). These gender differences are likely attributed to different physiological responses to various drugs in men and women.
Given that illicit drug use is more common in men, it should not be surprising that men also report more ER visits or overdose deaths than women. In 2017, there were just over 70,000 drug overdose deaths, with men accounting for 66% of these deaths. Opioids are the main driving force in these overdose deaths (National Institute of Drug Abuse, 2019).
9.3.5.1. Illicit drug gender discrepancies. Marijuana. Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among drug users in the United States. Similar to other drugs that we will discuss, males have a higher rate of marijuana use than females. Researchers argue that this gender difference may be related to differences in physiological response to the drug. More specifically, male users appear to have a greater marijuana-induced high (Haney, 2007), whereas women report impairment in spatial memory (Makela et al., 2006). These findings are also supported in animal studies that show female rats are more sensitive to the rewarding, pain-relieving, and activity altering effects of THC (the main active ingredient of marijuana; Craft, Wakley, Tsutsui & Laggart, 2012; Fattore et al., 2007; Tseng & Craft, 2001).
Stimulants. Stimulants refer to cocaine and methamphetamine. Again, research indicates that women may be more vulnerable to the reinforcing effects of stimulants due to increased estrogen receptors compared to men. Animal studies indicate that females are quicker to start taking cocaine and consume larger quantities of cocaine than males. Despite what appears to be an increased addictive physiology, female cocaine users are less likely than males to display abnormal blood flow in the brain’s frontal region (Brecht, O’Brien, von Mayrhauser & Anglin, 2004).
In addition to physiological differences, men and women also report differences behind the reason why they engage in stimulant drug use. For women, stimulant use is generally related to a desire to increase energy and decrease exhaustion in work, home, and family responsibilities. Additionally, stimulant use is also cited as a means to lose weight- something that is reported more often in women than men (Cretzmeyer et al., 2002). Men report using stimulants more often than women as a means to “experiment,” as well as replace another drug that may not be available at a given time.
MDMA. MDMA, or more commonly known drugs such as Ecstasy and Molly, are known to produce stronger hallucinatory effects in women compared to men. Despite these differences, men show higher MDMA-induced blood pressure. Research studies indicate that behavioral reactions during drug withdrawal of MDMA substances such as depression and aggression are similar in both men and women. With that said, there are some physiological differences in response to MDMA substances that increase females’ likelihood of death than males. More specifically, MDMA interferes with the body’s ability to eliminate water and decrease sodium levels in the blood, thus causing users to consume large amounts of fluid. In some cases, the increased fluid consumption can lead to increased water in between cells which can cause swelling of the brain and eventually death. Females appear to be more susceptible of this increase of fluid between cells as almost all of the reported cases of death from this biological change is in females (Campbell & Rosner, 2008; Moritz, Kalantar-Zadeh & Avus, 2013).
Heroin. Men are more likely than women to not only use heroin, but also consume larger amounts and for longer periods of time than women. Furthermore, men are more likely to use heroin intravenously than women (Powis, Griffiths, Gossop & Strng, 1996). Women who do choose to inject heroin are at a greater risk for overdose death than men. While the exact cause for this is unknown, researchers suggest it may be related to the relationship between intravenous drug use and prescription drugs as women who inject heroin are also more likely to use prescription drugs (Giersing & Bretteville-Jensen, 2014).
Prescription Drugs. Nearly 2.5% of Americans report using prescription drugs non-medically in the last month. These drugs include pain relievers, tranquilizers, stimulants, and sedatives. Prescription drug use is the only drug category in which women report higher use than men. Researchers suggest the difference in prescription drug use is due to the lower sensitivity and higher reports of chronic pain in women than men (Gerdle et al., 2008). Studies have also reported that women are more likely to take a prescription opioid without a prescription to cope with pain, even when men and women report similar levels of pain. Furthermore, women are more likely to self-medicate and misuse prescription opioids for other issues such as anxiety (Ailes et al., 2008).
Despite the higher use of prescription drug use in women, men are more likely to die from a fatal opioid overdose. With that said, deaths from prescription opioid overdoses increased more rapidly for women than men, with women between the ages of 45 and 54 more likely to die from a prescription opioid overdose than any other age group (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2019).
9.3.5.2. Health effects related to drug use. Individuals who engage in drug use are at risk for other high-risk behaviors associated with drug use that place them at risk for contracting or transmitting diseases such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or hepatitis (Drug Facts, 2019). Drug addiction has been strongly linked with HIV/AIDS since the disease was first identified. In fact, it is estimated that one in 10 HIV diagnoses occur among people who inject drugs (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017a). A recent study from the CDC (2017) reported nearly 20% of HIV cases among men, and 21% of HIV cases among women, were attributed to intravenous drug use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017b). This is of particular concern for women as there is a risk of disease transmission to their child during pregnancy and birth, as well as through breastmilk (although this is extremely rare).
Hepatitis, or the inflammation of liver, is caused by a family of viruses: A, B, C, D, and E. Intravenous drug use has a strong link to Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Without treatment, Hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis and loss of liver function. Furthermore, it can also lead to liver cancer. In fact, Hepatitis B and C are the major risk factors for liver cancer in the US (Ly et al., 2012).
9.4. Environmental Factors and Physical Health
Section Learning Objectives
• To learn the impact of marriage on one’s physical and mental well-being.
• To learn how parenthood might affect one’s mental health
• To identify the moderators that account for the variability of mental health issues in parenthood
• To understand the gender differences in the relationship between bereavement and physical and mental health
We have already discussed behavioral factors that contribute to one’s physical well-being, but what about environmental factors? We know that stress in one’s environment can lead to an increased likelihood of engaging in negative behaviors such as poor nutrition, increase use of substances (i.e. smoking and alcohol consumption), and a reduced likelihood of engaging in physical activity. Therefore, the purpose of this section is to identify some of these environmental factors that may negatively contribute to one’s overall well-being, as well as discuss any gender discrepancies observed within these factors.
9.4.1. Marriage/Relationships
Research continually supports that marriage is a resource that promotes and protects against health disorders. While marital status does not predict mortality, never married individuals have a 158% increase in mortality compared to married individuals. Interestingly, this difference was larger for men than women, with unmarried men being at risk for increased mortality rates of infection and accidents (Kaplan & Kronick, 2006). Additional studies implied that not being married placed men at an increased risk for death compared to unmarried women.
When assessing health factors, married individuals have less reported depression than unmarried individuals. The difference between married and unmarried depression rates are greater in men than women. Married individuals are also less likely to experience a stroke compared to unmarried individuals. Similarly, this relationship is also stronger in men than women (Maselko et al., 2009). It would appear from multiple sources and studies that marriage offers more benefits for men than women.
In efforts to identify specific factors that contribute to the benefits of marriage, researchers examined health disparities among married, unmarried, and unmarried but cohabitating individuals. Overall, studies have found that cohabitation does not offer the same amount of support as marriage. For example, cohabitating individuals report more depression than married individuals, but less than widowed or divorced individuals (Brown, Bulanda, & Lee, 2005). This would imply that there are some benefits to cohabitating, although it does not appear as beneficial as marriage.
Research on same-sex relationships is more limited than heterosexual couples, however, Weinke and Hill (2009) compared happiness of heterosexual married, cohabitating, single, and “other” with same-sex individuals who were cohabitating and single. Findings indicated that heterosexual married individuals were the happiest, followed by heterosexual cohabitating and then same-sex partners cohabitating. Heterosexual single and “other” were nearly the same in men and women, and same-sex single men and women reported the lowest levels of happiness. While there are obviously external factors that may contribute to these individual’s happiness, it is worth noting that heterosexual married individuals reported highest levels of happiness, whereas same-sex single individuals were the least happy.
9.4.1.1 Dissolution of marriage. Just as it is important to discuss the impact of marriage on health behaviors, it’s also important to discuss the impact of a dissolution of a marriage through either divorce (death is covered in section 9.4.3). While marriage appears to provide a protective factor on heath and psychological well-being, separation/divorce may be related to a decline in physical and mental health. Molloy and colleagues (2009) found that individuals who were separated/divorced had reported worse overall health than their married counterparts. These marital transitions are correlated with adverse health effects that appear to impact men more negatively than women. More specifically, Hughes and Waite (2009) found that divorce was related to an increase in mortality and psychological distress for men, but not women. Despite the decline in health for divorced or separated men, unmarried men had worse health outcomes than men who experienced a relationship status change suggesting that marriage, even if not for the remainder of their life, provides some health benefits (Hughes & Waite, 2009).
Researchers argue that it’s important to acknowledge that gender differences in response to the end of a marriage impact men and women differently, most noticeably by changes in roles within the household. Women tend to make a greater economical shift post-divorce, thus it is not surprising that women report a greater financial strain. In fact, men’s income decreases roughly 10% post-divorce compared to a 33% decrease in women’s income (Avellar & Smock, 2005). However, men report a significant strain in social support compared to women. This shift is often explained by the fact that wives are typically married men’s primary source of support, thus, losing this support after their divorce.
Another argument as to why men appear to have more adverse health effects post dissolution of marriage is due to initiation of break-up. Women are more likely than men to initiate a divorce. This is not surprising as women also report less satisfaction than men within a marriage (Bodenmann, Ledermann, & Bradbury, 2007). Therefore, one might assume that because women are more dissatisfied, they may be more aware of problems within the relationship, thus more adjusted by the time the marriage ends.
9.4.1.2. Quality of marital relationship. It is important that we also assess the impact of the quality of a marital relationship as we all know not all marriages (or relationships) are the same. Some relationships offer high levels of support, whereas others are more toxic than helpful. Research on the impact of the quality of a marriage suggests unhappily married men and women are more depressed than their unmarried counterparts (O’Leary, Christian, & Mendell, 1994). Furthermore, married people who reported high levels of dissatisfaction on how their spouse treated them also reported more distress than unmarried individuals (Hagedoorn et al., 2006). Additionally, unhappily married people displayed increased blood pressure compared to both happily married and single individuals (Holt-Lunstad, Birmingham, & Jones, 2008). These findings suggest that researchers need to take into consideration the quality of the marriage when assessing the impact marriage has on the psychological and health of individuals.
9.4.1.3. Factors explaining gender differences in marriage. There are many factors that may explain the differing effect marriage has on men and women’s health behaviors. The first is social support. Married men and women report higher levels of social support than unmarried individuals, however, husbands receive more social support from their wives than wives receive from their husbands (Goldzweig et al., 2009). Women may make up for this lack of support by establishing a social support network from friends. This additional network may also explain why men who live alone become more depressed than women living alone due to the lack of external support.
Health behaviors is another factor that also appears to benefit married men. More specifically, married men are more likely to utilize preventative care and take care of themselves when sick than unmarried men (Markey et al., 2005). Interestingly, unmarried men also report drinking more alcohol than married men while there does not appear to be a difference in drinking behavior between married and unmarried women. With regards to smoking behaviors, unmarried men and women reportedly smoke more than married men and women (Molloy et al., 2009). From these findings, it appears that men take more responsibility for their health in married relationships than unmarried relationships which may also explain married men’s overall better health status.
Finally, marital satisfaction has also been identified as a potential factor that may impact a married individual’s health status. Research continually identifies that women are more dissatisfied in their marriage than men. Women report more problems in marriage, more negative feelings about marriage, and more frequent thoughts on divorce (Kurdeck, 2005). Some argue that women become more dissatisfied with the marriage due to gender roles, particularly after the couple has children. Many women take on majority of the child-care responsibility either in addition to their employment, or, leave their employment to take care of the children full-time. In either case, the woman’s role in the marriage is more affected than the man’s once the couple has children.
9.4.2. Parenting
As previously discussed, gender roles have been identified as one of the main factors contributing to the differences in health outcomes between genders. Although we have seen an increase in men’s involvement in parenting, women still remain the primary care takers of children, even when working outside of the home.
It is also important to identify that due to an increased divorce rate, as well as an increase in nonmarried women having children, there has been a significant decrease in the number of two parent households. According to the US Census Bureau, 69% of children under age 18 live in a 2-parent household. This number has continually dropped since 1960 when 88% of children lived in a 2-parent household. The current statistics for children living with a single parent has also risen over the years, with 23% of children currently living with a single mother (United States Census Bureau, 2019).
Women in general are not having as many children as they have in the past. Not only has the number of women choosing not to have children increase over the past decade, so has the total number of children born to a woman. The average number of kids in the home has decreased to an average of 1.9 kids in a US family. The average number of children in the home has hovered just under 2 since 1977 (Statista, 2019). It is suspected that the decrease in number of children is due in large part to improved contraceptives, as well as an increase in women in the workforce. In fact, 62% of children have mothers working in the workforce. Despite this increase in women working, findings suggest that parents spend as much time with their kids as they did 20 years ago (Galinsky et al., 2009). The stability of this statistic is attributed to an increase in the ability to telework!
9.4.2.1. Effects of parenthood on health. The research on the effects of parenthood on one’s mental and physical health are completely mixed. Some argue that parental status is unrelated to psychological well-being (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg, 1998). In fact, several studies cite no relationship between parenthood and depressive symptoms in a wide range of different groups of parents (e.g. single parents, empty nesters; Evenson & Simon, 2005). On the flip side, other studies have found an elevated rate of depression in mothers, but not fathers, and that single mothers may be the most at risk (Bebbington et al., 1998; Targosz et al., 2003). Other studies have found single fathers are more at risk for developing an alcohol abuse problem than married fathers (Evenson & Simon, 2005)
The problem with studies assessing the relationship between parenthood and mental health is there are a host of moderating variables that impact this relationship. Take for example the increased risk for single mothers to develop depression. Is this increased risk truly due to being a parent? Or is it related to being a single parent? What about the financial stress of being a single parent? Lack of social support? This unfortunately is a common issue among research in this domain. Other moderators such as employment status, age of parent, and health of child are among the most commonly overlooked moderators. For example, prevalence rate for depression among single and supported mothers differed in the age group of 25 to 50 years. Women who have full-time employment outside of the home report higher impairment than women who work part-time (Bebbington, 1996). Finally, parents of children with a significant disability also report poorer health than those with healthy children (Ha et al., 2008). Given these studies and the mix of information, one can conclude that parenthood does affect one’s physical and mental health, however, the extent of the effects are determined by a host of moderating variables.
9.4.3. Bereavement
Given the discussed benefits of marriage for both men and women, one would assume that the loss of a spouse would result in significant adverse health effects for both men and women. While this is generally the case, the effect of widowhood appears to have a more negative health effect on men’s health than women’s (Stroebe, Schut, & Stroebe, 2007). Following the death of a spouse, there is an increase in men’s mortality rate. In fact, the mortality rate for men is higher if widowed than married, however, the mortality rate for women is lower if widowed than married (Pizzetti & Manfredini, 2008).
One explanation for the gender differences with regards to effect of bereavement on overall health is daily stressors. After a spouse dies, women report experiencing more financial stress, whereas men report stress with household chores. This financial stress may be alleviated in time, however, household tasks need to be completed immediately.
Gender roles may also explain differences in response to the death of a spouse. For example, women are more likely to fulfill a caregiver role to the spouse, particularly if he is ill just prior to his death. Researchers argue that in the death of one’s husband, the role of caregiver is immediately removed, thus removing a daily stressor from a woman’s daily life, thus improving overall health.
Social support is another factor that is observed differently in men and women. More specifically, men rely more on their spouse for social support than women do. Women typically receive more of their social support from close friends; thus, the death of a spouse does not affect their support as much as it would for a man. This increase support outside of home for women is likely due to their willingness and desire to seek out support more than men. Men are also more likely to lose the established social support after widowhood as women are generally responsible for establishing and maintaining social engagements with friends and family. Carr and colleagues (2004) supported these theories by reporting that men were more interested in remarriage only when they lack social support from friends. Furthermore, social support mediated the relationship between gender and desire to remarry. More specifically, men were significantly more likely to want to remarry than women when receiving low levels of social support; however, there was not a difference in men and women’s desirability to remarry when both received high levels of social support.
9.4.3.1. Factors effecting bereavement research. These findings should be taken with caution as there are many issues with studies evaluating health of individuals following widowhood. One such issue is that healthier individuals are more likely to remarry after becoming widowed, and therefore, do not remain a widow for an extended period of time. These individuals may be excluded from specific studies, thus impacting the actual health findings of individuals post death of a spouse. Additionally, when individuals are recruited for a study, it is important that researchers control for the length of time since becoming a widow. As one can imagine, there could be varying degrees of coping that could impact an individual’s overall health.
Another important factor that researchers identify as an issue with bereavement studies is the inability to control for factors that may be contributing to one’s health issues that occurred prior to the death of their spouse. The only way to control for this issue is through prospective studies where individuals are assessed for years prior to the death of their spouse, and then reassessed at given time points post death. As you can imagine, this is not the best use of resources as the sample size would have to be very large. Additionally, you may be collecting data on individuals for many years as one cannot predict when someone’s life is likely to end. Some researchers argue that you could recruit individuals who engage in behaviors that are related to a higher likelihood of an early death, but that also presents confounds to the study as well.
Module Recap
As you can see, there are many factors that contribute to one’s health. We discussed the gender paradox that while women are more likely to be diagnosed with an illness, they are also less likely to die than men. This can be attributed to a host of things including better preventative care, as well as a longer life span. In addition to differences in mortality rates across genders, ethnicities, and countries, we also discussed the gender differences in two of the US leading causes of death: cardiovascular disease and cancer. We discussed the implications of both a positive health behavior (physical activity) as well as several negative health behaviors (obesity, alcohol, smoking, and drug use). These negative behaviors can have significant impact on both physical and mental well-being. Finally, we discussed the impact of environmental factors such as marriage, parenthood, and bereavement on one’s physical health. Furthermore, we discussed how the implications of these factors are different for men and women.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/04%3A_Applying_a_Health_Lens_(Physical_and_Mental)/4.01%3A_Module_9__Gender_Through_a_Health_Psychology_Lens.txt
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Module 10: Gender Through a Clinical Psychology Lens
Module Overview
If you’ve taken Abnormal Psychology, you already know that there are discrepancies among diagnosis rate of mental health disorders between men and women. These differences have been attributed to biological differences, environmental differences, as well as methodological differences in data collection and symptom description. Therefore, the focus of this Module is to identify gender discrepancies amongst clinical psychology disorders and discuss possible explanations why these differences occur.
Module Outline
• 10.1. Methodological Artifact
• 10.2. Clinical Disorders
• 10.3. Suicide
• 10.4. Gender and Mental Health Treatment
Module Learning Outcomes
• To understand how methodological artifact contribute to the gender bias in diagnosis of mental health disorders
• To identify the gender discrepancies in rate of diagnosis for Major Depression Disorder, Anxiety Related Disorders, PTSD, and Eating Disorders
• To understand various cognitive, social, and biological variables that contribute to the gender differences in selected mental health disorders
• To understand the gender paradox of suicide
• To understand variables that contribute to gender differences in seeking mental health treatment
10.1. Methodological Artifact
Section Learning Objectives
• To increase understanding of how methodological artifacts contribute to gender bias in clinical psychology
• To increase understanding and identification of the types of clinician bias and how they impact diagnosis rate of mental health disorders
• To increase understanding of how response bias can impact diagnosis rate of mental health disorders
Before we discuss gender differences among clinical disorders, first we must discuss possible explanations of these differences aside from gender specific factors. There are three proposed theories regarding the difference in diagnosis rate between genders. The first two are suggestive of methodological artifact, or the belief that findings are not reflective of real-world data, but rather, an unintended consequence of methodological artefact (encyclopedia.com). Two methodological ways this can occur is through clinician bias and response bias. The final theory is that manifestation of symptoms are different among men and women, and instruments such as questionnaires are biased to these symptoms.
10.1.1. Clinician Bias
Have you ever met someone and made a judgement about them on the first meeting only to find out several days (months, years, etc.) later that your initial assessment of them was wrong? Unfortunately, this can also happen to clinicians. The diagnosis of a psychological disorder requires the clinician to gather information from the patient, interpret the information along with their own observations, and determine whether or not the patient meets criteria for a diagnosis. This assessment is usually completed within the first couple of sessions when clinicians have very little information about their patient. Clinicians are required to use their informal and subjective method of arranging client data to formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan (Grove et al., 2000). Unfortunately, through this process, clinician judgement and thus subjective bias may occur, thus influencing the diagnosis.
While there are many different types of clinician biases, among the most common are pathology bias, confirmatory bias, and over-confidence in clinical judgement (Moran & Tai, ??). Pathology bias suggests that clinicians may develop a bias to look for psychopathology as their clinical training and experience has emphasized finding disorders (Shemberg & Doherty, 1999). This is especially problematic in settings where individuals are influenced to display psychopathology such as in residential psychiatric settings.
Confirmatory bias also influences making inaccurate diagnoses as clinicians may have the tendency to only recall information that supports a diagnosis (Shemberg & Doherty, 1999). This is problematic in that clinicians will use this information to support their diagnosis, but not use data to refute their hypothesis, thus altering the true presentation of symptoms (Garb, 1998).
Finally, over-confidence bias occurs when clinicians become too confident in their subjective psychological assessments (Moran & Tai, ???). While rarely observed in new clinicians, this bias often occurs in seasoned clinicians who believe that more experience influences more effectiveness and accuracy in clinical judgment (Groth-Marnat, 2000).
10.1.2. Response Bias
To complicate the situation even more, in addition to clinician bias is patient response bias. A patient is responsible for providing information about themselves, including presenting symptoms. Unfortunately, some patients have a tendency to respond inaccurately or falsely to questions. While some of these errors may be unconscious, others may be intentional to prevent a specific diagnosis.
Studies have indicated that there are sex differences in attitudes toward various disorders such as depression. Individuals tend to associate depression as a “feminine” diagnosis, and thus, may lead male patients to underreport symptoms (Page & Bennesch, 1993). This also exceeds beyond depression as studies have shown both males and females are less willing to work with males than females with mental health disorders (Schnittker, 2000). Due to these cultural barriers, males may underreport their mental health symptoms to avoid stigmas.
10.2. Clinical Disorders
Section Learning Objectives
• To increase knowledge of prevalence rates of Major Depression Disorder in the US
• To increase understanding of the different variables that contribute to the gender differences in Major Depression Disorder
• To increase knowledge of prevalence rates of Anxiety Disorders in the US
• To increase understanding of the different variables that contribute to the gender differences in Anxiety Disorders
• To increase knowledge of prevalence rates of PTSD in the US
• To increase understanding of the different variables that contribute to the gender differences in PTSD
• To increase knowledge of prevalence rates of Eating Disorders in the US
• To increase understanding of the different variables that contribute to the gender differences in Eating Disorders
In this section we will explore a few clinical disorders with gender variations in both diagnosis rate, as well as symptom presentation. Discussing gender differences among all disorders is beyond the scope of this course, however, if you are interested to learn more about the prevalence rate of mental health disorders to can read the Abnormal Psychology OER textbook available within Pressbooks.
10.2.1. Major Depression Disorder
According to epidemiological research, there is no significant gender difference in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) during childhood; however, by young adulthood, girls are twice as likely to be depressed as boys and report approximately twice as many depressive symptoms as boys, a difference that holds in both community and clinical samples, even when accounting for gender differences in help-seeking behavior (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987). While this discrepancy holds true until age 55, research exploring gender differences of MDD prevalence rates in older adults is inconclusive, with some reporting a continuation of this discrepancy and others failing to report any difference between genders among older adults.
Researchers have identified several reasons why studying prevalence rates of disorders among males and females is difficult. One recurring reason is the difference in symptom presentation among genders. Kahn and colleagues (2002) evaluated male/female twins and depressive symptoms. Findings indicated that females reported more fatigue symptoms such as excessive sleep, slowed speech and body movements whereas males reported more hyperactive symptoms including insomnia and agitation. The findings are consistent with additional studies that indicate women more often report “passive” symptoms such as sadness, lethargy, and crying whereas men tend to associate depression with alcohol use. Due to the discrepancy in symptoms, it is not surprising that depression is more likely related to alcohol problems in males than females (Marcus et al., 2008). These findings are consistent when assessing for substance abuse disorders in general, with men more likely than women to not only have a substance abuse problem, but to also have a comorbid diagnosis of depression (Lai, Cleary, Sitharthan, & Hunt, 2005). This comorbidity not only complicated treatment for depression, but also willingness to seek mental health treatment in general.
10.2.1.1. Cognitive variables. Research regarding onset and treatment of depression routinely identifies the involvement of cognitive variables. Factors such as rumination and attributional style are among the most common factors assessed in gender research with regards to MDD. These factors not only explain differences in how males and females assess negative situations, but they also help clinicians to identify treatment interventions aimed specifically at factors contributing to an increase in depressive symptoms.
Rumination, or the response to negative moods by dwelling on them as opposed to problem-solving or distracting oneself, has been known to mediate the relationship between interpersonal stress and depression. More specifically, individuals with interpersonal stress and high levels of rumination report higher levels of depression than those with interpersonal stress and low levels of rumination (Lyubomirsky, Layous, & Nelson, 2015). When examining rumination with regards to gender, researchers routinely report that ruminating behaviors are more commonly observed in girls than boys (Johnson & Whisman, 2013; Rood et al., 2009; Grant et al., 2004). Given these findings, it should not come as a surprise that rumination also mediates depression within girls specifically, with girls experiencing higher levels of rumination also reporting higher levels of depression (Hamilton, Stange, Abramson, & Alloy, 2014). Interestingly enough, the relationship between males and rumination is the same, with males reporting higher levels of rumination also reporting significantly more symptoms of depression. Therefore, the pathway of increased ruminating thoughts leading to an increase of depressive symptoms appears to be the same in boys and girls, however, girls are more likely than boys to engage in ruminating thoughts in daily events.
Co-rumination, which is defined as a passive discussion of negative emotions and events with close friends is also observed more frequently in girls than boys (Barstead, Bouchard, & Shih, 2013; Bouchard & Shih, 2013; Rose, 2002). Unlike rumination where the relationship between increased ruminating thoughts and increased depressive symptoms did not differ between boys and girls, co-rumination appears to have a gender discrepancy. More specifically, engaging in co-rumination is correlated with increased depressive symptoms in girls, but NOT in boys (Rose, Carlson, & Waller, 2007).
In addition to ruminating on situations, one’s attributional style, or the way one interprets causes of events, has also been supported as a mediational variable to depression. More specifically individuals who attribute causes of events as internal, global, and stable are more likely to be depressed than those who view events as external, specific, and unstable (Morris, Ciesla & Garber, 2008). Researchers find that not only are girls more likely to attribute situations as internal, global, and stable, but they are also more likely to develop depressive symptoms from this attributional style than their male peers (Mezulis, Funasaki, Charbonneau, & Hyde, 2010). Thus, attributional style can predict depressive symptoms in girls but generally not in boys.
Another cognitive vulnerability that is liked to depression with regards to gender discrepancy is interpersonal orientation, or the tendency to behave in certain ways around people. Girls, more than boys, affiliate needs and define themselves more in relational terms (Brody & Hall, 2010; Rose & Rudolph, 2006). Because of this need to establish specific relationships, girls report both more frequent and more intense stress related to interpersonal orientation. Interpersonal orientation has also been linked to adolescent girls increased risk for developing depression due in large part to peer relationships. In fact, adolescent girls with friends who are depressed are more likely to develop depression; this finding has not been proven in their male peers (Giletta et al., 2011; Prinstein et al., 2005).
Why does interpersonal orientation not effect boys? The short answer: it does; however, girls, more than boys, are more concerned about what peers think of them, and therefore, effects girls more often than boys. In fact, deficits in peer approval are strongly associated with emotional distress in girls but not boys (Rudolph, Caldwell & Conley, 2005). Furthermore, girls are more reactive to relationship problems than boys. The combination of placing more emphasis on relationships, as well as being more responsive to relationship problems, may explain why there is a gender difference in depression even among young children and adolescents (Rudolph, 2009).
10.2.1.2. Stress and coping. In addition to cognitive vulnerabilities, stress and coping of various life events also contributes to the development of MDD. Observed gender differences in both frequency of and sensitivity to various life events is one possible explanation for the gender difference in depression diagnoses. Findings suggest that adolescent girls experience more stressful life events than boys AND rate these stressors with higher intensity than boys (Hankin, Mermelstein, & Roesch, 2007; Hammen, 2009; Seiffge-Krene, Aunola, & Nurmi, 2009). These findings are consistent in both the home and social setting. More specifically, girls who experience family discord report more symptoms of depression than boys and are at an increased risk for a depression diagnosis (Crawford, Cohen, Midlarsky, & Brook, 2001; Essex, Klein, Cho, & Kraemer, 2003). As stated above, girls also experience more stressful situations with peer relationships which has also been linked to increased depressive symptoms.
One explanation of the differences in depression rate and stress is the HPA axis. As previously discussed in Module 8, women are more likely to have a dysregulated HPA axis, and therefore, are more susceptible to negatively interpreting stressful situations than men (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2001). Additionally, hormonal changes are also known to trigger HPA dysregulation, thus making women more vulnerable to depression, particularly after stressful situations. The role of the HPA axis in combination with one’s coping style may predispose women to a susceptibility of depression.
10.2.1.3. Biological variables. We already discussed the role of sex hormones in the development of various behaviors in Module 8, however, it is worth noting that those hormones are also important in the gender difference of depression diagnosis. The biological changes during puberty are related to an increase in sex hormones; however, levels of sex hormones alone do not account for the difference in depression diagnoses (Angold, Costello, Erkanli & Worthman, 1999; Brooks-Gunn & Warren, 1989). Research indicates that the onset of puberty in girls is closely linked with depressive symptoms, with early onset puberty in girls being more at risk for developing depression; these findings have been mixed for boys, with no clear distinction of how onset of puberty may or may not affect depression symptoms (Crick & Zahn-Waxler, 2003; DeRose, Wright & Brooks-Gunn, 2006; Graber, Seely, Brooks-Gunn, & Lewinsohn, 2004; Mendle, Harden, Brooks-Gunn, & Graber, 2010).
One possible explanation for the relationship between early onset puberty and increased risk for depression is the fact that physical changes that occur during puberty are negatively perceived by girls (Stice, Presnell, & Bearman, 2001). Furthermore, secondary sex characteristics that occur during puberty are seen as less desirable, particularly in Western cultures that value thinness (Richards, Boxer, Petersen, & Albrecht, 1990). These values can lead to negative body image, which has also been predictive of increased depression symptoms (Ohring, Graber, & Brooks-Gunn, 20002; Stice & Bearman, 2001).
10.2.2. Anxiety Disorders
Anxiety disorders are the most common class of mental disorders with an estimated 19% of US adults experiencing some anxiety disorder in the past year (NIMH). Similar to depression, women are nearly twice as likely to develop an anxiety disorder than men across the lifespan across all anxiety related disorders. In fact, by the age of 6, anxiety levels in girls are twice as high as in boys (Howell, Brawman-Mintzer, Monnier & Yonkers, 2001). The current prevalence rate for any anxiety disorder for adult females is 23.4%, and 14.3% for males. This discrepancy is similar in adolescents, with overall higher rates of anxiety reported in adolescent samples (38.0% females, 26.1% for males).
When examining specific anxiety related disorders, women are more commonly diagnosed with panic disorder, agoraphobia, specific phobias, generalized anxiety disorder, and both acute and post-traumatic stress disorder (Gum, King-Kallimanis & Kohn, 2009; Bekker & van Mens-Verhulst, 2007; McLean, Asnaani, Litz, & Hofmann, 2011). However, the sex differences are less pronounced (and sometimes not statistically significant) for social anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder (Bekker & van Mens-Verhulst, 2007; McLean & Anderson, 2009). Psychosocial, as well as genetic and neurobiological factors, likely contribute to the higher prevalence rate in women (Bandelow & Domschke, 2015).
The statistical difference between prevalence rates among genders is similar across all anxiety related disorders. Anxiety disorders represent a significant source of disability, especially for women. They are associated with more missed work days for women, but not men. This may be related to a greater comorbidity of anxiety disorders among women, and thus more severe psychopathology in general. Interestingly enough, men but not women, were more likely to visit a professional for either an emotional or substance use issue in the past year if they had an anxiety disorder (McLean, Asnaanin, Litz & Hofmann, 2011).
10.2.2.1. Biological variables. There are a few theories that attempt to explain the difference in prevalence rates among anxiety disorders. Anatomically speaking, there may be structural and functional sex differences in brain regions relevant to anxiety. More specifically, there may be a difference in male and female brains involvement in learning, memory, fear conditioning, and fear extinction. For example, a study exploring blood pressure and pulse found women are more physiologically responsive than men when presented with potentially anxiety provoking situations (Altemus, 2006). Researchers argue that this finding may indicate that women are more easily conditioned to fearful stimuli than males (Farrell, Sengelaub & Wellman, 2013). Given the appeared differences in fear conditioning, researchers have also argued that there may be a gender difference in fear extinction, thus impacting how the two genders respond to treatment of anxiety disorders.
Biologically, gonad hormones also play a role in the development and maintenance of anxiety symptoms. In women, estrogen and progesterone have been found to effect function of the anxiety related neurotransmitter systems, which in return, effect fear extinction (Lebron-Milad & Milad, 2012; Pigott, 1999). In fact, a study exploring the effects of long-term oral contraceptive use has been shown to alter the reactivity of the HPA axis in response to psychological stress (Biondi & Picardi, 1999). Testosterone also appears to play a role in the development of anxiety related symptoms. More specifically, testosterone has been linked to reduced responsiveness to stress and suppressing activity of the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis- the area responsible for our central stress response system. Although not as extensively researched as estrogen and progesterone, it does appear that gonad hormones likely account for some of the prevalence rate difference in anxiety related disorders.
10.2.2.2. Gender roles. One must also explore the role of gender roles in the development of anxiety related symptoms. When masculinity and femininity were measured on a single scale, higher levels of masculinity traits were negatively correlated with anxiety symptoms (Gall, 1969). Another study exploring the role of femininity and masculinity and anxiety symptoms found no relationship with femininity and anxiety symptoms; however, masculinity was negatively associated with anxiety and avoidance behaviors (Moscovitch, Hofmann & Litz, 2005). These findings were further supported when controlling for masculinity characteristics. More specifically, gender was not associated with avoidance in anxiety patients when controlling for masculinity characteristics, suggesting masculinity characteristics being largely responsible for these gender differences in avoidance and anxiety symptoms. All together, these studies implicate a relationship between masculinity traits and anxiety symptoms, with high levels of masculine traits regardless of gender correlating to lower reported anxiety symptoms. (Chambless & Mason, 1986).
Some researchers argue that due to gender stereotypes of anxiety symptoms, men may underreport symptoms, thus leading to a reporting bias. This is supported by an increase in fear reports in males (and not females) when examined via a physiological fear response. More specifically, although men were not reporting significant levels of anxiety related symptoms, physiological responses to stressful situations indicated heightened arousal that researchers linked to anxious behaviors (Pierce & Kirkpatrick, 1992). Researchers argue that due to social desirability, boys are more often encouraged to confront feared objects which leads to a greater exposure and extinction of fear responses, whereas girls are more supported in avoidance behaviors. This coupled with increased rumination may lead to more anxiety behaviors in girls across the lifespan (McLean & Anderson, 2009). Furthermore, women are at an increased risk of being exposed to traumatic events such as domestic abuse and sexual traumas, thus increasing the likelihood of developing anxiety related symptoms.
10.2.3. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) affects nearly 52 million Americans with a lifetime prevalence rate of 6.8%. Similar to both depression and anxiety disorders, women are more than twice as likely as men to develop PTSD at some point in their life. The lifetime prevalence rate for women is 9.7% and for men is 3.6% (NIMH,2019). While research on PTSD in children and adolescents is not as extensive as it is in adults, the minimal findings suggest a similar gender discrepancy with 8% of adolescent females meeting criteria for PTSD versus 2.3% of males.
Not only are women more likely to develop PTSD, but they also report a longer duration of posttraumatic stress symptoms (4 years for females vs. 1 year for males; Breslau, Davis, Andreski, Peterson & Schultz, 1997). This discrepancy may be due to the different types of traumatic events experienced. For example, men are more likely to experience traumatic events such as accidents, natural disasters, man-made disasters, and military combat whereas women tend to experience events related to sexual assault, sexual abuse, and domestic violence (Breslau & Anthony, 2007). Research indicates that despite differences in exposure to different stressors, women are still more likely to develop PTSD symptoms. For example, when men and women were assessed after a recent earthquake, women reported higher levels of posttraumatic stress symptoms than men (Carmassi and Dell’Osso, 2016). This study was also replicated with motor vehicle accidents (Fullerton et al., 2001) and terrorism (Server et al., 2008). So, if exposure to different stressful events does not account for the gender variance, then what does?
10.2.3.1. Biological variables. The natural biological response to a stress or threat involves a complex interaction within the HPA axis, allowing for the individual to prepare to the stressor, and then return to baseline once the threat is over. As we discussed in Module 8, cortisol, the main hormone produced in a stress response, is produced by the adrenal glands in activation of the HPA axis. While research on cortisol levels during stressful or threatening situations is mixed, the general pathway suggests that production of cortisol is increased when the individual is under distress in efforts to help the individual “fight or flight” the stressful event. During periods of prolonged stress, the HPA axis undergoes significant dysregulation in efforts to produce the cortisol response (Chrousos, 2009).
Assessment of basal cortisol levels in healthy men and women suggest that women have lower cortisol levels than men, however, women demonstrate a slower cortisol negative feedback than men suggesting women experience prolonged physiological stress than men (Bangasser, 2013; Van Cauter et al., 1996). When examining corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF), the hormone responsible for initiating the HPA axis response that ultimately releases cortisol, women show greater expression of CRF than men. This finding has also been replicated in animal studies that show a sex differences in CRF receptor binding, signaling, and trafficking. Therefore, the fact that women are twice as likely than men to develop PTSD may be due to an underlying biological predisposition (Bangasser, 2013).
Salivary cortisol levels also appear to be different in men and women with diagnosed PTSD. More specifically, women with PTSD appear to have lower levels of salivary cortisol that decreased over time, whereas men with PTSD have higher levels that increased over time (Freidenberg et al., 2010). Gender difference in cortisol levels in response to trauma is also observed in children with PTSD, with girl cortisol levels recorded higher than boys. Conversely, cortisol levels were higher in male but not female survivors of the World Trade Center attack (Dekel et al., 2013).
So, what accounts for the differences in basal cortisol and glucocorticoid negative feedback? Research indicates production of estrogen may account for these gender differences, which may also explain why girls initially have higher rates of cortisol but then as adults, have lower levels. Researchers have found via animal models that stress during adolescence (where there is a surge of gonadal hormones) impacts HPA axis reactivity and is associated with different behavioral responses in males and females (Viveros et al., 2012). Additionally, estrogen and menstrual cycle position have also been linked with intrusive memories (Cheung et al., 2013) fear inhibition and extinction (Glover et al., 2012, 2013) suggesting female hormone production may have a greater impact on women’s development of post-traumatic stress symptoms, as well as the biological mechanisms that facilitate stress response.
10.2.3.2. Cognitive variables. One of the diagnostic criteria symptoms of PTSD is intrusive recollection, or re-experiencing, of the traumatic event. Researchers have repeatedly found that these re-experiences, particularly the physiological reactivity related to the re-experiencing, were central to the development and maintenance of additional PTSD symptoms (Armour et al., 2017; McNally et al., 2017). Further studies found that increased re-experiencing of the traumatic event via dreams or distressing recollections initially following the trauma was predictive of PTSD six months after the traumatic event (Haag et al., 2017). Gender studies examining re-experiencing of symptoms identified women as having a higher level of both re-experiencing symptoms post-traumatic event, as well as a higher physical reactivity when remembering the incident (Fullerton et al., 2001; Stuber et al., 2006). Therefore, the fact that women report both increased re-experiencing and hyperarousal immediately following a traumatic event may explain why PTSD symptoms are more pronounced in women.
10.2.4. Eating Disorders
According to the DSM-V, there are three types of eating disorders- Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder. Anorexia nervosa involves the restriction of energy (i.e. food) that leads to a significantly low body weight for age, sex, and developmental status. These individuals have an intense fear of gaining weight or becoming fat, along with significant disturbance in their body evaluation. Bulimia nervosa involves recurrent episodes of binge eating followed by recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviors in order to prevent weight gain. Finally, Binge Eating Disorder involves recurrent episodes of binge eating but do not engage in compensatory behaviors.
According to the National Eating Disorder Association, nearly 10 million American women and 1 million American men suffer from an eating disorder. Across all three disorders, women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with an eating disorder, however, the smallest gender discrepancy is found in binge eating disorder. Some argue the gender discrepancy is much less across all three eating disorders and that the current rate may be due to artifact as men are less likely to report and seek help for disordered eating behavior (National Eating Disorder Association).
Eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of all mental health disorders, with individuals diagnosed with anorexia nervosa having the highest mortality rate among the three eating disorders. Males may be at an increased risk for death because they are often diagnosed later due to the stigma associated with males and eating disorders. One interesting discrepancy between males and females’ development of eating disorders is weight history. Males who develop eating disorders are more likely to have been mildly to moderately obese at one point in their lives whereas women reported feeling fat but usually had a normal weight history (Andersen, 1999).
10.2.4.1 Societal variables. Probably the most prominent theory behind the development of eating disorders is the societal emphasis placed on physical attractiveness and thinness in women. This external variable is often compounded by the fact that women are interpersonally oriented, and thus value society’s opinion in their appearance. Unfortunately, society’s standards for thinness have grown to be more strict and unrealistic over the past years, largely driven by media, magazines, and television. In fact, frequent magazine reading was associated with an increase in unhealthy weight control measures among female adolescents (van den Berg et al., 2007). These findings have also been replicated in men who read magazines about fitness and muscularity (Hatoum & Belle, 2004).
With the rise in social media over the past decade, individuals have increased access to (often manipulated) images of “ideal bodies.” There has been a rise in studies examining the effects of social media on mental health, particularly body image and eating habits. Researchers continue to identify a positive correlational relationship between time spent on social media and eating/body image problems. More specifically, individuals who spent more time on social media also reported increase negative eating behaviors. These findings may be even more significant in individuals who frequently viewed fitspiration images (National Eating Disorder Association). Americans who spend two more hours a day on social media are exposed to more unrealistic ideals of beauty, weight loss stories, body shamming, etc. While research with regards to social media use and eating disorders have failed to examine differences between genders, it is hypothesized that similar to magazine reading, men are also affected by the increased social media use as well.
10.2.4.2 Familial variables. Societal pressures can also come from family and friends. Girls are more likely than boys to receive criticism from parents or close family members to lose weight; however, boys are often pressured by friends and family to gain muscle (Ata et al., 2007). Several studies have also identified that mothers of female eating disorder patients may actually have more impact on disordered eating habits that fathers. More specifically, direct negative maternal comments about weight and appearance may be a more powerful appearance than modeling of weight and shape concerns (Ogden & Steward, 2000). With that said, modeling does appear to have a more significant impact on elementary age girls’ weight and shape-related attitudes. Thus, modeling of negative body image at an early age may contribute to the development of an eating disorder while overt comments may exacerbate symptoms in older girls.
Family dynamics has also long been studied with regards to development of eating disorders. Although correlational at best, high levels of enmeshment, intrusive and overly hostile family environments are linked to eating disorders (Minuchin et al., 1978). Unfortunately, research in this area has not explored any differences in family dynamics and gender, therefore, we cannot determine whether enmeshment, intrusive, and overly hostile family environments impact the development of eating disorders in males.
10.2.4.3 Psychological factors. There are many individual factors such as low self-esteem, need for autonomy and control that have been linked to the development of eating disorders. Unfortunately, most if not all of the research with regards to individual characteristics is with an entirely female samples size. Therefore, it is difficult to determine if these factors also contribute to the development of eating disorders in men.
Individuals with eating disorders have a higher frequency of comorbid substance abuse than people who do not have eating disorders. Similarly, those who struggle with substance abuse also report increased disordered eating habits (Dunn, Larimer, & Neighbors, 2002). Interestingly, a gender discrepancy appears to exist with males reporting higher rates of comorbidity than females. More specifically, Costin and colleagues (2007) reported that roughly 57% of males with binge eating disorder struggle with substance abuse compared to only 28% of females with binge eating disorder. The high comorbidity between substance use and eating disorders has been linked to the use of stimulants to control weight. Due to the relationship between stimulants and weight management, treatment for the comorbid diagnoses is very difficult.
One area that is lacking in research but should be addressed is sexual orientation. Interestingly, homosexuality appears to be a risk factor for eating disorders for men, but not women. Furthermore, eating disorders are more common among homosexual men than heterosexual men, but not among lesbians compared to heterosexual women (Peplau et al., 2009). Future research on eating disorders and sexual orientation may help clinicians identify more effective treatment methods, particularly for male patients.
10.3. Suicide
Section Learning Objectives
• To gain a basic understanding of suicide rates in the US
• To increase understanding of the gender paradox in suicide
• To gain a better understanding of the various factors that contribute to suicidal ideation and suicide attempts
Suicide is ranked as the 10th leading cause of death for all ages in the United States. In 2016, it became the second leading cause of death for ages 10-34 and fourth leading cause for ages 35-54. While the government has made a targeted goal to reduce suicide rates by 2020, suicide rates across ages have steadily increased over the past few years (Office of Disease and Health Promotion, 2019). In fact, the age-adjusted suicide rate increased 33% from 10.5 per 100,000 standard population to 14.0 from 1999-2017. Statistics specific to gender identify a higher suicide completion rate in males (18/100,000) than females (11/100,000); however, the rate of suicide over the past decade has increased more drastically for females (53%) than males (26%).
While data continually reflects a discrepancy between genders, some argue that it may be artifact of biased data collection as women are more likely to report suicidal ideation/behavior than men. Conversely, death by suicide is more culturally acceptable for men than women, which also lends itself to another artifact of biased data collection.
10.3.1. Gender Paradox
When breaking down the statistics by gender, there are two trends that consistently hold true in Western cultures 1) females have a higher rate of nonfatal suicidal behavior and 2) males have a higher rate of suicide completion. Researchers have proposed several theories as to why this is the case. Intent of dying is one area that researchers have explored as one would naturally assume that if you have a report of more attempts but fewer completions, the true intent of the attempt would not be completion. This finding has not been consistently supported among researchers, with most studies reporting that the intent on dying is equal in men and women who engage in suicidal behaviors. (Denning, Conwell, King, & Cox, 2010). So, if women are just as intent as men on dying when engaging in suicidal behaviors, what else may explain this paradox?
The method of choice when engaging in suicide behaviors has long been a discussion in the gender paradox. Men are known to use more severe methods such as guns and hanging, whereas women are more likely to use drugs (over the counter and prescription) and carbon monoxide (see Table 10.1; Denning, Conwell, King, & Cox, 2010). Some argue that due to societal pressures, women place a higher emphasis on appearance, thus utilizing methods that ultimately do not affect their appearance.
Table 10.1. Suicide Methods
**Adapted from the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
The argument that choice of method reflects the intention to die has long been refuted in the literature as there is not a significant difference between men and women’s willingness to die with respect to suicidal behaviors (Nordentoft & Branner, 2008). With that said, because women are more likely to use methods more ambiguous methods (medications and poison), the actual rate of women’s suicides may be underreported as some deaths may be ruled “accidental.”
Cultural attitudes regarding masculinity and suicide has also been proposed as an explanation to the underreporting of men’s nonfatal behavior (Canetto & Sakinofsky, 1998). While suicide is not viewed as acceptable in most societies, it is viewed as more acceptable among men than women. Suicide itself is considered a more masculine behavior; however, suicide attempts are considered a more feminine behavior. Therefore, there may be an under representation of the number of suicide attempts/nonfatal behaviors in men due to the social stigma attached to nonfatal suicide behaviors.
10.3.2. Factors Related to Suicide
There are many factors that have been linked to suicide in both men and women. Most commonly, substance abuse and depression are linked to suicide in adults. One problem with the depression explanation is the possible cyclical relationship between depression and sucicide. More specifically, depression could lead to one engaging in suicidal behavior, however, a failed suicide attempt could also lead to depression. When exploring the relationship between depression and suicidal attempts, depressed men appear to be more at risk for serious suicidal behavior than women. Despite these findings, some researchers express caution in these statistics as they may be representative of artifact of women seeking help for mental illness more than men. This is evidenced by studies that found men who commit suicide are less likely than women who commit suicide to have used mental health services (Payne et al., 2008).
The one exception to the strong link between mental health and suicide attempts with regards to mental health diagnoses is substance abuse. Men who engage in substance abuse are more likely to commit suicide than women. One possible explanation of this finding is that substance abuse, particularly alcohol use, is a more socially acceptable way for men to alleviate symptoms of mental illness (Sher, 2006). Therefore, while women are more likely to seek professional help for mental health problems, men are more likely to “self-medicate” through the use of alcohol.
Relationships are also an important artifact in discussing the gender discrepancy of suicide rates. The risk of suicide is higher in unmarried, divorced, and widowed persons than married persons, with the overall risk being higher for men than women (Payne et al., 2008). Some argue that relationships reflect the lack of social support and that being married and thus receiving social support may be a protective factor against suicide in women. It has been further discussed that from a gender role perspective, women are also required to provide social support in families by taking care of the home, husband, and children, thus making them less likely to engage in serious suicidal behaviors.
In addition to relationships, financial status is also a strong predictor of suicidal behaviors. More specifically, individuals in lower socioeconomic status, those who are unemployed, as well as those that have financial problems are more at risk for suicide (Payne et al., 2008). These findings are more prominent in men than women. One possible explanation for the gender difference in suicidal rates with respect to financial status is related to gender roles. Men are typically viewed as the “bread winners” and the financial providers for the family. Therefore, when they are unable to fulfill this role, they may engage in more suicidal ideation and/or suicidal behaviors. This relationship may also be mediated by depressive symptoms, however, findings in support for this are inconsistent.
Finally, sexual orientation is also linked with suicidal behaviors, with sexual minority persons reporting increased suicidal ideation and attempts than heterosexuals (Payne et al., 2008). While women sexual minorities are at an increased risk for suicidal behaviors, non-heterosexual men are at an increased risk. This may be related to the greater stigma surrounding homosexuality in men, as homosexuality is viewed more acceptable in women than men.
10.4. Gender and Mental Health Treatment
Section Learning Objectives
• To understand factors that contribute to the gender discrepancy in seeking out mental health treatment
• To understand how Male Gender Role and Female Gender Role may impact men and women’s utilization of services
According to recent studies, only one-third of individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for a mental health disorder actually seek treatment, with women receiving treatment significantly more often than men (Andrews, Issakidis, & Carter, 2001). In fact, it is estimated that 1 in 3 women will receive mental health treatment at some point in their life compared to only 1 in 7 men (Collier, 1982). This should not be too surprising as women also seek out medical care more often than men. For example, men are more likely to utilize emergency services with respect to medical needs, whereas women are more likely to seek out appointments with a primary care physician (Husani, 2002; Rhodes & Goering, 1994). Models examining attitudes toward access of mental health treatment suggest that regardless of age and gender, negative attitudes toward treatment are largely responsible for the underutilization of mental health treatment.
Some argue that women have more psychological distress than men, hence the discrepancy in mental health treatment. Unfortunately, this is not the case as studies have shown that despite women seeking counseling more often than men, men report similar if not higher rates of distress than women (Robertson, 2001). Then maybe it’s lack of effectiveness in treatment? Again, it is suggested that although women are more likely to seek out treatment, men actually benefit more from the intervention (Hauenstein et al., 2006).
In attempts to better understand why individuals do and do not seek out mental health services, various models have been tested, including the suggestions in the previous paragraph. In more recent years, researchers have explored the impact of gender roles and gender stereotypes, and how they may impact an individual’s willingness to seek out treatment. We will briefly discuss how male gender role and feminist theory have impacted mental health treatment among both men and women.
10.4.1 Male Gender Role
Male gender role socialization suggests that in order for men to receive mental health treatment they need to set aside their masculine socialization to seek out this help (Robertson, 2001). More specifically, because of cultural implications of what are considered socially acceptable masculine behaviors versus female behaviors, men are less likely to report emotional distress and seek out help than their female counterparts. This theory was supported in a study that found a significant relationship between adherence to the male gender role and men’s help-seeking attitudes and behaviors (Good, Dell, & Mintz, 1989). More specifically, as men’s views became less traditional, their desire to seek out psychological help became more positive. Additional studies assessing masculine attitudes and desire to seek help supported these findings with men who scored high on gender role conflict also reported negative views of psychological help-seeking (Wisch, Mahalik, Hayes, & Nutt, 1995).
Gonzalez and colleagues (2005) examined models to determine how age, gender, and ethnicity/race impacted one’s attitude toward willingness to seek mental health treatment. Their findings indicated that younger individuals (under 24 years of age) were less willing to seek mental health treatment than their older counterparts. Similarly, men also had a more negative attitude toward mental health treatment and were nearly 50% less likely to seek mental health treatment as compared to females. Interestingly, when they examined an age by gender interaction, they found that younger males (under 24 years of age) were significantly less likely than females to seek mental health treatment. These findings also held consistent for older adults; however, when they examined willingness to seek mental health treatment between younger females (under age 24) and older male age groups (35-44 and 45-54), there was not a significant difference on willingness to seek mental health treatment.
These findings support gender role socialization as women are conditioned to be more accepting of the help-seeking role, and therefore, are more likely to seek assistance when needed. This is also indicted through studies that find men who report more traditional sex role orientation and independence as having more negative attitudes toward seeking mental health treatment (Ortega & Alegria, 2002).
10.4.2. Feminist Psychotherapy
Feminist theory grew out of the women’s movement in the 1960’s. During this grassroots movement, women identified psychological structures of evaluation as contributing to women’s oppression and subordination in society, while also offering scientific rationale for women’s secondary social status. In efforts to combat these issues, feminist psychotherapy was founded. The goal of feminist psychotherapy is to identify gender related challenges/stressors that women face as a result of bias, stereotypes, oppression, and discrimination. Through an equal relationship between the therapist and the patient, feminist psychotherapy helps patients to understand social factors that contribute to their issues, help them discover their own identity, and help build on personal strengths. Although labeled as feminist theory, any group that has been marginalized can benefit from feminist psychotherapy as the main goal of treatment is to identify individual strengths and utilize them to feel more powerful in society (Psychology Today).
According to Lenore Walker, there are six tenants of feminist psychotherapy:
1. Egalitarian relationships: the equal relationship between patient and therapist models personal responsibility and assertiveness for other relationships
2. Power: patients are taught to gain and use power in relationships
3. Enhancement of strengths: patients are taught to identify their own strengths and use them effectively
4. Non-pathology oriented: patient’s problems are seen as coping mechanisms and viewed in their social context
5. Education: patients are taught to recognize their cognitions that are detrimental and encouraged to educate themselves for the benefit of all
6. Acceptance and validation of feelings: patients are encouraged to self-disclose to remove the we-they barrier of traditional therapeutic relationships
As stated above, the goal of feminist psychotherapy is to encourage change and establish empowerment in women and minority groups. One way therapists do this is by addressing gender issues as they can cause psychological distress and shape one’s behavior. If you think about it, we are all affected and influenced by stigmas and stereotypes. Feminist psychotherapy aims to help patients of minority groups to identify these stigmas and stereotypes, while simultaneously challenge them in attempts to help improve the patient’s overall mental health.
Of course, as with all types of treatments, there are some limitations and criticisms. While the goal of feminist theory is to provide strength and empowerment to women and minority groups, some therapists may take this too far. Therapists that are too strong in their feminist beliefs may become militant in their views, thereby persuading patients. A feminist therapist should be supportive and challenge a patient’s thoughts, not forcefully change a patient’s viewpoint. Additionally, some argue that by taking a feminist view on treatment and society, the therapist is not neutral in their beliefs, thus predisposing patients to blame society for their issues rather than taking ownership. As with all types of treatments, there are limitations. It is important that the patient identifies a treatment method that is comfortable to them, as the ultimate goal is to improve their mental health well-being.
Module Recap
In Module 10, we discussed the methodological artifacts from both clinician and reporting biases that may contribute to the gender differences among prevalence rates among mental health disorders. In keeping some of these artifacts in mind, we also discussed gender differences in rates of the most common psychological disorders- depression, anxiety, PTSD and eating disorders, as well as the biological, cognitive, psychological, and societal factors that contribute to these gender differences. It is important that you are able to identify these different factors as they contribute to differing rates of mental health disorders between men and women. We also discussed suicide and the gender paradox that although men complete more suicides, women are more likely to engage in nonfatal behaviors. We also identified the different methods men and women used when engaging in suicidal behaviors. The module concluded with a brief overview of how gender may impact one’s willingness to seek out mental health treatment and how feminist psychotherapy may help women and other minority groups address societal influences.
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Module 11: Gender Through an Educational Lens
Module Overview
In this module, we will focus on the educational experiences of males and females. We will look at how experiences differ in the preschool and school ages. We will also discover how school performance in various subjects differs between genders. We will also consider the concept of academic motivation, factors that contribute to academic motivation, and gender differences in this motivation.
Module Outline
• 11.1. Preschool
• 11.2. School
• 11.3. School Performance
Module Learning Outcomes
• Learn about preschool-age experiences and how gender impacts these experiences.
• Understand varying abilities and experiences in school-aged children.
• Recognize the factors that differentially impact boys’ and girls’ performance and motivation at school.
11.1. Preschool
Section Learning Objectives
• Define self-competence and self-esteem and understand how (1) these impact school experiences and (2) differ between boys and girls.
• Gain a detailed knowledge of the role play has in preschooler’s development and how play varies between genders.
11.1.1. Self-Competence
A child’s ability to self-regulate (e.g., their ability regulate following experiences of stress, excitement, and/or arousal) may lead to better social competence (e.g., relationship skills and abilities) which then leads to higher self-esteem and self-concept (e.g., the ability to cope with correction/failure), and then ultimately leads to higher social school readiness (e.g., higher cooperation with peers, positive views about school, fostered ability to listen and focus; Joy, 2016).
11.1.1.1. Self-Esteem. Preschoolers tend to have very high self-esteem (Harter, 2006). This is likely because preschoolers struggle to truly differentiate the level of difficulty in a task and overestimate their own abilities which actually leads them to trying challenging tasks more often, and exposing themselves to learning a variety of skills. This fosters motivation and learning in preschoolers. Overall, boys and girls tend to have similar self-esteem (Cole et al., 2001; Marsh & Ayotte, 2003; Young & Mroczek, 2003); however, society assumes boys have higher self-esteem, and it may be that girls internalize this assumption that society has. Thus, some studies show that girls have lower self-esteem (Hagbor, 1993).
What impacts self-esteem? Parenting styles and teachers can certainly impact self-esteem in young children. Parents that practice warm, but firm parenting (authoritative parenting), have children with higher self-esteem. Parents that are overly correcting or controlling deny children the ability to develop self-esteem fully, and these children have lower self-esteem ratings (Kernis, 2002; Donellan et al., 2005).
Does how similar a model have anything to do with how we learn and master tasks, and thus, self-esteem and competence? Maybe. The model-observer similarity hypothesis posits that when learners perceive themselves to be similar to the model “teacher” then they will show greater self-efficacy. However, there is mixed support of this, and that is largely explained by what we are learning. Overall, when a model is the same-sex as us, it does not change how much we learn, but it does impact our behavior. This is because we internalize the behavior as appropriate if a same-sex model does it, and the environment accepts it. Essentially, task appropriateness (male versus female tasks), is learned best by same-sex models. Student perceived same-gender models as more similar to them than opposite-gender models. Same-sex models may also increase perceived confidence, but does not necessarily improve performance, increased confidence, or increased self-efficacy (Hoogerheid, van Wermeskerken, Van Nassau, & Van Gog, 2018).
As children get older, self-competence declines. How fast it declines depends on the subject area. For example, self-competence actually increases for sports, but declines for language arts. Specifically, research indicates that males tend to have more perceived self-competence in sports and math and females have more self-competence in language arts (Jacobs, Lanza, Osgood, Eccles, & Wigfield, 2002).
11.1.2. The Role of Play in the Development of Gender Roles
As you might expect, preschool children engage in play as a primary activity in their preschool setting. This is developmentally appropriate for them and they gain extensive knowledge about their world and environment through play – and understanding of gender is no different. Play provides children and their peers an opportunity to test out different roles and ideas as well as to provide feedback as to what works, is acceptable, and/or preferred. Sex-role socialization theory explains differentiated behaviors among sexes due to society creating specific roles for males and females, partially that historically have aligned with their eventual adult roles (e.g., males for labor/work, females for nurturing/child rearing); thus, as young children, we are socialized into roles. The theory posits that there are two opposing categories of sex – male and female (Martin & Beese, 2017). Thus, play is ether masculine or feminine and either aligns with the male-sex role or female-sex role. So, playing with baby dolls aligns with the female-sex role of nurturing and child rearing; whereas pretending to build with toy tools aligns with the male-sex role of manual labor and working.
Interestingly, before the age of 2, it is difficult for children to distinguish between boys and girls. However, by age 3, they are better able to do this and certainly begin to evidenced varied behaviors and preferences based on gender. Further, by age 5, children will not only prefer to play with their own gender, they will likely reject or show a bias against the other gender (Martin & Beese, 2017; Hill & Portrie-Bethke, 2017; Hill & Haley, 2017).
Ultimately, if we want to reduce this within a school context, and see more gender-equal environments and culture among peers, teachers will have to reteach what is acceptable. Essentially, they would need to provide models and examples of non-sexist behavior. Moreover, they may need to encourage this by being careful to choose gender neutral language (e.g., firefighter instead of fireman), as well as encourage play that is non-sexist (e.g., encouraging boys to play with dolls and girls to play with trucks), and utilize visual materials that are gender neutral or shows both genders doing a task (e.g., girls in male-typical jobs such as a girl as a doctor, and vice versa such as a male as a teacher). Although these may be recommended, they may also be largely ineffective, according to research (Martin & Beese, 2017).
Another theory about gender-role development in the context of preschool and play is the Feminist Post-Structural theory. It posits that children not only model gender-normed behavior, they construct their own gender. This theory suggests that gender is not specific to distinct categories; rather, female is defined in relation to male and vice versa. Thus, masculine and feminine characteristics are actually interdependent and exist within a continuum. This theory suggests that, because of this, there is an emotional investment in gender roles and encouraging nonsexist behavior is actually not appropriate. This is because it is suggested that doing this requires an individual to give up something they perceive as desired and pleasurable. For example, if we encourage a girl to play with trucks instead of toys, but they find pleasure in playing with dolls, we are asking that girl to give up a toy she truly likes and enjoys (Martin & Beese, 2017).
What about bullying or teasing based on gender in these young ages? Well it exists. However, 25% of girls reported feeling teased by boys and this usually consisted of behaviors such as boys pushing them too hard/high on a swing, hitting them, etc. This being the case, it would make sense that some girls may want to play with other girls, rather than boys. As such, encouraging nonsexist play and forced gender-mixed play may not be the best option – at least from a feminist post-structural theory standpoint (Martin & Beese, 2017).
11.2. School
Section Learning Objectives
• Recognize overall math abilities in girls as well as overall academic achievement in boys.
• Understand the various components to school culture that contribute to boys’ and girls’ experiences at school
• Uncover what is defined as “masculine” and the consequences that occur when males do and do not align with the “cool” masculinity traits that are scripted for them.
• Define gender tracking and how this occurs in the school-setting.
11.2.1. Math Ability in Girls
As you know by now from our discussion in the cognitive chapter, there are minimal differences in actual cognitive capacities between genders. Math abilities are no exception. There are no actual differences in abilities with mathematics between girls and boys. However, girls are often perceived to have lower math abilities by adults (e.g., parents and teachers; Tomasetto, Alparone, & Cadinu, 2011; Beilock, Gunderson, Ramirez, & Levine, 2010), peers, and themselves (Correll, 2001). As we discussed with stereotype threat and self-fulfilling prophecies, this perception may then lend itself to girls actually performing lower in math. So, it is not actually that girls have lower math abilities, rather, social and environmental factors impact girls’ math performance, leading to lower math performance.
Despite having equivalent math abilities, girls tend to take fewer math and STEM-related courses in grade school years. Because of this, they may be less prepared to pursue STEM-related majors in higher education years, and thus, pursue careers in STEM fields at a lower rate than males. There have been some efforts to combat this, and those efforts may be working, to a degree. Rates of females pursuing STEM-related fields increased. In fact, there appears to be equivalent numbers, largely speaking, between males and females, in seeking STEM-related courses in grade school and even into college. However, this does not necessarily carry out into careers as men are represented to a higher degree in completing STEM-majors and securing STEM-related careers (Martin & Beese, 2017). Potentially contributing to self-fulfilling prophecies.
11.2.2. Boy’s Achievement
Although boys appear to get more attention and focus in school from teachers, it is actually a well-documented phenomenon that boys tend to underachieve compared to girls. So although there seems to be a lot of chatter about girls being underestimated and underchallenged with math, boys are falling behind in educational experiences and performance in general. So, really, the conversation may need to shift to boys more (Kafer, 2007)!
For example, girls tend to be more engaged in school, perform higher in academics, are more likely to go to college, and are more likely to complete their college degree, compared to boys. Boys tend to experience more academic struggles and are referred for behavioral problems more than girls. In fact, about 60% of special education services are for boys! Boys are also more susceptible to using substances, getting either suspended or expelled, dropping out, going to jail, and dying by suicide or homicide. You may be asking yourself why – why. Why are boys at risk for such negative outcomes? Well, there may be a few explanations, although we still really don’t have a great understanding of this phenomenon (Kafer, 2007).
Figure 11.1. Extreme Scores in Males
So, is it differences in intelligence? Yes and no. Boys and girls equally fall within the “Average” area of intellectual functioning meaning boys and girls are equally represented in the middle of the bell curve (see the blue area of Figure 17.1). However, when we examine the extreme lower end of the curve (see the green area of Figure 17.1), boys may be represented at a higher rate than girls, meaning boys are more likely to have lower cognitive functioning abilities than girls, when looking at only low intellectual abilities (Kafer, 2007).
Another explanation is that schools may not focus enough on boys’ literacy and reading skills. Although there is a literacy gap noted in public schooling, this gap is not found in homeschooled children (Kafer, 2007). So why is that? Are we not fostering reading and writing skills enough in boys in the traditional-public school setting? What do we do? Would creating a school that is more focused and intune to boys’ needs and abilities increase achievement in boys? If so, is considering school choice and charter schools the best option for increasing male achievement rates?
Neall (2002) recommends that, within school settings, boys’ self-esteem can be raised by teachers praising achievements and reminding them of their success, encouraging their desire for competition and high activity by fostering their involvement in competitive sports and allowing them to move more when learning, perhaps considering single-sex classrooms, and using the model-observer similarity, increasing male teachers (Skelton, 2006).
11.2.3. Culture
The culture created at school and in a classroom is incredibly important for the outcomes of youth. So, what about cultures as it relates to gender specifically? Well, much of culture comes from social norms and expectations. For example, girls are expected to be quiet and prosocial. As such, they receive high amounts of praise for these qualities and a strong focus is placed on their appearance. If girls stray from these expectations, they may receive negative evaluations. For example, girls are not expected to be assertive, so when they exert assertiveness, they are often labeled as disruptive (Martin & Beeese, 2017).
What about when peers do not conform to gender norms or identify as non-heterosexual? What is the school culture like for them? In general, despite increasing acceptance and tolerance, there still remains a high level of hostility. These youth often experience sexual harassment and discrimination. These experiences at school, due to the culture that persists, may lead to these youth avoiding school and under-engaging, leading to poorer outcomes academically. Increased emotional distress has also been noted. (Martin & Beeese, 2017).
11.2.4. “Cool” Masculinity
Masculinity, particularly as an adolescent, is highly valued in our society. To be perceived as masculine, boys must avoid looking week, limit their emotional expressions, be competitive, and exert power and control. Anger and aggression are not only acceptable, they are often encouraged when in conflict. We socialize this from a young age, expressing direct and indirect messages to young boys that crying and backing down are signs of weakness. In fact, when boys do not appear masculine and adhere to these expectations, they are often ridiculed by peers. While males may reinforce masculine traits in other males, when a female reinforces a male’s engagement in masculine behavior, it is more powerful and salient (Smith, 2017). If a boy is perceived as too feminine, they are heavily ridiculed. Despite females being somewhat encouraged when they break gender norms and display interest in some masculine areas (e.g., sports), boys do not get any real social encouragement when they deviate from traditional masculine roles and characteristics. In fact, they are often shamed and masculinity is often “policed.”
Interestingly, when we encourage males to restrict their emotions and to “be tough” we may be encouraging aggression toward themselves and toward others (Feder, Levant, & Dean 2007). Think about it, we don’t only tolerate aggression in males, we encourage it. Think about our soldiers, which are male-dominant. We celebrate their bravery and courage and they are often trained to restrict emotions – similarly, we see this in first responders as well. We see aggression in males modeled on television too. Miedzian (2002) defines this focus of aggression in males the masculine mystique. Whereas boys with higher SES and more resources may find appropriate ways to channel this masculinity and aggression, boys in lower SES status may struggle to find adaptive ways to channel this, thus, resulting to more negative means and criminal behaviors.
11.2.5. Gender Tracking
Gender tracking is when students are channeled into different areas of focus/paths solely based on their gender. Although this can happen overtly, it may more commonly happen covertly. How children are gender tracked may vary based on age as well. For example, we being gender tracking children as soon as we know the sex of a baby – picking toys, clothes, names, and décor that are specific to their gender. Fast forward to elementary aged children, and teachers continue to track girls and boys into playing with gender-typical toys. These are more overt channels. However, a covert path is when teachers begin calling on boys more and attending to boys more. This leads to girls raising their hands less frequently. Moreover, boys tend to be identified as requiring special education services more, thus tracking them into an alternative school option more frequently (Jones, 2017).
Tracking in secondary education may be two-fold. First, lower achieving students may be tracked into vocational learning. As such, within that tracking, boys are often tracked into traditionally considered masculine trades (mechanical and masonry tasks), whereas girls are tracked into traditionally feminine trades (e.g., food trades, child care, and cosmetology). The greater concern is that, often, the feminine trades often have a lower incoming potential (Jones, 2017).
So, what about high achieving youth – are they tracked too? In fact, they are. Higher achieving males tend to be tracked into STEM-related classes whereas higher achieving girls tend to be tracked into humanities, social sciences, etc. The only area that seems someone immune to gender tracking is history and biology with both males and females equally represented in such (Jones, 2017).
11.3. School Performance
Section Learning Objectives
• Learn how teachers impact the academic performance of boys and girls.
• Understand the benefits and drawbacks of single-sex schooling
• Uncover the factors that contribute to academic motivation and how gender may differentially impact motivation
11.3.1. Teachers
Teachers play an important role in a child’s educational experiences. While teachers often have good intentions and verbalize a desire to help each of their students equally, teachers have biases that they are sometimes unaware of that impact students’ educational experiences. This bias occurs when teachers form expectations regarding a student’s ability to perform on factors unrelated to the student’s prior academic performance. Those factors may include the child’s gender, their racial or ethnic identity, or their social/financial status. For example, a teacher that assumes a female student has lower abilities simply because she is female (not because of previous test grades by that student), or that an African American student is going to perform lower in their class because of their race, not because of previous performance. My guess is, if you asked a teacher if they held these beliefs, they would say no. I think most of us would say no. The fact is, sometimes we have beliefs we are not aware of (sometimes these beliefs are so automatic and we are so unaware of them, they are referred to implicit beliefs; (Casad & Bryant, 2017).
Robert Rosenthal, one of the first researchers to examine teacher bias, defined the ”Pygmalion effect”, which is when teacher’s expectancies were shown to actually impact IQ scores (keep in mind, IQ is not a construct we think should be impacted in this way). Moreover, the younger a student was, the more likely their score was to be impacted (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Casad & Bryant, 2017). Ultimately, if a teacher expects a student to underperform, and treats them in that way, students will not be likely to persevere and try hard in a challenge, and then this will likely result in them actually performing lower on tasks (Casad & Bryant, 2017). What we are likely seeing at play here is the self-fulfilling prophecy. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a phenomenon of when someone expects something to occur, the person believes it, and their behaviors then become congruent to lead to that outcome. For example, a teacher believes a student will do poorly, the student then believes this and stops studying, and then they perform poorly, thus confirming the prediction. Teachers’ expectations that then lead to self-fulfilling prophecies in students may actually contribute to achievement gaps (Robisnon-Cimpian et al., 2014). Specifically, how teachers communicate to boys and girls, particularly, if they foster expectations that boys will be better in math and girls better in language, then teachers may contribute to self-fulfilling prophecies that are then reflected in gender gaps in math and language (Robinson-Cimpian, et al., 2014).
11.3.2. Single-Sex Schooling
Single-gender or single-sex schooling is a controversial topic. While some are avid proponents of this option, others strongly discourage this route. To understand the controversy, let’s first take a look at each side and the reasons for the varying viewpoints. Then we will discuss what the research actually supports.
11.3.2.1. All those in favor of single-sex schooling. Proponents of the tendency to indicate that boys and girls learn differently; that there are differences in how their brains are developed and in their abilities. They argue single-sex schooling would allow to account for this and tailor education specific to a child’s potential learning/cognitive strengths and weakness based on their sex. They also argue that it this type of setting allows for biases in classrooms to be minimized. Remember how we learned that teachers tend to focus more on boys than girls, and that boys’ academics are emphasized whereas girls’ prosocial behaviors, quietness, and helping behaviors are emphasized? Well proponents of single-sex schooling school argue that the nature of single-sex classes would eliminate these biases, particularly for girls (Halpern et al., 2011).
11.3.2.2. All those against single-sex schooling. Although the individuals that are proponents of single-sex schools site learning and cognitive differences as a logical rationale in support of single-sex schooling, as discussed in the cognitive chapter, there are very little differences, cognitively speaking, between girls and boys. And, when those differences are present, they are very minor. Thus, those against single-sex schooling argue that this rational is founded on pseudoscience and does not have any real basis. Those arguing against single-sex schooling also argue that these settings increase gender division, segregation, and stereotypes due to the clear divide it presents. In fact, research actually supports this argument (Bigler & Liben, 2006; Martin & Halveron, 1981; Hilliard & Liben, 2010). Essentially, when segregation occurs, children formulate assumptions that the segregation occurred because the two groups have differences that are important to highlight; thus, biases, particularly intergroup biases, increase. This structure also limits the availability and opportunity for boys and girls to learn to work together (Halpern et al., 2011).
11.3.2.3. The evidence. Most research actually shows that there is no advantage to single-sex schooling when it comes to overall academic performance. Although you may come across research that seems to support single-sex schooling, flaws in the research have commonly been noted (Leonard, 2006). Specifically, more often than not, findings supporting single-sex schooling tend to disappear when critical confounding factors are controlled for. For example, many students in single-sex schooling options tend to be more academically advanced students to start with. Thus, when you simply compare the single sex school (that contains a higher concentration of advanced performing students) to other mixed-sex schools, it seems like the single-sex schooling is excelling, and the conclusion is often that this is due to the single-sex context. However, when one controls for the more advanced students, there is no statistical difference showing advantages for single-sex schooling (Hayes, Phalke, & Bigler, 2011; Pahlke, Hyde, & Allison, 2014). In the same respect, children that are underperformers will often transfer out of single-sex schooling; thus, continuing to artificially inflate the academic performance scales of single sex schools (Halpern et al., 2011).
The argument that gender stereotypes may be reduced in single-sex schools is not supported. In a Swedish study, it was found that boys were overconfident in math whereas girls were underconfident in math in single-sex schooling; thus, single-sex schooling did not help dispel the stereotype of poor math abilities in girls. Moreover, this was repeated in an El Salvador study which again found the same results (Jakobsson, Levin, Kotasdam, 2013)
Although there does not appear to be a genuine overall advantage to single-sex schooling, there may be smaller or isolated benefits to single sex schooling. For example, there may be some slight advantages for girls in math, regarding single-sex schooling. Still, some research shows differing results. For example, Bell (1989) and Spielhofer (2002) found that children in single-sex schools were more likely to choose science than children in coeducational settings. Stables (1990) found that children sought out gender-atypical classes more often in single-sex schooling, and this was particularly true for younger students. However, Francis (2003) found conflicting results revealing that girls showed similar preferences and sought out similar experiences equally in single-sex and coeducational settings (Leonard, 2006).
Overall there is very little support for single-sex schooling, from an empirical stance. Moreover, very little is actually known about the long-term impacts of single-sex schooling and outcomes (Leonard, 2006).
11.3.3 Achievement Motivation
Achievement motivation is the “motivation relevant to performance on tasks in which there are criteria to judge success or failure.” (Wigfield & Cambria, 2010). The motivation to be successful, particularly in academics, has important outcomes. For example, academically motivated youth tend to perform better at school, have increased prosocial behavior, and higher attendance at a school. So, what leads to academic motivation? Females have more intrinsic motivation (e.g., self-motivating) to achieve high in academics whereas males rely more on external motivation (e.g., praise, external rewards; Vecchione, Alessandri, and Marsicano, 2014). Moreover, an individual’s perceived competence in an area, as well as determination, impact the level of motivation one has, academically, which also happens to impact their performance in a positive way (Fortier, Valleranda, & Frederic, 1995). Parents that engage in warm, but firm parenting, also foster higher academic motivation.
Attribution styles also impact achievement motivation. Learned helplessness is an attribution style in which failures are attributed to one’s ability and success is attributed to external things like luck. This attribution style is one in which a person believes they cannot improve on weaknesses, so, if a task is difficult, they don’t feel like they can do anything to overcome it and may give up. Mastery-oriented attribution style is when an individual explains successes as a result of their ability, as well as explaining failures as a result of controllable factors, such as their effort. Thus, they approach challenges as something they have control over, persevering and putting forth effort (Heyman & Dweck, 1998). Master-oriented individuals focus on learning goals whereas learned helplessness individuals focus on performance (Heyman and Dweck, 1998). Children with a learned helplessness attribution style do not end up developing the necessary skills such as self-regulation to strive and succeed in high achieving contexts; thus, academic motivation may be lower. If teachers focus more on learning than performance and grades, then they end up fostering more master-oriented students (Anderman et al., 2001). It appears that girls are more likely than boys to attribute failure to ability (Bleeker and Jacobs, 2004).
Boys report more interests and ability in math and science whereas girls report more ability and interests in language and writing. Moreover, gender differences with motivation show up early and increase as children age. This is especially true with language arts. Specifically, as children get older, the gender gap in math and science motivation (with boys having more motivation in this area) begins to decrease whereas as the gender gap in language arts (with girls having more motivation) actually increases (Meece, Bower Glienke, & Burg, 2006).
Module Recap
In this module, we first focused on understanding the unique experiences of preschoolers and how their development of self-competence and self-esteem occurs, factors that impact their development, and the importance of their play in their development. We then moved on to school-aged children and learned about various similarities and differences in their abilities, motivations, and experiences. We also discussed the benefits and drawbacks of single-sex schooling. Finally, we ended our discussion with understanding gender differences in academic motivations.
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Module 12: Gender Through an Industrial/Organizational Lens
Module Overview
In this module, we are going to focus on women’s experiences in the workplace. We will first look at the ways in which career goals may differ between men and women, and why differences in career goals exist. We are then going to take a look at equality in the workplace. Do women and men get the same experiences and pay? Do women have specific barriers that men do not in the workplace? We will find out. Finally, we will look at how women try to balance work and family roles/obligations.
Module Outline
• 12.1. Occupational Goals
• 12.2. Sex and Gender Equality
• 12.3. Obstacles
• 12.4. Work and Family
Module Learning Outcomes
• Outline the varying goals that men and women may have regarding occupations and careers, and how sex-typing and sex-roles impact those goals.
• Discover how equal or unequal the workplace is for women and men.
• Understand the various obstacles women face in the workplace.
• Gain a foundational understanding of how women balance work and families, the benefits or risk of such, and obstacles they may encounter in doing so.
12.1. Occupational Goals
Section Learning Objectives
• Define sex-typing
• Understand how sex-typing impacts career goals for men and women
• Define self-efficacy and understand how self-efficacy may impact career choices
12.1.1. Sex Typing and Career Choice
Sex-typing essentially is when we hold the belief that men and women are suitable for specific jobs, based on their biological sex, and thus, occupations are segregated into gender-typical categories. For example, jobs such as engineering, mechanics, and emergency response are largely considered masculine jobs and are male-typical whereas jobs such as teaching, service-related jobs, and nursing are largely considered feminine jobs that are female-typical jobs. So, does this happen in society? Do males tend to gravitate toward masculine jobs and women toward feminine jobs? Most of the research says this happens quite frequently!
Parents strongly impact children’s’ perceptions of occupations and contribute to early sex-typing. In a study by Jacobs, Chhin, and Bleeker (2007), parents’ gender-typed expectations correlated with children’s expectations and career choices. Moreover, having a gender-typical career was linked to more job satisfaction in adulthood (Jacobs, Chhin, & Bleeker, 2007). Gettys and Cann (1981) also found that children as young as 2 recognize gender-typical jobs and label traditionally male and traditionally female occupations as such. Thus, sex-typing is taught and observed at a very young age.
Gadassi and Gati (2009) studied adults between the ages of 20-30 years old. They found that males tended to prefer more masculine careers whereas women preferred more feminine careers. However, stereotypes largely impacted this. These preferences dissipated some when gender stereotyped expectations about the careers were made less obvious (Gadassi & Gati, 2009). Etaugh and Riley had male and female college students read job applications. The job the applicant was applying to was either feminine or masculine. Participants were told if the applicant was male or female, married or single, and if they had children. In general, participants evaluated women that applied for sex-typical jobs best, especially if they were single. Participants evaluated women and men, especially single men, more negatively when they applied to sex-atypical jobs (Etaugh & Riley, 1983). Moreover, males and females alike tend to rank male-typical jobs with higher prestige (Oswald, 2003).
For careers that are strongly sex-typed (e.g., teacher = feminine, engineer = male), we see both explicit (e.g., verbally acknowledged and recognized) and implicit (e.g., instinctual, unware) stereotyped bias. However, for careers that are not sex-typed quite as strongly, implicit and explicit bias does not always align. For example, White and White (2006) found that, although participants explicitly ranked accounting as less masculine, they implicitly scored accounting as more masculine; thus, their implicit and explicit bias did not align.
In general, men tend to prefer to work in solitude, desire more autonomy, and seek high earnings, whereas women value working with others, having an easy commute, positive coworker/boss experiences, and benefits rather than earnings (Helgeson, 2012). In general, neither male nor female college students deliberately or explicitly make career choices based on future family planning (Cech, 2015).
Interestingly, sex-typing that leads to the segregation of genders in the occupational field leads to variance in pay, because of the way in which male-typical and female-typical occupations are reimbursed (read pay discrimination for more).
12.1.2. Personal Self-Efficacy
First, what is self-efficacy? Self-efficacy is a person’s belief about their ability to enact influence in their lives. Ultimately, this belief is what leads to a person’s motivation to take on activities and to persevere in hardship (Bandura, 2010). If a person does not have high self-efficacy, they may not believe they have the ability to bring about change. Thus, in the face of adversity, they may not persevere, and although they may want to attain a goal, they may not be motivated because they do not believe they can actually achieve it.
So what impacts self-efficacy? Parent and teacher support may impact self-efficacy in career decision making which then may impact an individual’s optimism about their career (Garcia, et al., 2015) and adaptability (Guan et al., 2016). Women’s self-efficacy may be more impacted than male’s self-efficacy by having supportive role models. Increased self-efficacy also led to women expressing higher intentions for entrepreneurial careers (BarNir, Watson, & Hutchins, 2011).
A theory that has recently developed, social cognitive model of career self-management (CSM), posits that person dependent factors (e.g., gender, abilities, race) and societal background impacts learning experiences which is where we get some information about efficacy. That then impacts self-efficacy and the expectations we have about outcomes (including career outcomes), which then impacts our goals, actions, and outcomes (Lent, Ireland, Penn, Morris, & Sappingtoon, 2017; see Figure 18.1 for a pictorial representation of the model). Experiences of mastering tasks, vicarious learning, and high positive/low negative emotion impacted self-efficacy which then impacted outcome expectations about careers (Lent, Ireland, Penn, Morris, & Sappingtoon, 2017).
Figure 12.1. Directly Sourced from Lent et al. (2017) Figure 1.
12.2. Sex and Gender Equality
Section Learning Objectives
• Define discrimination
• Recognize how women may face hiring and pay discrimination
• Learn about gender differences in negotiating and how this impacts pay gaps
12.2.1. Hiring Discrimination
Discrimination is when someone is treated differently based on a demographic variable, may that be their sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, physical status/ability/disability, etc. For the purpose of this book, we will focus on discrimination based on gender (sex), orientation, and family status. The rate of women in the workforce has gradually increased over the years, and based of the most recent data in 2016, 46.8% of the workforce is female (U.S. Department of Labor, 2010 & 2016). The number of women wanting to work has also increased.
Affirmative action is an attempt to prevent discrimination. Affirmative action policies are aimed to help ensure that populations that have typically been disadvantaged or overlooked in particular settings do not continue to get discriminated against. Interestingly, affirmative action appears to benefit men more than women in some scenarios. For example, Ng and Wiesner (2007) found that males applying for male-typical jobs (e.g., nursing) were more likely to get the job, even when they were less qualified than a female counterpart whereas a female applying for a male-typical job (e.g., police officer) often needed to show excessive qualification to get the position, and still, they struggled to secure the position (Ng & Wiesner, 2007).
The difficulty in getting hired based on sex is also known as accessdiscrimination. Essentially, accessing the opportunity to work in a particular field is difficult. We will talk about access discrimination as it relates to the glass ceiling, but it can be seen in other realms as well. For example, less women are typically represented in judicial roles (Helgeson, 2012).
Study after study shows, males are often preferred over females (Zebrowitz, Tenenbaum, & Goldstein, 1991; Olian, Schwab, & Haberfeld, 1988). And, it is not just males preferring to hire females. Research shows that males and females are both likely to prefer a male candidate over a female candidate (Steinpreis, Anders, & Ritzke, 1999).
12.2.2. Pay Discrimination
The counterpart to access discrimination is treatment discrimination. Treatment discrimination is when an individual is paid less or given less opportunity at work (e.g., promotion; Helgeson, 2012). Specifically, as it relates to gender, when a female earns less than a man, despite having the same position/title, or when a woman is less likely to be promoted than a male coworker, despite having the same qualifications and reliability/work performance at work. The pay gap, although improved to some degree, still exists and is sizable. According to the most recent data reports (at the time this chapter was first written), women made only 81.4% of what men make (U.S. Department of Labor, 2019). Although it has increased since the mid-2000’s estimates of 78%, this still breaks down to sizable deficits. The most recent 2019 numbers indicate that women’s weekly salaries, on average, are \$812 whereas men’s weekly salaries are \$1,005 (U.S. Department of Labor, 2019).
Although the gap has been decreasing, data shows that women are offered starting salaries, on average, that are \$11,000 less than their male counterparts. The gap is even worse if women are older. Moreover, this gap holds true even in female-typical and female-dominated fields (Ancis, 2017).
Why does this occur? Well, there are a few theories. One theory is the supply-side theory. This theory posits that people have different skills and qualities to offer and differences in those abilities lead to differences in pay. Although this seems logical, it does not explain the pay gap entirely. Even when men and women have the same skill sets and qualifications, women make far less than men. Thus, there must be something else that explains a portion of the picture. That is where demands-side theory comes in. This theory posits that the environment or workplace contributes to the pay gap, meaning that the workplace desires females less, and thus pays them lower. Ultimately, both theories likely explain portions of the pay gap; however, because the gap is still present when male and females are equally qualified, and despite women becoming more qualified than men in many fields, yet still being paid less, the demand-side theory likely explains a larger portion of the pay gap (Helgeson, 2012).
Another reason for the pay gap may be sex typing/sex segregation of occupations. The occupations that women tend to work in are traditionally paid lower than the occupations men tend to work in. Thus, because women work in jobs that have lower reimbursements more often than men, there is a pay gap. Moreover, even when roles are equal across jobs, we tend to think that jobs women hold will pay less. This is known as the salary estimation effect (Dunn, 1996). Thus, we expect women will make less. Men tend to hold this salary estimation belief more strongly than females, and this may be largely explained by implicit biases with gender.
Finally, the “mommy tax” or maternal wall, may also contribute to pay discrepancies. Mothers are viewed as less desirable, and because of this, they receive less opportunity. Mothers also tend to work fewer hours and have to take off more time, leading to less experience. When looking at data from Dey and Hill (2007), women with children (63% pay gap) experience a much greater pay gap compared to women without children (77% pay gap). Women without children were more likely to be called for an interview than women with children in an experiment conducted by Correll, Benard, and Paik (2007). However, fathers were actually more likely to be called for an interview over nonfathers, when looking at male applicant pools.
12.2.3. Negotiations
Males are more likely to negotiate a starting salary at a higher rate than females. However, even when both males and females negotiate, men often have better results. Men tend to ask for more money in an initial request than women do. Men also have better outcomes after negotiating than females (Gerhart & Rynes, 1991). For example, men asking for more at the beginning of negotiations may lead to their negotiating of a higher salary than females. This starting salary difference between men and women then continues to grow. For example, both a male and a female negotiate a starting salary, but the male negotiates one that is \$5,000 higher. Each year, they both get a 3.5% bonus. Think about that, after year one, the male makes \$56,925 (\$1925 raise) and the female makes \$51,750 (\$1750 raise). The male getting \$175 more in a raise doesn’t seem like much. But, after 5 years, the male makes \$65,322 (\$10,322 in raises), and the female makes \$59,384 (\$9,384). Now, the male is getting \$938 more in raises than the female. That means that initial \$5,000 pay gap is now nearly a \$6,000 pay gap just 5 years later. Can you see what this looks like as the years go on? This is the phenomenon of accumulation of disadvantage – the gradual increasing of a pay gap based on an initial salary gap (Babcock & Laschever, 2003). Want to play with more numbers to see how much this gap can grow? This website is a great, easy calculator to do just that: http://www.easysurf.cc/fsalary.htm .
So why does this happen? Why do women and men not negotiate at the same frequency or get the same results in negotiation? Well, it may be a combination of factors. First, think about the gender role and socialization of women. Women’s gender roles script them to be cooperative, affiliative, and communal whereas men are scripted to be direct and assertive. What does it take to be successful in negotiation? Well, you certainly need to be assertive. Research indicates that women tend to be more cooperative in negotiations than men (Walters, Stuhlmacher, & Meyer, 1998). They also may be less likely than men to know their worth; thus, advocating for less reimbursement. Women also have lower feelings of entitlement whereas men are more inclined to negotiate a higher salary because they feel they deserve it, and women tend to fear conflict related to negotiations more than men. In a laboratory study, Bowels and Babcock (2007) found that, in general, participants penalized women more than men for initiating negotiation of pay. Interestingly, males penalized females more for initiating negotiates, and females penalized everyone (male and female), suggesting that males do not like when women negotiate, and women do not like when people negotiate at all. They also found that women are less likely than men to initiate a negotiation if the evaluator in the study was male, but if the evaluator was female, men and women were equally likely to negotiate (Bowels & Babcock, 2007).
Are there situations when women are better at negotiating? Yes! Women will show more assertion if advocating for another person, rather than when advocating for themselves (Babcock & Leschever, 2003; Babcock, Laschever, Gelfand, & Small, 2003). Women may also negotiate better if they know they have experience in negotiation, were given more information about the range in which bargaining could occur, and again, were negotiating for someone else. Women were also better at negotiating when the occupation they were negotiating for was most congruent with their ender role (Mazei, et al., 2015).
12.3. Obstacles
Section Learning Objectives
• Define the glass ceiling and understand, not only what this is, but what contributes to the continued presence of the glass ceiling.
• Understand what the glass cliff is and the impact it has on women.
• Recognize what sexual harassment is, the prevalence of sexual harassment, and the impacts it has on work performance and goals.
12.3.1. Glass Ceiling
The term glass ceiling was first used to define an invisible barrier that prevents women from promoting to the highest positions in a company/organization. The barrier exists due to stereotyped beliefs that drive discriminating behaviors. Despite women being equally likely to be employed compared to men, women being more likely to hold entry-level positions with college degrees, and women holding the majority of higher education degrees (undergraduate and masters), only 14% of top executives at companies are females with even fewer are top earners or CEOs at fortune 500 companies. However, improvement has happened since the 1980’s and continued to improve until about 2009, which is when improvement for women, regarding upward movement in the workplace, stalled (Kernodle, 2017). The glass ceiling contributes to women having lower-level positions, getting less opportunity for promoting, and getting paid less.
For women, their level of commitment may be questions. For example, companies may wonder if a woman will want to have kids, and if she does, she will have to then divide her time and attention between work and her family. Interestingly, this assumption is not made for men in the same way it is for women. This mindset reveals that maternity is actually viewed as an expense by companies (Kernodle, 2017). Women tend to have to work harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves. And, when they do have families, they may struggle to make afternoon/after-work commitments and events, which can limit their networking opportunities, which may then impact their upward mobility. Moreover, because upper-management tends to be dominated by males, women in these upper positions may feel like it is difficult to “fit in” and may be excluded from informal after work events that also open up opportunity for networking and engaging. They also may not be as able to work overtime, thus, limiting work performance in some fields (Soleymanpour Omran, Alizadeh, & Esmaeeli, 2015).
Women are viewed as affiliative and men as assertive, and this may impact the glass ceiling. Upper-level positions are typically leadership positions. Leadership aligns with masculine-typical characteristics such as assertiveness; and thus, traditional leadership qualities are often the opposite of female stereotype of warm, passive, affiliative, and nurturing. Women in leadership roles are often held to higher standard than men as well. If women don’t adopt some masculine traits, they may not be respected in their role; however, when they do adopt some of these traits, they are actually perceived as less liked (Ancis, 2017).
12 .3.2 Glass Cliff Phenomenon
Alexander Haslam and Michelle Ryan (2005) were one of the first to coin the term glass cliff phenomenon. (2005). The glass cliff phenomenon is the overrepresentation of women being promoted to leadership positions in companies that are underperforming or are severely unstable. Whereas men are more likely to be promoted to leadership positions in high performing, stable companies, women are more likely to be promoted in unstable and underperforming companies. Yup, you read it right – after women push through the glass ceiling and get a high promotion, they often find themselves at risk of losing everything and teetering on the glass cliff of an unstable company. So why does this happen? Well, some research indicates that women may be put in these roles during crisis because they are good at managing people as well as easier to place blame on for the company failures (Ryan, Haslam, & Postmes, 2007). Placing a female in the role of leadership during crisis may also signal to others that there is an organizational change occurring (Brukmuller & Branscombe, 2011; Oelbaum, 2016). Females tend to have attributes of warmth and caring, qualities desirable when a company is unstable; whereas men are known to be more assertive and direct, qualities that may be more desirable when a company is doing well. Although research appears pretty consistent in its findings, while women readily acknowledge the phenomenon, men may be more reluctant to acknowledge the phenomenon (Ryan, Haslam, Postmes, 2007).
12.3.3. Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment can be difficult to find, largely due to the fact that although some behavior may be very obvious and overt, other behaviors that make up sexual harassment may seem less obvious, more covert, and may be dependent on an individual. Ultimately, if a “reasonable” person would say that labels behavior as hostile, then it is likely considered sexual harassment (Weiner & Gutek, 1999). Moreover, if the behavior is not a choice (it is forced) and it makes someone uncomfortable, it is hostile (Helgeson, 2012).
There are two types of sexual harassment – a hostile environment, and quid pro quo. A hostile environment is sexual harassment that occurs when a person experiences unwanted sexual communication or behavior from a coworker, boss, or someone else. For example, every time Anna comes into work, her male coworker overly comments on her appearance, calls her ‘babe,’ or comments on her physique. Quid pro quo sexual harassment literally means this for that. Thus quid pro quo sexual harassment is when sexual advancements are made and tolerating this allows the individual to advance (or keeps them from punishment). More specifically, this harassment is when someone, often with higher authority than the victim, threatens or asks for sexual acts in exchange for the victim getting some work-related benefit (such as a promotion, raise) or threatens them with punishment (such as a demotion, fired) if they do not engage in the act (Helgeson, 2012). For example, Sally’s boss asks her to perform a sexual act and promises her to get Friday’s off as long as she does this act.
Sexual harassment can occur to anyone; however, 84% of sexual harassment claims are by women, indicating that women experience sexual harassment more often than men. Keep in mind that not all sexual harassment is reported. About 50% of women will experience sexual harassment in the workplace. On college campuses, 2/3 of students experience sexual harassment (Helgeson, 2012).
The experience of sexual harassment may lead to negative outcomes for an individual’s psychological wellbeing (e.g., increased anxiety and depression), health (e.g., increased somatic complaints such as headaches, and job satisfaction and performance (Helgeson, 2012; Willness, Steel, & Lee, 2007). If an individual has been harassed at work, they likely are unhappy at their job and may perform worse – they may also be more likely to quit or be fired. The more severe the harassment, or the more repetitive/frequent it is, the worse an individual’s outcomes may be (Collinsworth, Fitzgerald, & Drasgow, 2009); However, even in low frequencies, sexual harassment can have very negative impacts on women (Schneider, Swan, Fitzgerald, 1997).
12.4. Work and Family
Section Learning Objectives
• Define and understand stereotype content model and how this relates to stereotypes of women, especially pregnant women.
• Recognize multiple role theories and the risk and benefits of holding multiple roles
• Recognize the unique challenges women may face when holding multiple roles.
12.4.1. Stereotype Content Model
The perception of warmth and competence leads to perceived competition and status, according to the stereotype content model. The various combination of these characteristics (i.e., warmth and competence) leads to differing outcomes of perceptions. Essentially, stereotypes are made from a systematic assessment of warmth and competence in an individual. Warmth refers to how friendly and sincere someone may be, whereas competence refers to how capable, competent, and skillful someone is. Someone may be perceived as high in one area and low in another, high in both, or low in both. These combinations lead to stereotypes that are associated with emotions and specific behaviors. For example, an individual with high warmth and low competence (perhaps elderly or women that do not work) may be pitied. Below are the four combinations that occur listed (Fiske, et al., 2002).
1. Admired Group: High in warmth and high in competence. Middle class individuals may be classified here.
2. Hated/Contemptuous Group: Low in warmth and low in competence. Homeless or low-income individuals are often stereotyped here.
3. Envied Group: Low in warmth and high in competence. The female CEO may be classified here.
4. Pitied Group: High in warmth, but low in competence. This group may include elderly people and disabled individuals, as well as pregnant women.
These stereotypes then lead to specific emotions and behaviors. Group 1 brings out active and passive facilitation, whereas Group 2 brings out Passive and active harm. Group 3 brings about active attacking behavior and passive neglect. Group 3 brings about active attacking behavior and passive neglect. Group 4 tends to lead to both active helping behavior but also passive neglect (Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, 2008).
12.4.2. Pregnancy Discrimination
An amendment to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964) protects women from discrimination related to pregnancy or child birth, defining such as sexual discrimination, and thus, unlawful. This amendment is known as the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA; US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018). The PDA was established in 1978. The act essentially indicates that an employer cannot fire or refuse to hire a woman because she is pregnant. It also states that an employer cannot discriminate in other ways such as passing a woman up for a promotion, etc., simply because a woman is pregnant. An employer must allow all of the same rights to medical clearances and leave as they would to someone else with an inability to work due to medical concerns. Moreover, although not required to be paid, if a woman has worked for an employer for at least 12 months prior to birth, she may likely be eligible for 12 weeks of leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) of 1993 (US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 2018).
Despite this, pregnant women are often pitied and seen as less capable. And despite laws, discrimination of pregnant women is still very common. For example, in 2013, a New York City police officer was set to sit for the Sergeant exam, but she went into labor the day of her exam. Although policies are in place to allow for rescheduled exams due to emergencies, she was denied a retest date. In fact, in manual labor or blue-collar work, women are often pressured to take disability earlier in their pregnancy because employers feel it is too complicated to find appropriate accommodations for them (Chrisler, 2017). Again, this is supposed to be protected under the PDA.
Moreover, because pregnant women are often implicitly placed in the “pitied” group, based on the stereotype content model, pregnant women may be liked but also viewed as delicate and receive over assistance. She may even be patronized. Men tend to worry more than women do about the potential for pregnant women to be irrational or overly emotional (Chrisler, 2017).
12.4.3. Balancing Work and Family
Nearly 70% of women that work also have children and a partner (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). So, how does this work? Is it helpful and beneficial for women and families? Well, it depends on what theory you look at. The role scarcity hypothesis posits that multiple roles actually leads to negative health outcomes because an individual is trying to spread their resources across too many domains leading to strain. This strain is referred to as role strain and can be due to either overload (role overload) or conflict (role conflict). Role overload is when time prevents or makes it hard to fulfill more than one role; essentially, time is a limited resource, and you start having to choose where to devote time, because you don’t have enough to devote equal time to all of your roles (Helgeson, 2012). Working full time and going to school fulltime may be an example of nonfamily-related role overload. A family-related example may be when you cannot work overtime at work and come home finish all of the laundry. Role conflict is when one role prevents or conflicts directly with the other; essentially, you have two obligations at once. An example of this would be an after-hours work event and your child’s baseball game being at the same time. These two things conflict with each other, and you cannot physically be at both.
Role expansion hypothesis, also referred to as role enhancement hypothesis, argues that individuals actually benefit from having more than one role. In fact, one role may actually support and empower another role. The theory posits that there are more gains to multiple roles than there are drawbacks (Helgeson, 2012). An example of this may be that, while at your child’s baseball game, you network with a company that can alleviate a burden in your current company’s end-of-the-year budget. Or, when your significant other offers a suggestion for meeting at work that ends up proving helpful. Or perhaps your role as a physicians’ assistant allows you to understand the level of care your child needs when running 103 fever. Most of the research evidence actually shows that there are benefits to multiple roles (Barnett, 2004).
Module Recap
In this module, we are started our discussion by understanding how men and women’s career goals differ and why differences in career goals exist. We then discussed the specific hiring and pay discrimination and inequalities women often face in the workplace. We also took a look at negotiation strategies and skills, and uncovered the tendency of women to negotiate less often, and for lower amounts, and the factors that contribute to this. We also took a detailed look at many barriers women face in attempting to advance in their careers, with a specific focus on the glass ceiling and glass cliff. We then focused our conversation on sexual harassment of women. Finally, we ended our conversation about how women attempt to balance work and family life, and particularly challenges, such as pregnancy discrimination, they may face.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(McRaney_et_al.)/05%3A_Final_Topics/5.02%3A_Module_12__Gender_Through_an_Industrial-Organizational_Lens.txt
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What are little girls made of?Sugar and spiceAnd everything nice That’s what little girls are made of
Sex and gender are both central to our lives, but they are often a source of controversy. Reflect on how dramatically our attitudes and beliefs regarding sex and gender have changed in the last few years. In 2016, a woman was on the final ballot representing a major political party for president. In 2017, the Boy Scouts of America opened their organization to transgender children. In the 2018 mid-term election, more women were elected to serve in congress than in any prior election in American history. In the 2020 election, a woman of color was elected as Vice President, and on January 20, 2021 Kamala Harris took the oath of office. The concepts of sex and gender shape our identities, our opportunities, and our relationships.
The Central Concepts
Sex is used to categorize people based on genetic, chromosomal, and anatomical differences as male, female, or intersex, often thought of as biologically determined. Gender refers to the social meanings ascribed to people who belong to a particular sex. The reality of these two terms is more complicated. While traditionally, sex has been thought of as untainted by societal influences, and gender as socially constructed, the argument can be made that both terms are socially constructed. As you will see in a later module, there are several biological markers for femaleness and maleness, but most cultures use only one of those markers to assign babies to a particular sex, the external genitalia. However, nature lies. There may be a mismatch between internal and external reproductive systems, or between chromosomes and external genitalia. The sex and gender binaries are a social system that consists of two non-overlapping, opposing groups. Male and female, and masculine and feminine are used in most, but not all cultures, as they simplify interactions between societal members, aid in organizing division of labor, and help maintain social institutions (Bosson et al., 2019). However, our understanding of research into sex and gender has moved beyond the constraints of a binary system. Both variables currently include a range of categories that better fit to an individual’s own self-identification.
Gender Identity refers to a person’s psychological sense of being male, female, both, or neither. Categories of gender identity include:
• Cisgender or cis refers to individuals who identify with the gender assigned to them at birth. Some people prefer the term non-trans.
• Transgender generally refers to individuals who identify as a gender not assigned to them at birth. A gender transition is based on one’s identity and social expressions. Some individuals who transition do not experience a change in their gender identity since they have always identified in the way that they do. The term is used as an adjective (i.e., “a transgender woman,” not “a transgender”), however some individuals describe themselves by using transgender as a noun. The term transgendered is not preferred because it undermines self-definition.
• Trans is an abbreviated term, and individuals appear to use it self-referentially more often than transgender (Tompkins, 2014).
• Non-binary and genderqueer refer to gender identities beyond binary identifications of man or woman. The term genderqueer became popularized within the queer and trans communities in the 1990s and 2000s, and the term non-binary became popularized in the 2010s (Roxie, 2011).
• Agender, meaning “without gender,” can describe people who do not have a gender identity, while others identify as non-binary or gender neutral, have an undefinable identity, or feel indifferent about gender (Brooks, 2014).
• Genderfluid which highlights that people can experience shifts between gender identities.
Additional gender identity terms exist; these are just a few basic and commonly used terms. Again, the emphasis of these terms is on viewing individuals as they view themselves and using self-designated names and pronouns.
Similar to the sex-binary, the gender-binary assumes that individuals are either masculine or feminine. However, gender identity is currently viewed to be thought of as being on a continuum. Masculinity refers to the attributes most commonly associated with men in a culture. Femininity refers to the attributes a culture most commonly associates with women. Androgyny refers to possessing both stereotypical masculine and feminine traits. As some stereotypical masculine traits, such as being analytical or independent, and some stereotypical feminine traits, such as being nurturing or affectionate, predict more positive outcomes for people, researchers have wanted to know if being more androgynous is psychologically healthier. Scott et al. (2015) found in their study of over 4,800 young people in the United States, that androgyny was associated with more positive outcomes for White and Latinx girls, but not among boys. Boys who fit the more traditional masculine gender role predicted a better quality of life.
A Brief History of the Women’s Movement in the U.S.
Feminism, also known as the feminist or women’s movement, encompasses many social movementsthat emphasize improving women’s lives and rectifying gender inequality in society (Young, 1997). Overtime the focus has shifted as gains were made, or circumstances changed. The issues have ranged from women’s right to vote, hold property, receive equal pay and employment opportunity, reproductive rights, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and sexual violence and exploitation. Given the diversity of issues and voices that have been added to the movement it is described as having four waves.
First Wave
What has come to be called the “first wave” of the feminist movement in the Unites States began in the mid-19th century and lasted to the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920, which gave women the right to vote. White middle-class suffragists, such as Elizabeth Clay Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, focused on women’s suffrage, that is, the right to vote. Suffragists also worked on striking down coverture laws, which stated upon marriage a woman could no longer own property or enter into contract in her own name, and a woman’s right to education and employment (Kang et al., 2017).
Demanding women’s equality, the abolition of coverture, and access to employment and education were quite radical demands at the time. These demands confronted the ideology of the cult of true womanhood, summarized in four key tenets: piety, purity, submission and domesticity. These held that women were rightfully and naturally located in the private sphere of the household and not fit for public, political participation, or labor in the waged economy (Kang et al., 2017). However, this emphasis on confronting the ideology of the cult of true womanhood was shaped by the white middle-class standpoint of the leaders of the movement. This leadership shaped the priorities of the movement, often excluding the concerns and participation of working-class women and women of color.
Second Wave
The “second wave” of feminism, from 1920-1980, focused generally on fighting patriarchal structures of power, and specifically on combating occupational sex segregation in employment and fighting for reproductive rights for women (Kang et al., 2017). The Civil Rights Act of 1964, a major legal victory for the civil rights movement, not only prohibited employment discrimination based on race, but Title VII of the Act also prohibited sex discrimination. When the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency created to enforce Title VII, largely ignored women’s complaints of employment discrimination, 15 women and one man organized to form the National Organization of Women (NOW). NOW focused its attention and organizing on the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), fighting sex discrimination in education, and defending Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision of 1973 that struck down state laws that prohibited abortion within the first three months of pregnancy.
White women were not the only women spearheading feminist movements. As historian Thompson (2002) argues, in the mid and late 1960s, Latinx women, African American women, and Asian American women were developing multiracial feminist organizations that would become important players within the U.S. second wave feminist movement. However, during this era Black women writers and activists such as Alice Walker, bell hooks, and Patricia Hill Collins developed Black feminist thought as a critique of the ways in which some second wave feminists still ignored racism and class oppression and how they uniquely impact women and men of color and working-class people. bell hooks (1984) argued that feminism cannot just be a fight to make women equal with men, because such a fight does not acknowledge that all men are not equal in a capitalist, racist, and homophobic society. Sexism cannot be separated from racism, classism and homophobia, and that these systems of domination overlap and reinforce each other. These critiques led to the third wave of feminism.
Third Wave
“Third wave” feminism came directly out of the experiences of feminists in the late 20th century who grew up in a world that supposedly did not need social movements because “equal rights” for racial minorities, sexual minorities, and women had been guaranteed by law in many countries (Kang et al., 2017). However, the gap between law and reality, between the abstract proclamations of states and concrete lived experience, revealed the necessity of both old and new forms of activism. Moreover, third-wave feminism criticized second wave feminism’s focus on the universality of women’s experiences. Emerging from the criticism of Black feminists, third wave feminism emphasized the concept of intersectionality. Intersectionality views race, class, gender, sexuality, age, ability, and other aspects of identity as mutually constitutive; that is, people experience these multiple aspects of identity simultaneously and the meanings of different aspects of identity are shaped by one another.
Fourth Wave
Currently we are in the “fourth wave”, and fourth wavers are not just the reincarnation of their second and third wave grandmothers and mothers. There is a greater emphasis on intersectionality and the diversity of women (Ramptom, 2015). It has borrowed from third wave feminist and understanding that feminism is part of a larger context of oppression, along with ageism, racism, ableism, classism, and those of different sexual orientations. But f ourth wave feminism also rejects the gender binary and focuses on transgender issues. As Ramptom writes “feminism no longer just refers to the struggles of women; it is a clarion call for gender equity” (p.7). Gender equality was the focus of much of the women’s movement. Gender equality refers to not discriminating on the basis of a person’s gender when it comes to access to services, the allocation of resources, or opportunities (McRaney et al. 2021). Gender equity refers to there being fairness and justice in the distribution of resources and responsibilities on the basis of gender (McRaney, et al., 2021).
Fourth wavers have also capitalized on technological advances to promote their campaigns and raise public awareness to gain support (National Women’s History Museum, 2021). Hashtags such as #YesAllWomen, #BringBackOurGirls, and #MeToo have promoted the experiences that women have with violence and harassment. Social media has also galvanized marches in various cities and in the nations capital. Fourth wavers are now more global in their message and in their membership (National Women’s History Museum, 2021).
Feminist Theories
Feminist theory grew out of the feminist/women’s movement that began around 1830 in the United States and Europe. Feminist theory actually consists of many different perspectives, as no single person or perspective is the main authority. Although focusing on different aspects of the female experience, all feminist theories advocate for eliminating gender inequalities and oppression. According to Else-Quest and Hyde (2018), the following are the major points of feminist theories:
• Gender is socially constructed. Feminist theories emphasize that individual cultures and societal influences create and maintain gender roles that perpetuate gender inequality, male domination, and female subjugation. Due to women’s perceived lower status, they are discriminated against in diverse ways, including academically, politically, economically, and interpersonally.
• Men exercise power and control over women. Because men have seized power, they use that power in interpersonal relationships, including rape and domestic violence, in politics by passing laws that harm women, and economically by supporting different pay scales for jobs reflecting traditional gender roles. Men’s sense of entitlement and privilege allow them to exert power without fear of consequences.
• Women’s problems are due to external factors rather than internal factors. Mental health disorders in women, and being the victims of violence, are often viewed as being due to internal/personal reasons. This includes that women are naturally more emotional, and therefore more likely to suffer from a mental health disorder, or they dressed provocatively and therefore were responsible for being raped. Instead, feminist theories see external factors, such as sexism, discrimination, male aggression, and female inequality as the reasons for problems faced by women.
• Consciousness raising is an important aspect of all theories. Consciousness raising involves women first sharing their experiences and reflecting on them. Next, they engage in an analysis of their feelings and experiences. Lastly, they develop action plans to address any negative consequences from their experiences. This could include political or social actions, as well as making changes in interpersonal relationships.
Others have noted that feminist theory, as a collective, is a theoretical position which examines the world through the lens of gender but has a focus that is varied and wide-ranging (Evans, 2014). Thus, feminism is not afraid to engage in issues outside of gender, and understands that changes in the everyday circumstances of people’s lives, such as technology and even the outward trappings of society, does not inevitably bring with it changes in power, privilege, and authority. Many view that it is the role of feminist theory to challenge much of our social knowledge, which has always been supported by, and maintained, the authority of men.
According to Else-Quest and Hyde (2018), Renzetti et al. (2012), and Kang et al., (2017) there are several major types of feminist theory and they include:
Liberal Feminism holds that women and men are equal and should have the same opportunities. Liberal feminists tend to work within the current system for change to ensure that women have full access to legal, educational and career opportunities. The National Organization for Women (NOW) reflects liberal feminism, and this organization worked to pass the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which states, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex” (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018, p. 6). The ERA was passed in the House of Representatives and Senate in 1972, and finally has been ratified by all the 38 states needed to pass it, with Illinois becoming the 37th state May 30, 2018, and Virginia becoming the 38th on January 27, 2020. However, Congress set a 1982 deadline to ratify ERA, so the gesture by these states may be more symbolic. Moreover, several states (Idaho, Kentucky, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Tennessee) have voted to rescind their earlier ratification. However, states can only ratify an amendment, according to Article V of the constitution; they do not have the power to rescind a ratification (Equal Rights Amendment.org, 2018). This means the question of ERA is still in legal limbo.
Cultural Feminism, unlike liberal feminism, believes that women have special and unique qualities that have been devalued by a patriarchal society. The emphasis of cultural feminism is that these qualities, including nurturing, connectedness, and intuition, need to be elevated in society.
Radical Feminism opposes current political and social organizations because they are tied to patriarchy and the domination of women by men. Radical-cultural feminism argues that feminine values, such as interdependence, are preferable to masculine values, such as autonomy and dominance, and therefore men should strive to be more feminine. In contrast, Radical-libertarian feminism focuses on how femininity limits women and instead advocates for female androgyny. Because changing the current patriarchal society will be a difficult process, some radical feminists advocate for separate societies where women can work together free from men.
Women-of-Color Feminism promotes an intersectional model of feminism that emphasizes the unique situation of women of color being in multiple marginalized groups. The diversity of women’s experiences is considered more important than universal female experiences.
Marxist/Socialist Feminism concludes that the oppression of women is an example of class oppression based on a capitalist system. Women’s lower wages, for example, benefit corporate profits and the current capitalist economic system. Marxist/Socialist feminists argue that there should be no such category as “women’s work”, and they believe that women’s status will only improve with a major reform of American society.
Postmodern Feminism views sex and gender as socially determined scripts. They do not support a dualistic view of gender, heteronormativity, or biological determinism Instead, postmodern feminists see gender and sexuality as more fluid. Postmodern feminism is part of the fourth wave of feminism that is evident today.
Ecofeminism is concerned with environmentalism, and some of the most powerful leaders in the environmental movement have been women. Ecofeminism emerged in the 1970s and supports an earth-based spirituality movement that incorporates goddess imagery, female reproduction, healing, and a belief that all living beings are equal and should be respected. Ecofeminism also incorporates a wide range of intersectionality, including women of color, poor women, women with disabilities, and those who are trans and non-gender conforming. Historically, marginalized groups have experienced the brunt of extreme weather, unlawful working conditions, and exposure to toxins and pollution. Ecofeminism looks at these environmental issues through a social justice lens, critically analyzes their effects, and supports the needs of affected, marginalized people (Villalobos, 2017). Additionally, ecofeminism analyzes how western economic models have exploited and discriminated against those in economically underdeveloped societies
Ecofeminism also rejects a patriarchal society that is believed to harm both women and nature. The same societal structures (sexism, racism, classism) that oppress women and minorities, are also believed to be exploiting the environment. Applying ecofeminism in practice incorporates the blending of biocentricism, which endorses inherent value to all living things, and anthropocentricism, which focuses on humans being the most important entity in the universe. Ecofeminists support the needs of both nature and humans, and they encourage those with privilege to use it for good by advocating with, and on behalf of, others.
Black Feminism focuses on the interconnections among race, gender, class, sexual orientation and geography, as well as how they affect the wellbeing of Black women, Black families, and Black communities (Few, 2007). Even though they possess varying levels of privilege, black women still experience oppression unique to their identity. Specifically, Black men and women both experience racism and classism, but sexism exists in both personal and public settings. Although all women are affected by sexism, the relationship between Black and White women is influenced historically by enslavement and the emergence of the White women’s liberation movement. White feminist groups focused on White, middle class experiences that did not address the issues of poor and working-class Black women or address racism. Black feminists detailed how women experienced sexism differently based on their racial identity. Few (2007) stated: “Black and White womanhood differ and traditional housewife models of womanhood are not applicable to most Black women. In addition, historically, Black women have been more likely to be heads of household than White women and their labor contribution to the marketplace has always exceeded that of White women,” (p. 308).
Because the women’s liberation movement was seen as a white movement, and the black liberation movement was largely seen as a black male movement, Black feminist activists founded the National Black Feminist Organization (NBFO) in 1973. The NBFO was the first explicitly Black feminist organization in the United States (Few, 2007). The NBFO resulted not only from Black women’s frustration with racism in the women’s movement, but also a desire to raise the consciousness and connections of all Black women. Black feminists focused on defining themselves and rejecting internalized oppression as a way of fighting sexism and racism. Current Black feminists look to popular culture (e.g., hip-hop) and art (e.g., performance, photography, dance) to analyze black women’s lives, activism, and the development of Black female identity.
A Brief History of Men’s Movements in the U.S.
In the early 1970s informal discussion groups of men at colleges and universities started to question how male gender role stereotypes and norms were harmful to men (Renzetti et al., 2012). By the end of the decade, two camps had formed among Men’s Movement groups and writers. The male-identified camp is highlighted by writers like Goldberg (1976) who wrote “The Hazards of Being Male”. However, the subtitle of his book, “Surviving the Myth of Male Privilege,” suggests that while he recognized the toxicity of the masculine gender role for men, he did not believe that the same role was the main reason why women were suffering under the patriarchal system. To him, and other members of this camp, patriarchy is a myth (Edley, 2017). It is men who are the subordinated sex; women are more advantaged and protected. It is women who seduce men then claim rape, women who make false claims to the courts about spousal abuse, and child abuse, to gain sole custody of their children, but it is men who are expected to pay to support the family they are no longer allowed to see (Renzetti et al., 2012). The male-identified camp is antifeminist, and includes a number of faith based men’s groups, such as the Promise Keepers and the Nation of Islam, along with groups helping men find their inner wild man.
In contrast, the female-identified camp is explicitly pro-feminist, and examines both men’s relationships with women, and with other men. These groups recognize that there needs to be social changes to remove the gender inequalities. They also recognize that this domination and subordination is not just along gender lines, but also along racial, ethnic, social class, and sexual orientation. Groups such as the National Organization of Men Against Sexism (NOMAS) advocate “a perspective that is pro-feminist, gay affirmative, anti-racist, dedicated to enhancing men’s lives, and committed to justice on a broad range of social issues including class, race, age, religion, and physical abilities” (NOMAS, 2017, Principles, para. 1). The Good Men Project started as research for a book by Matlack and colleagues in 2009, The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood (Houghton et al., 2009). Matlack was interested in telling the stories of the defining moment in men’s lives. Matlack said that there was a point in every man’s life when he looks in the mirror and says “I thought I knew what it meant to be a man. I thought I new what it meant to be good. And I realize that I don’t know either” (The Good Men Project, n.d., About us, para. 1). The Good Men Project tackles issues relevant to men’s lives, from fatherhood, sex, ethics, aging, gender, sports, pornography, and politics. In their view men are neither “mindless, sex-obsessed buffoons nor the stoic automatons our culture makes them out to be” (The Good Men Project, n.d. About us, para. 4). Both groups challenge the traditional gender role for men. While NOMAS directly confronts how that role negatively impacts the lives of men and women, the Good Men Project helps men navigate the changing social landscape of sex and gender.
Masculinity Theories
Many of the early psychological theorists and researchers in psychology, as well as their research participants were men, and typically white males of a higher socioeconomic status (Pleck, 2017). So it may not seem surprising that psychology viewed men’s reactions and development as the human norm and basis for psychological theories. However, given that this norm was also embedded within a particular social class, ethnic group, and sexual orientation, many men did not fit the profile for this norm. This spawned renewed interest in studying the lives of men, as men, not as the stand-in for all humans.
Over 80 years ago, the trait of masculinity-femininity (m-f) was first introduced to psychology by Terman and Miles (1936). Many studies in the 1940s focused exclusively on how males scored on measures of this trait. As many fathers had been absent in World War II, psychologists wanted to know how this impacted the gender role development of boys. As women took to the factories during the war, researchers also looked at how having a mother who worked outside of the home impacted the gender role development of boys.
The progression of views regarding masculinity and femininity began as conceptualizing the two on opposite sides of a continuum (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). This one-dimensional, bipolar continuum was supported by survey questions indicating that men responded “yes” to questions related to stereotypical masculine identities, while women responded “yes” to questions that were more stereotypical feminine.
Are masculinity and femininity really opposites of each other or can individuals demonstrate both characteristics? Of course, individuals can demonstrate androgyny, as they exhibit both masculine and feminine behaviors. The concept of androgyny is based on a two-dimensional model of masculinity-femininity instead of the one-dimensional model previously illustrated. With this representation, a person can have a high score on both femininity and masculinity and would fall in the upper right quadrant of this model.
According to Pleck (2017), research on male gender identity, using trait m-f measures, grew to link it to a wide range of phenomena: Male psychological adjustment, male homosexuality, male transsexuality, male delinquency and hyper-masculinity, male initiation rites in non-Western cultures, boys’ difficulties in the schools, and racial/ethnic and social class differences among males (Pleck, 2017, p. xii).
The research on trait m-f in men was embedded in what has come to be called the gender role identity paradigm, and this paradigm dominated ideas, theories, and research on development, personality, and clinical psychology during this time. Gender role identity paradigm (GRIP) made the assumption that successful personality development hinged upon the formation of a gender role that was consistent with the person’s biological sex (Levant & Powell, 2017). GRIP was based on Freudian psychoanalytic theory. The failure of men to achieve a masculine identity was believed to be the root of homosexuality, negativity toward women, or hyper-masculinity to compensate for this failure. This view emerged from an essentialist view about sex and gender. It assumed that “there is a clear masculine “essence” that is historically invariant, that is, that biological sex determined gender” (Levant & Powell, 2017, p. 16-17).
Gender Role Strain Paradigm (GRSP): Pleck (1981) in his book, The Myth of Masculinity, introduced the concept of sex-role strain. Pleck (1995) later referred to this idea as the gender role strain paradigm (GRSP). Gender role strain refers to the pressure to live up to gender role ideals, and often results in psychological distress. Pleck drew from feminist and constructionist ideologies and applied them to masculinity and the lives of men (Levant & Powell, 2017). At the heart of this paradigm is the notion that traditional gender roles serve to maintain and protect patriarchal social order. Rewards are bestowed on those who conform to sex-typed behavior, while those who challenge them are ignored or punished. Overtime, these socially constructed gender-roles are seen as the norm, natural, and expected.
According to the GRSP (Levant & Powell, 2017):
• Gender roles are defined and constructed by the stereotypes and norms of the culture
• Gender roles are contradictory and inconsistent
• Violation of gender roles leads to social condemnation, and negative psychological consequences
• Violating gender roles have more negative consequences for men than for women
• Most people do not always act consistent with the gender roles
• Certain gender role traits are dysfunctional
• Each gender experiences gender role strain in the workplace and relationships
• Historical changes cause gender role strain
From this perspective, the traditional masculine gender role is impossible to achieve and is inherently harmful, leading men to experience gender role strain. This strain may lead men to experience pressure to conform to the male gender role, and in an effort to avoid social rejection and to gain the social reward of being considered a “man”, over time men will adopt a more rigid gender role (Isacco & Wade, 2017).
Pleck identified three sources of gender role strain: Discrepancy strain, dysfunction strain, and trauma strain.
Discrepancy strain occurs when a person fails to live up to the social standards for the gender role. As gender role norms are sometimes contradictory and inconsistent, men will invariably violate the norms. Pleck proposed that this discrepancy would lead to lower-self-esteem and other negative psychological issues when men fail to live up to the standards of the masculine gender role.
Dysfunction strain suggests that some of the gender role norms are inherently psychologically and physically harmful (Levant & Powel, 2017). Consider the main components of the traditional masculine gender role.
• Men should not be feminine
• Men should not show weakness
• Men should always strive for respect and success
• Men should always seek adventure, and never shy away from risk
Within each of these components are traits that can have negative side-effects on both men and those around them. This “dark side of masculinity” (Brooks & Silverstein, 1995) involves various types of violence, relationship failures, and socially irresponsible actions. Men who fail to achieve the ideals of manhood frequently have their status as a “real” man questioned. This is the precarious manhood hypothesis, a tenuous social status that is difficult to attain, but easy to lose (Vandello & Bosson, 2013). Men’s status as men requires validation, as a result men are constantly being asked to prove their manhood. This is something that women rarely encounter. Moreover, men who lose certain social achievements, such as employment, are more likely to expect that others will see them as less of a man.
Trauma strain refers to the notion that the socialization of males to achieve the traditional masculine gender-role is traumatic (Levant & Powel, 2017). In some societies males may have to go through some rite of passage to achieve manhood. This may involve taking them away from their mothers at a young age, or facing danger or withstanding pain to prove they are a man. Even in societies that do not have a specific rite of passage, males are expected to shield their emotions, to not flinch in the face of danger, and to never show weakness.
Pleck (1995) later created the notion of masculine ideology. Masculine ideology is defined as “the individual’s endorsement and internalization of cultural belief systems about masculinity and the male gender” (p. 19). Masculinity, like femininity, is tied to the cultural and historical context. Thus, there may be many masculinities. However, in many cultures there is often a dominant set of expectations that serve as the foundation of cultural beliefs about what it means to be a man. This has often been referred to as hegemonic masculinity or traditional masculinity ideology (Rowbottom et al., 2012). Pleck’s concept of masculine ideology led others to consider how the extent to which men hold such beliefs affects their self-worth and is dependent on the reference group men are using.
Masculinity Contingency: This concept refers to the extent to which a man’s sense of self-worth is related to his sense of masculinity (Isacco & Wade, 2017). This concept hypothesizes that a man who is high in masculinity contingency would experience more fluctuations to self-worth because it would be contingent on his masculinity being validated by others. Masculinity contingency involves both contingency threat, which refers to the extent to which a lack of masculinity threatens a man’s self-worth, and contingency boost, where confirmation of masculinity elevates a man’s self-worth.
Male Reference Group Identity Dependence: This theory was proposed by Wade (1998) and is based on Erikson’s ego identity theory and Sherif’s reference group theory (Isacco & Wade, 2017). Ego identity is the self-image that we form in adolescence and young adulthood that is the integration of our ideas about who we are and who we want to be (Schultz & Schultz, 1994). A reference group is the group we use for comparison. It provides us with the norms, expectations, beliefs, and customs. The “extent to which a male is dependent on a male reference group for his gender role self-concept” defines male reference group identity dependence (Isacco & Wade, 2017, p.144).
According to this theory there are three levels of psychological relatedness: psychological relatedness to all males, to just some males, or no sense of connection to other males (Isacco & Wade, 2017). The theory hypothesizes that when males feel relatedness to just some groups of men their gender role self-concept is likely to conform to that group’s norms, and such men will hold more rigid views about what is appropriate, expected, or desired behavior in men. When the connection is to all males, since there is no single reference group, the gender self-concept is likely to be more self-defined, and such men’s gender-related attitudes will be more flexible and autonomous. If there is no male reference group there may be confusion with regard to gender-related norms and attitudes, and the male may experience feelings of alienation and insecurity.
Gay Rights and Transgender Movements
According to Morris (2016), there is historical evidence of same-sex relationships in every documented culture. Further, there is evidence of individuals living as a gender different than the one assigned at birth. Females lived as males in order to be part of the military, attend schooling and work, while males also exhibited transgender behavior, especially in the performance arts. Despite the presence of LGBTQ individuals in diverse cultures, European and Christian colonizers rejected behaviors that deviated from their views of masculine and feminine roles and enforced sodomy laws, which defined certain sexual acts as crimes. Consequently, through much of history, LGBTQ individuals were stigmatized, arrested and labeled deviant.
Although there had been organizations that advocated for the acceptance of same sex relationships since the late 19th century, the uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village on June 28, 1969 was an important turning point (Morris, 2016). Fed up with ongoing police raids, patrons of the bar fought back and galvanized the gay liberation movement. The 1970s saw the creation of political organizations focused on gay rights. Lesbian movements also emerged as many females felt excluded from the leadership of most gay liberation groups. Another important turning point was in 1973 when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. No longer would the LGBTQ community be at risk for a psychiatric diagnosis, job dismissal, or loss of a child custody case.
New legal gains for gay and lesbian couples in America occurred in 2000 when same-sex civil unions were recognized in Vermont. By 2004, same-sex marriages took place in Massachusetts and on June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees same-sex marriage. The 21st century has also seen the emergence of greater transgender visibility and support for transgender equal rights, as well as the increased use of non-binary terms (Morris, 2016). On June 15, 2020, the United States Supreme Court ruled that gay, lesbian, and transgender people are protected from employment discrimination. A majority of the court justices determined that the Civil Rights Act of 1964, barring discrimination based on sex, included discrimination against people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity (Sherman, 2020).
Despite these gains and visibility, there is still a perception held by many that a transwoman is not really a woman. For example, author J. K. Rowling was criticized for emphasizing the definition of a woman based on menstruation. In fact, some feminists do not include transwomen as women and align with gender-critical feminism, which advocates reserving women’s spaces for ciswomen (Zanghellini, 2020). Reasons given for the exclusion of transwomen as women, is that transwomen were socialized as cismales and not as women. Therefore, transwomen lack the distinctive experience of sex-based subordination faced by ciswomen. Additionally, gender-critical feminism asserts that transwomen would undermine the safety of ciswomen by accessing women-only spaces (e.g., bathrooms and changing rooms), and thus women’s bodies. Consequently, ciswomen would be vulnerable to enduring predatory male behavior. Further discussions of individuals in the LGBTQ community occur in later modules.
Main Themes of Gender Studies
There are a few themes that run throughout the text. The first theme, essentialism versus constructivism, centers on how we perceive the true nature of gender. This central belief strongly impacts how we interpret and react to the concept of gender, gender issues, and the people who occupy various gender categories. The second theme focuses on the dynamics of power in a society and how certain forms of power often reside with one gender more than the other. One dynamic of power is demonstrated through sexism. This shapes the experiences, opportunities, and developmental course for people. The final theme is intersectionality. Gender is but one of a myriad of other social categories (e.g., age, race, ability, wealth) that influence people’s lives. These themes underlie many of the topics and issues discussed in the rest of the text.
Essentialism vs. Constructivism:
Identities are the categories we use to define both ourselves and other people. In many societies the boundaries between different categories of people seem clear and straightforward. Someone is a male, Hispanic, heterosexual, and Catholic. This “black and white” way of thinking about the world is at the heart of essentialism. In essentialism the characteristics that are a part of a category are assumed to be universal, inherent, and unambiguous (Newman, 2017). These characteristics are viewed as part of the individual, not embedded within a social context. The categories in which we place ourselves and others are also assumed to be immutable. For example, the essentialist view assumes that people cannot change their sexual orientation. If someone later in life enters into a same-sex relationship, from the essentialist view, this person has always been homosexual. Sex, gender, and sexual orientation are viewed as unchanging characteristics of the individual.
This essentialist view can have important consequences. If one believes that an inherent characteristic of a man is to be dominant and assertive, then should they not, by the very virtue of being men, hold the positions of power? If it is an essential quality of women to nurture, should they not be given the role of caregiver? From this perspective it is only “natural” that women take care of others and that men lead. This can lead to, and be used to, justify social inequalities between groups in a society.
In contrast, constructivism, also called social constructivism, argues that society creates what we believe to be true (Newman, 2017). Thus, what we believe to be reality is always a creation of our culture and time period. Geocentricity, the belief that the sun and other planets revolved round the earth, was a commonly held view until it was eventually displaced by the work of Copernicus, Galileo, and Kepler. Just like our knowledge of the universe has changed over time, so too has our understanding of sex and gender. The constructivist view recognizes that such identifiers depend on the context. The meaning of such categories are different between cultures and can change over time. For instance, the original definition of heterosexual was someone who preferred both sexes (Katz, 2003). This means these categories are historically or culturally specific and, contrary to the essentialist view, are often fluid rather than fixed. This book will take the constructionist view about sex and gender, and you will see that “gendered behavior results from a complex interplay of genes, gonadal hormones, socialization, and cognitive development related to gender identification” (Hines, 2011, p. 70).
Dynamics of Power:
Human societies throughout the ages have typically been based on hierarchies with dominant groups holding power over subordinate groups. Power can come in many forms in a society. Structural power determines who makes the decisions and laws that govern the society and can also determine who holds, and metes out, resources. Structural power controls society at large and this is typically in the hands of men. Dyadic power refers to the power to initiate intimate relationships and control the decisions in those relationships. Dyadic power controls more the family and home. In many, but not all cultures and families, women control more of the dyadic power (Wingood & DiClemente, 2000).
Patriarchy is the term used to describe societies that place power and resources in the hands of males. Most patriarchal societies are also patrilineal, meaning that lineage and wealth in a family is passed down from fathers. Patrilocal describes cultures where women leave their families to live with or near their husband’s family. Matriarchy is the term used to describe societies that place structural power and resources in the hands of females. There is little evidence that true matriarchal societies occurred in human history (Bosson et al., 2019). However, there is evidence of matrilineal societies, even today, where the lineage and wealth is passed down from mothers, and matrilocal cultures where men move to live with or near their wife’s family.
Sexism:
The dynamics of power in a culture influences the experiences of different genders. This is illustrated in the concept of sexism. Sexism or gender discrimination is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender (Bosson, et al., 2019). Sexism can affect any sex that is marginalized or oppressed in a society; however, it is particularly documented as affecting females. It has been linked to stereotypes and gender roles and includes the belief that males are intrinsically superior to other sexes and genders. Extreme sexism may foster sexual harassment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence.
Sexism can exist on a societal level, such as in hiring, employment opportunities, and education. In the United States, women are less likely to be hired or promoted in male-dominated professions, such as engineering, aviation, and construction (Funk & Parker, 2018). In many areas of the world, young girls are not given the same access to nutrition, healthcare, and education as boys. Sexism also includes people’s expectations of how members of a gender group should behave. For example, women are expected to be friendly, passive, and nurturing; when a woman behaves in an unfriendly or assertive manner, she may be disliked or perceived as aggressive because she has violated a gender role (Rudman, 1998). In contrast, a man behaving in a similarly unfriendly or assertive way might be perceived as strong or even gain respect in some circumstances.
Glick and Fiske (1997) proposed the theory of ambivalent sexism, which explains how sexism can simultaneously take the form of both hostility and benevolence. Ambivalent sexism includes both benevolent sexism, that is, positive attitudes toward an individual in a gender group often when they engage in traditional roles and hostile sexism; that is, negative attitudes toward an individual in a gender group often when they engage in non-traditional roles. For example, King (2015) investigated how store employees view pregnant women when applying for a job and when asking for help. In field experiments, women wearing a pregnancy prosthesis encountered more subtle forms of discrimination, including rudeness, hostility, and decreased eye contact, when applying for a retail job than when they did not appear pregnant. Conversely, when the same women asked for help finding a gift, she received more positive reactions and greater assistance when appearing to be pregnant. Ambivalent sexism explains these results by focusing on how the women demonstrated traditional gender roles. The women were “punished” when asking for a job (hostile sexism) and “rewarded” when asking for assistance (benevolent sexism). Both types of sexism support patriarchy and maintain traditional gender roles for both women and men.
Intersectionality:
In 1976, five Black women from Missouri filed a law suit alleging that General Motors discriminated against Black women. In DeGraffenreid v. General Motors, these women argued they were excluded from employment due to compound discrimination. They contended that only white women were hired for office and secretarial jobs. The courts weighed the allegations of race and gender discrimination separately and found that the employment of Black male factory workers disproved racial discrimination, and the employment of White female office workers disproved gender discrimination. The court declined to consider compound discrimination and dismissed the case. Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw often refers to this case as an inspiration for developing intersectional theory, or the study of how overlapping or intersecting social identities relate to oppression, domination or discrimination.
According to Crenshaw (1991), the concept of intersectionality, arising from intersectional theory, identifies a mode of analysis integral to gender and sexuality studies. Notions of gender, and the way a person’s gender is interpreted by others, are always impacted by the way that person’s race is interpreted. For example, a person is never received as just a woman, but how that person is racialized impacts how the person is received as a woman. So, notions of blackness, brownness, and whiteness always influence gendered experience, and there is no experience of gender that is outside of an experience of race. In addition to race, gendered experience is also shaped by age, sexuality, class, and ability; likewise, the experience of race is impacted by gender, age, class, sexuality, and ability (Kang et al., 2017).
Older, minority women can face ageism, racism, and sexism, often referred to as triple jeopardy (Hinze, et al., 2012), which can adversely affect their life in late adulthood. Older adults who are African American, Mexican American, and Asian American experience psychological problems that are often associated with discrimination by the White majority (Youdin, 2016).
When socioeconomic status is added into the mix, the experiences of older men and women can greatly differ. According to Quinn and Cahill (2016), the poverty rate for older adults varies based on gender, marital status, race, and age. Women aged 65 or older were 70% more likely to be poor than men, and older women aged 80 and above have higher levels of poverty than those younger. Married couples are less likely to be poor than nonmarried men and women, and poverty is more prevalent among older racial minorities. In 2017 the poverty rates for White older men (5.8%) and White older women (8.0%) were lower than for Black older men (16.1%), Black older women (21.5%), Hispanic older men (14.8%), and Hispanic older women (19.8%) (Li & Dalaker, 2019).
Understanding intersectionality requires a particular way of thinking. It is different than how many people imagine identities operate. An intersectional analysis of identity is distinct from single-determinant identity models and additive models of identity. A single determinant model of identity presumes that one aspect of identity, say, gender, dictates one’s access to or disenfranchisement from power. An example of this idea is the concept of “global sisterhood or brotherhood,” or the idea that all women or all men across the globe share some basic common political interests, concerns, and needs (Morgan 1996). Unfortunately, if the analysis of social problems stops at gender, what is missed is an attention to how various cultural contexts shaped by race, religion, and access to resources may actually place some men’s and women’s needs at cross-purposes to other men’s and women’s needs. Therefore, this approach obscures the fact that men and women in different social and geographic locations face different problems. Although many white, middle-class women activists of the mid-20th century US fought for freedom to work and legal parity with men, this was not the major problem for women of color or working-class white women who had already been actively participating in the US labor market as domestic workers, factory workers, and enslaved laborers since early US colonial settlement. Campaigns for women’s equal legal rights and access to the labor market at the international level are shaped by the experience and concerns of white American women, while women of the global south (a term used to replace third world nations), in particular, may have more pressing concerns: access to clean water, access to adequate health care, and safety from the physical and psychological harms of living in tyrannical, war-torn, or economically impoverished nations.
In contrast to the single-determinant identity model, the additive model of identity simply adds together privileged and disadvantaged identities for a slightly more complex picture. For instance, a Black man may experience some advantages based on his gender, but has less access to power based on his race. The additive model does not take into account how our shared cultural ideas of gender are racialized and our ideas of race are gendered and that these ideas influence access to resources and power, such as material, political, and interpersonal. We cannot simply pull these identities apart because they are interconnected and mutually enforcing. In summary, an intersectional perspective examines how identities are related to each other in our own experiences and how the social structures of race, class, gender, sexuality, age, and ability intersect for everyone. As opposed to single-determinant and additive models of identity, an intersectional approach develops a more sophisticated understanding of the world and how individuals in differently situated social groups experience differential access to both material and symbolic resources.
The following chapters will discuss the contemporary theories and research on gender.
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Case Study: Bias in Medical Research
It may surprise some consumers that “there are no mandatory FDA requirements for prospectively designing clinical trials to investigate the impact of one’s sex on drug receptivity or adverse effects or for conducting appropriate and complete analysis by sex” (McGregor et al., 2016, p.xx). Not surprisingly most participants in clinical trials are male, unless the drug or treatment is targeted for a problem faced only by females. Research with animals shows the same gender bias, with studies using only males, not reporting the gender of the animals, or not reporting whether gender had any impact on outcomes (Beery & Zucker, 2011). In response to this growing concern, the National Institute of Health (NIH, 2015) has made the government funding of research contingent on sex being “factored into research designs, analyses, and reporting in vertebrate animal and human studies. Strong justification from the scientific literature, preliminary data, or other relevant considerations must be provided for applications proposing to study only one sex” (para. 4). While the topic of health and gender will be considered in more detail in a later module, a growing body of research is showing that there is a reason to be concerned about the absence of females in clinical trials (Regitz-Zagrosek, 2012).
Another source of bias is how researchers, and the general public, interpret findings of gender differences. When researchers find a difference in the performance between groups in their study they often report whether the finding was statistically significant. What does that mean? Was there a big difference in performance; a slight difference? As you learned in Introduction to Psychology, statistical significance only tells you how unlikely this difference was due to chance. What it does not tell you is how large or important is this difference. This is a point we will come back to later in the module. Some people, including scientists, when ascribing meanings to findings of gender differences take a maximalist approach, emphasizing differences and often assuming no real overlap in the performance of different genders, while others take a minimalist approach, and assume that although the difference is statistically significant, there is likely considerable overlap (Unger & Crawford, 1996). The maximalist approach can lead people to ignore the similarities between genders. This can lead to the perpetuation of stereotypes and exaggerate beliefs about the genders. However, the minimalist approach also has its risks as differences do exist among the sexes and genders. Consequently, either bias in interpreting differences is helpful. What researchers and the general public need to ask is how important are these differences, and what do these differences mean.
Research in the Psychology of Gender
An important part of learning any science, including psychology, is having a basic knowledge of the techniques used in gathering information. The hallmark of scientific investigation is that of following a set of procedures designed to keep questioning or skepticism alive while describing, explaining, or testing any phenomenon. Science involves continuously renewing our understanding of the subjects in question and an ongoing investigation of how and why events occur. The scientific method is the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). The following information explains the different types of research designs (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019):
• Researchdesign is the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data. Psychologists use many types of research designs in their research, and each provides an essential avenue for scientific investigation.
• Descriptive research is research that describes what is occurring at a particular point in time.
• Correlational research is research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge.
• Experimental research is research in which a researcher manipulates one or more variables to see their effects.
• Ex post facto research is research in which groups of people are compared on a participant variable, such as men and women.
• Quasi-experimental researchincludes both participant variables and experimental (manipulated) variables (Bosson et al., 2019). These main methods and examples will be examined below.
Descriptive Research
Case Study: Sometimes the data in a descriptive research project are based on only a small set of individuals. These research designs are known as case studieswhich are descriptiverecords of one or a small group of individuals’ experiences and behavior. Sometimes case studies involve ordinary individuals, but more frequently, case studies are conducted on individuals who have unusual or abnormal experiences. The assumption is that by carefully studying these individuals, we can learn something about human nature. Case studies have a distinct disadvantage in that, although it allows us to get an idea of what is currently happening, it is usually limited to static pictures. Although descriptions of particular experiences may be interesting, they are not always transferable to other individuals in similar situations. They are also time consuming and expensive, as many professionals are involved in gathering the information.
Observations: Another type of descriptive research is known as observation. When using naturalistic observation, psychologists observe and record behavior that occurs in everyday settings. However, naturalistic observations do not allow the researcher to have any control over the environment. Laboratory observation, unlike the naturalistic observation, is conducted in a setting created by the researcher. This permits the researcher to control more aspects of the situation. Concerns regarding laboratory observations are that the participants are aware that they are being watched, and there is no guarantee that the behavior demonstrated in the laboratory will generalize to the real world.
Survey: In other cases the data from descriptive research projects come in the form of a survey, which isameasure administered through either a verbal or written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest. The people chosen to participate in the research, known as the sample, are selected to be representative of all the people that the researcher wishes to know about called the population. A representative samplewould include the same percentages of genders, age groups, ethnic groups, and socio-economic groups as the larger population.
Surveys gather information from many individuals in a short period of time, which is the greatest benefit for surveys. Additionally, surveys are inexpensive to administer. However, surveys typically yield surface information on a wide variety of factors, but may not allow for in-depth understanding of human behavior. Another problem is that respondents may lie because they want to present themselves in the most favorable light, known associal desirability. They also may be embarrassed to answer truthfully or are worried that their results will not be kept confidential. Additionally, questions can be perceived differently than intended.
Interviews: Rather than surveying participants, they can be interviewed which means they are directly questioned by a researcher. Interviewing participants on their behaviors or beliefs can solve the problem of misinterpreting the questions posed on surveys. The examiner can explain the questions and further probe responses for greater clarity and understanding. Although this can yield more accurate results, interviews take longer and are more expensive to administer than surveys. Participants can also demonstrate social desirability, which will affect the accuracy of the responses.
Psychophysiological Assessment: Researchers may also record psychophysiological data, such as measures of heart rate, hormone levels, or brain activity to help explain behavior. These measures may be recorded by themselves or in combination with behavioral data to better understand the bidirectional relations between biology and behavior.
Secondary/Content Analysis involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences. There are a number of data sets available to those who wish to conduct this type of research. For example, the U. S. Census Data is available and widely used to look at trends and changes taking place in the United States. The researcher conducting secondary analysis does not have to recruit participants, but does need to know the quality of the information collected in the original study.
Correlational Research
In contrast to descriptive research, which is designed primarily to provide static pictures, correlational research involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables. For instance, the variables of height and weight are systematically related (correlated) because taller people generally weigh more than shorter people.
The Pearson Correlation Coefficient, symbolized by the letter r, is the most common statistical measure of the strength of linear relationships among variables. The value of the correlation coefficient ranges from r= –1.00 to r = +1.00. The strength of the linear relationship is indexed by the distance of the correlation coefficient from zero (its absolute value). For instance, r = –.54 is a stronger relationship than r= .30, and r = .72 is a stronger relationship than r = –.57. The direction of the linear relationship is indicated by the sign of the correlation coefficient. Positive values of r (such as r = .54 or r = .67) indicate that the relationship is positive (i.e., the pattern of the dots on the scatter plot runs from the lower left to the upper right), whereas negative values of r (such as r = –.30 or r = –.72) indicate negative relationships (i.e., the dots run from the upper left to the lower right).
When individuals have high values for one variable also tend to have high values for the other variable, as in part (a), the relationship is said to be positive correlation. In contrast, negative correlations, as shown in part (b), occur when high values for one variable tend to be associated with low values for the other variable.
An important limitation of correlational research designs is that they cannot be used to draw conclusions about the causal relationships among the measured variables. Consider, for instance, Swartout’s (2013) study where he surveyed college men about their peer’s attitudes toward women and measured the male respondents own hostility toward women. Swartout found that men whose peers held more hostile views toward women were positively correlated with the men’s own hostility toward women. While it is possible that the views of peers may influence an individual’s views and actions, it is possible that these men selected peers who held similar views to their own. Still another possible explanation for the observed correlation is that it has been produced by the presence of a third variable.
A third variable is a variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but produces the observed correlation between them. In our example, a potential third variable is men’s adherence to the male gender role norms. Their adherence to such norms may shape their attitudes toward women; it may also lead them to associate with peers who hold similar views. While it may appear that peers’ views influence individual views on women, it may be due to the unmeasured variable of adherence to the male gender role that is causing both individual and peer attitudes.
For this reason, we are left with the basic limitation of correlational research: Correlation does not demonstrate causation! It is important that when you read about correlational research projects, you keep in mind the possibility of third variables.
Correlational research can be used when experimental research is not possible because the variables cannot be manipulated or it would be unethical to use an experiment. Correlational designs also have the advantage of allowing the researcher to study behavior as it occurs in everyday life. We can also use correlational designs to make predictions. For instance, we can predict from the scores on a measure of masculinity, men’s body image issues. However, we cannot use such correlational information to determine whether one variable caused another variable. For that, researchers rely on an experiment.
Experimental Research
The goal of the experimental method is to provide more definitive conclusions about the causal relationships among the variables in a research hypothesis than what is available from correlational research. Experiments are designed to test hypotheses, or specific statements about the relationship between variables. Experiments are conducted in a controlled setting in an effort to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes. A variable is anything that changes in value. In the experimental research design, the variables of interest are called the independent variable and the dependent variable. The independent variable in an experiment is the causing variable that is created or manipulated by the experimenter. The dependent variable in an experiment is a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation.
A good experiment randomly assigns participants to at least two groups that are compared. Random assignment refers to using chance to determine which condition of the experiment research participants receive. The experimental group receives the treatment under investigation, while the control groupdoes not receive the treatment the experimenter is studying as a comparison. Additionally, experimental designs control for extraneous variables, or variables that are not part of the experiment that could inadvertently effect either the experimental or control group, thus distorting the results.
A psychologist studying gender might be interested in whether people perceive males and females differently, and whether those perceptions influence people’s interpretation of the behavior of someone they have been told is male or female. The psychologist could videotape two children dressed in snowsuits throwing snowballs and engaged in rough and tumble play. The psychologist would then randomly assign some research participants to a group that is told that the children are boys, while other participants are randomly assigned to a group that is told that the children are girls. The psychologist might then measure how aggressive the participants in both groups label the children’s behavior. In this study, the variable being manipulated (independent variable) is whether participants are led to believe the children are male or female. The variable that is expected to change (dependent variable) as a result of that manipulation is the participants’ ratings of aggressiveness. This was the scenario behind a landmark study by Condry and Ross (1985). Adults gave lower ratings of aggression in the play behavior when they were lead to believe that the two children were boys, than when they were lead to believe that at least one or both children were girls. Rough and tumble play is often seen as more typical play behavior for boys, thus is viewed as “playful” rather than aggressive.
Despite the advantage of determining causation, experiments do have limitations. One is that they are often conducted in laboratory situations rather than in the everyday lives of people. Therefore, we do not know whether results that we find in a laboratory setting will necessarily hold up in everyday life. In addition, some variables are not experimental variables as we cannot randomly assign people to these variables. Such variables include age, gender, sex, ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status. These are called participant variables as they are naturally occurring characteristic of the research participant, and they are measured rather than manipulated.
Ex Post-Facto Research
In ex post-facto research the researcher uses pre-existing groups, such as men and women, and compares them on a dependent variable (Bosson et al., 2019). For instance, psychologists might want to test whether women talk more than men. The researcher might watch men and women interacting with a target person and count the number of words they use in a set time interval. On the surface, these studies look like experiments, but the absence of random assignment makes them more correlational than experimental.
Quasi-experimental research
Psychologists might incorporate both experimental and participant variables into their research. This is the quasi-experiment. In a Quasi-experiment only some variables are actually manipulated by the experimenter, and participants are randomly assigned to these variables only. Participants cannot be randomly assigned to variables like age or gender. These variables are not truly experimental, but are being used to understand participants reactions in the study. The value of quasi-experiments is that they allow researchers to examine the interaction between experimental variables and participant variables.
Meta-analysis and Effect Size
Interpreting Effect Sizes
d value Meaning
0.00-0.10 Near Zero
0.11-0.35 Small
0.36-0.65 Medium
0.66-1.00 Large
>1.00 Very Large
Source: Hyde (2005)
Once several studies have been conducted on a topic, such as whether there are gender differences in math skills, researchers can combine the results of these studies to look for general trends in the research. A meta-analysisis a technique for analyzing and integrating the results from several studies (Hyde, 2005). The unit of analysis in meta-analysis is effect size, which is a way of quantifying the difference between two groups. For instance, a study may find a statistically significant difference between the performance of males and females on a measure of arithmetic. While statistical significance tells us that the observed difference was unlikely due to chance, it does not tell us whether the difference was meaningful or trivial. One common method for calculating the effect size is the d statistic, which quantifies the difference between group means in standardized units. In a single study, the d statistic would express the difference between the average female and the average male score in units of standard deviation. In meta-analysis, the d statistic is the average sex difference in standard deviation units across all the studies that were used in the meta-analysis. A negative d value shows a female advantage and positive d value conveys a male advantage.
Let us look at some examples:
• Height is 2.0. These means that the average male is taller than the average female. This difference would be considered a very large difference.
• Perceptual speed is -.48. This indicates that the average female responds quicker to perceptual tasks than the average male. This difference represents a medium effect size.
• Self-esteem for those aged 60 and over is .03. This indicates a negligible difference between males and females.
The d statistic will be used throughout the textbook to indicate the significance of gender differences.
Between Group and Within Group Variance
Another way to consider effect size is in terms of how much overlap there is between comparison groups. The more overlap between the distribution of scores of two groups the more similar are the performance of the two groups. Between-group variancerefers to the difference between the average score of each group, while the within-group variancerefers to how spread out are the scores within a group. For instance the average American male weighs 197.8 pounds and the average American female weighs 170.5 pounds (CDC, 2020). This would describe the between group variance. Yet, not all American men weigh 197.8 pounds. This would describe the within-group variance.
APA Guidelines for Conducting Ethical Research
One of the issues that all scientists must address concerns the ethics of their research. Research in psychology may cause some stress, harm, or inconvenience for the people who participate in that research. Psychologists may induce stress, anxiety, or negative moods in their participants, expose them to weak electrical shocks, or convince them to behave in ways that violate their moral standards. Additionally, researchers may sometimes use animals, potentially harming them in the process.
Decisions about whether research is ethical are made using established ethical codes developed by scientific organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, and federal governments. In the United States, the Department of Health and Human Services provides the guidelines for ethical standards in research. The following are the American Psychological Association code of ethics when using humans in research (APA, 2016).
• No Harm: The most direct ethical concern of the scientist is to prevent harm to the research participants.
• Informed Consent: Researchers must obtain informed consent, which explains as much as possible about the true nature of the study, particularly everything that might be expected to influence willingness to participate. Participants can withdraw their consent to participate at any point.
• Confidentiality: Researchers must also protect the privacy of the research participants’ responses by not using names or other information that could identify the participants.
• Deception: Deceptionoccurswhenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it. Deception may occur when the researcher tells the participants that a study is about one thing when in fact it is about something else, or when participants are not told about the hypothesis.
• Debriefing: At the end of a study debriefing, which is a procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation, must occur.
Guidelines for Gender-Fair Research
Bosson et al. (2019) outline five guidelines to promote gender-fair research.
• Researchers should always report the demographics of their sample. Studies that use only one gender should not generalize to others. In addition, samples should not be selected because of assumptions based on the topic, such as studying only mothers when the topic is on parenting. Researchers should also examine whether their findings differ based on the demographic samples.
• Researchers should use “non-gender biased, non-evaluative terminology” (Bosson et al, 2019, p.67), when describing their sample or findings. Researchers should avoid androcentric, hetero-centric terminology or avoid interpreting their findings from a andro- or heteronormative model.
• Researchers should avoid exaggerating the rate and size of gender differences. Researchers need to make clear the distinction between statistical significance and substantive significance. Not all statistically significant results are large or have practical importance. Researchers need to report effect sizes.
• Researchers should avoid implying gender differences are due to biological causes if biological factors were not examined. This is a particular caution when examining some of the claims made by evolutionary psychologists. Discovering a gender difference among 21st century men and women does not imply a biological underpinning. Biological explanations should only be given if biological variables were measured.
• Researchers should reflect on their assumptions that may underlie their research questions, methods, and interpretation of the findings. Researchers should examine both confirming and disconfirming evidence. They should critically review how their assumptions about gender or other social issues may influence the questions they ask in their research. Researchers should also consider the intersectionality of gender with other variables.
Guidelines for Representative Participants
An important area that especially needs to be addressed is the lack of participant diversity in psychological research (Andoh, 2021). Meaningful psychological research requires a representative sample of the population. Unfortunately, most standardization samples in psychological research are made up of individuals from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic (WEIRD) societies (Henrich et al., 2010). In reviewing databases from across the behavioral sciences, Heinrich and colleagues found that there was substantial variability in results, and WEIRD participants were unusual compared to other members of the species. Heinrich et al. reviewed research on visual perception, fairness, cooperation, spatial reasoning, categorization and inferential induction, moral reasoning, reasoning styles, self-concepts and related motivations, and the heritability of IQ. They found that members of WEIRD societies, who were predominantly from American universities and Europe, were less representative of the world populations as a whole. The results obtained from WEIRD participants often distort the generalizations made about mental processes and human behavior, and consequently more research on Black, Indigenous, and other people of color (BIPOC) is needed (Andoh, 2021).
In the next module we will examine the role of biology on gender, including genes, prenatal hormones, and the variations in sexual development. The module will also consider how biology affects sexual development across the lifespan.
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Case Study: Pidgeon Pagonis
Source
Pidgeon Pagonis, an intersex activist, was born in Chicago in 1986 and declared female at birth. At three months of age, their (preferred pronoun) mother was concerned that Pidgeon’s genitals looked swollen. Tests indicated that Pidgeon was genetically male with XY chromosomes and internal testes. Doctors at the time recommended that Pidgeon receive surgery to appear fully female. Further, doctors told Pidgeon’s parents that the surgery would not harm them sexually and it would allow them to have a “normal life” as a female. Consequently, Pidgeon had two surgeries at the ages of 4 and 11. However, according to Pidgeon the surgeries resulted in “scarring, loss of sensation, emotional trauma, and severe sexual impairment” (Schoenberg, 2018, p. 1).
Attempting to normalize external genitalia through surgery has typically been recommended for children who display differences in sexual development, but many of the individuals who underwent this surgery identify significant negative experiences. Consequently, this standard procedure has recently been criticized by individuals with differences in sexual development who believe that they, and not doctors, should make decisions about whether to have surgery or not. According to Schoenberg (2018), The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, former surgeon generals, and Human Rights Watch have all called for the end of these childhood surgeries. California became the first state to pass a resolution discouraging the surgeries. Pidgeon will continue to be active in the fight for stopping these purely cosmetic and unnecessary surgeries.
Heredity
As you learned in Introduction to Psychology, an individual’s development is affected by both nature and nurture. Nurturerefers to all the environmental influences that affect an individual, and nurture influences will be discussed in future modules. Naturerefers to the contribution of genetics to one’s development. The basic building block of the nature perspective is the gene. Genes are recipes for making proteins, while proteins influence the structure and functions of cells. Genes are located on the chromosomes, which are strands of DNA. There are an estimated 20,000-25,000 genes for humans, according to the Human Genome Project (NIH, 2020).
Normal human cells contain 46 chromosomes (or 23 pairs; one from each parent) in the nucleus of the cells. After conception, most cells of the body are created by a process called mitosis. Mitosisis defined as the cell’s nucleus making an exact copy of all the chromosomes and splitting into two new cells. However, the cells used in sexual reproduction, called the gametes (sperm or ova), are formed in a process called meiosis. In meiosisthe gamete’s chromosomes duplicate, and then divide twice resulting in four cells containing only half the genetic material of the original gamete. Thus, each sperm and egg possesses only 23 chromosomes and combine to produce the normal 46.
Mitosis and Meiosis
Of the 23 pairs of chromosomes created at conception, 22 pairs are similar in length. These are called autosomes. The remaining pair, or sex chromosomes, may differ in length. If a child receives the combination of XY the child will be identified as genetically male. If the child receives the combination XX the child will be identified as genetically female.
Genotypes and Phenotypes
The word genotyperefers to the sum total of all the genes a person inherits. The word phenotyperefers to the features that are actually expressed. Look in the mirror. What do you see, your genotype or your phenotype? What determines whether or not genes are expressed? Because genes are inherited in pairs on the chromosomes, we may receive either the same version of a gene from our mother and father, that is, behomozygous for that characteristic the gene influences. If we receive a different version of the gene from each parent, that is referred to asheterozygous. In the homozygous situation we will display that characteristic. It is in the heterozygous condition that it becomes clear that not all genes are created equal. Some genes are dominant, meaning they express themselves in the phenotype even when paired with a different version of the gene, while their silent partner is called recessive. Recessive genes express themselves only when paired with a similar version gene. Geneticists refer to different versions of a gene asalleles. Some dominant traits include having facial dimples, curly hair, normal vision, and dark hair. Some recessive traits include red hair, being nearsighted, and straight hair.
Most characteristics are not the result of a single gene; they are polygenic, meaning they are the result of several genes. In addition, the dominant and recessive patterns described above are usually not that simple either. Sometimes the dominant gene does not completely suppress the recessive gene; this is calledincomplete dominance. An example of this can be found in the recessive gene disorder sickle cell disease. The gene that produces healthy round-shaped red blood cells is dominant. The recessive gene causes an abnormality in the shape of red blood cells; they take on a sickle form, which can clog the veins and deprive vital organs of oxygen and increase the risk of stroke. To inherit the disorder a person must receive the recessive gene from both parents. Those who have inherited only one recessive-gene are calledcarriers and should be unaffected by this recessive trait. Yet, carriers of sickle cell have some red blood cells that take on the c-shaped sickle pattern. Under circumstances of oxygen deprivation, such as high altitudes or physical exertion, carriers for the sickle cell gene may experience some of the symptoms of sickle cell disease (Berk, 2004).
Prenatal Exposure to Hormones
Just how important are genes and hormones to the development of gender identification? The answer is quite important, especially during the prenatal period. According to Hines (2011), “Growing evidence shows that prenatal exposure to the gonadal hormone, testosterone, contributes to the development of sex differences, including sexual orientation, core gender identity, and some sex-related cognitive and personality characteristics. In addition to these prenatal hormonal influences, early infancy and puberty may provide additional critical periods when hormones influence human neurobehavioral organization,” (p.69).
You might be surprised to learn that gender development occurs at the moment of conception. At that time either two X chromosomes or an X and a Y chromosome unite. This union is important in determining what the gonads, or reproductive organs, will become. This occurs during the fifth and sixth weeks of gestation. Two X chromosomes typically result in the development of ovaries,or the gonads that produce ova and ovarian hormones. An X and Y chromosome pattern typically results in the development of testes,or gonads inside the scrotum that produce sperm amd testosterone. The amount of testosterone produced is very different depending on the whether the embryo has an XX or XY pattern, and this difference appears to be at its maximum between weeks 8 and 24 prenatally (Hines, 2011).
Interestingly, at least 1 in every 1,000 conceptions results in a variation of chromosomal sex beyond the typical XX or XY sets. Some of these variations include, XXX, XXY, XYY, or even a single X (Dreger, 1998). In some cases, people may have unusual physical characteristics, such as being taller than average, having a thick neck, or being sterile (unable to reproduce), but in many cases, these individuals have no cognitive, physical, or sexual issues (Wisniewski et al, 2000).
Mullerian and Wolffian Ducts:
Until the seventh week, there is an innate tendency for all embryos to have female internal sex organs, unless there is the presence of the SRY gene, located on the Y-chromosome (Grumbach & Conte, 1998; Wizemann & Pardue, 2001). The SRY gene causes XY-embryos to develop the testes. The testes emit testosterone which stimulates the development of the Wolffian ducts, or primitive male internal sex organs. The Wolffian ducts then transform into the epididymis, seminal vesicles, and vas deferens. If the SRY gene is not present or active, which is typical for chromosomal females, then XX-embryos develop ovaries and the primitive female internal sex organs, or the Mullerian ducts, which transform into the fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, and inner two-thirds of the vagina (Carlson, 1986). Without a burst of testosterone from the testes, the Wolffian ducts naturally deteriorate (Grumbach & Conte, 1998; Wizemann & Pardue, 2001). For XY-embryos, the testes also emit a Mullerian inhibiting substance, a hormone that causes the Mullerian ducts to atrophy. The concentration of androgens is especially high between weeks 8 and 24 (Hines, 2015).
By the 20th week of gestation, the external sex organs are fully formed. Formation of male external sex organs (e.g., the penis and scrotum) is dependent upon high levels of testosterone, whereas female external sex organs (e.g., the outer third of the vagina and the clitoris) form without hormonal influences (Carlson, 1986). When we think of identifying a newborn as a girl or boy, it is based on these external sex organs that are present at birth.
Because of the ethical concerns of manipulating gonadal hormones in humans, research done with nonhuman mammals provide hypotheses regarding the hormonal influences on brain development and behavior for humans. Specifically, estrogens during the early developmental period do not promote female typical behavior. Rather, female typical development occurs when there is an absence of male hormones (Hines, 2011). Consequently, high levels of estrogen do not feminize behavior. In contrast, the more testosterone an animal is exposed to, the more male typical behavior is demonstrated, such as rough and tumble play (Hines, 2015).
As described, levels of sex hormones, such as estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone, begin affecting the brain prenatally and are thought to impact future emotions, behaviors, and thoughts related to gender identity and sexual orientation (Swaab, 2004). However, it is important to understand that the interactions of chromosomes, gonads, hormones, internal sex organs, external sex organs, and brain differentiations during this developmental stage are too complex to readily conform to the familiar categories of sex, gender, and sexual orientation historically used to describe people (Herdt, 1996).
Differences in Sexual Development
The international scientific and medical communities, including the World Health Organization, World Medical Association, World Psychiatric Association, and Association for Psychological Science, view variations of sex, gender, and sexual orientation as normal. Furthermore, variations of sex, gender, and sexual orientation occur naturally throughout the animal kingdom. More than 65,000 animal species are intersex; that is born with either an absence or some combination of male and female reproductive organs, sex hormones, or sex chromosomes (Jarne & Auld, 2006). In humans, differences in sexual development make up more than 150 million people, or about two percent of the world’s population (Blackless et al., 2000). There are dozens of conditions, and such individuals demonstrate the diverse variations of biological sex. Some examples of differences in sexual development, include Turner syndrome, Triple X syndrome, Klinefelter’s syndrome, Jacob’s syndrome, Complete and Partial Androgen Insensitivity syndrome, and Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia,. The term “syndrome” can be misleading; although such individuals may have physical limitations (e.g., about a third of Turner’s individuals have heart defects; Matura et al, 2007), they otherwise lead relatively normal intellectual, personal, and social lives.
Turner syndrome (XO) is the absen ce of, or an imperfect, second X chromosome. Turner syndrome leads to ovarian regression either impairing or eliminating the production of ovarian hormones. Turner syndrome occurs in 1 of every 2500 live births of individuals identified as female at birth and affects the individual’s cognitive functioning and sexual maturation (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). The external genitalia appear normal, but breasts and ovaries do not develop fully and the individual typically does not menstruate, causing infertility. Turner syndrome also results in a short stature and other physical characteristics. During development, those with Turner syndrome exhibit reduced performance on tasks at which females excel and males excel, while sex-neutral tasks are not affected (Hines, 2011).
Triple X syndrome (XXX)is the presence of an additional X chromosome in the cells of a female and occurs in 1 out of 1000 female births. Other than being taller than average, there are no unusual physical features associated with Triple X syndrome. Sexual development and conception rates are normal, however there is an increased risk of delays in learning, motor skills, and speech and language development. In approximately 10% of females with Triple X syndrome, seizures or kidney abnormalities occur (National Institutes of Health, 2020).
Klinefelter syndrome (XXY)results when an extra X chromosome is present in the cells of a male and occurs in 1 out of 650 male births. The Y chromosome stimulates the growth of male genitalia, but the additional X chromosome inhibits this development. An individual with Klinefelter syndrome typically has small testes, some breast development, infertility and low levels of testosterone. Additionally, motor delays and learning disabilities are often present (National Institutes of Health, 2019).
Jacob’s syndrome (XYY) results whenan extra Y chromosome is present in the cells of a male and occurs in 1 out of 1000 male births. Males with this condition tend to be taller than average, and a large head, large teeth, flat feet, widely spaced eyes, and scoliosis have also been noted in some males. While normal testosterone production and sexual development occur , Jacob’s syndrome is associated with an increased risk of learning disabilities and delayed speech, language, and motor skills. An increased risk of motor tics, seizures, asthma, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, depression, and autism spectrum disorder occur (National Institutes of Health, 2020).
Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (AIS) occurs when a person has one X and one Y chromosome, but is resistant to the male hormones or androgens. Individuals with AIS lack the receptors that enable androgens to activate genes in the cell’s nucleus. This results in the partial or complete inability of the cell to respond to androgens and affects approximately 1 in 20,000 XY individuals (Carroll, 2016). Because the Wolffian ducts do not respond to the testosterone, male genitalia do not develop. Because the gonads did produce the Mullerian inhibiting substance, the Mullerien ducts do not develop into normal female internal organs. Consequently, the individual appears to be female at birth, but has an XY chromosomal pattern. It is often not until puberty, when there is a lack of menstruation due to the missing ovaries and other internal reproductive systems, that AIS is detected (Hines, 2015)..
Partial Androgen Insensitivity syndrome (PAIS) and mild forms of androgen insensitivity syndromeresult when the body’s tissues are partially sensitive to the effects of androgens (National Institutes of Health, 2020). Individuals with partial androgen insensitivity can have genitalia that look typically female, typically male, or have both male and female characteristics. Individuals with mild androgen insensitivity are born with male sex characteristics, but are often infertile and experience breast enlargement at puberty.
Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of genetic disorders which cause increased production of androgens due to an enzymatic deficiency (21-hydroxylase) resulting in an inability to produce cortisol and the overproduction of androgens (Hines, 2015). CAH occurs in between 1/5000 and 1/20,000 births in the United States and Europe. High androgen levels are expected in embryos with an XY pattern. For those embryos with an XX-pattern, however, an increase in androgens results in females exhibiting an increase in male-typical play and reduced female-typical play. Also, women who took an androgenic progestin, that mimics androgen, during pregnancy have children who exhibit an increase in male-typical toys and activities, while women who took antiandrogenic progestins, that mimic progesterone, show a decreased interest in male-typical activities and toys. Additionally, females with CAH show greater levels of physical aggression, increased accuracy in throwing objects at targets, and some studies have indicated enhanced mental rotation abilities (Hines, 2011).
Convincing evidence indicates that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to testosterone influences the development of children’s sex typical toy and activity interests. For example, boys prefer toys that move and “prenatal androgen exposure may increase interest in watching things move in space by altering development of the visual system,” (Hines, 2011, p. 74). Additionally, boys spend more time in “rough and tumble” play and prefer cars over dolls. For females, higher levels of testosterone in the blood and amniotic fluid in pregnant women, was correlated with higher levels of male typical play behavior and reduced female typical play behavior in their daughters (Hines, 2015).
Puberty
Pubertyis a period of rapid growth and sexual maturation. These changes begin sometime between eight and fourteen. Girls begin puberty at around ten years of age and boys begin approximately two years later. Pubertal changes take around three to four years to complete. Adolescents experience an overall physical growth spurt first. Sexual changes that occur at puberty are divided into two categories: Primary sexual characteristics and secondary sexual characteristics.
Primary sexual characteristicsare changes in the reproductive organs. For males, this includes growth of the testes, penis, scrotum, and spermarcheor first ejaculation of semen. This occurs between 11 and 15 years of age. For females, primary characteristics include growth of the uterus and menarcheor the first menstrual period. The female gametes, which are stored in the ovaries, are present at birth, but are immature. Each ovary contains about 400,000 gametes, but only 500 will become mature eggs (Crooks & Baur, 2007). Beginning at puberty, one ovum ripens and is released about every 28 days during the menstrual cycle. Stress and higher percentage of body fat can bring menstruation at younger ages.
Male Reproductive System
Secondary sexual characteristicsare visible physical changes not directly linked to reproduction, but signal sexual maturity. For males this includes broader shoulders and a lower voice as the larynx grows. Hair becomes coarser and darker, and hair growth occurs in the pubic area, under the arms and on the face. For females breast development occurs around age 10, although full development takes several years. Hips broaden and pubic and underarm hair develops and also becomes darker and coarser.
Not surprisingly, puberty has a tremendous affect on gender identity. For cisgender adolescents, males typically welcome the physical transition as their bodily changes represent the masculine ideal, especially regarding increased muscularity. In contrast, the physical changes experienced by females often take them further away from the feminine ideal of being very thin. Additionally, girls who develop earlier than their peers tend to be sexualized and harassed for their development.
Gender Role Intensification: At about the same time that puberty accentuates gender identity, role differences also accentuate for at least some teenagers. Some girls who excelled at math or science in elementary school, may curb their enthusiasm and displays of success at these subjects for fear of limiting their popularity or attractiveness as girls (Taylor et al., 1995; Sadker, 2004). Some boys who were not especially interested in sports previously may begin dedicating themselves to athletics to affirm their masculinity in the eyes of others. For trans adolescents, puberty can be especially difficult if the physical changes experienced do not align with the adolescents’ gender identification. These changes can cause distress in the adolescent, especially if trans-affirmative care is not being provided.
Pubertal Blockers and Hormone Treatment: Increasingly, transgender children, or those who identify with a gender that is different than the one assigned at birth, are socially transitioning to reflect their gender identity. This includes changing names, pronouns, clothing, hairstyles, and peer groups. Needless to say, the changes that occur during puberty can cause significant distress for transgender and gender nonconforming children and adolescents. Consequently, pubertal blockersormedications that suppress puberty by halting the production of estrogen or testosterone, have been prescribed to peripubertal transgender youth. The medications mostly commonly used to suppress puberty are known as gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues (Mayo Clinic, 2022). When taken regularly, GnRH analogues suppress the body’s release of sex hormones during puberty by desensitizing the stimulatory effects of GnRH on the pituitary gland, which secretes reproductive hormones. In those identified as male at birth, GnRH analogues decrease the growth of facial and body hair, prevent voice deepening, and limit the growth of genitalia. In those identified as female at birth, treatment limits or stops breast development and stops menstruation. The medications may be given as shots in a doctor’s office every one, three or six months, or in a yearly implant (Wilson, 2021).
By temporarily pausing development, the use of GnRH analogues allows preadolescents more opportunity to further explore and confirm their gender identity before the use of other treatments. Pubertal blockers are associated with improved behavioral and emotional functioning in transgender youth, including decreased rates of depression and suicidal ideation (Roberts, 2022). When puberty blockers are initiated in the early stages of puberty, physicians suggest that patients stop using them by age 14 (Wilson, 2021). At that point, patients, parents and physicians need to decide whether to introduce hormones that align with their gender identity, or resume puberty in the gender assigned at birth.
Because gender-affirming hormone treatment, which aligns one’s physical body with their gender identification, results in fertility and appearance changes, adolescents should understand the implications of the treatments. According to Roberts (2022), by age 16 adolescents are considered to possess the mental capacity to understand the hormonal effects and provide informed consent. Gender-affirming hormone treatment, has also been shown to increase mental health functioning among transgender youth.
Female Sexual and Reproductive Health at Midlife
The climacteric, or the midlife transition when fertility declines, is biologically based but impacted by the environment. Women, however, lose their ability to reproduce once they reach menopause. Perimenopause refers to a period of transition in which a woman’s ovaries stop releasing eggs and the level of estrogen and progesterone production decreases. Menopause is defined as 12 months without menstruation. The average age of menopause is approximately 51, however, many women begin experiencing symptoms in their 40s. These symptoms occur during perimenopause, which can occur 2 to 8 years before menopause (Huang, 2007). A woman may first begin to notice that her periods are more or less frequent than before. After a year without menstruation, a woman is considered menopausal and no longer capable of reproduction.
Symptoms: The symptoms that occur during perimenopause and menopause are typically caused by the decreased production of estrogen and progesterone (North American Menopause Society, 2016). The shifting hormones can contribute to the inability to fall asleep. Additionally, the declining levels of estrogen may make a woman more susceptible to environmental factors and stressors which disrupt sleep. A hot flashis a surge of adrenaline that can awaken the brain from sleep. It often produces sweat and a change of temperature that can be disruptive to sleep and comfort levels. Unfortunately, it may take time for adrenaline to recede and allow sleep to occur again (National Sleep Foundation, 2016).
The loss of estrogen also affects vaginal lubrication which diminishes and becomes waterier and can contribute to pain during intercourse. The vaginal wall also becomes thinner, and less elastic. Estrogen is also important for bone formation and growth, and decreased estrogen can cause osteoporosis resulting in decreased bone mass. Depression, irritability, and weight gain have been blamed on menopause, but they are not menopausal (Avis et al., 2001; Rossi, 2004). Weight gain can occur due to an increase in intra-abdominal fat followed by a loss of lean body mass after menopause (Morita et al., 2006). Consequently, women may need to change their lifestyle to counter any weight gain. Depression and mood swings are more common during menopause in women who have prior histories of these conditions rather than those who have not. Additionally, the incidence of depression and mood swings is not greater among menopausal women than non-menopausal women. Women vary greatly in the extent to which these symptoms are experienced. Most American women go through menopause with few problems (Carroll, 2016). Overall, menopause is not seen as universally distressing (Lachman, 2004).
Hormone Replacement Therapy: Concerns about the effects of hormone replacement has changed the frequency with which estrogen replacement and hormone replacement therapies have been prescribed for menopausal women. Estrogen replacement therapy was once commonly used to treat menopausal symptoms. However, more recently, hormone replacement therapy has been associated with breast cancer, stroke, and the development of blood clots (NIH, 2007). Most women do not have symptoms severe enough to warrant estrogen or hormone replacement therapy. If so, they can be treated with lower doses of estrogen and monitored with more frequent breast and pelvic exams. There are also some other ways to reduce symptoms. These include avoiding caffeine and alcohol, eating soy, remaining sexually active, practicing relaxation techniques, and using water-based lubricants during intercourse.
Menopause and Ethnicity: In a review of studies that mentioned menopause, symptoms varied greatly across countries, geographic regions, and even across ethnic groups within the same region (Palacios et al., 2010). For example, the Study of Women’s Health across the Nation (SWAN) examined 14,906 white, African American, Hispanic, Japanese American, and Chinese American women’s menopausal experiences (Avis et al., 2001). After controlling for age, educational level, general health status, and economic stressors, white women were more likely to disclose symptoms of depression, irritability, forgetfulness, and headaches compared to women in the other racial/ethnic groups. African American women experienced more night sweats, but this varied across research sites. Finally, Chinese American and Japanese American reported fewer menopausal symptoms when compared to the women in the other groups. Overall, the Chinese and Japanese group reported the fewest symptoms, while white women reported more mental health symptoms and African American women reported more physical symptoms.
Cultural Differences: Cultural influences seem to also play a role in the way menopause is experienced. Further, the prevalence of language specific to menopause is an important indicator of the occurrence of menopausal symptoms in a culture. Hmong tribal women living in Australia and Mayan women report that there is no word for “hot flashes” and both groups did not experience these symptoms (Yick-Flanagan, 2013). When asked about physical changes during menopause, the Hmong women reported lighter or no periods. They also reported no emotional symptoms and found the concept of emotional difficulties caused by menopause amusing (Thurston & Vissandjee, 2005). Similarly, a study with First Nation women in Canada found there was no single word for “menopause” in the Oji-Cree or Ojibway languages, with women referring to menopause only as “that time when periods stop” (Madden et al., 2010).
While some women focus on menopause as a loss of youth, womanhood, and physical attractiveness, career-oriented women tend to think of menopause as a liberating experience. Japanese women perceive menopause as a transition from motherhood to a more whole person, and they no longer feel obligated to fulfill certain expected social roles, such as the duty to be a mother (Kagawa-Singer et al., 2002). In India, 94% of women said they welcomed menopause. Aging women gain status and prestige and no longer have to go through self-imposed menstrual restrictions, which may contribute to Indian women’s experiences (Kaur et al., 2004). Overall, menopause signifies many different things to women around the world and there is no typical experience. Further, normalizing rather than pathologizing menopause is supported by research and women’s experiences.
Male Sexual and Reproductive Health at Midlife
During midlife, men may experience a reduction in their ability to reproduce. Although males can continue to father children throughout middle adulthood, erectile dysfunction (ED) becomes more common. Erectile dysfunctionrefers to the inability to achieve an erection or an inconsistent ability to achieve an erection (Swierzewski, 2015). Intermittent ED affects as many as 50% of men between the ages of 40 and 70. About 30 million men in the United States experience chronic ED, and the percentages increase with age. Approximately 4% of men in their 40s, 17% of men in their 60s, and 47% of men older than 75 experience chronic ED.
Causes for ED are primarily due to medical conditions, including diabetes, kidney disease, alcoholism, and atherosclerosis (build-up of plaque in the arteries). Plaque is made up of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other substances found in the blood. Over time plaque builds up, hardens, and restricts the blood flow in the arteries (NIH, 2014). This build-up limits the flow of oxygenated blood to organs and the penis. Overall, diseases account for 70% of chronic ED, while psychological factors, such as stress, depression and anxiety account for 10%-20% of all cases. Many of these causes are treatable, and ED is not an inevitable result of aging.
Men during middle adulthood may also experience prostate enlargement, which can interfere with urination, and deficient testosterone levels which decline throughout adulthood, but especially after age 50. If testosterone levels decline significantly, it is referred to as andropause or late-onset hypogonadism. Identifying whether testosterone levels are low is difficult because individual blood levels vary greatly. Low testosterone is not a concern unless it accompanied by negative symptoms such as low sex drive, ED, fatigue, loss of muscle, loss of body hair, or breast enlargement. Low testosterone is also associated with medical conditions, such as diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, and testicular cancer. The effectiveness of supplemental testosterone is mixed, and long term testosterone replacement therapy for men can increase the risk of prostate cancer, blood clots, heart attack and stroke (WebMD, 2016). Most men with low testosterone do not have related problems (Berkeley Wellness, 2011).
In the next module we will consider the various theories that have been proposed to explain the development of gender identity. In addition, we will examine the sources of gender socialization.
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Case Study: Disney Princess Culture
This chapter will discuss the socialization process for gender identity in children. A person’s sense of self as a member of a particular gender is known as gender identity. The development of gender identity appears to be due to an interaction among biological, social and representational influences (Ruble, et al., 2006). Gender roles, or the expectations associated with being male or female, are learned in one’s culture throughout childhood and into adulthood. The above image identifies an alternative spin on the endings for the Disney princesses. Does exposure to these Disney princesses affect gender roles and identity in children?
To answer that question, Coyne et al. (2016) first assessed how much preschoolers interacted with Disney princess culture, which was defined as watching movies and playing with toys. The researchers found that 96 percent of girls and 87 percent of boys had viewed Disney princess media. Additionally, more than 61 percent of girls played with princess toys at least once a week, but only four percent of boys did the same. Next, assessments of princess engagement and gender-stereotypical behavior were made based on reports from parents and teachers as well as an interactive task where the children would sort and rank their favorite toys from a varied collection of “girl” toys (dolls, tea sets), “boy” toys (action figures, tool sets) and gender-neutral options (puzzles, paint). The results indicated that for both boys and girls, the more interactions with the princesses predicted more female gender-stereotypical behavior a year later, even after controlling for initial levels of gender‐stereotypical behavior. Parental mediation strengthened associations between princess engagement and adherence to female gender‐stereotypical behavior for both girls and boys.
Gender Identity and Age
When do children start to learn about gender? Very early (Brown et al., 2020). Starting in infancy, children are learning about gender by observing the appearance, activities, and behavior of their caregivers and others around them (National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement, 2020). By their first birthday, children can distinguish faces by gender (Brown et al., 2020). As toddlers develop a sense of self, they use gender as one way to understand group belonging. Consequently, by their second birthday, they can label others’ gender and even sort objects into gender-typed categories. By the third birthday, children can consistently identify their own gender. At this age, children believe sex is determined by external attributes, such as appearance and specific behaviors, not biological attributes.
By five and six years of age, children hold the most rigid beliefs about what each gender can wear and behave, and they believe others may react negatively to any deviation from stereotypical gender norms (National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement, 2020). Stereotypes can refer to play (e.g., boys play with trucks, and girls play with dolls), traits (e.g., boys are strong, and girls like to cry), and occupations (e.g., men are doctors and women are nurses). Not surprisingly, children who exhibited the most gender stereotypical behavior at 3.5 years continued to demonstrate the most gender stereotypical behavior at 8 years of age. Similarly, those who exhibited the least gender typical behavior earlier also continued that way (Hines, 2015).
Adults may consciously, and unconsciously, encourage gender stereotypes (National Center on Parent, Family and Community Engagement, 2020). Girls are more likely to receive comments regarding their appearance, such as “What a pretty dress!” and “You are so cute!” In contrast, boys hear comments related to their abilities, such as “You are so smart!” or “You are so strong!” Further, the same behavior engenders different adult responses. When young children behave assertively, girls are criticized for being bossy, while boys are praised for being a leader. These stereotypes stay rigid until children reach about age 8 or 9. Then they develop cognitive abilities that allow them to be more flexible in their thinking about others (Brown et al., 2020).
Transgender Children: Many young children do not conform to the gender roles modeled by the culture and even push back against assigned roles. However, a small percentage of children actively reject the toys, clothing, and anatomy of their assigned sex and state they prefer the toys, clothing and anatomy of the opposite sex. Approximately 0.3 percent of the United States population identify as transgender (Olson & Gülgöz, 2018). Transgender adults have stated that they identified with the opposite gender as soon as they began talking (Russo, 2016). Some of these children may experience gender dysphoria, or distress accompanying a mismatch between one’s gender identity and biological sex (APA, 2013), while other children do not experience discomfort regarding their gender identity.
Current research is now looking at those young children who identify as transgender and have socially transitioned. In 2013, a longitudinal study following 300 socially transitioned transgender children between the ages of 3 and 12 began (Olson & Gülgöz, 2018). Socially transitioned transgender children identify with the gender opposite than the one assigned at birth, and they change their appearance and pronouns to reflect their gender identity. Findings from the study indicated that the gender development of these socially transitioned children looked similar to the gender development of cisgender children. These socially transitioned transgender children exhibited similar gender preferences and gender identities as their gender matched peers. Further, these children who were living everyday according to their gender identity and were supported by their families, exhibited positive mental health.
How Do We Learn about Gender?
Gender socialization focuses on what young children learn about gender from society, including parents, peers, media, religious institutions, schools, and public policies . Children learn about what is acceptable for females and males early , and i n fact, this socialization may even begin the moment a parent learns that a child is on the way. Knowing the sex of the child can conjure up images of the child’s behavior, appearance, and pote ntial on the part of a parent, a nd this stereotyping continues to guide perception through life. Consider parents of newborns, shown a 7 pound, 20 inch baby, wrapped in blue (a color designating males) describe the child as tough, strong, and angry when crying. Shown the same infant in pink (a color used in the United States for baby girls), these parents are likely to describe the baby as pretty, delic ate, and frustrated when crying (Maccoby & Jacklin, 1987). Femal e infants are held more, talked to more frequently and given direct eye contact, while male infant interactions are often mediated through a toy or activity. As they age, s ons are given tasks that take them outside the house and that have to be performed only on occasion , while girls are more likely to be given chores inside the home , such as cleaning or cooking that are performed daily. Sons are encouraged to think for themselves when they encounter problems and daughters are more likely to be given assi stance , even when they are working on an answer. Parents also talk to their children differently according to their gender. For example, parents talk to sons more in detail about science, and they discuss numbers and counting twice as often than with daugh ters (Chang et al., 2010). How are these beliefs about behaviors and expectations based on gender transmitted to children ?
Theories of Gender Development
Developmental Intergroup Theory:
Many of our gender stereotypes are so strong because we emphasize gender so much in culture (Bigler & Liben, 2007). For example, males and females are treated differently before they are even born. When someone learns of a new pregnancy, the first question asked is “Is it a boy or a girl?” Immediately upon hearing the answer, judgments are made about the child: Boys will be rough and like blue, while girls will be delicate and like pink. Developmental Intergroup Theory postulates that adults’ heavy focus on gender leads children to pay attention to gender as a key source of information about themselves and others, to seek out any possible gender differences, and to form rigid stereotypes based on gender that are subsequently difficult to change.
Gender Schema theory:
There are also psychological theories that partially explain how children form their own gender roles after they learn to differentiate based on gender. The first of these theories argues that children are active learners who essentially socialize themselves. In this case, children actively organize others’ behavior, activities, and attributes into gender categories, which are known asgender schemas (Bem, 1981). As children learn various gender related information they build their gender schemas, which enables them to seek out and notice other gender related information. These gender schemas come to guide understanding and memory of gender relevant information (Bem, 1981). People of all ages are more likely to remember schema-consistent behaviors and attributes than schema-inconsistent behaviors and attributes. So, people are more likely to remember men, and forget women, who are firefighters. They also misremember schema-inconsistent information. If research participants are shown pictures of someone standing at the stove, they are more likely to remember the person to be cooking if depicted as a woman, and the person repairing the stove if depicted as a man. By only remembering schema-consistent information, gender schemas strengthen more and more over time. Children may also begin to incorporate this information into their self-concept. However, people differ in the degree to which they use gender schemas to interpret both themselves and the world (Bem, 1983). Bem proposed that some people are more gender schematic, that is they are especially attuned to gender, and use it as a way of organizing and understanding the world. In contrast, those who are gender aschematicdo not use gender as a dimension for interpreting the world.
Social Learning Theory:
Another theory that attempts to explain the formation of gender roles in children is Social Learning Theory, which argues that behavior is learned through observation, modeling, reinforcement, and punishment (Bandura, 1997). Sex typing (Mischel, 1966) is the process by which individuals acquire patterns of gendered behavior. Children are rewarded and reinforced for behaving in concordance with gender roles and punished for breaking gender roles. In addition, social learning theory argues that children learn many of their gender roles by modeling the behavior of adults and older children and, in doing so, develop ideas about what behaviors are appropriate for each gender. Children can also observe the behavior of models, but not perform these behaviors for sometime. Parents are an important source of the punishments and rewards for children’s gendered behavior. Parents influence the toys, décor of bedrooms, clothing, and activities that children are allowed to engage in.
Cognitive Social Learning Theoryalso emphasizes reinforcement, punishment, and imitation, but adds cognitive processes. These processes include attention, self-regulation, and self-efficacy. Once children learn the significance of gender, they regulate their own behavior based on internalized gender norms (Bussey & Bandura, 1999). Social learning theory has less support than gender schema theory; research shows that parents do reinforce gender-appropriate play, but for the most part treat their male and female children similarly (Lytton & Romney, 1991).
Objectification Theoryfocuses on how the female body has become an object of the male gaze (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). When objectified, female attractiveness is valued above all other factors. Living in a culture that objectifies women, young girls internalize the beauty standards they see in the media and around them. Consequently, they attempt to attain these standards and regularly monitor and change their bodies as a way to conform. Because these standards are unrealistic, girls and women feel shame, anxiety, or depression for not achieving the cultural ideal. Additionally, internalizing one’s body as an object impairs cognitive performance.
Ecological Systems Theory:
Bronfenbrenner developed the Ecological Systems Theory, which provides a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on human development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Bronfenbrenner recognized that human interaction is influenced by larger social forces and that an understanding of these forces is essential for understanding an individual. The individual is impacted by several systems including:
• Microsystemincludes the individual’s setting and those who have direct, significant contact with the person, such as parents or siblings. The input of those is modified by the cognitive and biological state of the individual as well. These influence people’s actions, which in turn influence systems operating on them.
• Mesosytemincludes the larger organizational structures, such as school, the family, or religion. These institutions impact the microsystems just described. The philosophy of the school system, daily routine, assessment methods, and other characteristics can affect the child’s self-image, growth, sense of accomplishment, and schedule thereby impacting the child, physically, cognitively, and emotionally.
• Exosystem includes the larger contexts of community. A community’s values, history, and economy can impact the organizational structures it houses. Mesosystems both influence and are influenced by the exosystem.
• Macrosystem includes the cultural elements, such as global economic conditions, war, technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global community.
• Chronosystem is the historical context in which these experiences occur. This relates to the different generational time periods, such as the baby boomers and millennials.
In sum, a child’s experiences are shaped by larger forces such as the family, schools, religion, culture, and time period. Bronfenbrenner’s model helps us understand all of the different environments that impact each one of us simultaneously. Despite its comprehensiveness, Bronfenbrenner’s ecological system’s theory is not easy to use. Taking into consideration all the different influences makes it difficult to research and determine the impact of all the different variables (Dixon, 2003). Consequently, psychologists have not fully adopted this approach, although they recognize the importance of the ecology of the individual. Below is a model of Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory.
Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory
Using Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory as a guide, children learn the social meanings of gender from adults and their culture starting at birth. Gender roles and expectations are especially portrayed in children’s toys, books, commercials, video games, movies, television shows and music (Knorr, 2017). Therefore, when children make choices regarding their gender identification, expression, and behavior that may be contrary to gender stereotypes, it is important that they feel supported by the caring adults in their lives. This support allows children to feel valued, resilient, and develop a secure sense of self (American Academy of Pediatricians, 2015).
Sources of Socialization
Parents:
Brody’s Transactional Model explains how children learn gender roles by focusing on the bidirectional influences between parents and children (Brody, 1999). Brody’s transactional model indicates that the infant’s gender and temperament begin the socialization process as parents reinforce temperamental qualities. For example, girls tend to be more sociable, talkative, and develop self-control earlier. Consequently, parents encourage their social skill development and emotional control, which align with female gender roles. Boys are more physically active, which is also encouraged through parenting.
Parents often have different expectations and perceptions based on the child’s gender. Boys are encouraged to be more independent, while girls are reinforced for staying close and being more dependent (Hines, 2015). A recent study (MacPhee & Prendergast, 2019) found that children’s bedrooms were still as gendered today as they were over 40 years ago. Additionally, girls receive more positive reinforcement when they play with girls’ toys, and boys receive such reinforcement when they play with boys’ toys (Hines, 2015). Girls tend to receive toys that highlight nurturing behavior and physical attractiveness, such as baby dolls and dress-up, while for boys the toys focus on competitiveness and action, such as sports equipment and racing cars. Boe and Woods (2018) found that even by 12 ½ months of age infants were already showing clear gender-stereotypical toy preferences. According to Hines (2015), parents encourage the most gender stereotypical toy choices when the child is two years of age. Preschool children can predict how parents might respond if they were to play with cross-gender toys (Freeman, 2007). Fathers, in particular, react more strongly to their son playing with a doll, than their daughter playing with a truck (Basow, 2008). Thus, boys are more gender socialized than are girls, and may explain the greater sex-typed behavior, attitudes, and preferences of boys (Bosson et al., 2019).
Parents own gendered behavior also influences their children’s gender development. Parents who split house-hold chores along traditional gender roles have children with more gender typical behavior (Hines et al., 2002). The same longitudinal study also found that children of mothers who work outside of the home, or who are more educated display less gender stereotypical behavior. Children raise by same-sex parents also display less gender stereotypical behavior and attitudes (Sutfin et al., 2008) as they presumably see both parents engaging in traditionally male and female tasks.
Siblings:
Siblings can serve as role models, companions, and sources of advice, especially in areas that parents may seem as being less knowledgeable, such as peers and social trends (Marks et al., 2009). In their research Marks and colleagues assessed the gender role attitudes of siblings in families with children who were no more than four years apart in age, and the youngest was at least school age. Female siblings (whether first or second born) were more egalitarian in their gender role views than were male siblings. However, they found that regardless of gender, sibling dyads were consistent in their gender role attitudes. In fact, no sibling dyad was incongruent, yet at least a quarter of sibling pairs were inconsistent with their parents’ views. This is consistent with an earlier study (McHale et al., 2001) who reported more evidence for sibling than parental influence on gender role attitudes.
Peers:
Brody’s Transactional Model (1999), focusing on bidirectional interactions, also holds true for peers. Children tend to play with others of the same gender, and through their play, children observe, practice, and encourage each other to engage in gender-typical behavior (Hines, 2015). At 4.5 years of age, children play with same gender peers three times more than other-gender peers, and by 6.5 years, they play ten times more with same gender peers. As children become older, peers reinforce gender stereotypes, especially emotional displays. Girls will reinforce warm interactions and the display of emotional expressions, including sadness. Conversely, boys will reinforce competition among each other and discourage displays of sadness. In fact, boys who do express sadness are less accepted, less popular, and more likely to be teased. Consequently, children and adolescents will adhere to these gender roles so they are not ostracized from their peers.
Lee and Troop-Gordon (2011) studied how children reacted to peers who chastised them for gender atypical behavior. They found that boys with many male peers were more likely to punish behavior that was seen as being feminine, and as a result these boys were less likely to exhibit gender atypical behavior in front of other boys. In contrast, boys with few male friends, even when punished for gender atypical behavior, did not reduce this behavior. Having fewer male peers meant these boys experienced less pressure to conform to the stereotypes and thus, were less likely to display gender stereotypical behavior. For girls, female peers were less likely to criticize female or male friends who acted atypical for their gender. However, girls with many male friends were more likely to be criticized for not acting like a girl, and thus were more likely to exhibit a behavioral change. It appears that male friendships demand more gender role conformity, while female friendships may allow for greater flexibility.
Teachers:
Gender stereotypes regarding academic performance assume that boys demonstrate higher mathematics ability, while girls exhibit higher language-related skills. Not surprisingly, the academic strengths students possesses correlate with their self-concept in these areas. Specifically, boys demonstrate higher mathematics self-concepts and girls exhibit higher language-related self-concepts (Watt & Eccles, 2008). Is it just ability, or are there other factors that contribute to students’ self-concept in specific academic areas? In a longitudinal study, Retelsdorf et al. (2015) found a negative correlation between teacher’s gender stereotypes regarding boys’ reading ability at the beginning of fifth grade, and boys’ reading self-concept at the end of sixth grade. The authors concluded that gender differences in self-concept held by students are correlated to the stereotypical beliefs held by teachers. Consequently, they encourage teachers to counteract prior gender stereotypes and become aware of their own potentially discriminatory behaviors.
In another longitudinal study, Garcia et al. (2019) reported that teachers viewed boys as having worse executive functions than girls have. Executive functionsare higher order cognitive skills, including planning, cognitive flexibility, working memory, inhibitory behavior, goal-setting and problem solving, that contribute to classroom success. The authors contend that the teachers’ perceptions of male students possessing lower executive functions contributed to the persistent gender disparities in academic and behavioral outcomes. Again, gender role stereotypes appear to adversely affect school achievement for boys. It must also be noted that African American students, and those with limited English proficiency, were also rated as having lower executive functions demonstrating the intersectionality of the results.
Focusing on mathematics achievement, results from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–1999, indicate the average mathematics achievement of boys and girls is similar in kindergarten, but by the spring of third grade, a male advantage of approximately one quarter of a standard deviation has developed (Robinson-Cimpian et al., 2014). What accounts for this difference? According to Robinson-Cimpian and colleagues, elementary school teachers’ perceptions are the reason. Teachers rate boys as more proficient in mathematics, and they view girls as mathematically competent, only when the girls are also seen as hard working, well behaved, and more eager to learn. The authors concluded that the underrating of girls’ mathematical proficiency accounts for the resulting gender achievement gap in the early grades.
An additional factor contributing to academic performance differences between boys and girls include teacher-student relationships. According to McCormick and O’Connor (2015), an overall higher quality relationship, characterized by low levels of conflict and high levels of closeness, occurs between girls and their teachers. This stronger relationship contributes to teachers rating girls higher on assessments of academic competence. One reason given for this difference is the increased level of disruption demonstrated by boys, and the resulting belief that girls are the easier students to teach. Not surprisingly, when girls have a poor relationship with a teacher, they may internalize negative feelings toward school, which can adversely affect their academic performance. Consequently, stereotypes regarding who is a “model student” in the classroom affects the achievement for both boys and girls. As can be seen in the above research, teachers hold gender stereotypes that negatively affect student academic achievement.
Media:
Another significant way gender role socialization occurs is through media. Television, movies, advertisements, music, magazines, books, video games, and social media all contribute to gender stereotypes, and this exposure begins very early in a child’s life. Kirsch and Murnen (2015) reviewed the research on how female and male characters are represented across a variety of children’s programming and found that females are more likely to be depicted as frail, attractive, emotional, and worried about their appearance. Additionally, female characters demonstrate deference, dependence and nurturance. They also show fear, politeness, and act romantic and supportive. In contrast, male characters were more likely to exhibit dominance, aggression, and attention-seeking behaviors. Both cultivation theory, which states that repeated exposure to media encourages beliefs depicted in that reality, and objectification theory explain the effects of sexist media on gender stereotypes (Stermer & Burkley, 2015). Frequent exposure to sexist media that focus on male dominance and female sexual and submissive attributes, correlates with the objectification of women and reinforcement of rigid stereotypes.
Common Sense, a nonprofit organization focused on how children are affected by media and technology, analyzed the research on how the gender stereotypes shown in movies and television actually affect children’s development. The report from Common Sense (2017) made the following conclusions:
“Findings indicate that heavier TV viewing, especially of content that features traditional gender representations, can lead children and adolescents to hold more rigid or stereotypical beliefs about what each gender can and should do; leads to more stereotypical toy, activity, and occupation preferences; and limits children’s perceptions of their own abilities and future options. For girls, this often means that they steer their focus onto their appearance, bodies, and sexiness and away from their competencies, especially in academics, science, and math. For boys, this means drawing a narrow construction of what both femininity and masculinity are and steering away from “softer” values such as nurturance, compassion, and romantic love,” (p. 38).
Because gender stereotypes in advertising perpetuate gender-role stereotypes in a culture, do countries with greater gender equality experience less sexist commercials? Matthes et al. (2016) studied the depiction of men and women in 1755 television advertisements in 13 countries by analyzing the gender of the primary character and voiceover, characters’ ages, product categories, home- or work setting, and the working role of the primary character. The authors found that gender stereotypes in TV advertising can be found around the world, independent of a given gender equality status in a particular country. Contrary to what was expected, more progressive countries did not depict women in more progressive ways in television advertising. Clearly, gender role stereotypes in media are a significant socializing factor for children acquiring and internalizing these stereotypes.
Video Games:
When reviewing different types of popular media, some of the most blatant examples of sexism is considered to occur in video games (Stermer & Burkley, 2015). From the birth of video games, Stermer and Burkley state they have portrayed females in sexist ways, including as damsels in distress, rewards for male characters, and an object of men’s fantasies. In their review of the research, the authors include studies showing that males who frequently play sexualized video games were higher in rape inclination and rape myth acceptance. Additionally, study participants also viewed a rape victim more negatively, exhibited greater tolerance of sexual harassment, exhibited higher levels of benevolent sexism, thought of women as sex objects, and attributed less cognitive capability to the character when playing as a sexualized female character compared to a nonsexualized female character.
To explain these results, Stermer and Burkley also endorse cultivation theory. For video games, this means that players repeatedly shown sexist imagery and characterizations will embrace these images and internalize the sexist beliefs. Social learning theory, which explains how observing others affects one’s attitudes and behavior, is also provided as a reason why playing sexualized video games correlates with sexist attitudes. Lastly, objectification theory, which views women as sexualized objects for the male gaze, explains how sexist video games reinforce female stereotypes as sexual and submissive beings.
Media and the Thin Ideal:
For women in Western cultures, a common attitude is that thinness is beauty. Advertisers focus on this belief and create ads based on the “thin ideal” as a way to market what is deemed attractive and desirable to others (Mills et al., 2017). Thin ideal images often accompany various advertised products, the pairing of which reinforces the idea that if you buy or use a particular product, you, too, can be beautiful. Television and movies also encourage the thin ideal as both female models and actresses possess a lower Body Mass Index (BMI) than what is actually measured for women and what is considered ideal for women (CDC, 2020).
Female Category BMI Range
Average Weight of Models BMI=15-16
Average Weight of Actresses BMI=17-20
CDC Healthy Female Weight BMI=18.5-24.9
Average Female Weight BMI=29.6
How does idealized body images affect one’s self-perception? According to Mills et al. (2017), there is robust empirical support for the idea that exposure to idealized body images in traditional forms of media (e.g. magazines and television) affects perceptions of beauty and appearance concerns by leading women to internalize a very slender female body type as ideal or beautiful. There is also support for the idea that exposure to the thin ideal is associated with body dissatisfaction in the moment among women. While most of the research on this topic has been conducted with female participants, there is also some research on male participants. Men’s and women’s body ideals vary considerably in Western cultures, where most of this research has been conducted. While women’s body ideal is slim, men’s is lean, but well‐defined and muscular. In sum, the association between exposure to idealized body images in the media and body dissatisfaction holds true for both men and women, with the effect in women being slightly stronger than in men.
Social Media:
In line with research on traditional forms of mass media and body image, recent correlational studies reveal that social media use, including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat and Pinterest, is linked to body image and appearance concerns among both men and women. One of the unique aspects of social media, versus traditional media, is that they are made up of communication with peers and/or public figures. It is the elements of interactivity and connectedness that make social media distinct from other media forms and rife with opportunities for users to perceive, compare, and internalize standards of beauty. Traditional media literacy efforts may have helped people think critically about how photos of models and celebrities are frequently edited by advertisers and editors, and how they display completely unrealistic standards of beauty. However, social media platforms expose users to photos of real‐world peers, which may dissuade people from critically analyzing the images they see on social media. In truth, users can present their ideal selves through editing, enhancing, and embellishing their online images and appearance. Whether social media users engage in selective presentation of their own appearance, but overlook the notion that other users have done the same, still needs to be researched (Mills et al., 2017).
Religion:
According to Haggard et al. (2019), “many world religions endorse sex segregated worship practices, gendered standards of sanctification, and strict patriarchal family life” (p. 392). Judaism, Christianity, Mormonism, and Islam account for more than half of the world’s religious believers, and all four religions support an organizational structure that endorses separate expectations for men and women in both the home and sacred spaces. Overall, religiosity is correlated with negative attitudes toward women and less access to education, employment, and maternal care for women, regardless of a country’s economic development. Additionally, there is an increase in positive feelings toward women, or benevolent sexism, who follow gendered stereotypes and rules. Religious beliefs and culture are often difficult to separate, and many religious practices that oppress women are often reflective of the culture rather than the religion. This is especially true for Muslim women who, in many countries, are subjected to strict behavioral control based on the culture and not the Quran, Islam’s holy book (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018).
Gendered Language Development
Language contributes to children’s beliefs about gender by treating gender as a binary, thus leading to gender stereotypes and biases. In a review of how languages vary in their marking of gender, Bigler and Leaper (2015) identify three types of languages:
• Gendered languages mark nouns and pronouns for gender
• Natural Gender languages mark gender with third-person singular pronouns (e.g., he, she, his, her)
• Genderless languages do not mark either nouns or pronouns for gender
The English language is categorized as a natural gender language, while Spanish would be considered a gendered language. In English, many nouns reflect the gender binary, including names of family members (daughter, wife, sister) and careers (fireman, congressman). For those who do not identify with the gender binary, or who prefer not to be identified by their gender, these words would not be appropriate. Switching to the use of gender-neutral nouns is possible in most situations, and there is growing support to refrain from marking gender unnecessarily. Replacements for gendered language are listed below:
Gender-Neutral Language Gendered Language
Children Daughter and Son
Spouse or Partner Wife, Husband, Girlfriend, Boyfriend
Fire Fighter or Police Officer Fireman, Police woman
Students Girls and Boys
People Men and Women
Chair Chairman and Chairwoman
Mx. Ms. And Mr.
Observational research has also indicated that gendered nouns can appear with descriptors that indicate broad generalizations about those on the gender binary (Bigler & Leaper, 2015). Children hear such statements as, “Girls wear pink” or “Boys like trucks”, and they do not readily hear statements that reflect within-gender variability, such as “Some girls like to wear pink” or overlap between the binary genders, “Both girls and boys like to play with trucks”. These descriptive gender-generic noun phrases can promote gender stereotypes in children. Other examples of gendered language children hear include honorific titles, such as Miss, Mrs., Ms., and Mr., which mark the gender of the individual. For females, these titles can also indicate marital status not reflected in the male title.
Pronoun use in English, which focuses on only one individual, has traditionally reflected the gender binary using the following terms: he, she, his, or her. Consequently, using these pronouns makes assumptions about the gender of the individual that may be wrong. Therefore, using the pronouns ‘they” and “their” to reflect single individuals is now advocated. The American Psychological Association (APA) endorses the use of generic third-person pronouns in the latest edition of their publication manual. According to the APA (2020), “The use of the singular ‘they’ is inclusive of all people, helps writers avoid making assumptions about gender, and is part of APA Style” (p. 121).
Another concern with the use of masculine generic nouns and the pronouns “he” or “him”, is that they have historically been used as a replacement for all individuals, not just males. When this occurs, children imagine the individual (including animals) as a male rather than as a representative of all people. Additionally, the frequent use of masculine generic nouns promotes a higher status of males compared to females (Bigler & Leaper, 2015)
Research has also looked at gender differences between affiliative and self-assertive speech patterns in children. According to Leaper and Smith (2004), affiliative speechrefers to language used to establish or maintain connections with others, while self-assertive speechrefers to language used to influence others. In a review of three sets of meta-analyses, Leaper and Smith came to the following conclusions. First, girls were only slightly more talkative than boys were, and they used more affiliative speech. Second, there was a significant, but small, indication that boys used self-assertive speech more than girls did. These results were interpreted according to traditional gender socialization that emphasizes girls playing in more communal and nurturing ways, while dominance and instrumentality are encouraged in the play of boys. However, group size was important to the type of speech used. Specifically, boys used speech that was more assertive in dyads than when they were in groups of three or more children or in mixed gender groups. The authors hypothesized that both boys and girls may demonstrate self-assertive speech in larger groups to maintain their position within the group.
What happens to our gender identity as we age?
There are two theories with regard to lifespan gender development: cross over and degendering. Cross over theory (Gutmann, 1975) suggests that the changes in our social roles as we move through middle and late adulthood would likely lead to greater similarity between the genders in terms of how they see themselves. Degendering theory (Silver, 2003) proposes that as people age, gender and the social expectations of gender becomes less central to people’s self-concept. The personality research does suggest a degree of gender convergence with men and women becoming more similar with age, in line with the predictions of cross over theory. Lemaster el al. (2015) found little support for degendering. In their research men and women often saw themselves as more typical of their gender group the older they were, suggesting that gender was still very central to their self-concept even in their 60s. They also found that this tendency was stronger for men than for women as they aged, suggesting that the need to validate manhood is still present even in middle aged and older males.
This module focused on how we develop our gender identity. In the next module, we will focus on the expectations and characteristics associated with being male or female, and the accuracy of these expectations.
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Case Study: Harvard’s President Sparked a Gender Controversy
In January 2005, the president of Harvard University, Lawrence H. Summers, sparked an uproar during a presentation at an economic conference on women and minorities in the science and engineering workforce (Goldin et al., 2005). During his talk, Summers proposed three reasons why there are so few women who have careers in math, physics, chemistry, and biology. One explanation was that it might be due to discrimination against women in these fields, and a second was that it might be a result of women‘s preference for raising families rather than for competing in academia. In addition, Summers also argued that women might be less genetically capable of performing science and mathematics, and that they may have less intrinsic aptitude than men.
Summers‘s comments on genetics set off a flurry of responses. One of the conference participants, a biologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, walked out on the talk, and other participants said that they were deeply offended. Summers replied that he was only putting forward hypotheses based on the scholarly work assembled for the conference, and that research has shown that genetics have been found to be very important in many domains, compared with environmental factors. As an example, he mentioned the psychological disorder of autism, which was once believed to be a result of parenting but is now known to be primarily genetic in origin.
The controversy did not stop with the conference. Many Harvard faculty members were appalled that a prominent person could even consider the possibility that mathematical skills were determined by genetics and the controversy and protests that followed the speech led to the first ever faculty vote for a motion expressing a “lack of confidence” in a Harvard president. Summers resigned his position in 2006, in large part as a result of the controversy.
Lawrence Summers‘s claim about the reasons why women might be underrepresented in the hard sciences was based in part on the assumption that environment, such as the presence of gender discrimination or social norms, was important but also in part on the possibility that women may be less genetically capable of performing some tasks than are men. Is this true?
In this module, we will discuss the content of gender stereotypes. We will then consider what the research has to say about the accuracy of these beliefs.
Content of Gender Stereotypes
A stereotypeis a shared belief about a social group. Gender stereotypesare shared beliefs about the traits, abilities, and characteristics associated with men and women. Noticed that in the definition of stereotypes it states that these are shared beliefs, not personal beliefs. Psychologists do not consider personally held beliefs to be stereotypes unless they are shared by many other people in your culture.
In the last several decades more women have entered the labor force. In 1950 about one in three women were in the workforce, which jumped to almost six out every ten women in 2018, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018). Women now earn more college degrees at every degree level (Bachelor’s Master’s and Doctoral) than do men (Okahana & Zhou, 2018). Have the cultural stereotypes changed to reflect these changes in the lives of women and men?
Most of the research on the content of gender stereotypes has highlighted two themes: agency and communion. Agency includes characteristics such as assertiveness and effectiveness, traits that facilitate leadership and success. Communion includes characteristics such as kindness and warmth, traits that facilitate connection with and concern for others. It is important to note that communion and agency are not polar opposites; they are separate dimensions that social groups fall along. Fiske et al. (2002) found that the elderly are viewed as more “warm”, a trait of communion, while they are viewed as less competent, a trait found in agency. Those who are wealthy are viewed as less warm, but more competent; as are men. Those who are poor are viewed as low on both traits. While women are viewed as moderately competent, but high in warmth. These beliefs about social groups influence our expectations and behaviors when we interact with people. Moreover, these two dimension underlie many of our gender stereotypes. In the US culture, and many other Western cultures, “masculine” traits often reflect agency, while many of the “feminine” traits reflect communion. Even the social roles and occupations typical of men and women highlight these two dimensions.
Male Stereotype: Social Role Female Stereotype: Social Role
Financial provider Tends to the home
Leader Provides emotional support
Makes major decisions in the home Takes care of children
Male Stereotype: Occupations Female Stereotype: Occupations
Construction worker Secretary
Firefighter Nurse
Politician School teacher
Have Gender Stereotypes Changed?
As mentioned above, women have entered the labor force and levels of professional education in greater numbers. Have the gender stereotypes changed at all to reflect the reality of our society? In 2016, Haines et al. compared social perceptions of men and women in 2014 to data from the 1980s. The researchers compared people’s perceptions on eight components: agency traits, communal traits, male gender role, female gender role, male-typed occupations, female-typed occupations, male-typed physical characteristics, and female-typed physical characteristics. Their findings suggest that even in 2014 people still saw large differences between men and women that are consistent with the traditional gender stereotypes. For all eight components the differences in how people viewed men and women were statistically significant and the effect sizes were medium to large on all but agency. Moreover, the 2014 data looked remarkably similar to the data from 1983. The researchers also found that the participants’ sex had little impact on how they viewed men and women. However, men were more likely to view females as having more feminine physical traits than were women.
Components Assessed Effect Size (d value)
Agency Traits +.27 (small)
Communal Traits -.57 (medium)
Male gender role +.56 (medium)
Female gender role -.75 (large)
Male-typed occupations +.58 (medium)
Female-typed occupations -.55 (medium)
Male-typed physical characteristics +.63 (medium)
Female-typed physical characteristics -.60 (medium)
+ effect sizes denote males rated more likely, – effect sizes denote females rated more likely
In an effort to have a more culturally representative sample, Eagly et al. (2020) compared opinion polls from large national surveys across 7 decades, from 1946 to 2018. Their research suggests some stability, but also that there have been some changes in people’s perceptions of men and women over time. Questions in these surveys that assessed perceptions of communion showed that women were, and still are, viewed as possessing more of these traits. In fact, more people today ascribe these traits to women than in the past. In 1946, 54% of respondents who saw a gender difference in these traits said they were truer of women, in 1989, 83% did, and in 2018, 97% did. In addition, fewer people today than in the past see the sexes as equal on communal traits. The survey questions on agency traits suggest that over time there was little change in ascribing these traits to men, however, there has been an increase in the number of people saying the sexes are equal on these traits. However, in a reversal of gender stereotypes among those who saw a gender difference, they were more likely to rate women as being more competent and intelligent in 2018 (65%) than there were in 1946 (34%). With the exception of communion and to a lesser extent agency, people are more likely to view men and women as equal in competence and intelligence than to see a sex difference today than in the past.
These studies suggest that there are areas of stability, such as the greater tendency to ascribe agency traits to males and communal traits to females, and that certain occupations and characteristics are still viewed as more typical of men or women along traditional gender stereotypes. While at the same time there has been some change. More people see men and women as being equal than was the case in the past.
Is the Content of Gender Stereotypes Universal?
Most of the research on gender stereotypes has been conducted in the US (Bossen, et al., 2019). What about other cultures? There is some evidence to suggest that many cultures hold similar views about the content of gender stereotypes. Women are often seen as affectionate and more agreeable, while men are viewed as being more dominant and adventurous (Cuddy, et. al., 2009). These similarities reflect the agency and communion distinction. However, there are some notable differences in how cultures view the genders. Nations differ in certain core cultural values. Some nations are described as being collectivistic cultures, such as many African, East Asian, and Middle Eastern nations, whovalue the needs of the group over individuals. As a result, such cultures would value more communal traits. In contrast, other nations are described as individualistic cultures, such as the United States, Canada, and many Western European countries, whoemphasize the individual rather than the group. These nations are more likely to value agentic traits. Cuddy et. al. (2015) analyzed the responses to 21 traits that clearly captured individualism, and 27 traits that captured collectivism and they found an interesting pattern. The researchers predicted that the more dominant group (men) would be seen as holding more of the traits valued in that society. In collectivistic cultures people were more likely to associate collectivistic traits to men, while in individualistic cultures more individualistic traits were assigned to men. While this seems to challenge research showing considerable similarity across cultures in the content of gender stereotypes, it does reveal a universal tendency. Whatever traits are valued by a culture they are more likely to be ascribed to men than to women.
Physical Abilities
Activity Level:
A common stereotype is that males, especially younger males, are much more active than females. Research does indeed support the finding that males exhibit a higher activity level than females (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). However, age is a determining factor when measuring just how much more active males are, as the smallest difference occurred between infants and the largest difference for those oldest. What accounts for the gender differences? Else-Quest and Hyde provide two hypotheses. First, they propose that the gender segregation effect, which states that children seek out and play with other children of the same gender, results in boys encouraging other boys to be more and more active. The second hypothesis focuses on the advanced physical development of girls, especially in brain development, that allows girls a greater ability to control their activity level due to their greater maturity. Gender differences associated with specific ages are presented in the following table:
Age of Participants Effect size (d value)
Infants .29 (small)
Preschoolers .44 (medium)
Older Children and Adults .64 (medium)
All Ages .50 (medium)
Strength, Endurance, and Movement:
Courtright et al. (2013) analyzed data from 113 studies using 140 unique samples assessing the physical abilities of men and women. They found substantial differences between the genders on many of the measures. Overall, men showed more muscle strength, although it varied by body area, muscle tension (exerting force against an object), muscle power (exerting force quickly), and muscular and cardio endurance. Movement quality, including flexibility, coordination, and balance showed slight to moderate gender differences, with some measures favoring women and others favoring men. Others, like Hyde (2005) or Hines (2015) show a slight female advantage for balance, which challenge the findings of Courtright et al. on this measure.
Physical Ability Measure Effect Size (d value)
Muscle strength (Upper) 1.88 (very large)
Muscle strength (Lower) 1.60 (very large)
Muscle strength (Core) .25 (small)
Muscle strength (Total body) 2.22 (very large)
Muscle tension 2.13 (very large)
Muscle power 1.11 (very large)
Muscle endurance 1.47 (very large)
Cardio endurance 1.81 (very large)
Movement quality (Flexibility) -.15 (small)
Movement quality (Coordination) .64 (medium)
Movement quality (Balance) .31 (small)
Source: Courtright et al., 2013.
Who is better at running a marathon, women or men? As Hubble and Zhao (2016) suggest, the answer depends on how you define “better”. Men are faster, even at ultra-long distance they often finish the race first. While women have better strategy and pacing throughout the race. They show less variation in their speeds, while men tend to slow down as the race progresses. It may be that the success of men in their race times is due to their faster initial speed. Hubble and Zhao note that some researchers have suggested that the female body’s ability to store and metabolize fat more efficiently than the male body may allow women to keep a steady pace throughout the race. However, others have suggested that men’s overconfidence may also be a factor in their less efficient race strategy. In most ultra-endurance events men are faster, whether it be cycling, running, or triathlon (Knechtle et al., 2015). However, the story is different when it comes to open water ultra-distance swimming. Here women achieve and even surpass the performance of men. In the Catalina Channel Swim, one of the legs of the “Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming” the average race times of the fastest women were faster by almost 53 minutes than the average race times of the fastest male swimmers (Knechtle et al., 2015). Women also hold many records for longest distance or durations in the water. The longest continuous and unaided ocean swim is held by Chloe McCardel, 77.3 miles/124.4 km, and the longest continuous and unaided open water and lake swim is held by Sarah Thomas, 104.6 miles/168.3 km (Marathon Swimmers Federation, 2020).
Throwing:
Throwing requires the coordination of the whole body and is a physical skill used in many team sports and games (Gromeier, et al., 2017). Meta-analyses have revealed gender differences in velocity in children by age three, and in distance by age 2, with males exceeding the abilities of females (Morris et al., 1982; Thomas & French, 1985). Similar results have been shown in adults (van den Tillaar & Ettema, 2004). Are males more accurate at hitting a target than females? Previous research has found that males, both children and adults, show greater accuracy, although many of these studies used novices (Morris et al., 1982; Thomas & French, 1985, Robertson & Konczak, 2001). As males are more likely to have been shown how to throw in childhood this finding is not surprising. Gromeier and colleagues (2017) assessed throwing in children age 6-16 who were all aspiring athletes in sports that involved throwing. They found no difference in the accuracy at all ages. However, they did find gender differences in the developmental pattern of throwing and in the quality of movement that favored males.
Pain:
Clinical settings: Large-scale epidemiological studies often reveal that women report experiencing more pain than do men (Bartley & Fillingim, 2013). Women are more likely than men to report having experienced pain in the last week, and report having more chronic health conditions such as migraine and chronic tension-type headache, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia. In their overview of the pain literature Bartley and Fillingim reported that the trend is towards greater pain in women. However, do women experience more severe pain than men, or are they just more willing to report experiencing pain? It is harder to assess the question of pain severity, as there really is no standard measure of pain perception. Research comparing pain experiences following the same surgical procedures have yielded inconsistent results as to which gender experiences more pain. Part of the problem with such research is that across these studies there were different surgical procedures and pain medications and treatments used.
Experimental settings: Another way to assess pain tolerance and perception is to study men and women under more controlled laboratory conditions. Researchers have used a variety of methods to inflict pain (chemical, electrical, pressure, temperature), and measures of pain (length of time to report pain sensation, how long the participant is willing to experience the pain (tolerance), and self-reports of unpleasantness). The results have suggested than women have more pain sensitivity than do men (Rahim-Williams et al., 2012). In their study of healthy young men and women, women reported more pain and less pain tolerance, although the effect sizes were from small to large depending on the method and type of measure. The mechanisms behind the gender differences in pain in both clinical and experimental settings are not clear. It has been suggested that both biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors may contribute (Bartley & Fillingim, 2013).
Measure of Pain Effect Size (d value)
Heat pain .48 (medium)
Heat pain tolerance .98 (large)
Cold pain .41 (medium)
Cold pain tolerance .55 (medium)
Pressure pain (trapezius muscle) .90 (large)
Pressure pain (masseter muscle) .98 (large)
Ischemic pain (lack of circulation) .24 (small)
Ischemic pain tolerance .52 (medium)
Source: Rahim-Williams et al., 2012
Differences in the relative levels of sex hormones has been touted as one possible source for the gender differences in pain. Estrogen and progesterone have a complex effect on pain, in that they can both enhance or inhibit pain perception (Smith et al., 2006). This may explain why the research findings are often mixed on how this relates to women’s experience of pain depending on the levels of these two hormones, with some research suggesting that women show greater sensitivity to pain depending on the phase of the menstrual cycle (Riley et al., 1999), and others not finding any consistent pattern between menstrual cycle hormone levels and pain perception (Bartley & Rhudy, 2013). In contrast, studies have shown that testosterone appears to be more protective from pain sensitivity (Cairns & Gazerani, 2009).
Comparing the coping styles used by men and women reveals that women catastrophize more than men (Forsythe et al., 2011). Catastrophizing refers to assuming the worst case scenario when faced with a challenge, and research has tied this tendency with greater pain sensitivity, lower pain tolerance, and greater pain-related disability (Keefe et al., 1989). In addition, self-efficacy, the belief that you can achieve certain outcomes, has been studied with regard to ability to cope with pain. Those with lower self-efficacy report more pain and other physical symptoms (Somers et al., 2012). Finally cultural expectations about masculinity and femininity may also play a role. Expression of pain is typically more acceptable for women, which may lead more women to report that they are in pain (Bartley & Fillingim, 2013).
Brain Areas: Relative Size and Functioning
Looking at overall brain volume, the male brain is slightly larger as brain size correlates with body size (Hines, 2011). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic fields and radio waves to create images of the body, have identified some gender differences in brain size and performance. Although males and females perform equally on tests of intelligence, females with higher IQ scores show more gray matter (neuronal cell bodies) and white matter (myelinated axons) in frontal brain areas associated with language. For males, higher IQ scores correlate with more gray matter in posterior areas that integrate sensory information (Haier, 2009). However, when comparing males and females directly on tasks, anatomical and functional differences typically do not result in differences in performance (Hines, 2011). It may be that these differences allow male and female brains to behave the same way despite being physiologically different.
Looking at cortical size differences in specific brain areas, MRI research has identified some variations between male and female brains (Cahill, 2012). However, size differences in specific brain areas are relative to the overall brain size, and there are certainly individual differences. In males, the amygdala, which responds to emotional arousal, and sections of the parietal cortex, involved in spatial perception, are usually larger.
In females, parts of the frontal cortex, responsible for higher-level cognitive skills, and limbic cortex, involved in emotional processing, are typically larger. Additionally, females exhibit a greater density of neurons in the temporal lobe, which is associated with language comprehension and processing. This greater density correlates with tests that demonstrate a verbal fluency advantage for females. Lastly, females tend to possess a larger hippocampus, which is responsible for memory processing and storage. Reviewing the research on male and female navigation, this difference support the theory that the larger hippocampus for females may be why they navigate using landmarks. In contrast, males tend to navigate by “dead reckoningor estimating distances using space and orientation cues (Cahill, 2012).
What causes these anatomical differences? Research has identified the importance of sex hormones released during the prenatal period. Researchers theorize that the hormones “help direct the organization and wiring of the brain during development and influence the structure and neuronal density of various regions,” (Cahill, 2012, p. 25). Consequently, these brain differences appear to have been present since birth rather than acquired due to socialization or hormonal changes at puberty. However, other differences may be due to numerous environmental influences that affect the size and functioning of specific brain areas. Even with these differences, male and female brains function similarly for most tasks (Hines, 2011).
Are there gender differences during sexual activity? During sexual arousal, the ventromedial area of hypothalamus is activated in women, while the medial pre-optic region of hypothalamus is activated during men’s sexual responses (Petersen & Hyde, 2011). Additionally, the hypothalamus and the amygdala are activated more in men than women. Lastly, the cingulate gyrus, important in processing emotions and regulating behaviors, and thalamus, the relay station for sensory information, are also activated more in men.
Cognitive Abilities
Cognitionis thinking, and it encompasses the processes associated with perception, knowledge, problem solving, judgment, language, and memory (Lally & Valentine-French, 2018). Given the variety of tasks included in these processes, it is not surprising that gender differences have been researched. According to Hyde (2005), most results reflect the gender similarities hypothesis, whichstates that females and males are similar on most, but not all, psychological variables. After reviewing 46 meta-analyses of gender-based research, Hyde found that 78% of the gender differences noted were small or very close to zero. Below we will consider performance on intelligence, mathematical, spatial, and verbal abilities to determine if gender differences are evident. Explanations for those gender differences are also examined.
Intelligence:
Intelligenceis the ability to think, learn from experience, solve problems, and adapt to new situations (Lally & Valentine-French, 2018). The study of gender differences in intelligence has a lengthy and checkered past. In the 1800s women were viewed as intellectually inferior to men and some early researchers attempted to use the new science of psychology to justify women’s lower social status (Bosson et al., 2019). However, men and women have almost identical intelligence as measured by standard IQ and aptitude tests (Hyde, 2005). Despite this, there is variability in intelligence, in that more men than women have very high, as well as very low, intelligence, known as the greater male variability hypothesis (Gray et al. 2019). There are also observed gender differences on some types of tasks. Women tend to do better than men on some verbal tasks, including spelling, writing, and pronouncing words (Halpern et al., 2007; Nisbett et al., 2012), and they have better emotional intelligence in the sense that they are better at detecting and recognizing the emotions of others (McClure, 2000).
Mathematical Performance:
Computations and the understanding of math concepts for grades 2 through 11 show no significant gender differences. Complex mathematical problem solving in high school do show a slight advantage for males in some, but not all, national assessments, and this difference is lower than in previous analyses, according to Hines (2015). Advanced tests, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Exam (GRE) do show differences that favor males on the math portions of the tests (Hines, 2015). These differences may be inflated because of self-selection, in that more males than females drop out of education. Consequently, a smaller number of lower achieving males actually take these tests. It also must be noted that gender differences in math self-confidence (higher in males) and math anxiety (higher in females) are actually larger than any gender difference in actual math performance (Hyde, 2014). In addition, cross-cultural research does not always show a male advantage in math, and nations with greater gender equality show less of a gap in math performance (Reilly, 2012).
Spatial Performance:
There are several measures of spatial ability, and gender differences vary based on the aspect being assessed. Mental rotationrefers to the ability to rotate an object in one’s mind and is a frequent way to measure spatial skills by assessing a person’s ability to mentally rotate a three-dimensional object to match a target. Males have consistently demonstrated stronger skills on mental rotation tasks, and this gender difference is one of the largest in cognitive skills, with effect sizes often ranging from .47 to .73 (Lauer et al., 2019). However, this gap may be due to a lack of training provided by out-of-school experiences that favor males, such as playing video games. Researchers have also found that the male advantage in mental rotation in middle-school predicted gender differences in science achievement (Geer et al., 2019). Spatial perceptionrefers to the ability to perceive and understand space relations between objects. An example would be the ability to identify the true horizontal water level in a tilted container. Males show a small advantage in childhood (d=.33) which increases in adulthood (d=.48; Voyer et al., 1995). Spatial visualization, which refers to complex, sequential manipulations of spatial information including embedded figures, shows only a small to negligible difference between genders (d<.20; Hines, 2015). Spatial location memory, which is the ability to remember the location of objects in physical space, shows a slight female advantage (d=-.27; Voyer et al., 2007). This difference has often been attributed to women’s historical division of labor as gatherers, but not all researchers agree with this explanation.
Verbal Skills:
In children, girls acquire language earlier than boys and demonstrate a larger vocabulary between the ages of 18 to 60 months (Hines, 2015). Reilly et al. (2018) analyzed 27 years of data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress on reading and writing skills. This analysis involved 3.9 million United States students in the fourth, eighth, and twelfth grades. Results indicated that girls, on average, scored significantly higher than boys in both reading and writing at the fourth grade. This gap increased further at the eighth grade level and then even further at the twelfth grade. At all three grade levels, differences were greater for writing than reading skills. Additionally, a review of international data consisting of 65 nations indicated that female 15-year-olds scored higher in reading comprehension (Hyde, 2014). Females also show a small to moderate (-.24 to -.45; Weiss et al., 2003) advantage on measures of verbal fluency, the ability to generate words. Overall, verbal skills appear to be an exception to the Gender Similarities Hypothesis.
Non-Verbal Communication:
Females smile more and the effect size is medium (d=-.41; LaFrance et al., 2003) and this holds across cultures and ethnicities (Tsai et al., 2016). LaFrance et al. (2003) found that this may be due to women being more likely to occupy nurturing and caring roles, as both sexes smiled more when parents, therapists or medical professionals. Women make more eye contact than do men when interacting with others, with the highest eye contact occurring between female dyads (LaFrance & Vial, 2016). Although males tend to look more at females when speaking to them, and look away when women are talking to them, while women do the reverse, they are more likely to look at their partner when listening than when speaking (Bosson et al., 2019).
Explanations for Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities
Why might we find gender differences in cognitive abilities? There are likely to be several factors at play. As mentioned previously, when given the opportunity to participate in boys’ activities, such as video games, girls improve on visual spatial tasks. Further, more females with varied academic competencies take advanced achievement tests (e.g., SAT and GRE), while lower achieving males do not. This difference demonstrates a male self-selection bias, especially in mathematics. When reviewing cultural differences, gender differences are not consistent across countries. In nations with greater gender equality, gender differences are nonexistent or favor females. Specifically, the female advantage in writing correlates positively with gender equality, while the male advantage in mathematics correlates negatively with gender equality (Hines, 2015). Lastly, males do show greater variation in intelligence, perhaps because of the greater tendency toward learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders, and fragile X syndrome than females (Bosson et al., 2019).
Gender stereotypes also play a role in performance. For instance, the poorer math performance by females on high stakes tests, such as the SAT, despite often having equivalent math grades in high school with males, may reflect females’ lack of confidence rather than actual ability. Could this lack of confidence be due to the cultural stereotypes about females and math? Stereotype threatrefers to the anxiety that people feel when they risk confirming the cultural stereotype for their group. When females are reminded of the negative stereotypes associated between their gender group and math their performance drops (Keller, 2002). Smeding and colleagues (2013) found that even the order of administration of math and verbal tests can affect the test scores of females. Placing the math test first reduced performance on the math test for females, but females’ performance on the math test was as good as the males’ performance when the verbal test came first. The order of the tests did not affect females’ performance on the verbal test, nor males’ math or verbal scores. Meta-analyses reveal that stereotype threat on women’s math performance ranges from small to moderate (Picho et al., 2013).
How willing are you to guess when you do not know the answer on an important test? When there is no penalty for guessing, research shows that everyone attempts the questions, but when there is a penalty, males are more likely to take the risk (Baldiga, 2013). Overall, guessing may be the better strategy. People tend to do better on a test when guessing the answer than when leaving the question blank and as a result of men’s willingness to take risks they may score slightly higher on some high stakes tests. This may explain an interesting paradox. In general, females get better grades in high school and college, but score slightly lower on tests like the SAT than males (Bosson et al., 2019). Females’ unwillingness to take a chance might explain this discrepancy.
Is there a gender difference in achievement motivation? Achievement motivationrefers to an individual’s needs to meet goals and accomplish things. Some scholars have thought that the male advantage in spatial skills and math might reflect less motivation by females to continue to complete work when faced by failure. Yet the research does not support this. In school, females show greater intrinsic motivation to succeed than do males; it is males who are more likely to avoid completing work in the face of failure (Spinath et al., 2014).
Of all things that people can fear, success is not usually at the top of people’s lists. However, fear of success has been studied since the 1960s when Horner (1969) initially described it as women’s motivation to avoid being too successful for fear of social rejection. In Horner’s classic study women were presented with a story about Anne, and men were presented with a story about John, both were described as being at the top of their class in medical school. Participants were asked to complete the story about the character they had been given. Men wrote about how John was happy and satisfied with his success, while 65% of women’s stories reflected concerns that Anne might be rejected by others or even denied the reality of her being successful. Given the time period, the results are not really that surprising. Despite the women’s movement, many women were still limited in their career choices. Their concerns often reflected the reality Anne might face.
Later research expanded fear of success to include the anxiety that women and men might feel when achieving success in an atypical gender situation (Cherry & Deaux, 1978). In their study participants read about Anne and John being at the top of either their nursing or medical school class. As expected the stories of both men and women contained more concerns and fears when Anne or John were successful in atypical gender careers of that time.
Since this early research, others have expanded the concept beyond academic success. André and Metzler (2011) examined this concept in tennis players. What they found was that fear of success was not so much related to gender, as it was to already being more anxious, having self-doubts, or being preoccupied with rewards. As gender role norms continue to evolve we may see less fear of success being experienced.
Personality Traits
Temperament:
Our temperament is the biologically based emotional and behavioral ways we respond to our environment. Temperament occurs early in life and is correlated with our later personality. For children younger than 13, gender differences are observed in the areas of inhibitory control and attention with females exhibiting higher scores in both areas. In contrast, no differences are noted in the areas of persistence and negative affect (Hyde, 2014).
Five Factor Model of Personality:
The Big Five model of personality measures the degree to which an individual demonstrates the following personality attributes: Openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. American data demonstrate that gender differences, when present, are small and tend to get even smaller with age. This is a phenomenon called gender convergence. When difference are found women tend to score slightly higher than men on conscientiousness, agreeableness and neuroticism. Some studies show women may be slightly higher on extraversion, but only on the aspects of extraversion that involve gregariousness, warmth, and positive emotions, while men score higher on the assertiveness and excitement seeking aspects of extraversion (Costa et al., 2001; Weisberg et al., 2011). In contrast, gender differences were not found for Japanese or black South Africans indicating the importance of culture in affecting these gender measurements. Gender stereotypes regarding greater emotionality and tender-mindedness of women are observed in the United States, and they most likely contributed to the gender differences found (Hyde, 2014). Other cultures may not share these stereotypes.
Helpfulness:
Who are more helpful, males or females? Gender stereotypes point to females being more caring and nurturing, and consequently they are perceived as more helpful. However, research studies demonstrates the opposite (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). Explanations for males engaging in more helping behavior align with male gender roles of being heroic and chivalrous. Research indicated that males were especially likely to assist in situations that involved danger and when onlookers were present, thus encouraging heroism. Else-Quest and Hyde concluded that the types of behaviors researched favoring males were short-term situations with strangers. In contrast, the frequency of long-term helping behaviors, favoring the nurturing behavior demonstrated by females, are difficult to research.
Emotions
People believe that women are more emotional than are men (Brody & Hall, 2008), but is this true? When we say that women are more emotional do we mean they feel more emotions, they express more emotions, or that they are better at decoding emotions? Men report feeling more pride and anger, while women report feeling more warmth, sadness and anxiety (Brody & Hall, 2010). Given that emotion is highly subjective, self-report measures of emotion are problematic and may reflect gender socialization and stereotypes than true differences (Chaplin et al., 2005).
Emotional Experiences and Expression:
According to Else-Quest and Hyde (2018), the stereotype that females are more emotional than males is among the most pervasive of all stereotypes. Across most cultures, gender stereotypes suggest that females exhibit many more emotions than males, both positive and negative, and most of these emotions reflect powerlessness. In contrast, males are seen as demonstrating fewer emotions, and the ones they do demonstrate reflect dominance. This includes exhibiting more anger, contempt, and pride. However, there are differences among ethnicities indicating that beliefs regarding gendered behavior are socially created rather than biologically based. For example, white women are not supposed to demonstrate anger, but the expressions of anger in other ethnic groups are not seen as a trait only for males.
Research looking at the intensity of emotional expressions found a positive correlation between the level of agreement with gender stereotypes and the intensity of emotional displays for females, but a negative correlation for males (Grossman & Wood, 1993). Specifically, women who held strong gender stereotypes expressed more intense emotions, while men who held strong gender stereotypes exhibited less emotional expression. Does this mean that males do not experience strong emotions? When presented with pictures designed to evoke certain emotions, research does indicate that females are more emotionally expressive than males, but males showed more autonomic nervous system reactivity (MacArthur & Shields, 2015). The authors concluded that males do experience emotions, but societal expectations that they not show them results in males refraining from exhibiting emotional expressions.
Gender differences are also found in how others perceive the emotional expressions exhibited by males and females. Rather than rate women as expressing anger, which goes against gender stereotypes, laboratory experiments demonstrate that participants rate females’ anger expressions as exhibiting sadness instead. Further, when shown pictures of blended emotions, research participants identified males as being angry and females as feeling sad. Not adequately identifying someone’s emotions can interfere with communication patterns and interpersonal relationships. Study participants have also attributed internal versus external factors for reasons why an individual would feel a certain emotion. Participants made more dispositional attributions, or internal reasons, for a female’s expression of emotion, while they assigned more situational attributions, or external reasons, for why a male would exhibit a similar emotion. This would then justify a male’s emotional reaction to a particular situation, whereas for the same response, a female is just being emotional (Barrett & Bliss-Moreau, 2009).
In many cultures, women are socialized to be more people/relationship oriented. As a result one would expect females to express more positive emotions that would encourage others to maintain social harmony. Chaplin et al. (2005) state that females are encouraged to exhibit submissive emotionsthat communicate vulnerability, such as anxiety or sadness, whereas males are encouraged to display disharmonious emotionsthat convey a highly competitive motivation to achieve and dominate others, such as anger, or gloating when defeating an opponent. Thus, when upset a female may cry while a male may get angry. In their research, Chaplin and colleagues observed how parents responded to their preschool children’s submissive and disharmonious emotions and found that fathers, in particular, were more attentive and supportive of their daughters’ submissive emotions, while ignoring such expressions in their sons. They also were more attentive of son’s disharmonious responses while ignoring such displays in their daughters. These findings would suggest that females are being rewarded when expressing submissive emotions, while boys are rewarded for more disharmonious displays. There is considerable psychological and anthropological research to suggest that emotional expression is culturally constructed (Mesquita et al., 2016).
There is also an assumption that women are better at identifying emotion in others. Male and female participants were equally accurate and quick in identifying anger in the faces of both male and female adults and children, while females were slightly faster at identifying sadness in the faces of females (Parmley & Cunningham, 2014). Wells et al. (2016) also found that women were slightly faster and more accurate at identifying the emotions of other women, than were men in identifying the emotions of either men or women. Overall, research indicates that gender differences in the experience and expression of emotions are exaggerated, and those that are observed often reflect gender roles within the culture rather than an innate difference between males and females.
Empathy:
Who is more empathetic? Empathyrefers to our ability to feel what others feel. Empathy involves both understanding how someone might feel in a given context, and feeling those emotions yourself. As many people assume that women are more attuned to the emotions of others, the reasoning goes that women would be more empathetic. However, the answer to the question of who is more empathetic depends on how we measure empathy. On self-reports, women and girls report more empathy for others than do men and boys (Baron-Cohen & Wheelwright, 2004). Self-report research also finds that females who have CAH, thus higher levels of testosterone, report less empathy than other women (Hines, 2015). Experimental research shows women are slightly better than men at determining what someone might be feeling when watching interviews, but this gender difference increases when participants are told that the study is assessing empathy (Bosson et al., 2019). While, brain imaging research reveals no overall gender difference in empathy when observing others who are suffering (Lamm et al., 2011).
Self-Esteem:
Recent research has focused on how adolescent females lose confidence in themselves and experience lower levels of self-esteem, or the positive regard one has for oneself. Media, especially messages regarding attractiveness, and the sexualization of girls that objectify their bodies, negatively affect young female self-perceptions (American Psychological Association, 2007). If self-esteem plummets during adolescence, what happens in adulthood? To assess developmental changes, males and females at various ages rated their overall self-esteem. Results indicated that females do rate themselves lower on self-esteem in early to late adolescence, but then self-esteem rises in adulthood and late adulthood to levels equal to those of males (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). However, looking at gender and ethnicity, while white participants demonstrated a small difference favoring males (+0.20), Blacks demonstrated no difference (-0.04) in self-esteem. These results demonstrate how important intersectionality is when reviewing research results.
Age of Participants Effect Size (d value)
7-10 .16 (small)
11-14 .23 (small)
15-18 .33 (small)
23-29 .10 (close to zero)
60 and Over .03 (close to zero)
All ages .21 (small)
Self-Confidence:
While self-esteem measures an overall feeling of self-worth, self-confidencepertains to a belief that one can be successful in a specific area. Not surprisingly, gender differences in self-confidence varied based on the specific area assessed (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). For example, females exhibited higher self-confidence in the areas of behavioral control (d = -.17) and morals/ethics (d = -.38), while males possessed stronger self-confidence in physical appearance (d = .35) and athletics (d =.41). As previously indicated, males rate themselves higher in self-confidence than females in mathematics, and this difference has been interpreted as a female-deficit. However, new perspectives look at this difference as males overestimating their performance and females having a more accurate view of their performance.
Self-Efficacy:
An important area of social cognitive theory is self-efficacy, which refers to one’s belief about being able to accomplish some task or produce a particular outcome (Bandura et al., 2001). Self-efficacy beliefs determine one’s goals and willingness to achieve them. Those with high self-efficacy are more willing to persevere when faced with adversity when others might give-up. Career aspirations are correlated with self-efficacy and often reflect traditional gender roles. When girls observe female nurses, their efficacy for becoming a nurse increases, but when they observe few women doctors, their sense of efficacy for becoming a doctor diminishes.
In the next module we will consider how gender influences sexual behavior. The module starts with describing some of the more common sexual orientation labels, theories on the development of sexual orientation, factors that affect mate selection, and levels of sexual activity.
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Sexual Orientation
Sexuality is defined in many ways including the capacity for sexual responses and experiences (Bosson et al. 2019) and a general term for the feelings and behaviors of humans concerning sex (Carroll, 2016). Sexual Orientation refers to the direction of emotional and erotic attraction toward a particular gender. It is a personal quality that inclines people to feel romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of a given sex or gender. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) (2016), sexual orientation also refers to a person’s sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions. Sexual orientation is independent of gender; for example, a transgender person may identify as heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual, asexual, or any other kind of sexuality, just like a cisgender person.
Sexual orientation labels:
• Queer signifies a range of different sexual orientations and gender behaviors, identities, or ideologies.
• Gayrefers to men who are sexually attracted to other men.
• Lesbianrefers to women who are sexually attracted to other women.
• Bisexual was a term traditionally used to signify being sexually attracted to both men and women, but it has recently been used in nonbinary models of sex and gender to refer to attraction to any sex or gender.
• Polysexual is an alternative term to bisexual that signifies being sexually attracted to people of many sexes and gender identity.
• Pansexual is an alternative to the term to bisexual that refers to being sexually attracted to all sexes and gender identities.
• Heterosexual, which is often referred to as being straight, indicates that the individual is sexually attracted to the other sex.
• Asexualsignifies little desire or sexual associations.
Sexual Orientation on a Continuum:
Sexuality researcher Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight. To classify this continuum of heterosexuality and homosexuality, Kinsey et al. (1948) created a seven-point rating scale that ranged from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. Research done over several decades has supported this idea that sexual orientation ranges along a continuum, from exclusive attraction to the opposite sex/gender to exclusive attraction to the same sex/gender (Carroll, 2016).
Development of Sexual Orientation
In reviewing the origins of sexual orientation, research has focused on same-sex orientations. According to Farvid (2015), “Historically, heterosexuality has largely been ignored in psychological theory and research as a topic of, or for, analysis. Psychological theory has assumed that heterosexuality is a ‘given’ and ‘normal’, and focused its research on sexualities that sit outside this supposed norm (e.g. homosexuality, lesbianism). Such research has functioned to further normalize heterosexuality, while pathologizing other ways of being sexual, without taking into account the historical conditions that have produced heterosexuality as the norm” (p. 92). Consequently, theories have attempted to explain the sexual orientation of LGBTQ individuals rather than opposite sex orientations.
According to current scientific understanding, individuals are usually aware of their sexual orientation between middle childhood and early adolescence (APA, 2016). However, this is not always the case, and some do not become aware of their sexual orientation until much later in life. It is not necessary to participate in sexual activity to be aware of these emotional, romantic, and physical attractions; people can be celibate and still recognize their sexual orientation. Some researchers argue that sexual orientation is not static and inborn but is instead fluid and changeable throughout the lifespan.
There is no scientific consensus regarding the exact reasons why an individual holds a particular sexual orientation. Research has examined possible biological, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, but there has been no evidence that links sexual orientation to only one factor (APA, 2016). However, biological explanations, that include genetics, birth order, and hormones will be explored further as many scientists support biological processes occurring during the embryonic and and early postnatal life as playing the main role in sexual orientation (Balthazart, 2018).
Genetics:
Using both twin and familial studies, heredity provides one biological explanation for same-sex orientation. Bailey and Pillard (1991) studied pairs of male twins and found that the concordance rate for identical twins was 52%, while the rate for fraternal twins was only 22%. Bailey et al., (1993) studied female twins and found a similar difference with a concordance rate of 48% for identical twins and 16% for fraternal twins. Schwartz et al., (2010) found that gay men had more gay male relatives than straight men, and sisters of gay men were more likely to be lesbians than sisters of straight men.
Fraternal Birth Order:
The fraternal birth order effectindicates that the probability of a male identifying as gay increases for each older brother born to the same mother (Balthazart, 2018; Blanchard, 2001). According to Bogaret et al. “the increased incidence of homosexuality in males with older brothers results from a progressive immunization of the mother against a male specific cell-adhesion protein that plays a key role in cell-cell interactions, specifically in the process of synapse formation,” (as cited in Balthazart, 2018, p. 234). A meta-analysis indicated that the fraternal birth order effect explains the sexual orientation of between 15% and 29% of gay men.
Hormones:
Excess or deficient exposure to hormones during prenatal development has also been theorized as an explanation for sexual orientation. One-third of females exposed to abnormal amounts of prenatal androgens, a condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) described in module 3, identify as bisexual or lesbian (Cohen-Bendahan et al., 2005). In contrast, too little exposure to prenatal androgens may affect male sexual orientation by not masculinizing the male brain (Carlson, 2011).
Same Sex Discrimination:
The United States is heteronormative, meaning that society supports heterosexuality as the norm. Consider, for example, that homosexuals are often asked, “When did you know you were gay?” but heterosexuals are rarely asked, “When did you know you were straight?” (Ryle, 2011). Living in a culture that privileges heterosexuality has a significant impact on the ways in which non-heterosexual people are able to develop and express their sexuality.
Open identification of one’s sexual orientation may be hindered by homophobia which encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It can be expressed as antipathy, contempt, prejudice, aversion, or hatred; it may be based on irrational fear and is sometimes related to religious beliefs (Carroll, 2016). Homophobia is observable in critical and hostile behavior, such as discrimination and violence on the basis of sexual orientations that are non-heterosexual. Recognized types of homophobia include institutionalized homophobia, such as religious and state-sponsored homophobia, and internalized homophobiain which people with same-sex attractions internalize, or believe, society’s negative views and/or hatred of themselves.
Sexual minorities regularly experience stigma, harassment, discrimination, and violence based on their sexual orientation (Carroll, 2016). Research has shown that gay, lesbian, and bisexual teenagers are at a higher risk of depression and suicide due to exclusion from social groups, rejection from peers and family, and negative media portrayals of homosexuals (Bauermeister et al., 2010). Discrimination can occur in the workplace, in housing, at schools, and in numerous public settings. Much of this discrimination is based on stereotypes and misinformation. Major policies to prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation have only come into effect in the United States in the last few years.
The majority of empirical and clinical research on LGBT populations are done with largely white, middle-class, well-educated samples. This demographic limits our understanding of more marginalized populations that are also affected by racism, classism, and other forms of oppression. In the United States, non-Caucasian LGBT individuals may find themselves in a double minority, in which they are not fully accepted or understood by Caucasian LGBT communities and are also not accepted by their own ethnic group (Tye, 2006). Many people experience racism in the dominant LGBT community where racial stereotypes merge with gender stereotypes.
A Growing Acceptance:
According to a recently published PEW Research Center report (Poushter & Kent, 2020) there has been an increase in acceptance of same-sexuality, although it varies widely by region. In many nations this acceptance is also influenced by respondents’ age, level of education, religious affiliation, and to some degree gender. In general, older adults, those with less education, those affiliated with a religious group, and in nations where gender differences were found, men are less accepting. Right leaning political groups, both within the U.S. and Europe, are also less accepting.
Attraction
Mate Preferences in Heterosexual Relationships:
According to evolutionary psychology’s sexual strategies theory (Buss & Schmitt, 1993), gender differences in mate preferences reflect the evolutionary roles of men and women. Specifically, men value a fertile partner, thus youthfulness as displayed in appearance and age would be highly sought after, while women seek a partner that offers greater stability, and thus can protect and provide for both her and her offspring (Buss & Bames, 1986). Is this still the case today? Bech-Sorenson and Pollet (2016) found that little had really changed. Heterosexual women and men were asked whether they would consider marrying someone who had certain characteristics. Consistent with the predictions of evolutionary psychology, even today, women seek a more mature male who has resources, while men seek a younger, more attractive mate. However, the researchers did discover that not everything had stayed the same. In contrast with earlier research, both men and women seemed less concerned about their mate having been married before, already having children, or being of a different religion or race. Overall, these gender differences in mate selection preferences are robust and occur across many nations (Gallant et al., 2011).
Characteristic Effect Size d value
Older by 5 or more years -.74 (large)
Younger by 5 or more years 1.02 (very large)
Had been married before .08 (close to zero)
Already had children -.17 (small)
Was not likely to hold a steady job .80 (large)
Was of a different religion -.05 (close to zero)
Was of a different race .20 (small)
Would earn much less than you .52 (moderate)
Would earn much more than you -.55 (moderate)
Was not good looking -.72 (large)
Had more education than you -.47 (moderate)
Had less education than you .34 (small)
Those from a sociocultural perspective challenge the narrowness of evolutionary psychology’s theory of mate selection (Zentner & Eagly, 2015). They suggest that like all things psychological, both nature and nurture are at the heart of mate preferences, and that these preferences are often shaped by current environmental forces that sometimes reflect gender-differences, and sometimes reflect gender-similarities. From this approach, human mate preferences are driven by the opportunities and customs provided to people by the surrounding society. Where there is greater gender inequality, one might expect to find greater gender differences in mate preferences that follow traditional divisions of labor whereby males seek young fertile women and women seek a provider. As a culture reaches greater parity between the genders, however, traditional mate preferences may become less pronounced. According to cross-cultural studies reported by Zenter and Eagly, this generally is what is found. Similarly, the age gap in a preferred mate (males seeking a younger female, females seeking older males) has been declining, especially in nations with greater gender equality. For instance, in Turkey (a nation with less gender equality) males seek a female that is about 4 years younger, but in Iceland (a nation with the greatest gender equality) the difference is about 1 and half years. The changes reported by Bech-Sorenson and Pollet (2016) above also reflect cultural changes in attitudes regarding cross-racial and religious relationships.
A significant factor contributing to a culture’s gender parity, and thus marriage trends, is the increased educational attainment by women. In the United States, men with higher earnings and greater education have traditionally been more likely to marry. The recent increase in education and earnings by women are indicative of a woman’s increased likelihood of marrying. Couples are now more likely to demonstrate homogamy, that is, marriage between individuals who are similar on various indicators. Consequently, the tradition of hypergamy; that is, women “marrying up” in educational attainment, has been replaced by, homogamy; that is, women marrying someone with equal education, and even hypogamy; that is, women “marrying down” (Zentner & Eagly, 2015). Women are seen as providing valuable educational and financial resources to the marriage. In contrast, those who lack education and financial attributes are less likely to marry.
The research regarding gender parity and the greater educational attainment of women is a more recent explanation for the reasons why individuals marry. In the past, evolutionary theory was proposed as the primary explanation for marriage (or a partnership) between a man and woman. Evolutionary theory states that gender differences are due to certain behaviors being more adaptive to females compared to males based on evolutionary selection (Hyde, 2014). Two important concepts, sexual selection and parental investment, are facets of evolutionary theory that have implications for gender differences. Sexual selectionrefers to members of one gender (usually males) competing among themselves for mating access to the other gender (usually females). Also, those being competed for (usually females) having preferences for and actively choosing to mate with members of the opposite gender (usually males). Gender differences in physical aggression have been identified as being due to sexual selection. Parental investment refers to the amount of investment a parent makes that will increase the survival of the offspring. Human females invest significantly more than human males in the survival of the offspring to reproduction age, and thus allowing the parent’s genes to be passed on to future children. Females have fewer eggs to use and a long gestational and nursing period to ensure the offspring’s health and survival. The parental investment theory has been used to explain why males prefer a larger number of sexual partners as a way to produce more offspring, while females prefer less partners to ensure the long-term survival of fewer offspring (Hyde, 2014). Overall support for an evolutionary explanation for gender differences in sexuality and other behaviors has been mixed.
Mate Preferences in Sex and Gender Minorities:
Prior research (Bailey et al., 1997) has shown that gay men and lesbian women are similar to their heterosexual counterparts in terms of what they are seeking in both a dating and more long-term relationship partner. Similar to heterosexuals, attractiveness is more crucial in short-term relationships than in long-term partnerships. Gay men are also more likely to place importance on physical appearance in their partner, similar to heterosexual men. Lippa (2007) found that lesbians, like heterosexual women, emphasize personality and seek a mate who is kind, honest, and has a good sense of humor. What the research also finds is that like heterosexuals, gay men and lesbian women often seek someone who is sex-typical in appearance (Bailey et al., 1997; Lippa, 2007; Zhang, et al., 2019). Just as heterosexual males seek a feminine female, and heterosexual females seek a masculine male, gay men also seek a male partner who is typical in appearance for a male, and lesbian women seek a female partner who is typical in appearance for a female.
As reported elsewhere in the text, there is little research on transgender people, and the research on mate selection is no exception. However, as Aristegui et al. (2018) note this is surprising as studying transgender people offers an opportunity to assess whether biological gender or chosen gender has an impact of mate preferences. Aristegui and colleagues examined the mate selection preferences of transgender adults in Argentina and found that they value the same attributes that are chosen by heterosexual, gay, and lesbian people. Personality factors, such as dependability, kindness, and being sociable, were highly sought. Moreover, they were similar to these groups in the least important characteristics, such as chastity, sharing the same religion, political backgrounds, or level of education.
One interesting finding was that the second most important attribute was seeking someone who could provide a satisfying sexual relationship. Aristegui et al. (2018) wondered if this might have reflected the higher rate of current and prior sex workers in their sample. Those who were male to female (MTF) were more likely to emphasize looks and a satisfying sexual relationship, consistent with the pattern shown in other people who are born male, while those who were female to male (FTM) sought greater dependability, consistent with those who are born female. This would suggest that biological sex is still influencing mate preferences. However, the study also found that MTF, more so than FTM, respondents sought many qualities typical of females, such as a partner with ambition, resources, and social status. Similar results have been found in research with gay males, in that while attractiveness is highly sought, so is the ability to obtain and provide resources (Lippa, 2007). Could mate selection be more a function of the partner’s sex, the person being chosen, than that of the chooser’s sex? Clearly more research needs to be done on this topic.
Current Sexual Activity
A common stereotype is that males are significantly more interested in sex than females. Yet, the research indicates only moderate differences, including males being more likely to masturbate, use pornography, have more sexual partners, and have more favorable attitudes toward casual sex, although that gap has been narrowing (Hyde, 2014). Because research on sex is typically based on self-reports, gender differences may in fact represent biases. In contrast, recent research found no gender differences when participants completed an anonymous questionnaire while attached to a fake polygraph and told that the machine could detect false responses. Consequently, gender differences in sexuality may merely represent gender role biases.
The General Social Survey is a nationally representative, biennial survey of US adults 18 years or older administered by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. To examine trends in sexual activity, study participants were asked questions pertaining to sexual frequency and number of sexual partners in the past year (Ueda et al., 2020). Results from the 2016-2018 survey were compared to previous results from the 2000-2002 survey.
The 2016-2018 results indicated that most men and women reported having had one sexual partner and engaged in weekly or more sexual activity in the past year. However, these percentages increased with the participant’s age. The authors estimated that for those aged 18-24, 30.9% of men and 19.1% of women were sexually inactive in the past year. For those aged 25-34, it was 14.1% of men and 12.6% of women, and for those 35-44 years of age, 8.0% of men and 8.5% of women were sexually inactive. Frequency of sexual activity and number of sexual partners in the past year among US men and women by age group in 2016-2018 are shown below.
Looking at specific demographic information, more men than women reported having both no sexual partner and three or more partners. Gay and bisexual men were less likely to report having no sexual partners. Black men compared to white men were more likely to indicate three or more sexual partners, as were men and women identifying as gay, lesbian or bisexual. A higher percentage of women reported having only one sexual partner. Men with lower income, part-time employment, and no employment, were less likely to be sexually active compared to men and women with full-time employment. Additionally, both men and women who identified as students were less sexually active.
How do these results compare to previous data? Between 2000-2002 and 2016-2018, the percentage of 18- to 24-year-old men who reported having had no sexual activity in the past year increased, but not for women (Ueda et al., 2020). Less sexual activity was also observed among those aged 25 to 34 years for both men and women, but not among those aged 35 to 44 years. The decrease in sexual activity occurred mainly among unmarried men, as rates of sexual activity were unchanged for unmarried women. Among married men and women, weekly or more sexual frequency decreased for both, regardless of sexual orientation. Instead, married individuals were more likely to engage in sexual activity one to three times per month rather than multiple times per week. Trends in the frequency of sexual activity and number of sexual partners in the past year among US men and women aged 18 to 44 years are shown below.
Ueda et al. (2020) proposed several hypotheses for the decrease in sexual activity. These included the stress and busyness of modern life, the supply of online entertainment competing with sexual activity, increased rates of depression and anxiety, adolescents increasingly postponing the start of adult activities, such as dating, and the use of smartphones that decrease opportunities in real-world human interactions. For women, sexual inactivity may be associated with not wanting to engage in the “hooking up” culture, which has generally been reported to be less pleasurable for women, and concern about sexual aggression directed toward them. The authors expressed concern regarding these recent results given that sexual relationships positively correlate with life satisfaction, happiness, lowered heart rate and blood pressure, and stress reduction through the release of oxytocin. Further, a lack of sexual activity has been associated with an increased risk of death, and may be a sign of serious health problems.
Hooking Up
United States demographic changes have significantly affected the romantic relationships among young adults. The age for puberty has declined, while the times for one’s first marriage and first child have been pushed to older ages. This results in a “historically unprecedented time gap where young adults are physiologically able to reproduce, but not psychologically or socially ready to settle down and begin a family and child rearing,” (Garcia et al., 2012, p. 172). Consequently, according to Bogle (2007, 2008) traditional forms of dating have shifted to more casual hookups that involve uncommitted sexual encounters.
Booty callsrefer to relationships that are non-committal nor are they expected to be monogamous, but involve repeated sexual encounters (March et al., 2018). They are often thought of as a “compromise” relationship between the genders. The relationship offers sex with lower investment than a committed relationship, which might appeal to males. At the same time has a sense of commitment that is greater than a one-night stand, which might appeal more to females. There is also more emotional expression, such as holding hands and kissing than in one night stands. However, those who engage in booty calls, often do not consider the other party as a friend and thus do not socialize with them. Hookups do not include a friendship relationship.
In contrast, friends with benefits (FWB) arerelationships that involve friends having casual sex without commitment. Bisson and Levine (2009) found that 60% of 125 undergraduates reported a FWB relationship. While young adults today do not report more sexual partners, they do report engaging in more casual sex with a friend (Monto & Carey, 2014). The concern with FWB is that one partner may feel more romantically invested than the other (Garcia et al., 2012), and this partner is more likely to be a woman (Williams & Jovanovic, 2015). In their study, Williams and Jovanovic found that men were more likely to report entering into a FWB relationship because it was easier (d=.47), while women were more likely to hope that the relationship might become more (d=-.53). Males also reported more overall satisfaction in FWB relationships (d=.42). However, both men and women were equally satisfied with the sex. This is unlike hookups where women report more pressure to engage in sex, are likely to be more sexually submissive, and report less sexual pleasure (Wade, 2017).
What is the longevity of FWB relationships? Do they become what people want them to be? The answer depends on what the person wants them to be. Machia et al. (2020) sampled over 500 young adults, almost 200 allowed them to reassess their relationships with their FWB partner about a year later. They asked participants at Time 1 what type of relationship were they were hoping this would become: just a friend, a continuation of FWB, a romantic partner, or no relationship. They then assessed at Time 2 what type of relationship were they in with this partner. Those who indicated at Time 1 that they just wanted to be friends, 59% were in such as relationship at Time 2. Those who had indicated that they wished for no relationship, 43% reported this at Time 2. Forty percent of those who had wanted the relationship to stay the same, reported that it was at Time 2. Only 15% of those who had wanted a romantic relationship obtained this. Machia and colleagues report that failure to clearly define what the relationship was and was not, and failure to communicate between the partners what they wanted the relationship to be were big factors in relationships not changing in the direction that people hoped it would.
Hooking up Gender Differences:
When asked about their motivation for hooking up, both males and females indicated physical gratification, emotional gratification, and a desire to initiate a romantic relationship as reasons (Garcia & Reiber, 2008). Although males and females are more similar than different in their sexual behaviors, a consistent finding among the research is that males demonstrate a greater permissiveness to casual sex (Oliver & Hyde, 1993; Hyde, 2014). In another study involving 16,288 individuals across 52 nations, males reported a greater desire of sexual partner variety than females, regardless of relationship status or sexual orientation (Schmitt et al., 2003). This difference can be attributed to gender role expectations for both males and females regarding sexual promiscuity. Additionally, the risks of sexual behavior are higher for females and include unplanned pregnancy, increased sexually transmitted diseases, and susceptibility to sexual violence (Garcia et al., 2012).
In addition among college females, their overabundance on college campuses, 56% of college students in the US are female (Snyder & Dillow, 2015), does not translate into greater sexual power. Males have more power in negotiating partner selection and initiating a relationship, often creating a climate that is more sexually permissive and less beneficial for females (Jenkins Hall & Tanner, 2016). Sutton and Simmons (2014) found that participation in hook-ups was associated by increased sexual victimization by women and perpetration by men. Alcohol use and hook-ups often co-occur (LaBrie et al., 2014).
Although hooking up relationships have become normalized, some research indicates that the majority of men and women would prefer a more traditional romantic relationship (Garcia et al., 2012). Additionally, Owen and Fincham (2011) surveyed 500 college students with experience with hookups, and 65% of women and 45% of men reported that they hoped their hookup encounter would turn into a committed relationship. Further, 51% of women and 42% of men reported that they tried to discuss the possibility of starting a relationship with their hookup partner.
Emotional Consequences of Hooking up:
Concerns regarding hooking up behavior certainly are evident in the research literature. One significant finding is the high comorbidity of hooking up and substance use. Those engaging in non-monogamous sex are more likely to have used marijuana, cocaine, and alcohol, and the overall risks of sexual activity are drastically increased with the addition of alcohol and drugs (Garcia et al., 2012). Regret has also been expressed, and those who had the most regret after hooking up also had more symptoms of depression (Welsh et al., 2006). Hook ups were also found to lower self-esteem, increase guilt, and foster feelings of using someone or feeling used. Females displayed more negative reactions than males. Overall, “the gender gap in hookup regret is mostly a function of gender differences in sexual initiation, sexual agency, sexual enjoyment, loss of respect from one’s partner, and loss of self-respect” (Uecker & Martinez, 2017, p. 470).
Hooking up can best be explained by a biological, psychological, and social perspective. Research indicates that young adults feel it is necessary to engage in hooking up behavior as part of the sexual script depicted in the culture and media. Additionally, they desire sexual gratification. However, they also want a more committed romantic relationship and may feel regret with uncommitted sex.
LGBTQ hookup:
The research on hooking up is decidedly heteronormative, and male focused. Few studies have examined the percentage of LGB adults who hookup and the consequences of such encounters, and even less is known about experiences of transgender young adults (Watson et al., 2017). One of the few studies to examine hookups among sexual minorities reported that 74% of the gay men in their sample, compared to 64% of heterosexual males reported having engaged in a hookup (Barrios & Lundquist, 2012). Gay males also reported having more partners than heterosexual males. This study did not consider women or those who identify as bisexual. Watson et al. (2017) report that the hookup research needs to pay heed to intersectionality, as most of the research focuses on the experiences of college educated White males.
In the next module we will examine interpersonal relationships. We will consider the role of friendship, the lifestyles of singlehood, cohabitation, marriage and divorce, and the role of parenthood and caregiving in the lives of the genders.
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Friendships
Friends play a central role throughout our lives. The term “friend” is often used broadly by people to refer to family members, partners, co-workers, and close acquaintances. However, social researchers use the term to refer to voluntary, informal relationships of a non-sexual nature that we have with people, to distinguish it from relationships we have with relatives and romantic partners (Wrzus et al., 2017). For those in late adulthood, friends continue to provide emotional as well as physical support. Being able to talk with friends and rely on others is very important during this stage of life. Bookwala et al. (2014) found that the availability of a friend played a significant role in protecting the health from the impact of widowhood. Specifically, those who became widowed and had a friend as a confidante, reported significantly lower somatic depressive symptoms, better self-rated health, and fewer sick days in bed than those who reported not having a friend as a confidante. In contrast, having a family member as a confidante did not provide health protection for those recently widowed.
Same-gender Friendships:
In our twenties, intimacy needs may be met in friendships rather than with partners. This is especially true in the United States today as many young adults postpone making long-term commitments to partners, either in marriage or in cohabitation. The kinds of friendships shared by women tend to differ from those shared by men (Bosson et al., 2019). Friendships between men are more likely to involve sharing information, providing solutions, or focusing on activities rather than discussion of problems or emotions. Men tend to discuss opinions or factual information or spend time together in an activity of mutual interest. Friendships between women are more likely to focus on sharing weaknesses, emotions, or problems. Women talk about difficulties they are having in other relationships and express their sadness, frustrations, and joys.
One explanation for these differences is that the masculine gender role discourages men from opening up to others, especially to other men, as this may be seen as a sign of weakness. However, others have suggested that men and women do not differ in the level of intimacy in their friendships, they differ in how they display their closeness (Bosson et al., 2019). This would suggest that the difference found in the research reflects a bias in how closeness/intimacy is often measured. Is willingness to self-disclose the only way we can show intimacy in our friendships? As Bosson and colleagues suggest, “perhaps men and women do have similarly close friendships, but they achieve closeness in somewhat different ways” (p. 335). Moreover, this difference in self-disclosure may be waning. In an analysis of the Facebook posts of young adults, Farber and Nitzburg (2016) found no discernable gender difference in amount of personal information that was being shared with others.
What about bromances? A bromance, or close heterosexual friendship between males, provides males with a social space for intimacy and emotional disclosure outside of a heterosexual relationship (Robinson et al., 2017). Intimate male friendships are more acceptable now than in previous generations, and males engaged in bromances identify emotional satisfaction and social fulfillment in these relationships. Further, they feel less judged by their close male friends in comparison to their girlfriends. They also indicated they would be more likely to share personal matters and sensitive health information within a bromantic, rather than romantic, relationship. Robinson et al. concluded that men benefit from same-sex relationships, especially if they are not comfortable being emotionally intimate with women, and these relationships can last a much longer time than a romance.
Cross-gender Friendships:
Eighty percent of adults have, or have had, at least one cross-gender friendship (Halatsis & Christakis, 2009) and 40% of all adult friendships are cross-gender (Lenton & Weber, 2006). The challenge for cross-gender relationships is to create a friendship that outsiders and both parties within the relationship can understand (Reeder, 2017). Unlike other social relationships, such as parent-child or romantic partners, there is no clear social script for cross-gender friendships. How do adults in cross-gender friendships conceptualize the relationship? Reeder (2017) found that the most common themes were:
• As family. Often the friend was described as just being like a brother or sister, or in the case of friendships with larger age differences, parent-child. This family-like construction of the friendship helps to explain to both others and each friend the non-sexual nature of the relationship.
• Just like same-sex friends. Here the cross-gender friend is described as being “just like one of the girls/guys”. For many this also helps explain the more platonic nature of the relationship.
• Just as friends. This theme did not borrow from scripted social roles, but was an attempt to show that the relationship was not masking something else.
All of these themes suggest that cross-gender friends were seen as close, equal, and non-sexual. A fourth theme, Reeder called role conflict, highlighted the inability of some adults in cross-gender friendships to create a clear narrative about the friendship because of their own ambiguity about the relationship.
In a second study, Reeder asked college aged men and women about their cross-gender friendships and whether they would characterize them as like a sibling, one of guys/girls, just as friends, romantic partner, parent, or competitor. The same three themes emerged as the primary themes. Women were most likely to describe a male friend as being like a brother, followed by just a friend, and like one of the girls. Men were most likely to describe a female friend as just a friend, then like a sister, and like one of the guys. Males and females were equally satisfied in their cross-gender friendships. However, those who described the friendship in more romantic terms had the lowest rating of satisfaction. Such adults were perhaps experiencing role conflict and were having difficulty “creating a perception and experience of the friendship that [was] distinct from romance.” (p. 157). There were few respondents who described their friendship as like a romantic relationship and there was no gender difference on this in Reeder’s study. However, other researchers have noticed a difference.
As previously indicated, cross sex friendships among straight individuals are common (Bleske-Recheck et al., 2012). However, concerns have been raised that one member of the friendship has romantic, rather than platonic, desires. To test this, Ward (2012) interviewed a large cohort of friends and found that males see many opportunities for romance in their platonic opposite-sex friendships. The women in these friendships, however, seem to believe they are just platonic. Results indicated that the two people were experiencing the same relationship in different ways, and men have a difficult time being “just friends”. According to Ward,
“The results suggest large gender differences in how men and women experience opposite-sex friendships. Men were much more attracted to their female friends than vice versa. Men were also more likely than women to think that their opposite-sex friends were attracted to them—a clearly misguided belief. In fact, men’s estimates of how attractive they were to their female friends had virtually nothing to do with how these women actually felt, and almost everything to do with how the men themselves felt—basically, males assumed that any romantic attraction they experienced was mutual, and were blind to the actual level of romantic interest felt by their female friends. Women, too, were blind to the mindset of their opposite-sex friends; because females generally were not attracted to their male friends, they assumed that this lack of attraction was mutual. As a result, men consistently overestimated the level of attraction felt by their female friends and women consistently underestimated the level of attraction felt by their male friends” (p. 1).
Bleske-Rechek et al. (2012) also found that emerging adult males reported more attraction to their female friend than emerging adult females did. This attraction was regardless of their own or their friend’s current relationship status. When assessing whether attraction affected the friendship, both emerging and middle-aged adult males and females indicated that an attraction to their cross-sex friend was more of a cost to the relationship than a benefit. Additionally, emerging adult females and middle-aged participants who reported more attraction to a cross-sex friend reported less satisfaction in their current romantic relationship. The authors concluded that there were potential negative consequences to cross-sex friendships.
Friendships for Sexual and Gender Minorities:
An important psychological function of friendship is social support outside of the family (Wrzuz et al., 2017), and for gender and sexual minorities this may be crucial if it is lacking from their family. Gillespie et al. (2015) used a large scale survey to examine gender, age, and sexual orientation differences in the number of same-gender and cross-gender friendships, and the extent to which people felt they could rely on their same-gender and cross-gender friends. They looked at three areas of friendship: expressive (could discuss personal issues with their friends), instrumental (they could turn to their friends to help them), and companionate (they would do things with their friends). Overall, what they found was greater similarity than difference in friendship across all genders and sexual orientations, with a few notable differences.
• Homophily, the notion that people affiliate more with those like themselves was more common among heterosexual survey respondents, as they reported more same-gender friends than cross-gender friends. This is not surprising given the added complication for heterosexuals of managing both the real, and possibly assumed, sexual attraction in cross-gender friendships.
• In terms of the dimensions of expressive, instrumental, and companionate support, very little difference was found between men and women, with the exception that women reported that they had more friends that they could talk to about very intimate issues such as one’s sex life, regardless of their age or sexual orientation.
• For all groups, overall life satisfaction was related to friendship satisfaction, regardless of the number of friends. The strongest association between life and friendship satisfaction was found for lesbians and bisexual men and women. This may support the idea that friendship may be especially important psychologically for sexual and gender minorities, who may experience less acceptance from their families.
In high school and college, students who are attracted to the same sex, often seek out other students with same sex attractions (Martin-Storey et al., 2015). In adulthood, sexual and gender minority members may form an intentional chosen family, a circle of friends who understand the challenges of being LGBTQ+ and who can support them (Frost et al., 2016).
Adult Lifestyles
There is a diversity of adult lifestyles, and many adults experience not just one but several over the course of their life. For some adults a deliberate decision is made to stay single, cohabitate, get married, or become a parent. For others, circumstances determine that choice. For example, in cultures where same-sex marriage is not allowed, cohabitation becomes the only option available. When a marriage sours, divorce or the prospect of living alone is the possible lifestyle. This section will also examine dating relationships, and the forms of caregiving adults provide to children and to other adults.
Singlehood:
The number of young adults (age 18-34) who are not in a committed or dating relationship is more than 50%, according to a recent survey (NORC, 2020). This has been trending upward since 2004 when it was a third of young adults. The NORC survey also found that more women than men reported that they were neither dating nor in a committed relationship (55% of female, 40% of male respondents). A Pew Research survey of Americans (Wang & Parker, 2014) found that while just over half (53%) of unmarried adults say they would eventually like to get married, 32 percent are not sure, and 13 percent do not want to get married. It is projected that by the time current young adults reach their mid-40s and 50s, almost 25% of them may not have married. Recent Pew Research (Brown, 2020a) shows that half of singles are not even interested in dating, especially women over age 40. A number of older singles, both men and women feel they are “too old” , “just like being single” or like young adults, “have more priorities right now”.
The U.S. is not the only country to see a rise in the number of single adults. The following table lists some of the reasons young adults give for staying single.
Have not met the right person 30%
Do not have financial stability 27%
Not ready to settle down 22%
Too young to marry 22%
In addition, adults are marrying later in life, cohabitating, and raising children outside of marriage in greater numbers than in previous generations. Young adults also have other priorities, such as education, and establishing their careers. This may be reflected by changes in attitudes about the importance of marriage. In the same Pew Research survey (Wang & Parker, 2014), respondents were asked to indicate which of the following statements came closer to their own views:
• “Society is better off if people make marriage and having children a priority”
• “Society is just as well off if people have priorities other than marriage and children”
Slightly more adults endorsed the second statement (50%) than those who chose the first (46%), with the remainder either selecting neither, both equally, or not responding. Young adults age 18-29 were more likely to endorse this view than adults age 30 to 49; 67 percent and 53 percent respectively. In contrast, those age 50 or older were more likely to endorse the first statement (53 percent).
There may be an added problem for never-married young women. Many are seeking a similar male with a steady job. However, for every 100 never-married females, there are only 91 never-married young men who are steadily employed (Wang & Parker, 2014). It is important to note that those who are single now, may have once been among the ranks of the married, and some never-married adults may be willing to consider someone who is divorced. In addition, not all young adults will necessarily be limiting their search to those from their own age group, or even the opposite gender. However, it appears that the pool for potential mates is narrower for some young women, and thus the odds of staying single, and even never-married single, seems higher.
The increase in never married adults shows a difference among racial groups. In most racial and ethnic groups, men are more likely than women to have never been married. The major exception is among Blacks. In 2012, an approximately equal share of black men (36%) and black women (35%) ages 25 and older had never been married. In 1960, black men were more likely than black women to have never been married (12% vs. 8%). Among Whites, Hispanics and Asians, men are more likely than women to have never been married, and the gender gap among Whites and Hispanics has widened in recent decades (Wang & Parker, 2014).
Dating in Young Adults:
The ways people are finding love has changed with the advent of the Internet. Nearly 50 million Americans have tried an online dating website or mobile app (Bryant & Sheldon, 2017). Online dating has also increased dramatically among those age 18 to 24. Today, one in two young adults report using a mobile dating app or website (Vogels, 2020), almost triple the rate in 2013 (Smith & Anderson, 2016). However, a number of users of online dating sites have reported being harassed by others on the site. Women almost twice as likely to report being harassed, with 18-34 year-old females reporting the highest level of harassment.
Type of Harassment Percentage of Women Percentage of Men
Continued to contact them after being told they were not interested 48 27
Sent sexually explicit images or materials they did not ask for 46 26
Called them offensive names 33 22
Threatened to physically harm them 11 6
Online dating apps are especially popular among those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual, with 55% saying that they had used such apps in comparison of 28% who identify as straight (Anderson et al., 2020). They are also twice as likely as those who identify as straight to report having found a partner using online dating apps (21% vs. 11%). However, they have also more likely to report having been the victims of harassment (Brown, 2020b).
Type of Harassment Percentage of LGB Percentage of Straights
Continued to contact them after being told they were not interested 48 35
Sent sexually explicit images or materials they did not ask for 56 32
Called them offensive names 41 25
Threatened to physically harm them 17 7
According to a recent survey of couples who met online versus offline (Brown, 2020a), those who met online tended to have slightly different levels of education and political views from their partners, but the biggest difference was that they were much more likely to come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. This is not surprising as the average age of the couples who met online was 36, while the average age of couple who met offline was 51. Young adults are more likely to seek, and be in, a relationship with people who are different from them, regardless of how they met.
To evaluate what heterosexual individuals are looking for online, Menkin et al. (2015) reviewed data from an eHarmony.com relationship questionnaire completed by a cross-sectional representation of 5,434 new users. Their results indicated that users consistently valued communication and characteristics, such as personality and kindness over sexual attraction. Females valued communication over sexual attraction, even more when compared to males, and older users rated sexual attraction as less important than younger users. Alterovitz and Mendelsohn (2011) analyzed 600 Internet personal ads across the lifespan and found that men sought physical attractiveness and offered status related information more than women, while women were more selective than men and sought status more than men. These findings were consistent with previous research on gender differences regarding the importance of physical/sexual attraction.
Dating in Later Life:
Most research on dating, and especially those studies that use online dating sites, focus on the dating habits of young adults. However, online dating is becoming an increasingly popular option for older adults (Gewirtz-Meydan & Ayalon, 2018). Older women (over age 50) are more likely to use online dating sites than are older men (AARP, 2012). A possible reason for this gender difference may be that women tend to be more cautious in moving toward a new relationship (McWilliams & Barrett, 2014), and online dating sites may allow them to dip their toes to test the waters. In addition, women have a smaller dating pool from which they can choose, as there are fewer single men their age in their local communities. Online dating sites widen the pool.
Research shows that older adults do realize the “age penalty” they face when trying to navigate the dating market. McWilliams and Barrett (2014) found that older adults may downplay or misrepresent their age, and will highlight the more youthful activities they engage in. These researchers also found that the gender stereotypes play a role in how older men and women present themselves, with men emphasizing their socioeconomic status and women their attractiveness. All of this highlights a cultural paradox which implies “that while sexuality [is] crucial to remaining youthful and aging successfully, youth and beauty [are] essential requisites for active sexual engagement” (Gewirtz-Meydan & Ayalon, 2018, p. 487). In addition, many online dating sites perpetuate this stereotype in how they market themselves to older singles. In their analysis of home page photos on 39 dating sites geared toward older adults, Gewirtz-Meydan and Ayalon found that most sites portray older adults as younger and active, but more conservatively dressed to downplay the sexuality of older adults. In addition, the sites are also very heteronormative in the images they display to prospective users, even though some of their clients are not heterosexual.
Forming Relationships:
The development of romantic relationships is a significant milestone for young adults. However, our knowledge of relationship development is largely based on heterosexuals, and what research does exist on sexual and gender minorities focuses on negative outcomes, such as HIV. Do relationships develop and progress in a similar manner in heterosexual and LGBT couples? First let us consider the models for heterosexual relationships.
There are two models used to describe the development of romantic relationships among heterosexual couples, the stage model of romantic relationships and the process model of romantic relationships. The stage model (Levinger, 1980) proposes that there is a linear sequence of stages that are associated with increasing commitment. In this model individuals are attracted to each other, build up their relationship by engaging in behaviors that promote bonding and interdependence, assess the suitability of the partner, and continue to deepen their commitment, or eventually the relationship deteriorates and ends. The process model (Baxter & Bullis, 1986) proposes that interpersonal processes, such as closeness, trust, commitment, and interdependence are the mechanisms that can guide relationships in different directions. This suggests that the direction is not always linear and that events can become a “turning point” in the relationship depending on these internal processes such as trust or commitment.
Macapagal et al. (2015) assessed whether these models explain the development of relationships among LGBT couples. The authors found that both models had support, although there was more support for the process model. They also found that here were some unique experiences of LGBT couples that were not completely captured by some of the research with heterosexuals.
In terms of the stage model, their interviews with couples did provide clear support for there being a progression toward more serious commitment, such as eventually living together, or discussion of getting married. However, there were several factors that moderated this progression that would not be found in heterosexual relationships. For instance, most LGBT couples met through LGBT social networks, meaning that the individual had to have come out about their LGBT status. Cisgender heterosexuals do not have to make such a proclamation, nor do they need to seek out a “heterosexuals only” social network to find a potential partner. Thus, even starting a relationship may have additional obstacles for LGBT adults. In addition, cohabitation in their sample often occurred among LGBT youth who lacked family support about their gender or sexuality, meaning it may have occurred earlier before the relationship was fully committed. The progression of commitment was also often stymied if at least one partner was still concealing their LGBT status to family or friends. This can lead to low relationship visibility and can make it harder for a couple to invest in the relationship (Macapagal et al., 2015).
There was also support for the process model. Interpersonal processes, such as trust and interdependence, were common themes in the interviews with LGBT couples, just as they are with heterosexual couples (Macapagal et al., 2015). Similar to heterosexual couples, ambivalence about the relationship could stall its progression. Finally, LGBT couples often found that working together to overcome disapproval, or other social stressors, because of their gender or sexual minority status often strengthened their relationship. A finding that is consistent with research showing that shared problems can sometimes strengthen relationships in heterosexual couples (Frost, 2011).
Cohabitation:
In American society, as well as in a number of other cultures, cohabitation has become increasingly commonplace (Gurrentz, 2018). For many young adults, cohabitation has become more commonplace than marriage. While marriage is still a more common living arrangement for those age 25-34, cohabitation has increased, while marriage has declined. Gurrentz also found that cohabitation varies by socioeconomic status. Those who are married tend to have higher levels of education, and thus higher earnings, or earning potential. Many cohabitating adults (44%) see cohabitation as a step toward marriage (Graff 2019). However, this too varies greatly by level of education attained. Only 28% of those with only a High School diploma or less, while 50% of those with a Bachelor’s degree or higher entered into cohabitation with eventual marriage in mind. Similar increases in cohabitation have also occurred in other industrialized countries. For example, rates are high in Great Britain, Australia, Sweden, Denmark, and Finland. In fact, more children in Sweden are born to cohabiting couples than to married couples. The lowest rates of cohabitation in industrialized countries are in Ireland, Italy, and Japan (Benokraitis, 2005). Until recently, for many sexual minorities cohabitation was, and still is, the only option as many nations define marriage as between a man and a woman.
Marriage:
Cohen (2013) reviewed data assessing most of the world’s countries and found that marriage has declined universally during the last several decades. This decline has occurred in both poor and rich countries, however, the countries with the biggest drops in marriage were mostly rich: France, Italy, Germany, Japan and the U.S. Cohen states that the decline is not only due to individuals delaying marriage, but also because of high rates of non-marital cohabitation. Delayed or reduced marriage is associated with higher income and lower fertility rates that are reflected worldwide.
All major racial and ethnic groups have experienced a decline in marriage. Currently-married adults under age 65 dropped about 10 percentage points for Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics since 1990. For Asians, the drop was 3 percentage points. In 2016, more than half of Asians (60%) and Whites (53%) were married, compared with 45% of Hispanics and 29% of Blacks (Wang, 2018). For comparison, in 1960, 72% of adults age 18 or older were married (Wang & Taylor, 2011). In 2020, the US saw a 12% decline in the rate of marriage (Westrick-Payne & Manning, 2022). This decline likely reflects the difficulty in having a wedding during the pandemic.
Americans adults ages 65 and older are slightly more likely to be married today than older adults a few decades ago. This change is largely due to a decline in the share of widowed adults. Those ages 75 and older benefit most from this trend: 39% were widowed in 2016, down from 53% in 1960. During the same period, the proportion of currently-married adults ages 75 and older has increased from 36% to 45%.
Men and women ages 18 to 64 are equally likely to be married, and the marriage share has declined for both genders over the years. In 2016, 48% of men and 49% women ages 18 and older were married, down from 59% and 60% in 1990, respectively. At the same time, the age of first marriage has been increasing for both men and women. In 1960, the average age for first marriage was 20 for women and 23 for men. By 2018 this had increased to 28 for women and 30 for men (Geiger & Livingston, 2019). Many of the explanations for increases in singlehood and cohabitation previously given can also account for the drop and delay in marriage.
In June 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees same-sex marriage. The decision indicated that limiting marriage to only heterosexual couples violated the 14th amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law. This ruling occurred 11 years after same-sex marriage was first made legal in Massachusetts, and at the time of the high court decision, 36 states and the District of Columbia had legalized same sex marriage. Worldwide, 29 countries currently have national laws allowing gays and lesbians to marry (Pew Research Center, 2019). In 2022, both the House and Senate passed The Respect for Marriage Act, which protects same-sex marriage after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Judge Thomas quipped that this could be a sign of things to come (Warburton, 2022).
Many cultures have both explicit and unstated rules that specify who is an appropriate mate. Consequently, mate selection is not completely left to the individual. Rules of endogamyindicate the groups we should marry within and those we should not marry in (Witt, 2009). For example, many cultures specify that people marry within their own race, social class, age group, or religion. Endogamy reinforces the cohesiveness of the group. Additionally, these rules encourage homogamy or marriage between people who share social characteristics. The majority of marriages in the U. S. are homogamous with respect to race, social class, age and to a lesser extent, religion. Homogamy is also seen in couples with similar personalities and interests.
Marriage vs. Cohabitation:
Both love and companionship are the main reasons why adults choose to marry or cohabitate, although both are lower among those who choose to cohabitate rather than marry (Horowitz et al., 2019). Finances (38%) and convenience (37%) are the main reasons why adults choose to cohabitate. In contrast, only 13% of married adults cite finances and 10% cite convenience as reasons why they chose to marry.
Married adults are more likely than those who are cohabitating to indicate that things are going very well in their relationship (Horowitz et al., 2019). They report higher levels of satisfaction with their relationship, including communication between partners, how household chores are divided, parenting styles, and work-life balance. Both married and cohabiting adults report that they are equally satisfied with their sex life. Married adults are also more likely to report trusting their partner to be faithful, to be honest with them, and to act in their best interest. Horowitz reports that this link between marriage and trust remains even after controlling for demographic differences (e.g., education, age, race, religion, and gender).
Divorce:
Although a smaller share of adults is married today, among those who are married, their likelihood of divorce is also lower. After increasing between 2009 to 2012, the number of new divorcees has dropped every year, reaching a record low of 2.1 million in 2016 (Wang, 2018). The divorce rate (measured by the number of adults who got a divorce in the past 12 months per 1,000 ever married adults) is also down from 14 to 12 per 1,000 ever-married adults during the same period. The drop in the divorce rate is mostly relevant for adults under age 64. The number of new divorcees per 1,000 ever-married adults declined from 18 in 2008 to 15 in 2016 in this age group.
In 2020, the US saw a 12% decline in the rate of divorce, which corresponded to a similar drop in the rate of new marriages (Westrick-Payne & Manning, 2022). The difficulty in meeting with lawyers or in obtaining a court date for divorce during the pandemic is a likely reason for this drop in the divorce rate. Westrick-Payne and Manning noted that several US states have reported a backlog in divorce cases.
Livingston (2014) found that 57% of divorced adults were women. This reflects the fact that men are more likely to remarry than are women. Almost 70% of divorces are initiated by women (Rosenfeld, 2017). This is nothing new. Goode’s (1956) survey of women in the 1940s found two-thirds of the divorces were initiated by women. Moreover, this gender difference is not just applicable to the US. More women in England, Australia, Canada, and Europe are initiated by women (Rosenfeld, 2017). In his survey of American women, Rosenfeld found that married women reported much lower levels of “quality” of the relationship than did married men, or men and women in non-martial relationships. Rosenfeld note that his results support the feminist assertion that some women experience heterosexual marriage as oppressive or uncomfortable, and that husbands are still expecting women to take on the bulk of housework and child care at a time when her roles outside of the home have changed.
Most divorces take place within the first 5 to 10 years of marriage (AARP, 2009). This time line reflects people’s initial attempts to salvage the relationship. After a few years of limited success, the couple may decide to end the marriage. It used to be that divorce after having been married for 20 or more years was rare. In recent years the divorce rate among more long-term marriages has been increasing, with the divorce rate among those ages 65 and older has been stable in recent years, staying around 3 new divorcees per 1,000 ever-married adults each year since 2008. At the same time, the rise of so-called “gray divorce” among those ages 50 and older seems to have leveled off. The divorce rate among this group has been around 7 per 1,000 ever-married adults in the past 8 years after an increase since 1990 (Brown & Lin, 2013).
Brown and Lin suggest several reasons for the “graying of divorce”. There is less stigma attached to divorce today than in the past. Some older women are out-earning their spouses, and thus may be more financially capable of supporting themselves, especially as most of their children have grown. Finally, given increases in human longevity, the prospect of living several more years or decades with an incompatible spouse may prompt middle-aged and older adults to leave the marriage.
A survey by AARP (2009) found that men and women had diverse motivations for getting a divorce. Women reported concerns about the verbal and physical abusiveness of their partner (23%), drug/alcohol abuse (18%), and infidelity (17%). In contrast, men mentioned they had simply fallen out of love (17%), no longer shared interests or values (14%), and infidelity (14%). Both genders felt their marriage had been over long before the decision to divorce was made, with many of the middle-aged adults in the survey reporting that they stayed together because they were still raising children. Females also indicated that they remained in their marriage due to financial concerns, including the loss of health care (Sohn, 2015).
Living Alone:
Across the world, women are twice as likely as men to age alone (Ausubel, 2020). For women aged 60 and older, 20 percent live alone compared to 11 percent of men. All 20 countries with the highest percentages of older women living alone are in Europe, including Lithuania (where 50% of older women live alone), Denmark and Hungary (both 47%). The smallest number of older women living alone are in Afghanistan, Mali and Pakistan, at roughly 1%. The fact that women live longer and are typically younger than their male partners may explain this difference. However, cultural norms and countries that offer fewer retirement benefits or support for older adults place greater responsibility on families to provide care for their elders.
Parenthood
The majority of American mothers and fathers (58%) say being a parent is extremely important to their identity, and another 36% say it is very important (Pew Research Center, 2015). For fathers, 57% say being a dad is extremely important to their overall identity, and 58% of mothers say the same about being a mom. Additionally, black and white parents are equally likely to say being a parent is an extremely important part of their identity (61% and 62%, respectively).
Motherhood:
Most women in the Unites States become a mother at some point in their adult lives. According to 2018 data from the US Census (2019) by age 50 only 15% of American women were still childless, meaning being a mother is a common experience and social role for women. Becoming a mother is a life-changing event for most women that can trigger a transition in identity (Hennekam et al., 2017). Women need to incorporate this new role and new relationship, along with the sociocultural expectations of being a mother into their identity.
Most of the childcare, as with other domestic duties, is performed by women, although the gender gap for childcare between mothers and fathers has narrowed in recent years. However, parents are not the only people who take care of children, and these people are usually female, either a relative or paid caregiver (Bosson et al., 2019).
Today, most mothers work. Depending on the organizational climate, women who work during pregnancy or return to work after giving birth, may find the workplace less inviting. The maternal body, both during and after birth, can be viewed as disruptive to an organization, and thus women may experience subtle but hostile reactions in the workplace (Joshi et al., 2015). Workplaces also vary in how family-friendly are their policies, and spouses and partners differ in how they help working mothers who are juggling family and work responsibilities.
What determines who does what when diving up domestic labor? What accounts for the vast difference in how couples answer this question? Three general theories have been suggested.
1. The time-availability theory: Couples may decide how much domestic work a partner does based on how much time each person has available. Research does show that men and women who spend more time in employed work do spend less time on household and childcare duties (Aassve et al., 2014). However, this does not explain why in heterosexual couples, women still do the bulk of domestic chores. Moreover, couples who work different shifts may find that it is not so much the time that you have available that determines household chores, but when you have the time available.
2. The relative income theory: Couples may exchange household duties in lieu of income. This could explain why even women who work do more of the domestic work as well. Women typically make less than their husbands. However, do women who make more income than their male partners do less household work? Most of the research on this topic is prior to 2005, yet it suggests that the answer is no. In fact, two studies found that when the woman makes more money, the husband does even less housework (Bittman, et al., 2003; Brines, 1994).
3. The gender role ideology theory: Couples’ beliefs about gender roles influences their division of domestic work. Aassve and colleagues (2014) did find that couples with more egalitarian beliefs did tend to divide the housework more evenly. An answer to the paradox identified in the previous item may be found here with the gender role ideology theory. Men whose wives earn more, or on whom they are more financially dependent may feel their sense of being a man threatened. One way to restore their sense of masculinity is to avoid “women’s work”.
While becoming a parent is a desire of many women, regardless of what a woman achieves in education or work there is still the motherhood mandate, the social expectation that she will have children. Ultimately women are viewed in relation to motherhood no matter what is their chosen role (Drury, 2016). Friends, family, even total strangers may bring up the question of children, and women who remain child-free by choice elicit feelings of contempt and moral outrage by others (Ashburn-Nardo, 2017). Ashburn-Nardo found that people appear to believe that becoming a parent is a moral imperative.
For women who chose to work, the motherhood mandate can become a double edged sword. In a society that often determines worth by how much money someone makes, women who choose to stay-at-home with their children may run the risk of being viewed as unproductive (Ruitenberg, 2014). Mothers who choose to work, may be seen as neglecting their children (Drury, 2016), or not as committed to their jobs (Gatrell et al., 2017), and those who choose to work and remain childless are viewed as being selfish and unfulfilled (Drury, 2016). This is not something that fathers experience should they choose to work, or if men decided to remain childless. One reason for this difference is that the institution of motherhood, with its roles, rules, and prohibitions, is not the same as the act of mothering. Motherhood is viewed in most cultures from the perspective of essentialism; as something that is the natural state of being a woman (Drury, 2016). As a result, women experience considerable social pressure to become a mother (Drury, 2016).
As noted above, the motherhood mandate requires women to become mothers. However, some women are often considered exempt, such as lesbians. This is because motherhood is shaped by heteronormativity. Lesbian mothers are constantly confronted with the definition of motherhood that assumes heterosexuality. In addition, lesbians are often considered unfit to be parents as they do not fit the standard of heterosexuality (Rogalin & Brooks, 2018). Interestingly by becoming a parent, lesbians may gain social acceptance from family and others (Hayman & Wilkes, 2017), and may be redefining what constitutes family, motherhood, and reproduction (Rogalin & Brookes, 2018).
This heteronormative view of motherhood can even affect some lesbians’ views about their infertility. Toadvine (2015) found that the internalization of homophobia by some lesbian women struggling with infertility led them to assume that being lesbian was the cause of their inability to conceive or maintain a pregnancy. These women’s explanations ranged from “it was probably for the best as they would probably be a terrible mother” to their bodies were “homophobic”.
Fatherhood:
About 62% of men (approximately 75 million) are fathers to biological, step, or adopted children (Monte, 2019). Research on fathers has focused on both direct and indirect influences (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). Indirect factors include the father’s behavior affecting some other factor in the child’s life, such as the mother. Direct factors are the behaviors and attitudes modeled by the father, as well as the father-child interactions. Direct involvement with their children can positively affect child development, especially when fathers are sensitive and responsive to their child’s needs. Loving fathers promote their child’s overall well-being, while decreasing aggressiveness and behavioral concerns. Further, children of involved fathers possess higher IQs, more advanced language and cognitive skills, and stronger self-regulation. In contrast, when fathers are less engaged and negative, children are more likely to develop externalizing problems.
Fathers, Childcare and Housework: In reviewing how parents spent their time in 2016, fathers reported spending an average of eight hours a week on child care, which is three times the amount of time they provided in 1965 (Livingston & Parker, 2019). Fathers also indicated that they put in about 10 hours a week on household chores in 2016, which increased from four hours in 1965. By comparison, mothers spent an average of about 14 hours a week on child care and 18 hours a week on housework in 2016. While they’re spending more time with their children, many dads still feel they are not as involved as they would like. Most fathers (63%) said they spend too little time with their children compared with 35% of mothers. Work obligations were most often given as the reason for the lack of involvement. Among fathers of biological children below the age of 18, about 25% do not live with all of their minor biological children. The amount of time spent with their children who reside with their mother varies, although the majority of fathers indicate they see their children several times per week (Monte, 2019).
Stay-at-Home Fathers: According to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data, 17% of all stay-at-home parents in 2016 were fathers, up from 10% in 1989 (Livingston, 2018a). This modest increase is due to both fathers’ unemployment and fathers saying they are home specifically to care for their home or family. This difference suggests that changing gender roles appear to be a factor as 24% of stay-at-home fathers indicated they are home specifically to care for the family. Fathers who stay-at-home are more likely to have a college degree (25%) compared with the 17% of dads who are home for other reasons. In addition, fathers who stay at home to care for family are far more likely than those at home for other reasons, such as being unemployed or having health issues, to have a working spouse. Consequently, they are less likely to be living in poverty.
Stay-at-home fathers are often subjected to stigma and stereotyping as they challenge the male role model of being the “breadwinner” (Matilla, 2020). Some stay-at-home dads identify loneliness and social isolation, while others report high levels of life satisfaction. How the father’s felt was often connected to the social setting. Matilla examined social spaces and places where stay-at-home fathers experienced social dynamics that oppressed, affirmed or validated their identities as male caretakers. Based on these spaces, five distinct identities emerged:
• Hero: In gender neutral public spaces, such as stores and restaurants, stay-at-home fathers were seen as engaging and nurturing and were celebrated as heroic. Fathers indicated that they often drew positive attention from others and were complimented on their caretaking roles.
• Pervert of the Playground: In playgrounds dominated by mothers and female nannies with children, stay-at-home fathers felt shunned and judged, especially when they were the only male present. Some fathers stopped going to the playground because they felt they were perceived as pedophiles, creeps, or predators that would harm the females and children present.
• Unwelcome Intruder: In play groups that are typically arranged for mothers to interact with other mothers, a stay-at-home dad is considered an unwelcome intruder. Fathers who attempted to join play groups felt alienated and keenly aware of being different from the moms in the group.
• Man among Men: As a response to the loneliness experienced by stay-at-home fathers, formal male-only groups of primary caregivers have been established in several metropolitan areas. These men-only groups of caregivers offer a place for men to express a form of masculinity reflecting their sense self as nontraditional caretakers. Men identified feeling safe with other men as they were not continually being scrutinized by others.
• Communal Father: Volunteering at a child’s educational setting has traditionally been a role for stay-at-home mothers. Stay-at-home fathers have also begun to volunteer at school, and once they have proven they do not constitute a risk of sexual inappropriateness for children, their presence becomes that of a communal, respected and wise father. Unlike the playground, which is informal, the school is a formal institution where rules regarding conduct and a hierarchy are maintained. Consequently, fathers may be placed into leadership positions because of their gender and ride the glass elevator to the top of the volunteers.
Lesbian and Gay Parents:
Research has consistently shown that the children of lesbian and gay parents are as successful as those of heterosexual parents, and consequently efforts are being made to ensure that gay and lesbian couples are provided with the same legal rights as heterosexual couples when adopting children (American Civil Liberties Union, 2016).
Patterson (2013) reviewed more than 25 years of social science research on the development of children raised by lesbian and gay parents and found no evidence of detrimental effects. In fact, research has demonstrated that children of lesbian and gay parents are as well-adjusted overall as those of heterosexual parents. Specifically, research comparing children based on parental sexual orientation has not shown any differences in the development of gender identity, gender role development, or sexual orientation. Additionally, there were no differences between the children of lesbian or gay parents and those of heterosexual parents in separation-individuation, behavior problems, self-concept, locus of control, moral judgment, school adjustment, intelligence, victimization, and substance use. Further, research has consistently found that children and adolescents of gay and lesbian parents report normal social relationships with family members, peers, and other adults. Patterson concluded that there is no evidence to support legal discrimination or policy bias against lesbian and gay parents.
Unmarried Parents:
Although the majority of children in America reside with parents who are married, the percentage of children residing with a single mother, single father, or cohabitating parents has risen (Livingston, 2018b). In 2017, 25% of all parents in the United States were unmarried. Also in 2017, the share of unmarried parents who were solo mothers declined to 53%. This decline was due to an increases in cohabiting parents as 35% of all unmarried parents were living with a partner. Unmarried parents who are solo fathers has remained at 12% for almost 50 years. The makeup of U.S. families are very changeable, and according to Livingston, by the time they turn 9 more than 20% of U.S. children born to a married couple and over 50% of those born to a cohabiting couple will have experienced the breakup of their parents. The declining stability of families is due to increases in cohabitation, which tend to be less long-lasting than marriages, as well as parental divorce. In fact, half of solo parents in 2017 (52%) and one-third of cohabitating parents (35%) had been married at one time.
Women are more likely to be single parents: Across the world, women ages 35 to 59 are more likely than their male counterparts to live in single-parent households (Ausubel, 2020). World wide, women are four times as likely as men to live with one or more minor children and no other adults (4% of women vs. 1% of men). This gap is biggest among Christians (7% of women vs. 2% of men), especially in sub-Saharan Africa where single-parent households are common. Gaps are smaller, but still notable among Jewish, Muslims, Hindus and the religiously unaffiliated. However, Buddhist men and women do not differ much on this measure. In sub-Saharan Africa, 9% of middle-aged women and 2% of middle-aged men live in single-parent households, followed closely by North America (8% of women vs. 2% of men) and the Latin America-Caribbean region (7% of women vs. 1% of men). Men tend to live in single-parent homes at about the same rate all over the world, and any differences in rates of single parenthood affect women almost exclusively.
Caregiving
The sandwich generationrefers to adults who have at least one parent age 65 or older and are either raising their own children or providing support for their grown children. According to a Pew Research survey, nearly a half of middle-aged adults are part of this sandwich generation (Parker & Patten, 2013). In addition, 15% of middle-aged adults are providing financial support to an older parent while raising or supporting their own children. According to the same survey, almost half of middle-aged adults, have supported their adult children in the past year, and over a quarter are the primary source of support for their grown children.
Women are more likely to take on the role of care provider for older parents in the U.S. and Germany (Pew Research, 2015). About 20% of women say they have helped with personal care, such as getting dressed or bathing, of aging parents in the past year, compared with 8% of men in the U.S. and 4% in Germany. In contrast, in Italy men are just as likely (25%) as women (26%) to have provided personal care. The Pew survey (Parker & Patten, 2013) found that almost a third of the sandwich-generation adults were more likely to say they always feel rushed, while less than a fourth of other adults said this. However, the survey suggests that those who were supporting both parents and children reported being just as happy as those middle-aged adults who did not find themselves in the sandwich generation. However, adults who are supporting both parents and children did report greater financial strain.
According to the National Alliance for Caregiving (2015), 40 million Americans provide unpaid caregiving, and much of this falls on the shoulders of women. The typical caregiver is a 49 year-old female currently caring for a 69 year-old female who needs care because of a long-term physical condition. Looking more closely at the age of the recipient of caregiving, the typical caregiver for those 18-49 years of age is a female (61%) caring mostly for her own child (32%) followed by a spouse or partner (17%). When looking at older recipients (50+) who receive care, the typical caregiver is female (60%) caring for a parent (47%) or spouse (10%).
When caring for a disabled spouse, gender differences have also been identified. Female caregivers of a spouse with dementia experienced more burden, had poorer mental and physical health, exhibited increased depressive symptomatology, took part in fewer health-promoting activities, and received fewer hours of help than male caregivers (Gibbons et al., 2014).
Care for chronically ill or aging family members takes its toll physically, emotionally, and financially. Daughters are more likely to provide basic care, such as dressing, feeding, bathing, and transporting, and sons are more likely to provide financial assistance (Schulz & Eden, 2016). Some adult children choose to leave the work force, however, the cost of leaving the work force early to care for an aging or ill family member is high. For females, lost wages and social security benefits equals \$324,044, while for men it equals \$283,716 (Metlife, 2011). This loss can jeopardize the adult child’s financial future.
Similar to caregiving, in all families there is a kinkeeper, a person or persons who keep the family connected and who promote solidarity and continuity in the family (Brown & DeRycke, 2010). Who in your own family do you count on to organize family gatherings? Who knows the history of your family? Who do people turn to in your family for advice and support? Who works to strengthen the bonds between members of your family? These are your family’s kinkeepers, and they are usually women (Leach & Braithwaite, 1996; Brown & DeRycke, 2010). Leach and Braithwaite found that 86% of their respondents named a woman as their family’s kinkeeper, and Brown and DeRycke found that mothers, maternal grandmothers, and paternal grandmothers were more likely to be a family’s kinkeeper than were fathers, young adult children, and grandfathers combined. Brown and DeRycke also found that among young adults, women were more likely to be a kinkeeper than were young adult men.
In the next module we will examine how gender influences people’s experiences in college and in the workplace. We will consider how it influences people’s choices in careers, and the unique challenges faced by the genders.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(Valentine-French_and_Lally)/1.07%3A_Module_7_How_Does_Gender_Affect_Adult_Interpersonal_Relationships.txt
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College and Career Interests
To improve women’s financial earnings, they now attend and complete college at higher levels compared to men. Currently women obtain 61% of Associate’s degrees, 57% of Bachelor’s degrees, 60% of Master’s degrees, and 52% of Doctoral degrees (Carnevale et al., 2018). Despite greater levels of college attendance, women still earn only 81 cents for every dollar earned by men. Even when women and men have the same college majors and work in the same occupation, women still earn only 92 cents for every dollar men earn. Carnevale et al. concluded that the main reason for this gender gap is pay discrimination, despite the same sets of qualifications and experience. This section will explore the reasons why women continue to lag behind men in wages and career advancement, despite educational advancement. The following chart illustrates the higher percentage of degrees that women obtain.
STEM:
Careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math, known as STEM, provide high-paying jobs (Carnevale, 2018). However, looking at data from 47 interest inventories, consistent findings indicate that females are more interested in people and males are more interested in things (Hyde, 2005). Along with this dichotomy, large gender differences favor males for interest in STEM fields. Further, large gender gaps are especially evident in engineering, mathematics, computer science, and physics (EMCP), which is a subset of STEM. This lack of interest may be one explanation for female under representation in these fields. Additionally, in societies in which people choose careers they feel will be highly interesting and fun, the largest gender gaps are found. In contrast, gender gaps are smaller in countries with developing economies where a stable salary is most important. All of these differences reflect cultural variables (Hyde, 2014). According to Master et al. (2016), adolescent females may avoid computer science courses because current prevailing stereotypes indicate to them that they do not belong. Consequently, computer science has one of the lowest percentages of women among STEM fields. Further, beliefs that STEM fields are not family-friendly and would interfere with family life may also keep females from pursuing these careers, and thus not earning high paying salaries.
Parents’ and teachers’ gender stereotypes regarding STEM fields may also discourage females from entering these fields. Female students may have internalized beliefs about female’s possessing less ability in STEM and other science fields, even if the evidence does not match these results and females are the majority in a science class. Colorado State University (2020) surveyed male and female students in science classes that were composed of majority female students and majority male students. In physical sciences classes, female students were in the minority and they had higher average GPAs. They were also 1.5 times more likely to earn an A or A- than the male students. However, both males and females in the class indicated that males performed better, that they would seek help from a male student more than a female student, and a male student was “best in class”. In biology classes, in which females outnumbered the males and performed better, females still identified a male student as someone they would seek help from and were more knowledgeable. Male students chose male and female students equally on all three measures.
Interestingly, when females perform well in STEM areas, the reasons given are that they work harder, are more attentive, and study harder than males. No mention is made regarding them being “naturally” strong in these areas. However, when females perform less well, the reasons given are that they are “naturally” less capable in STEM areas than males (Colorado State University, 2020). It is no wonder that these negative perceptions about female competence in science keeps women from pursing these fields.
Premed:
By the end of high school, females have higher grades, are more likely to attend college, and are more likely than males to indicate an interest in a medical career (Witherspoon et al., 2019). However, by the end of college, only 3.5 percent of the women who said they were interested in medical school took the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT), while 10 percent of males did. Female high school students’ overrepresentation in interest in medicine largely disappeared by the time students finished college and applied to medical school. The authors found that males and females enrolled in science courses required for their degree at the same rate in the first year of college. However, differences in retention begin to be noted during the second year of college, and it was not due to poor grades. Witherspoon et al. found that 96% of male students who earned an A in organic chemistry I went on to organic chemistry II, while 89% of female students earning an A moved on to the next course. This pattern of dropping out of classes continued, even when males and females earned the same grade. Why? Witherspoon et al. theorized that women dropping out was due to a lack of confidence in their abilities and not lower grades. Stereotype threat, and the belief that high grades were achieved only through effort and not ability, contributed to females leaving a premed program. The authors concluded that the loss of females in health care contributes to a significant loss in contributions to the field. Additionally, high performing women end up graduating with lower status, and thus lower paying careers.
Graduate Students and Faculty:
What happens when women pursue STEM, EMCP, and medical fields? Unfortunately, female graduate students and faculty often face an unwelcoming institutional climates. To investigate gender and racial bias in hiring in physics, Eaton et al. (2019) asked professors to read and evaluate the CV of a hypothetical recent Ph.D. Questions asked included the individual’s overall competitiveness, competence, likability, and the likelihood the person would be hired. All the information on the CV was the same except the gender and race of the person, which varied by manipulating the first and last name. Ninety percent of physics respondents were male, and they exhibited a gender bias favoring the male candidates as more competent and more hireable than the identical female candidates. An interaction between gender and race also occurred whereby Black and Latinx women and men candidates were rated the lowest in hireability. Because postdocs are a way to enter university faculty positions, not being hired for these positions can derail the careers for women and minorities.
Once women enter STEM fields, women scientists receive less federal funding for research. Oliveira et al. (2019) reviewed National Institutes of Health grants from 2006 until 2017 and found that first time female principal investigators received a median grant of \$126,615, while first time male investigators received \$165,721. Previous research had indicated that male researchers received higher financial startup support than females. This financial difference already places women at a disadvantage at the beginning of their careers as they have fewer resources for their research.
UCLA’s Higher Education Research Institute surveyed 20,771 full-time undergraduate faculty members at 143 college and universities between 2016 and 2017, and significant differences between male and female responses were found (Stolzenberg et al., 2019). When asked if they needed to work harder than their colleagues to be seen as a legitimate scholar, 61% of females agreed, while only 43.6% of males agreed. More than twice the number of females (36.2%) indicated they experienced either somewhat or extensive stress due to subtle discrimination than males (18%). Additionally, 60% of female faculty of color reported stress due to discrimination (60.1% of Black, 60.1% of Latina, 56.0% of Native American, and 59.0% of multiracial). Female faculty were also less satisfied with job benefits and salary than male faculty (43.5% versus 52.1%). Lastly, a significantly greater proportion of men (83.5%) than women (69.3%) agreed that female faculty were treated fairly at their institution.
What other role does gender play on career interest and employment? Despite the rise in the number of women who work outside of the home, there are some career fields that are still pursued more by men than women. Jobs held by women still tend to cluster in the service sector, such as education, nursing, and child-care worker. These jobs traditionally held by women tend to have lower status, pay, benefits, and job security (Bosson, et al., 2019). In recent years, women have made inroads into fields once dominated by males, and today women are almost as likely as men to become medical doctors or lawyers. Despite these changes, women are more likely to have lower-status, and thus less pay than men in these professions. For instance, women are more likely to be a family practice doctor than a surgeon or are less likely to make partner in a law firm (Ceci & Williams, 2011). In business, they are more likely to work in human resources than finance.
Women’s Lack of Career Advancement
What are the effects of internalized gender roles and stereotypes?
Since childhood, males and females have been socialized to adhere to gender roles. Managerial positions are seen as masculine and male leaders are expected to be assertive, dominant, competitive and achievement-oriented, while these same attributes are negatively ascribed to females. Further, compared to men, women are less likely to see themselves in positions of power and high status (Kossek et al., 2017). Even when qualified, women often choose not to enter male-dominated roles or seek high-level positions because of gender socialization. In addition to internalized gender roles, women may also face stereotype threat, or detrimental performance due to being judged and treated in ways that confirm negative stereotypes. Dealing with negative assumptions regarding one’s performance consume cognitive resources that could be directed toward work tasks, and instead these assumptions negatively affect work performance. Stereotype threat has resulted in anxiety, stress, negative thoughts and emotions, and a decrease in leadership aspirations among working women.
Do women prioritize their families over their careers?
In 2013, Sheryl Sandberg wrote a best-selling book encouraging women to “lean into” their careers in order to break through persistent glass ceilings (King, 2015). Sandberg identified institutional factors that hold women back occupationally, but also stated that women hold themselves back by not reaching for higher positions. In contemplating future families, Sandberg reflected that women make many small career decisions along the way they believe will be required to have a family, and thus actually “leave before they leave” (Sandberg, 2013, p. 93). Are women prioritizing families over careers, thus contributing to them “opting out” of their careers, or are there cultural and institutional factors that contribute to women being “pushed out” of their careers? Research indicates that there may be more of the latter.
In a review of the literature researching whether women “opt out” or are “pushed out” of careers, Kossek et al. (2017) identified several individual and organizational factors. At an individual level, women are more likely to prioritize a balance between their work and home life, while men are more likely to prioritize their careers. This dual centric identity requires women to choose positions that allow for greater work-family flexibility, thus limiting them from pursuing more advanced positions. At the same time, employers value work-centric employees who are committed to make work the main focus of their lives. Consequently, women are overlooked for advanced positions if they prioritizes both work and family equally.
The current trend of employers expecting workers to be available 24/7 affects women more as they do the majority of the child care and typically do not benefit from the financial incentives that go along with the longer hours. Work-family conflict theory states, “work and family roles are incompatible, given conflicting expectations for time, energy, and behaviors,” (Kossek et al., 2017, p. 236). Although both mothers and fathers have increased the amount of time spent in child care, working mothers spend more time on child care and housework than working fathers (Livingston & Parker, 2019). Consequently, the level of stress resulting from a poor work-life balance can lead women to leave a job.
What are some hindrances to women’s career advancement?
The term “glass ceiling” was coined in 1984 by Gay Bryant, the former editor of Working Woman magazine (Kaiser & Wallace, 2016). The glass ceilingrefers to the invisible barrier that prevents women from advancing into top positions. Women hold only 4.5% of CEO positions and 14% of top executive positions around the world (Noland, et al., 2016). In addition, Noland and colleagues found that in a study of nearly 22,000 companies worldwide, in 77% of those firms only 30% of women held an executive position or board seat. There were only 11 companies, or 0.05% of all the firms studied, where women held all the executive positions and board seats. Some researchers see the root cause of this situation in the tacit discrimination based on gender, conducted by current top executives and corporate directors, who are primarily male.
Morgan (2015) attributed this barrier to (1) male managers holding negative biases regarding the performance of female managers, and (2) male managers’ personal preferences not to work with women. These negative biases are also referred to as implicit bias, or unconscious attitudes and stereotypes. Implicit bias affects how women are perceived in leadership positions, even though leadership research indicates no gender differences in ability to lead. Because women are not implicitly associated with traits of successful leaders, they are not hired. Additionally, women are less likely to receive a mentor or have female role models that would assist them in moving into positions of leadership.
Other factors that may reduce women’s chances of top-level positions include a lack of participation in expatriate jobs, which are important to advancement in many companies. Because 90% of women professionals are in dual-career marriages compared to only 50% of men, finding a spousal job abroad is difficult and adversely affects a women’s ability to work overseas (Kossek et al., 2017). Further, more women than men experience career interruptions. Women who take time off from work to care for children or other family members indicate they are penalized, both financially and in career advancement (Pew Research Center, 2013).
Women also face what is known as the broken rung, or not being able to take the first step up into a management position. Without being able to move up the corporate ladder, they will not reach the top roles in management. Instead, they remain in positions with little opportunity for advancement. According to the most recent Women in the Workplace report (McKinsey & Co., 2019), only 72 women are promoted or hired into a manager role for every 100 men. Further, only 1 in 5 top executives are women, and for women of color, the number is only 1 in 25.
How are women judged when they attain a position of power?
When hired, women often face a hostile working environment. This is due to the role congruity theory, in which one’s characteristics should align with typical social roles. The perceived role of a “leader” is incongruent with the perceived role and stereotypical characteristics of a woman (Kossek et al., 2017). Women and men are expected to differ on the dimensions of communality and agency; that is, women should be nice and nurturing, while men should be competent and assertive (Parks-Stamm & Grey, 2016). In the workplace, women are penalized if they show low communality and high agentic behavior. Women are expected to assist others, and therefore are not rewarded for this behavior, but they will be penalized if they do not help others. However, males are rewarded not only for their agency, but also if they show helpful behavior, such as assisting a colleague. Men are not penalized if they are not helpful because they are not expected to be. Women leaders are constantly placed in this double-bind of needing to be communal and showing agency, without experiencing a backlash.
When women are hired for leadership positions, they may also face a glass cliffin which they are placed in precarious positions after a crisis and are set-up to fail (Ryan & Haslan, 2007). For instance, female lawyers are more likely than their male counterparts to lead a high-risk cases, and female politicians are more likely to be recommended to run in unwinnable seats (Bruckmuller et al., 2014). Female leaders are also more likely to be denied credit for their successes, and the display of negative emotions are attributed to their internal characteristics rather than external factors, while the opposite is true for males. Women in managerial positions face less feedback and fewer business connections (Novotney, 2019). Despite these perceptions and hindrances, there are no differences in leadership styles according to the research (Hyde, 2014). Not surprisingly, male leaders were rated somewhat more effective in positions that were consistent with the male role, while females were rated more effective in positions consistent with the female role.
Gender Wage Disparity
Using 2019 data, the American Association of University Women (2019) reported that the typical American woman earns \$45,097, while the typical man earns \$55,291. This discrepancy indicates that American women earn only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. Using the same rate of increase, the pay gap will not close until 2093. Separating women into ethnic groups identify startling discrepancies. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men:
• Asian women earn 90 cents
• White women earn 79 cents
• Black women earn 62 cents
• Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander women earn 61 cents
• American Indian or Alaska Native women earn 57 cents
• Hispanic women earn 54 cents
Covid-19 and Wages:
Covid-19 has affected women more than men in two main ways: Greater loss of jobs and greater exposure to the virus. During a typical recession, more men lose their jobs than women do because male-dominated manufacturing and construction are the hardest hit (Gupta, 2020). However, the hardest hit sectors with this pandemic include leisure, hospitality, education, and childcare, which are dominated by female employees. Of the 20.5 million jobs lost in April 2020, women held 55% of them. The unemployment rate for women 20 years and older went from 2.8% in February 2020 to 15% in April (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2020). In contrast, for men 20 years and over, the unemployment rate changed from 2.9% in February 2020 to 13% in April. Women of color fared worse, with April 2020 unemployment rates for black women at 16.4 percent and Hispanic women at 20.2 percent. Because female-dominated jobs pay less, newly unemployed women lack adequate savings, thus increasing their chances of living in poverty.
As part of the precautions to decrease the spread of Covid-19, schools and childcare centers closed making home childcare an essential need. Because women have traditionally provided the bulk of childcare, continued employment for women proved difficult, as they needed to care for their children (Gupta, 2020). However, women working in healthcare and other required sectors remained employed, and consequently fathers increased their childcare responsibilities.
Although women did not lose their jobs working in these front-line positions, they were exposed more to the coronavirus. According to Boniol et al. (2019), women make up the majority of health care workers worldwide at almost 70%. In the U.S., that number is around 78% (Gupta, 2020). Compared to doctors, nurses are more closely involved in providing direct care, which increases females’ risk. Further, females are more likely to care for ill family members, also placing them at a higher risk than males.
Factors Affecting Wage Inequality:
There are many possible explanations for the wage gap. Occupational sexisminvolves discriminatory practices, statements, or actions, based on a person’s sex, that occur in the workplace. One form of occupational sexism is wage discrimination. In 2008, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that while female employment rates have expanded, and gender employment and wage gaps have narrowed nearly everywhere, on average women still have a 20 percent less chance to have a job. The Council of Economic Advisors (2015) found that despite women holding 49.3% of the jobs, they are paid only 78 cents for every \$1.00 a man earns. It also found that despite the fact that many countries, including the U.S., have established anti-discrimination laws, these laws are difficult to enforce.
Education:
It has been argued in the past that education may account for the wage gap. However, the wage gap exists at every of education level (Bosson et al., 2019). Men with less than high school to men with graduate degree earn more than women with the same level of education. In addition, women now attain more associates, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees than men, and very similar levels of professional degrees and doctorates, according to a recent Census survey (U.S. Census Bureau, 2019). As the wage gap still exists in most occupations level of education cannot be the explanation. Instead, occupational segregation is a likely contributor to the overall wage gap, as women tend to work in very different occupations than men, and those jobs tend to have lower wages. In addition, the entry of women into a field tends to reduce the wages and prestige of the job. Mandel (2013) found that jobs typically held by men who saw the biggest influx of women into those careers, also saw the biggest drop in wages. When men enter occupations that have been historically held by women, as was the case with computer programmers, the status and remuneration increased (Bosson et al., 2019).
College Debt:
According to the American Association of University Women, women hold nearly two-thirds of the country’s outstanding student loan debt (Mensik, 2018). Reasons for this are many and include women attending college at higher rates, but then being paid less than men. Working in lower wage occupations, as well as earning less money in male-dominated fields, contributes to this inequity. Females also have additional expenses, especially child care, and are less likely to receive financial assistance from their parents than are males. Having difficulty paying off student loans can negatively affect women’s credit, which then makes it difficult to qualify for home mortgages and other loans.
Sticky Floors:
Sticky floors, whichkeep low-wage workers, who are more likely to be women and minorities, from being promoted contribute to lower wages (Bosson, et al. 2019). Women are disproportionately in low-paid occupations, such as clerical, childcare, and service workers (Hegewisch & Ellis, 2015). They also get paid less than men in the same jobs. Men are not only being paid more in more masculine jobs, but also in jobs typically held by women.
Other factors include that more than half of men report having negotiated their salary when being hired, compared with 12% of women (Babcock et al., 2006). However, people perceive women who negotiate more negatively then they do men, as assertive women, but not men, are more likely to be penalized. Women are also more likely to have interruptions in their careers either through the birth of children, or relocation due to a change in their partner’s job. Women are also less likely to relocate for the sake of their families when a better job offer comes along, and employers know this. It has been suggested that one reason why males may be offered more money is to keep them from leaving (Baldridge et al., 2006). Additionally, men are more likely to work overtime.
Wage Inequality for the United States Women’s Soccer Team:
A recent example of significant wage inequality occurred among athletes. The world witnessed the tremendous athleticism and soccer skills demonstrated by female players from 24 different countries during the 2019 Women’s World Cup. Amid the cheering at the end of the final match between the United States and the Netherlands, were chants of “equal pay” (Channick, 2019). Throughout the tournament, attention was focused on the discrepancy between what male soccer players earned compared to the female players. In winning the World Cup, the American women’s team earned \$4 million as part of a \$30 million prize pool (Peterson, 2019). In contrast, the French men’s team, who won the Men’s World Cup in 2018, earned \$38 million as part of the \$400 million prize pool. The Federation of Association Football (FIFA) promised to double the prize money to \$60 million for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, but that still lags far behind the \$440 million that will be given out for the Men’s World Cup in 2022. In the United States, the women’s soccer team generates more revenue and receives higher TV ratings than the men’s team, yet the women get paid significantly less. By winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup, each woman should receive \$200,000, yet if the American men had won the 2018 Men’s World Cup, each would have received \$1.1 million (Hess, 2019). Because of this discrepancy, in March 2019, 28 members of the women’s team filed a lawsuit against the United States Soccer Federation for gender discrimination and unequal pay (Channick, 2019). In February 2022, the U.S. women’s soccer team won their case and going forward they received back pay and were guaranteed equal pay commensurate with the men’s team (Das, 2022).
Worldwide Gender Parity:
The World Economic Forum (2017) introduced The Global Gender Gap Report in 2006 as way of tracking gender based disparities between men and women in the world. The most recent report in 2017 analyzed 144 countries on gender equality in the areas of: economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Countries are then ranked to create global awareness of the challenges posed by gender gaps in different areas of the world. A parity rating of 100% would mean that females and males achieved equality on these measures. Results indicated:
• 68% gender parity was found worldwide across the four areas. Specifically, there was 96% parity in health outcomes, 95% parity in educational attainment, 58% parity in economic participation, and only 23% parity in political empowerment.
• The top spots were held by smaller Western European countries, particularly the Nordic countries as Iceland (88% parity), Norway (83% parity) and Finland (82% parity) occupied the top three positions.
• The United States ranked 49th with 72% gender parity.
• Following the current trends, it will take 100 years for global gender parity.
• Improving gender parity is expected to provide significant economic gains for a country and closing the occupational gender gaps would be one way to achieve this.
Salary History Ban (SHB):
Another way to improve gender parity is through the use of laws banning questions regarding a worker’s salary history. Several U.S. states, see table, have enacted a ban on employers asking job seekers this question. As a result employers in these states have switched from wage bargaining to wage posting in job advertisements. In other words, prospective job applicants know the expected salary range before applying for the job. Each state handles the issue differently, some bans only apply to the public sector, while others apply to all jobs in the state. Some states still allow applicants to volunteer this information, while others do not allow such questions on job applications or during interviews. There is no ban on a prospective employer asking an applicant their desired salary.
State Passed Enacted Employees Covered
Massachusetts 8/1/16 7/1/17 All
Puerto Rico 3/8/17 3/8/17 All
Oregon 5/22/17 10/6/17 All
Delaware 6/14/17 12/14/17 All
California 10/12/17 1/1/18 All
District of Columbia 11/17/17 11/17/17 Public Only
Hawaii 1/19/18 1/1/19 All
Vermont 5/11/18 7/1/18 All
Connecticut 5/22/18 1/1/19 All
Pennsylvania 6/6/18 9/4/18 Public Only
New Jersey 1/14/19 1/1/20 All
Illinois 7/31/19 9/29/19 All
North Carolina 4/2/19 4/2/19 Public Only
Maine 4/12/19 9/17/19 All
Washington 4/25/19 7/28/19 All
Colorado 5/22/19 1/1/21 All
Alabama 5/30/19 9/1/19 All
New York 6/15/19 1/6/20 All
Virginia 6/20/19 7/1/19 Public Only
Some states, such as Illinois, New York and New Jersey, enacted SHB laws much earlier that covered only the Public sector. Listed here is the current SHB laws for the state. Adapted from Bessen et al. (2020).
These bans were initially pushed by women’s advocates to help close the gender wage gap, a recent study has shown that other minority groups have also benefitted from such bans (Bessen et al., 2020). Why the concern about employers asking people their prior salaries when seeking a new job? Many activists believe that that the knowledge about a worker’s prior salary history gives employers an unfair advantage in any salary bargaining, especially for groups, such as women and racial minorities, who may be underpaid due to discrimination in previous jobs. In other words, such questions may perpetuate the wage gap. In their comparison of the wages of workers who switched jobs both prior to and after a SHB had been put into effect, Bessen and colleagues found that women’s salaries raised 8.5% on average, and they were able to determine that 48% of the gender wage gap disappeared when an SHB was in effect. African American men and women saw even greater improvements, 16% and 14% average increase in the salary respectively when they switched jobs in states with SHB laws, suggesting that discrimination may play an even greater role for racial minorities. Overall, workers in states with SHB laws saw a 7.9% average increase in salaries when they switched jobs, while those in states without a SHB saw only a 3.9% average increase. SHB laws lift the veil of secrecy in salary negotiation for all groups of workers.
Men’s Careers
Due to the greater respect, benefits, and pay inherent in male-dominated careers, women have made strides in entering these fields. Between 2009 and 2017, approximately 23% of jobs traditionally held by men are now held by women (Hedreen, 2019). These include CEOs, lawyers, surgeons, web developers, chemists and producers , What about men entering female-dominated careers? Historically, female-dominated careers were seen as providing less status, less pay, and greater stigma for males to enter. Despite these constraints, 27% of female-dominated professions are now held by men. The table below displays the percentages of both females and males in stereotypical opposite-gender professions.
Percentage of Females in Male-dominated Professions Percentage of Males in Female-dominated Professions
Lawyers: 48% Cooks (institution and cafeteria): 64%
Veterinarians: 48% Merchandise displayers and window trimmers: 59%
Commercial and industrial designers: 48% Retail salespeople: 58%
Marketing managers: 47% Pharmacists: 50%
Optometrists: 43% Education administrators (postsecondary): 49%
Management analysts: 43% Elementary school teachers: 49%
Sales managers: 43% Bartenders: 48%
Producers and directors: 42% Insurance sales agents: 43%
Chemists: 42% Market research analysts and marketing specialists: 42%
Coaches and scouts: 41% Accountants and auditors: 41%
Private detectives and investigators: 41% Technical writers: 42%
Emergency medical technicians and paramedics: 40% Interior designers: 41%
Financial analysts: 40% Fitness trainers and aerobic instructors: 40%
Women who enter traditionally male occupations have faced barriers and discrimination. What are the experiences of men in traditionally female occupations? Many men experience their token status in female occupations as an advantage in hiring and promotion, a phenomenon referred to as the glass escalator (Dill et al., 2016). Feminist scholars have commented on how the cultural beliefs about masculinity and femininity are embedded in the structure of the world of work (Dill et al., 2016). Men are often “pushed” in subtle ways into positions that carry greater authority, prestige, and money. However, not all men experience the same advantage. Racial minorities are less likely to ride the glass escalator than are white males (Dill et al., 2016; Woodhams, et al. 2015) the same is true for disabled males (Woodhams et al., 2015).
Still, many males are uncomfortable entering female dominated occupations. One such career choice that males avoid is nursing, as 90% of all nurses are currently women (Vedantam, 2018). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2020), healthcare occupations account for 13 of the 30 fastest growing occupations from 2019 to 2029. Because of aging baby boomers, demand for healthcare services will drive this projected employment growth, so it would seem a great career choice for everyone. However, women have traditionally held jobs in the health care field, and prior research indicates that if women are attracted to an occupation, then men hesitate to enter. Vandello and Bosson (2012) explain the reluctance of males to enter careers dominated by women as being due to precarious manhood, which was described in module one. Nursing is associated with being a female career, and choosing this occupation can alter a man’s perception of his gender status and how he is perceived by others. Consequently, a male is motivated to continually prove his manhood status to others and himself, and thus rejects a stereotypical female career. To encourage more men to enter nursing, Bosson encourages the rewriting of stereotypes by also promoting nursing as a masculine occupation, such as describing nursing as “dangerous” and “physically grueling” (Vedantam, 2018). Gender labeling careers can discourage qualified candidates from participating, and thus hold back both their own personal and financial goals.
Dangerous Jobs:
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2019), there were 5,250 fatal work injuries recorded in the United States in 2018, a 2 percent increase from the 5,147 in 2017. Occupations with the highest death rates are those in male-dominated fields. These include: truck drivers, loggers, fishing workers, aircraft pilots and flight engineers, roofers, police and sheriff patrol officers, and taxi drivers and chauffeurs. The table below lists the fatal work injury rates per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers by selected occupations in 2018.
Sexual Harassment
According to the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (2020), sexual harassmentis a form of sex discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, including state and local governments. It also applies to employment agencies and to labor organizations, as well as to the federal government. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects an individual’s employment, unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
• The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.
• The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
• Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the victim.
• The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome (p. 1)
Keplinger et al (2019) further separates the EEOC definition into three main areas:
• Sexual coercion-threats towards those who will not comply with sexual requests or bribes in exchange for sex
• Unwanted sexual attention-sexual advances including inappropriate comments, staring, and touching
• Gender harassment-general gender hostility that is not necessarily sexual
The sexual mistreatment of women has gained significant attention with the #MeToo movement, begun in October 2017, and the #Timesup movement in January 2018. To determine if sexual harassment toward women subsequently decreased between 2016 and 2018, Keplinger et al. (2019) found that unwanted sexual attention and sexual coercion did in fact decrease, but gender harassment increased. Examples of gender harassment included coworkers making sexist remarks and displaying sexist material. A positive outcome from the study was that women felt more empowered to speak up regarding sexual harassment than previously.
Harassment in Male-dominated Fields:
Catalyst (2020) reported that in a 2017 survey, 28% of women working in male-dominated industries stated they had personally experienced sexual harassment, compared to 20% of women in female-dominated industries. A 2018 report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) indicated that 50 percent of female faculty in these fields said they had experienced “sexual coercion, unwanted sexual attention and gender harassment described as verbal and nonverbal behaviors that convey hostility, objectification, exclusion or second-class status from faculty or staff”, (Novotney, 2019, p .40). Additionally, sexual and gender minority women indicated higher levels of harassment. The higher rate of sexual harassment for women in these science-heavy fields reflected their college experiences as women pursuing male-dominated university majors experience higher levels of harassment than women earning other degrees (Catalyst, 2020). Moreover, it is not just women who experience greater harassment in such fields. Men in male dominated jobs, such as mining, reported higher rates of sexual harassment than in female dominated jobs, such as healthcare (Center for American Progress, 2018).
In the next module we will consider how gender impacts both physical health, and its role in both seeking and receiving treatment.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(Valentine-French_and_Lally)/1.08%3A_Module_8_How_Does_Gender_Operate_in_College_and_the_Workplace.txt
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Case Study: Men and COVID-19
Worldwide data collected since the beginning of COVID-19 shows that men are more likely to have died of COVID-19 in 41 of 47 countries, and the COVID-19 case-fatality ratio is approximately 2.4 times higher among men than among women (Griffith et al., 2020). In the United States, from the beginning of the pandemic until June 2020, 57% of deaths caused by COVID-19 have been men. Reasons given for the gender difference include men being overrepresented as essential workers in low-skilled and low-paid occupations, such as food processing, transportation, delivery, warehousing, construction, and manufacturing. Griffith et al. also indicated that men who are marginalized or disadvantaged because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, incarceration, or homelessness, have been particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Further, because the X chromosome possesses a higher density of immune-related genes, women are thought to have a stronger immune response compared to men.
Behavioral factors traditionally associated with men are also linked with higher rates of contracting COVID-19. Reny (2020) attributes these behaviors to men following masculine norms that encourage risky behavior and discourage seeking out physical and mental health services. These high risk behaviors demonstrated more by men include: Downplaying the severity of the virus’s potential to harm them, being less likely to avoid large public gatherings or close physical contact with others, engaging in higher rates of tobacco use and alcohol consumption, and engaging in less handwashing, social distancing, mask wearing, and proactively seeking medical help (Griffith et al., 2020; Reny, 2020).
Holding sexist beliefs were also reported as a factor. Using data from a large (N = 100,689) survey of American adults conducted between March and June 2020 by the Democracy Fund and the University of California, Los Angeles, Reny (2020) found that, “sexist beliefs were consistently the strongest predictor of corona virus related emotions, behaviors, policy attitudes, and ultimately contracting COVID-19,” (p. 1). Sexist opinions included an affirmation of men’s elevated position in social hierarchies and a belief in the biological superiority of men over women. Sexist individuals were not as worried about the virus, engaged in behaviors less likely to protect themselves, were less likely to support state and local government policies enacted to stop the spread of the disease, and were more likely to get sick themselves.
Life Expectancy
The oldest man to have lived was Jiroeman Kimura who died when he was 116 years, 54 days. Eighteen women have exceeded that age, with Jeanne Calment being the oldest at 122 years, 164 days. Among the top 100 Americans to have lived, the top nine are women, and among those in the list who are still alive, all five are women. Around the world, women outlive men. Are the gender differences in longevity due to something biological or environmental? As with most issues regarding gender differences both are likely to influence longevity.
Life expectancyis defined as the average number of years that members of a population (or species) live. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (2019) global life expectancy for those born in 2019 is 72.0 years, with females reaching 74.2 years and males reaching 69.8 years. Women live longer than men around the world, and the gap between the sexes has remained the same since 1990. Overall life expectancy ranges from 61.2 years in the WHO African Region to 77.5 years in the WHO European Region. Global life expectancy increased by 5.5 years between 2000 and 2016. Improvements in child survival and access to antiretroviral medication for the treatment of HIV are considered factors for the increase. However, life expectancy in low-income countries (62.7 years) is 18.1 years lower than in high-income countries (80.8 years). In high-income countries, the majority of people who die are old, while in low-income countries almost one in three deaths are in children under 5 years of age. According to the Central Intelligence Agency (2019) the United States ranks 45th in the world for life expectancy.
A better way to access health and longevity is to go beyond chronological age and examine how well the person is aging. The Healthy Life Expectancy takes into account current age-specific mortality, morbidity, and disability risks. In the U.S., the highest Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE) was observed in Hawaii with 16.2 years of additional good health after age 65, and the lowest was in Mississippi with only 10.8 years of additional good health (CDC, 2013). Females had a greater HLE than males at age 65 in every state and DC. HLE was greater for whites than for blacks in DC and all states from which data were available, except in Nevada and New Mexico. Although improvements have occurred in overall life expectancy, children born in America today may be the first generation to have a shorter life span than their parents. Much of this decline has been attributed to the increase in sedentary lifestyle and obesity. Since 1980, the obesity rate for children between the ages of 2 and 19 has tripled (Henry, 2016).
More recently COVID-19 has altered the statistics of life expectancy, especially in the United States, which faired worse than 16 comparable nations, with the life expectancy dropping at a rate not seen since the second World War (Woolf, 2021). The figure to the left shows CDC data comparing 2019 to 2020 and indicates that life expectancy at birth dropped 1.8 years, with males losing 2.1 years, and females losing 1.5 years (Murphy et al., 2021). Among those who had already reached 65, the gender difference is less pronounced, with males losing 1.2 years and females 1 year.
Causes of Death in the United States:
When reviewing the leading causes of death in the United States, males have higher death rates than females in every age group, and sex differences in biology and risk-taking are largely responsible for this discrepancy (APA, 2018a). Listed below are the leading causes of death for men and women in the Unites States in 2017, the most recent year the data has been analyzed (Heron, 2019). Heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death in both men and women. However, men and women differ in the rankings of many of the other leading causes. For example, dying from unintentional injuries was the third leading cause of death in men, but the sixth leading cause for women. In contrast, chronic lower respiratory disease was the third leading cause of death for women, but fourth in men. Suicide and liver disease do not show up in the top ten causes of death of women, but do for men. Kidney disease and septicemia are among the top ten killers of women, but not men.
The morbidity-mortality paradoxdescribes how women have higher rates of chronic, nonfatal, but debilitating health problems, such as arthritis, autoimmune disorders, and osteoporosis than men, yet tend to live longer than men. When asked to assess their overall health as either excellent, good, fair, poor, or bad, women are more likely to provide a lower evaluation than men in all ages and in all regions of the world (Boerma et al., 2016). Some have suggested that this gender gap may be the result of women underestimating their health, however, the evidence supports women’s self-reports. As noted above women are more likely to suffer from chronic painful conditions. Others have suggested that this gender difference may be the result of men being overconfident in their assessment of their health, or unwillingness to admit to poor health (Bosson et al., 2019). While this may be true, as men’s overconfidence has been noted in other aspects of their life, it may reflect the nature of the samples in the survey research and men’s comparison group. Most samples in studies on chronic illness are likely to trend toward older populations where there are fewer males. Men who have already outlived many of their peers may think themselves pretty healthy in comparison.
Role of Biology in Gender Differences in Health and Longevity:
Humans are not the only species where females outlive the males (Kawahara & Kono, 2010). This is common in many mammals and even other species. When a gender difference is found in the longevity of a species, it usually favors the female. This would suggest that biological factors are playing a role in longevity. Kawahara and Kono genetically engineered female mice so that they received their genetic material from two females, meaning they had two mothers but no fathers. The result was mice that lived even longer. They concluded that the female genome plays a role in longevity and that “the sperm genome has a detrimental effect on longevity in mammals” (p. 457).
Another biological advantage for females may come from the final pair of chromosomes. As you learned in module 3, females have two X chromosomes, whereas males have only one X that is paired with a much smaller Y chromosome. Prenatally, males have a higher death rate (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). At conception the ratio of male to female zygotes is approximately 120:100, but at birth the ratio is 105:100. Sex-linked genetic defects appear to be the cause. The X chromosome contains genes that influences many important body functions. A defect on one X chromosome might be overridden if a person has a normal second X chromosome. But in males who have only one X, they are much more vulnerable to that defect. As a result, male are at greater risk for x-linked diseases such as fragile X syndrome, hemophilia, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
At the end of each of our 46 chromosomes are segments of genetic material that do not code for any particular trait or characteristic. These segments, called telomeres, are disposable DNA that protect the genes on the chromosomes. Each time a cell divides it fails to copy some of the DNA material at the end of the chromosome, meaning these telomeres get shorter and shorter. Eventually the cell can no longer divide and it dies. Scientists are learning that shorter telomeres also show up along with certain diseases, like atherosclerosis and some types of cancer (Srinivas et al., 2020). According to Srinivas and colleagues, it is suspected that shorter telomeres also compromise the health of cells in blood vessels, which may set the stage for clots to form, stick, and block blood flow. Despite length of the telomeres being the same for males and females at birth, the telomeres of males shorten faster with each cell division. Male cells age faster (Barrett & Richardson, 2011) and may also set the stage for certain diseases. It is possible that this might play a role in the greater longevity of females, whether they are humans, mice, or angler fish.
A final biological answer may be found in hormones. Testosterone, which is typically higher in men, increases aggression and risk taking. It also decreases the level of “good” cholesterol while increasing the level of “bad” cholesterol (Vanberg & Atar, 2010). Testosterone also suppresses the immune system, which might account for women’s greater ability to fight infections (Furman et al., 2014). In contrast, women typically have higher levels of estrogen. Estrogen provides more health benefits. Prior to menopause, when women have higher levels of estrogen, they have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease compared with men the same age (Xue et al., 2013). However, estrogen can increase the risk for certain forms of cancer (Srinivas et al., 2020).
Role of Environmental Factors in Male Health and Longevity:
Behaviorally, males with the strongest beliefs regarding masculinity were half as likely as men with more moderate beliefs to obtain preventative health care (Pappas, 2019). Additionally, the more men conformed to traditional masculine roles, the more likely they considered heavy drinking, smoking, and avoiding vegetables as normal. Lung cancer and heart attacks, linked to cigarette smoking, are higher in males, as is cirrhosis of the liver due to excessive drinking (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). Auto accidents claim more male lives as 71% of motor vehicle deaths are males due to their driving more, driving faster, and taking more risks. Lastly gun deaths, which will be discussed more in module 10, result in more male deaths. Overall, men who exhibit more masculine traits die younger than those identified as less masculine.
Gender, Race/Ethnicity, and Health
Some diseases and their gender, racial and ethnic differences: (adapted from American Cancer Society, 2020; American Lung Association, 2020; CDC, 2017; Le, 2016; Mamary, et al., 2018; McLeod et al., 2014; NIH, 2020; National Kidney Foundation, 2020; Pappas, 2019; Regitz-Zagrosak, 2012; Spencer-Scott, 2020; Stojan & Petri, 2018).
• Women are affected by all forms of anemia more than are men, with iron deficiency being the most common cause. The highest rate of anemia is found for elderly black women, who have over six times the national average.
• Thyroid disease is more common in women, but thyroid cancer is more common in men. Graves disease is more common in Blacks.
• Overall, more men develop cancer than do women, but that gap is narrowing. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer diagnosed among U.S. men of all races and ethnic groups. The most common cancer diagnosed among U.S. women is breast cancer, but lung cancer is the leading cause of death among cancers in women of all races and ethnic groups except Hispanic women, for which breast cancer is the leading killer. Females appear to be at higher risk of developing lung cancer than males if they smoke.
• Women are more likely than men to get lupus for every age and ethnic group, but men are more likely to have more severe symptoms. World wide epidemiological studies show that people of African ethnicity have the highest incidence of lupus, whereas those with Caucasian ancestry had the lowest incidence.
• There is a higher incidence of asthma in boys, but by young adulthood it is more prevalent in women and the symptoms are often more severe. Blacks and American Indian/Alaska Natives have the highest asthma rates, while Hispanics and Asians have the lowest overall prevalence.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease in which the airways become damaged making it difficult to breathe, was once considered a “man’s disease”. However, in the last 20 years 58% of those with COPD are women, in part because the lungs of women are more vulnerable to effect of smoking. Race impacts the rate of diagnosis and treatment of COPD.
• Men experience diabetes at slightly higher rates than women, but it is more likely to cause myocardial infarction (a form of heart disease) in women than in men. Diabetes also varies by race with non-Hispanic Whites being less likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than Asian Americans, Hispanics, non-Hispanic Blacks, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives.
• Myocardial infarction (heart attack) is in decline around the world, except in young women. Young women are more likely to die from their first heart attack, and from the bypass surgery than are young men. Women, of all ages, are also more likely to present with more varied symptoms, making diagnosis and treatment difficult. Non-Hispanic Blacks are more likely to die from a heart attack, even though they have slightly lower rates of heart disease than non-Hispanic Whites.
• Hypertension (high blood pressure) is more common in young men than in young women, but this incidence increases after menopause in women. For African American males, systemic racism interacting with the masculine traits of stoicism and providing for one’s family, has been linked to hypertension.
• Women are three times more likely to have autoimmune disorders and three times more likely to experience headaches and migraines than men.
• Women are more likely to have kidney disease as they age and experience more complications from it than men. Black or African Americans are almost 4 times more likely, and Hispanics or Latinos are 1.3 times more likely to have kidney failure compared to White Americans.
• Gout, a common form of inflammatory arthritis caused by excess uric acid in the bloodstream, is more common in men.
• The severity of osteoarthritis is usually significantly worse in women than in men. However, before age 45, more men than women have osteoarthritis, but after age 45, the condition is more common in women. Black women are at greater risk than white women for developing osteoarthritis and for experiencing complications from the condition.
• Men fall ill at a younger age, have more illnesses in their lifetime, and cost society more in medical costs after the age of 65 than women. Black men have poorer health compared to other demographic groups, and possible reasons are discussed below.
Latinx paradoxrefers to a tendency of Latinx Americans to have as good, if not better, health than non-Latinx White Americans despite having less education and a lower socioeconomic status. Typically those with less education and income tend to have poorer health. While researchers do not fully understand this paradox, several hypotheses have been proposed regarding diet, family ties, and having less sedentary occupations. Moreover, this health advantage does decline the more the Latinx population adopts the American lifestyle (Gonzalez, 2015).
Black Men
The health of black men consistently ranks lowest across nearly all groups in the United States (Gilbert et al., 2016). On average, black men die younger than all other groups of men, except Native Americans, and they die more than seven years earlier than women of all races. Even as mortality and morbidity have improved in the United States, black men remain more likely to die from cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancers. Black men are also more likely than others to have undiagnosed or poorly managed chronic conditions and to delay seeking medical care. Additionally, fewer black men have a usual source of health care (Stewart et al., 2019). The relatively lower socioeconomic status of black men compared with white men, or any differences in patterns of health behaviors, do not explain all the differences (Gilbert et al., 2016). In addition to economic reasons, implicit bias among health care providers has been identified as a significant factor resulting in poorer medical outcomes for Black men and women (Dembosky, 2020; Hall et al., 2015; Schencker, 2020).
The term implicit bias was created by Greenwald and Banaji (1995) to explain how social behavior is largely influenced by unconscious associations and judgments. These unconscious biases can lead to discriminatory practices. According to Schencker (2020), implicit bias that negatively affects the health care of people of color has been well-documented. Examples of implicit bias include medical personnel adopting a more closed posture and exhibiting reduced eye contact with nonwhite patients. Physicians who are more implicitly biased spend less time with Black patients, are less patient-centered, show less empathy, and spend less time assessing their medical symptoms. Black patients are less likely to receive pain medication or be referred for additional care than white patients with the same symptoms (Dembosky, 2020). Doctors may also implicitly associate Blacks with self-destructive behaviors, such as drug abuse. Black patients are often aware of this bias and may not trust their physicians, listen to health recommendations, or return for follow-up care, adversely affecting their health.
LGBT Physical Health
Those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) come from all walks of life, include all races and ethnicities, ages, and socioeconomic statuses. In addition, members of the LGBT community are at increased risk for a number of health threats when compared to their heterosexual peers (CDC, 2014). The social and structural inequities, such as the stigma and discrimination that LGBT populations experience, along with increased risk of HIV play a large role in this health disparity.
Lesbians
For women, those who identify as lesbian and bisexual have higher rates of smoking, alcohol consumption, asthma, and obesity (Dilley et al., 2010). Additionally, they are less likely to access preventive screenings, such as Papanicolaou (pap) tests and mammograms. According to Boehmer et al. (2007), lesbians have more than twice the odds of being overweight and obese compared to heterosexual women. Boehmer et al. referenced previous research explanations for the increased weight, including that lesbians are less likely to consider themselves overweight compared with women in the general population. Lesbian women also have a better body image than do heterosexual women, and they are more likely to prioritize a body image on the basis of physical function and not aesthetic reasons.
Mereish (2014) found that being overweight or obese was more likely for lesbians who experienced heterosexist discrimination than normal-weight lesbians. The frequency lesbians experienced discrimination, specifically related to their sexual minority status at work, in school, and in other areas of their life, was correlated with their odds of being overweight. Mereish explained that chronic exposure to minority stressors, such as heterosexist discrimination, can result in increased cortisol levels, thus elevating one’s risk for obesity. Exposure to discrimination may result in less effective coping strategies, including stress eating. Additionally, lesbians may be reluctant to seek health care services due to potential or perceived heterosexist discrimination from medical providers. Regardless of the reasons, being overweight and/or obese places sexual minority women at an increased risk for medical conditions associated with an elevated risk for suffering or death (Boehmer et al., 2007).
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV):
HIVis a virus that weakens a person’s immune system by destroying important cells that fight disease and infection (CDC, 2020). No effective cure exists for HIV. But with proper medical care, HIV can be controlled.
Prevalence
In the Unites States in 2018, the most recent data that has been analyzed, the rate of HIV infection was 11.4 per 100, 000 people (CDC, 2019). The highest rate (32.5) was for persons aged 25–29 years, followed by the rate (27.6) for persons aged 20–24 years. The rates for children, teens, middle aged adults, and seniors decreased from prior years. While the rate for young adults in their 30s remained the same. Males accounted for 81% of all diagnoses of HIV infection among adults and adolescents, with a rate four times higher than females. Blacks/African Americans had the highest rate, with Asians having the lowest. The highest rates of HIV infection were in Southern states and the lowest rates were in the Midwest.
Rate of HIV Infection by Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Social Category Rate per 100,000
Male 22.5
Female 5.1
Black/African American 39.3
Hispanic/Latinx 16.2
Multiple Races 12.4
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 11.8
American Indian/Alaska Natives 7.8
White 4.9
Asian 4.7
AIDS:
The rate of stage 3 HIV (AIDS) in 2018 was 5.2 per 100,000 people in the US (CDC, 2019). The highest rate (10.9) was for persons aged 30–34 years, followed by 10.3 for persons aged 35–39 years. Males account for 76% of all stage 3 HIV infections among teens and adults, with the male rate being more than three times higher than that for females. While the rate of AIDS decreased for Black/African Americans, it was still the highest of all racial and ethnic groups (19.6), with Asians (1.8) being the lowest.
The most common means of HIV transmission among males were male-to-male (70%) and heterosexual sexual contact, while among females the most common reasons were heterosexual contact (85%) and injection drug use (CDC, 2019). This pattern was consistent across different racial and ethnic groups.
Factors Affecting Diagnosis, Care, and Treatment:
There are several factors that influence risk of HIV, the care people with HIV receive, and access and adherence to treatment. As the data above suggest, engaging in unprotected sex with men and injection drug use increase people’s risk. However, these are not the only risk factors.
Gender-based violence, which is violence against an individual based on their gender or gender identity, has been shown to increase risk for HIV, as well, as impeding access to testing, care, and treatment (Leddy et al., 2019). Female sex workers, transgender women, and other gender minorities face substantial disparities when it comes to health, including risk for, and treatment of, HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STI) (Leddy et al., 2019; Nguyen et al., 2018). Nguyen and colleagues found that were was no consistency in how states and counties in states reported the number of cases of a STI by gender status beyond the gender binary of male and female. As a result, the rates of infection of gender minorities are often hidden in the aggregate data. This could hamper public health outreach programs to some of the most vulnerable members in communities.
In the United States there are racial and ethnic disparities when it comes to the diagnosis, treatment, and care of HIV (Bogart et al., 2018). As previously shown, the rate of HIV in Whites and Asians is two to four times lower than found in other racial and ethnic groups (CDC, 2019). According to the CDC (2020), several factors may work against prevention, testing, and treatment initiatives. Both the Black and Latinx community experience high levels of distrust of the health care system (CDC, 2020). This can reduce the likelihood of clinic visits and result in less adherence to antiretroviral treatments. While not unique to minority cultures, stigma, discrimination, and homophobia may also play a role in people’s unwillingness to discuss prevention, seek a test, or get treatment from their doctor.
This disparity is even greater when adding in sexual or gender minority status. For example, HIV-positive Black gay and bisexual males’ experiences with both racial and sexual discrimination is associated with lower adherence to treatment, increased symptoms of depression, and greater need to be admitted to an emergency room due to worsening health (Bogart et al., 2018).
Racial and ethnic disparities in the rates of infection have often been attributed to risky behaviors such as, drug and alcohol use, or the number of sexual partners. However, even when these factors are controlled for, African Americans still have a higher risk of HIV infection in comparison to other racial and ethnic groups (Gibson et al., 2018). In their study in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Gibson and colleagues found that regardless of racial or ethnic group, poverty was a better predictor of rates of infection. Eighty percent of the newly diagnosed rates of infection were in the highest poverty areas of the city. This study also found that the highest HIV mortality rates were for African American men who lived below poverty. This finding is consistent with prior research on the contribution of socioeconomic inequities to access to health care and mortality, in general (Mode et al., 2016).
Cancer:
The most common types of cancer among women are skin, breast, lung, colorectal, endometrial (uterine), and cervical cancer. Lesbian and bisexual women may be at increased risk for some cancers, including breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer compared with heterosexual women (American Cancer Society, 2020). Women who have not had children or have not breast-fed are at a slightly higher risk of breast cancer. These factors may be more likely to affect lesbian and bisexual women. Lung, cervical, and ovarian cancer risks may be higher in lesbian and bisexual women as there is evidence to suggest that they are about twice as likely to smoke compared to heterosexual women (American Cancer Society, 2020).
Gay and bisexual males have the same risks of lung, prostate and testicular cancer as heterosexual males, however they are at a heightened risk for anal cancer. The risk factors for anal cancer include the human papillomavirus (HPV), which can spread through sexual activity, including oral and anal sex. Even skin-to-skin contact with an infected area can spread the virus. Smoking is another risk factor for anal cancer. However, what puts gay and bisexual males at an even greater risk is a weakened immune system because of HIV (American Cancer Society, 2020).
Seeking and Receiving Health Care
Women are more likely to seek medical treatment for both medical and mental health than are men, even when accounting for health care needs that are unique to women (Thompson et al., 2016). According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited a doctor within the past year and are 22 percent more likely to have neglected their cholesterol tests.
• Men are 28 percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for congestive heart failure.
• Men are 32 percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for long-term complications of diabetes and are more than twice as likely as women to have a leg or foot amputated due to complications related to diabetes.
• Men are 24 percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for pneumonia that could have been prevented by getting an immunization.
Thompson and colleagues also found that women often reported longer consultations with their doctor than did men. Men who endorse more traditional views of masculinity are more likely to hold off seeking treatment (Himmelstein & Sanchez, 2016), which can lead to greater complications with their health. In addition, Himmelstein and Sanchez found that these men are more likely to want a doctor who is male because they believe he would be more competent than a woman. However, in health consultations men reveal more about their health when the doctor is female. This suggests that gender role norms play a role in willingness to seek health care, and may increase the risk of an untreated illness.
However, seeking health care is also influenced by characteristics such as age, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and being LGBTQ+. Older women and men see doctors more than do younger women and men, often because of the presence of chronic illness (Thompson et al., 2016). Black and Latinx males are less likely to have a primary care provider than are White males (McFarlane & Nikora, 2014), thus less likely to seek treatment. In the U.S. those without medical insurance are less likely to seek health care. Despite the known health risks for members of the LGBT community, screening rates are often low for cancer and other health concerns, and there are gaps in the recommendations for screening for LGBT persons (Ceres et al., 2018).
Even where in the nation people reside can impact the rates of seeking and receiving treatment. There are significant differences in the healthcare access in rural and urban America (Douthit et al., 2015). In rural areas there is a greater reluctance to seek healthcare often based on cultural and financial constraints. In addition, a scarcity of resources, being able to maintain trained physicians, and poor transportation options only compound the issue. As a result, rural Americans have poorer overall health. Barefoot et al., (2017) found that lesbians living in rural America, in comparison to their urban counterparts, may experience elevated health risks. They were more likely to report having had at least one previous male sexual partner (78% compared to 69%), but were less likely to be recommended the HPV vaccination by their doctor and engaged in lower rates of regular HIV/STI screenings. Rural lesbians were less likely to have received Pap tests and clinical breast exams. For those 40 or older, they were less likely to receive routine mammogram screenings. Both Douthit et al. and Barefoot et al., suggest that there is a need to engage rural residents and healthcare providers in health promotion.
Trust in doctors also plays a role (Thompson et al., 2016). Black Americans report less trust in doctors than do White Americans. This lack of trust is understandable given the experiences that Blacks, and Black men in particular, have had with the medical community. In what came to be known as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, from 1932 to 1972 in Alabama, hundreds of poor, illiterate Black men with syphilis were given a placebo rather than the known treatment for the disease, penicillin, so doctors could see the progression of untreated syphilis (Gamble, 1997). The study was eventually halted in 1972 due to its questionable ethnics, and in 1997 President Bill Clinton issued a public apology to the men affected by the study. However, the damage had already been done to sour the view of Blacks in this country toward the medical community.
Trust is also a factor in the willingness of sexual and gender minorities in seeking treatment (American Cancer Society, 2020). Fear of discrimination by the medical community is an important barrier to seeking and receiving treatment. For example, it is often not easy to find a healthcare provider who knows how to treat transgender people, or to even find someone who will agree to treat such patients (Allison, 2012). Doctors and nurses are not immune to the stereotypes that abound in the culture.
People who seek routine health care, develop a rapport with their doctor and become more comfortable talking about their health. This makes future visits more likely. Health care visits also increase the chance that unknown problems may be detected, or detected early. Moreover, disclosure of mental health concerns during routine care is often the main route toward receiving referrals for mental health treatment. When patients do not trust the medical system, none of this is likely to occur.
Medicalization of Reproduction
Medicalizationis the process where more normal functions of the body come under medical influence, and treatments emerge for what were previously viewed as non-medical problems (Shainwald, 2014; Waggoner & Stults, 2010). The biomedical approach emphasizes basic biology (e.g., genes, hormones) in illness and excludes contextual factors such as relationships, identity, community, and culture in both health and illness (McHugh & Chrisler, 2015). Moreover, experts and representatives from the pharmaceutical industry serve on the very government panels, task forces, and professional associations that set the criteria for defining illness and disease. An important caveat to make is that medicalization is not the same as the science and practice of medicine. Medical researchers and doctors have contributed greatly to the health and well-being of people. However, driven by profit, medicalization has damaged the integrity of medical science through funding only the more profitable research questions, and in focusing on drugs to deal with life style problems rather than curing illness (Abramson, 2004). The end result is that “functions have become symptoms, and symptoms have become diseases” (Shainwald, 2014, para 10). There are numerous medical interventions for normal female reproductive functions, such as the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, birth, and menopause.
Menstruation:
Menstruation is a stigmatized reproductive event. “It’s something polite society normally never speaks about in public. In fact, such is the studied avoidance of the subject of menstruation that one would think it wasn’t something that happened to one half of the world’s population for four-six days every month” (Gupta, 2015, para 1). When society does refer to menstruation, we often use words such as the “crimson tide”, the “curse”, or “code red”. Globally, social norms, attitudes, and beliefs relating to menstruation vary widely, and these variations impact women and girls. For example, people in some settings believe that menstruation is dirty and that menstruating women are unclean. This can lead to restrictions, such as seclusion from others, dietary restrictions, and being prevented from full participation in the community (Mohamed et al., 2018). Moreover, the inability to manage menstrual bleeding at school or the workplace in some parts of the world can lead to long-term consequences for economic and health outcomes for women and girls.
Today, some scientists and medical professionals view menstruation as unnecessary, and often discuss the negative effects some women may experience. From this viewpoint, menstruation is something that is harmful and needs treatment. This view was strongly illustrated by Coutinho and Segal’s book, Is Menstruation Obsolete? To support their view they emphasized disorders, such as endometriosis, premenstrual syndrome, and anemia, and the negative impact these problems have on women’s well-being. According to Coutinho and Segal, they set out to educate women on how to suppress menstruation. What was not clearly stated was how both men stood to gain financially, as they were both involved in the creation of methods used to suppress menstruation (Barnack-Tavlaris, 2015).
Opponents of this view have raised the concern that women who are suppressing their menstrual cycle through the use of a continuous oral contraceptive can be exposed to 25% to 33% more estrogen than a traditional oral contraceptive (Barnack-Tavlaris, 2015). Research already shows that women who use traditional oral contraceptives have a slightly higher risk (7%) of breast cancer, and a 2017 study reported that a 20% increase was associated with more recent formulations of oral contraceptives (National Cancer Institute, 2018). Opponents also argue that it is misleading to use disorders related to menstruation to justify the suppression of menstruation in all women (Barnack-Tavlaris, 2015). Menstruation, itself, is not a disorder. It is a normal body function that some elements in the medical community have defined as a disease.
Pregnancy and birth:
One of the most powerful things the female body can do is to become pregnant and give birth. Yet, increasingly this has become medicalized in developed nations. Several changes in how we view pregnancy has been the result of this medicalization and a growing concern is that it may “alienate women from their bodies” (Bosson et al., 2019, p. 437). Home pregnancy tests hasten women’s involvement with obstetricians, and into the role of “patient” (Tone, 2012). The use of ultra-sounds during low-risk pregnancies may exaggerate women’s perception of risk and danger during pregnancy, and may not always improve outcomes (Fisher et al., 2006; Roberts et al., 2016).
For generations, women gave birth at home with a mid-wife or other female relatives present. This has been replaced by hospitals and doctors. In 2017, 1.6% of births were an out-of-hospital birth (MacDorman & Declercq, 2019). Hospitalized births may create the view that childbirth is high risk and requires expert care. A controversial consequence of the medicalization of pregnancy is the overuse of interventions and treatments during delivery. Fetal heart monitoring, epidurals, episiotomies, and ultra sounds are becoming increasingly a routine part of childbirth. Besides adding to the financial cost of childbirth, there is little consensus that these procedures are always necessary (Bosson et al., 2019).
In the United States, one in three babies are born by cesarean section (c-section) a surgery used to deliver the baby through the mothers’ lower abdomen (MedlinePlus, 2020). In 1970, only about 6% of births were via cesarean. In the U.S. that number varies by region, as if women’s organs differ on the basis of geography. In Hawaii it is about 22% (lowest rate), while in Mississippi (38%) it is jokingly referred to as the “Mississippi appendectomy” (Shainwald, 2014).
Rate of Cesarean in Selected States in 2018 (CDC, 2020)
Illinois 31%
Hawaii 22%
Wisconsin 27%
Mississippi 38%
This increase in the use of c-sections is not just happening in the U.S. Several developed nations show the same trend, with some nations (e.g., China) reporting rates as high as 50% of births (Bosson et al., 2019). As a major surgery, cesareans carry all the same risks as other major surgeries.
Since ancient times some women’s pregnancies have ended early. From the standpoint of the medicalization of pregnancy, such pregnancies indicate a flaw in the functioning of women’s bodies, and such flaws can be ameliorated via medical intervention. In fact, a growing number of those preterm births are the result of surgeries and other medical interventions in pregnancies where there are complications (Bronstein, 2020). As Bronstein writes, “the popular cultural narrative holds that preterm births are preventable, provided pregnant women “take care of themselves” and follow medical advice” (p. 235). This places the responsibility for carrying a pregnancy to term solely on the mother. One preventative intervention often prescribed by doctors is complete bed rest. Yet research has repeatedly shown that it does little to prevent preterm birth, and it has a negative impact on the mother’s health and well-being.
Menopause:
Menopause has been medicalized since the 1930s (Waggoner & Stults, 2010) and is viewed as a deficiency from the biomedical model (Shainwald, 2014). As a result women are expected to take medications and supplements to maintain childbearing levels of hormones rather than age normally.
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)is medication that contains female hormones, taken to replace the estrogen that the female body stops making during menopause (Mayo Clinic, 2020). Hormone therapy is most often used to treat common menopausal symptoms, including hot flashes and vaginal discomfort. The initial claims for HRT was to keep women “feminine forever” and to decrease the risks of heart disease, osteoporosis, and breast cancer. In 2001, HRT was prescribed to more than 15 million women in the U.S. However, with the termination of Women’s Health Initiative trial in July of 2002 due to increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease, and blood clots in the HRT group, prescriptions for oral estrogen dropped 43% (Waggoner & Stults, 2010), and left many women in limbo about whether HRT was right for them, or were they at risk now because they had been using these medications.
Erectile dysfunction:
Men also experience the medicalization of reproduction, although to a lesser degree. With the introduction of Viagra in 1998, which helps men achieve and sustain an erection, erectile dysfunction (ED) became a medicalized issue. Direct to consumer advertising made Viagra one of the top selling drugs. In 2019, Viagra generated \$500 million for Pfizer (Mikulic, 2020) despite there now being a number of competitors and generic versions of the drug. Advertising has also expanded the market beyond erectile dysfunction by portraying Viagra as an enhancement targeted to younger men (Waggoner & Stults, 2010).
Double Standard of Aging:
The double standard of agingrefers to the idea that men’s social value increases with age, while women’s declines. Nolan and Scott (2009) found that women are viewed as being “old” at a younger age than are men. Clarke and Griffin (2008) report that women see aging as having a more negative impact than do men. Many reported feeling invisible in a culture that emphasizes youth and appearance for women. While men reported feeling more distinguished in their appearance as they aged. However, other research show the opposite effect for ratings of competence. For instance, as men age people rate men’s competence as declining, while this is not true for people’s ratings of women (Kite et al., 2005). Men also express more concern about their physical health and capabilities as they age (Nolan & Scott, 2009). Aging affects men and women in the areas that are relevant to their gender roles; appearance for women, and competence for men.
Politicization of Reproduction
Abortion : A brief history in America leading up to Roe v. Wade
For much of the early 19th century, abortion was legal up to the point where the mother could feel the fetus move, the quickening; typically, between 14 and 26 weeks (Gold, 2003). Abortions were usually performed by homeopaths and midwives. By the end of the 19th century, abortion was illegal in most U.S. states, except if it was dangerous to the mother’s health to continue with the pregnancy. The criminalization of abortion coincided with the rise in power of doctors and the medicalization of reproduction (Rankin, 2022).
With the criminalization of abortion came an increase in maternal deaths. In the 1930s, the height of the Great Depression, one in five maternal deaths was attributed to abortion (Rankin, 2022). But the advent of penicillin greatly reduced the risk of septicemia and death. By 1968 the National Center for Health Statistics reported 168 abortion-related deaths (Prager, 2021). In addition to the growing safety concerns, an outbreak of rubella, and the devastating effects of the tranquilizer thalidomide on a developing fetus, made people rethink their stance on abortion and whether a mother should be carrying to term a child with severe birth defects (Prager, 2021).
Many individual doctors were sympathetic to the plight of their female patients, but terrified of the consequences for their own careers. No doubt because the American Medical Association (AMA) was not supportive, and had for decades crusaded against abortion (Prager, 2021). Making abortion illegal, except when a mother’s life was at risk, empowered the AMA, as only doctors were allowed to determine whether an abortion was medically necessary. However, by the late 1960s, some states were allowing abortion in the case of rape or incest, or if the fetus had severe birth defects. They were also starting to expand the definition of “mother’s health” to include her mental health; something the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with in the 1971 United States v. Vuitch ruling (American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU, 2010). By then, the AMA had also changed its stance and was asking doctors to abide by the changing state rules (Prager, 2021).
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Seventeen abortion challenges were making their way to the Supreme Court when the Vuitch ruling was handed-down, including the landmark Roe v. Wade (ACLU, 2010). Roe v. Wade was a constitutional challenge to a Texas law that made it illegal to have an abortion in all but situations where the mother’s life was at risk (Brennan Center for Justice, 2022). The court used the 14th Amendment and its implied right to privacy, just had it had years earlier in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) when it struck down the Barnum Act; a law in the State of Connecticut since 1879 outlawing contraceptives or the distribution of information about contraceptives (Brennan Center for Justice, 2022). Sarah Weddington presented the challenge to Texas abortion laws, and argued that “meaningful liberty must include the right to terminate a pregnancy” (Brennan Center for Justice, 2022, para. 23). In a decision written by Justice Blackmun, seven of the nine justices agreed that the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment protects people against states violating the right to privacy, and a woman’s choice to have an abortion falls within that right (Oyze, 2022.). However, the justices did recognize the right of a state to regulate access as the pregnancy progressed. After the fetus had entered the third trimester, a state could ban abortion, but even then a woman could have access to an abortion if it was necessary to protect the woman’s health or life (ACLU, 2010). Forty-six states had to change their laws after the Supreme court ruling (Brennan Center for Justice, 2022). Since that time states, citizens, and the medical community have fought over what limits governments could place on access to abortion.
Planned Parenthood v. Danforth (1976)
Planned Parenthood v. Danforth (1976) challenged a provision in the State of Missouri’s law which required women who wished to terminate a pregnancy in the first trimester needed the written consent of her spouse if she was married. The Supreme Court ruled that this law was unconstitutional as it gave the spouse vetoing power, which even the state itself was prohibited from having during the first trimester of pregnancy (Legal Information Institute, 2022).
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
In 1992 the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey. However, this case led the court to overturn the trimester framework set in Roe v. Wade, and instituted a viability framework ruling that prohibitions on access to an abortion could be made once a fetus reaches viability (Planned Parenthood, 2022). Under Roe the state could not restrict access to an abortion in the first trimester. In the second trimester, some restrictions were allowed, but abortions could be performed in the best interest of the mother. In the third trimester, the state could outlaw abortions in the best interest of the fetus, unless it compromised the woman’s health (Shivaram, 2022). With the Casey ruling the trimester system was scrapped, and states could use age of viability as the determining factor in restricting abortions.
In addition, it also allowed restrictions as long as there was not an “undue burden” (Shivaram, 2022). This would open the door to states restricting access to abortion. What constitutes a burden is a very grey area and allowed states to add waiting periods, parental notification if a minor, counseling, and additional hospital and doctor restrictions. For a woman who had easy access to clinics and hospitals, and the financial and transportation resources, very few added requirements by a state would be an undue burden, but for others this would be an obstacle to access.
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision upheld a Mississippi Law (2018) that banned abortion at 15 weeks, which is before the age of viability, and in a 5-4 decision to overturn both Roe and Casey. If Roe and Casey were wrongly decided, as Dobbs argued and the majority of the Supreme Court agreed, then the age of viability was no longer a limiting factor for State laws. Here is what the Syllabus of the Supreme Court ruling says in regard to Roe and Casey.
Guided by the history and tradition that map the essential components of the Nation’s concept of ordered liberty, the Court finds the Fourteenth Amendment clearly does not protect the right to an abortion. Until the latter part of the 20th century, there was no support in American law for a constitutional right to obtain an abortion. No state constitutional provision had recognized such a right. Until a few years before Roe, no federal or state court had recognized such a right. Nor had any scholarly treatise. Indeed, abortion had long been a crime in every single State. At common law, abortion was criminal in at least some stages of pregnancy and was regarded as unlawful and could have very serious consequences at all stages. American law followed the common law until a wave of statutory restrictions in the 1800s expanded criminal liability for abortions. By the time the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three-quarters of the States had made abortion a crime at any stage of pregnancy. This consensus endured until the day Roe was decided. Roe either ignored or misstated this history, and Casey declined to reconsider Roe’s faulty historical analysis (Syllabus for Dobbs v. Jackson, 2022, p. 3).
…Roe was also egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided. Casey perpetuated its errors, calling both sides of the national controversy to resolve their debate, but in doing so, Casey necessarily declared a winning side. Those on the losing side—those who sought to advance the State’s interest in fetal life—could no longer seek to persuade their elected representatives to adopt policies consistent with their views. The Court short-circuited the democratic process by closing it to the large number of Americans who disagreed with Roe (Syllabus for Dobbs v. Jackson, 2022, p.5).
Post Roe v Wade: President Biden’s Reactions
President Joe Biden called it “a sad day for the court and for the country” as this was the first time that the Supreme Court had revoked a constitutional right (Bustillo, 2022, para. 3). He asked the Department of Health and Human Services to make sure that abortion and contraceptive medications are available, and that his administration will protect the right to cross state lines to have an abortion. He also asked women to “turn out in record numbers to reclaim the rights that have been taken from them by the court” (Parker et al., 2022, para. 13).
Trigger Bans
Many states had in place laws that were triggered to go into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned. These states are Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, and Wisconsin (Jefferies et al., 2022). The Michigan and Louisiana laws are currently tied up in litigation.
The Kansas Vote and other State Initiatives in the 2022 Mid-term Elections
On August 2, 2022, in the first test after the supreme court overturned Roe v. Wade, voters in the state of Kansas rejected a ballot measure to remove abortion rights protections from the state constitution. The measure lost by 18%, with the results standing even after a recount (Associated Press, 2022). Voters in four states, California, Kentucky, Michigan, and Vermont, had the opportunity to decide whether a woman’s right to an abortion will be part of the state constitution (Long, 2022). Voters in Montana voted on issues related to abortion but it did not address the state constitution.
The Michigan question almost did not make the ballot. Antiabortion group Citizens to Support MI Women and Children raised objections to a proposed question about protecting abortion rights in the state’s constitution because of typographical and formatting errors (“DECISIONSABOUTALLMATTERSRELATINGTOPREGNANCY”). The Michigan’s State Board of Canvassers, which determines what is be placed on the state’s election ballots, was deadlocked when the decision to reject the proposed question split along party lines. The Michigan Supreme Court ordered that the question be placed on the November ballot, and chastised the behavior of the two Republican members of the State Board for using a technical error that did not hamper the intent or meaning of the question to block its inclusion on the ballot for political reasons (Bellware, 2022, September 8).
In all states where abortion rights were on the chopping block in the 2022 mid-term elections the voters in those states chose to protect those rights, signaling a shift in American attitudes about a woman’s right to have access to abortion.
In the next module we will consider how gender impacts both mental health, and its role in both seeking and receiving treatment.
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(Valentine-French_and_Lally)/1.09%3A_Module_9_How_Does_Gender_Affect_Physical_Health.txt
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Mental Health
Girls and women face many challenges and concerns, including interpersonal violence, unrealistic and stereotypical media images, discrimination, oppression, devaluation, limited economic resources, role overload, relationship disruptions, and work inequities, that make them vulnerable to mental health disorders (APA, 2018b). Similarly, traditional masculinity, including stoicism, competitiveness, dominance, and aggression, are associated with less healthy behaviors and more mental health issues in boys and men (APA, 2018a). Further, the extensive stigma and discrimination reported by transgender and gender nonconforming individuals have been correlated with increased rates of depression and suicidality (APA, 2015). The following section will review how gender relates to mental health disorders across the lifespan.
Childhood and Adolescence:
In a review of mental health disorders beginning in childhood and adolescence, Zahn-Waxler et al. (2008) identified gender differences between early-onset and adolescent-onset disorders. Specifically, early-onset disorders are typically exhibited by males, and they include conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, autism, dyslexia, and developmental language disorders. From a biological perspective, prenatal exposure to testosterone has been theorized as a reason as testosterone may slow biological and physical development, including slower maturation of the temporal lobe involved in language. A reduced ability to use language may make it difficult for boys to verbally problem solve during conflicts. Higher fetal testosterone has also been associated with boy’s lower empathy, more restricted interests, and lower quality of social relationships. Infant boys exhibit difficulty regulating and controlling negative emotions, show more anger and irritability, while male preschoolers are more physically active and show less frustration tolerance and impulsivity.
In contrast, adolescent-onset disorders, including depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, are exhibited more by females (Zahn-Waxler et al., 2008). Anxiety problems are also more common in girls than boys at an early age. At puberty, estrogen enhances activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which plays an important role in the body’s response to stress. Estrogen appears to delay the ability of females to recover from stress and also results in them becoming more affected than males by long-term stress. Also seen at puberty is greater conformity to the feminine ideal, which is reinforced within cultures. Dependent, emotional, helpless, passive, and self-sacrificing attributes are stereotypically female characteristics, and they are also risk factors for depression.
The more rapid maturation of the brain for girls, especially the frontal cortex, is also thought to increase the tendency to view oneself in comparison to others, and thus result in greater distress internalization (Zahn-Waxler et al., 2008). Compared to boys, girls exhibit higher levels of empathy, prosociality, caregiving, guilt and shame, which is due to their greater social awareness. When this increased social awareness is paired with dysfunctional environments, such as marital conflict and parental depression, additional risk for depression occurs. Early maturing girls are especially vulnerable (APA, 2018). Because boys develop later, they are less able to take another’s perspective and less aware of negative family environments. Consequently, this continued egocentricity may protect males from internalizing symptoms, including depression.
Gender dysphoria refers to the strong discomfort or distress caused by a discrepancy between a person’s gender identity and their biological sex assigned at birth, as described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth Edition Text Revision (DSM-5-TR) (American Psychiatric Association, 2022). Children who actively reject the toys, clothing, and anatomy of their assigned sex and state they prefer the toys, clothing, and anatomy of the opposite sex, may be diagnosed with gender dysphoria in children.
Recent research indicated that 73% of transgender women and 78% of transgender men seeking gender-affirming surgery indicated they first experienced gender dysphoria by age 7 (Zaliznyak, 2020). Childhood gender dysphoria can result in a poor quality of life for the developing child into adolescence. However, some research has indicated that the majority of children with gender dysphoria do not develop gender dysphoria beyond adolescence, and instead these adolescents identify as non-heterosexual (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2018). Whether gender dysphoria persisted or desisted, typically occurred between the ages of 10 and 13.
Transgender identity persistence in a group of pre-pubertal transgender youth was also analyzed by Steensma et al. (2011, 2013). This research found that 100% of patients who had completely socially transitioned, 60.1% of those who had partially transitioned, and 25.6% of those with who had not socially transitioned reported a transgender identity after 7 years. To further assess persistence, Olsen et al. (2022) followed a cohort of 317 transgender children who completed a social transition prior to age 12. The results indicated that after 5 years of a social transition, 94% of the youth identified as transgender, 2.5% identified as cisgender, and 3.5% identified as nonbinary. The high persistence rates in this study confirmed prior findings and suggested that persistence remains high after starting gender-affirming treatment and socially transitioning.
For adolescents, Santoro (2022) found that transgender and Nonbinary youth experience higher rates of mental health disorders and suicidality. Kaltiala-Heino et al. (2018) reported the results of a school survey indicating that 1.3% of 16–19 year-olds had potentially significant gender dysphoria, and of those adolescents, approximately 40%–45% exhibited clinically significant mental health issues. The most commonly reported conditions were depression, anxiety, self-harm and suicidal ideation/behavior.
Likewise, community-level data indicated that “transgender-identifying youth present four to six times more often with depression and three to four times more often with self-harm and/or suicidal behavior compared with cisgender adolescents” (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2018, p. 34). Also noted were increased rates of eating disorders and autism spectrum disorders. A lack of parental support was correlated with increased mental health disorders, inadequate housing, and homelessness. In contrast, positive mental health outcomes for transgender adolescents were associated with strong perceived parental support. These outcomes included fewer risk taking sexual behaviors, higher life satisfaction, lower perceived burden of being transgender and fewer depressive symptoms.
Other factors that negatively affect the mental health of transgender youth include a history of being bullied, being afraid for their personal safety, having been hit or harmed, having been in physical fights, having been sexually harassed, and having experienced dating violence (Kaltiala-Heino et al., 2018). Further, transgender youth indicate that school has not been a safe place for them as they have experienced bullying and discrimination by peers and teachers. The negative school environment has resulted in poorer motivation, less ability to concentrate, and school avoidance, all of which has resulted in transgender adolescents dropping-out of school.
Turban et al. (2021) also found that it was not the social transition itself that resulted in mental health concerns for transgender and gender diverse youth. Rather, it was being exposed to an unaccepting school environment. Experiencing bullying and harassment in kindergarten through twelfth grade was correlated with adverse mental health, including increased suicide attempts. Turban et al. emphasized the importance of having safe and affirming school environments to support transgender and gender diverse students’ mental health.
Counter to providing supportive environments, 33 states proposed over 100 legislative bills that targeted transgender and nonbinary youth in 2021 (Santoro, 2022). These included prohibiting gender-affirming medical care, restricting access to sports, banning transgender youth from using the bathroom corresponding with their gender, denying individuals the ability to change the sex on a birth certificate, and investigating family members and health care providers who assist transgender youth in receiving gender-affirming care. The American Psychological Association has strongly opposed legislation that does not support gender-affirming care stating, “The proposed bills do not align with international standards of care, research, or clinical practice” (Santoro, 2022, p. 52).
College Students:
According to Sax (2010) women enter college with self-reported higher levels of stress and lower levels of emotional and physical health, and these differences continue during the four years of college. Reasons given for a lack of change over the four years include that men spend more time on stress relieving activities, such as sports, video games, partying and watching television. In contrast, women engage in activities that increase stress, such as studying, homework, community services and family responsibilities.
Using data from over 43,000 college students, Borgona et al. (2019) examined mental health differences among several gender groups, including those identifying as cisgender, transgender and gender nonconforming. Results indicated that participants who identified as transgender and gender nonconforming had significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression than those identifying as cisgender. B0rgona et al. explained the higher rates of anxiety and depression using the minority stress model, which states that an unaccepting social environment results in both external and internal stress which contributes to poorer mental health. External stressors include discrimination, harassment, and prejudice, while internal stressors include negative thoughts, feelings and emotions resulting from one’s identity. Borgona et al. recommends that mental health services that are sensitive to both gender minority and sexual minority statuses be available.
Adult Women:
Several factors are proposed as to why adult women have higher rates of depression than men. The life time prevalence rate for females is 15.9%, but only 7.7% for males, and these gender differences begin to appear in adolescence (Else-Quest & Hyde, 2018). Important factors described in the research include that females begin puberty earlier and experience more negative life events, such as sexual abuse and sexual harassment. Additionally, they may possess a somewhat more negative cognitive style, including ruminating on these negative life events. Even while working outside the home, women are over represented in caregiving positions, including caring for children, partners, parents, parents-in-law, and friends (APA, 2018b). The stress of caregiving results in increased mental health issues. Yet, women are repeatedly told they can do it all and they just need to learn how to “juggle” their responsibilities better. Further, the feminization of poverty has also been implicated as there is a strong correlation between poverty and mental health problems. Women who are financially distressed, are single parents, and lack adequate child care demonstrate more depression than women who are financially secure.
Another significant concern for women is the systemic bias in diagnostic assessments. Women tend to be overrepresented in the diagnoses of depression, histrionic and borderline personality disorders, dissociative disorders, somatization disorder, panic disorder, PTSD, and agoraphobia (APA, 2018b). Issues related to the reproductive system, such as menstrual and female sexual disorders, have also been labeled as mental health disorders rather than physical disorders. In addition to these over diagnoses, there is also concern regarding under diagnosis due to gender role biases. A prime example of this is the underrepresentation of females diagnosed with attention-deficit /hyperactivity disorder as it is considered a male disorder.
Adult Men:
According to APA (2018a), “research suggests that socialization practices that teach boys from an early age to be self-reliant, strong, and to minimize and manage their problems on their own yield adult men who are less willing to seek mental health treatment” (p. 3). Internalizing disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are stereotyped as female disorders and consequently males are less likely to be diagnosed with them. This occurs even though males are four times more likely to die of suicide than females. Instead, males are more likely to be diagnosed with externalizing disorders, such as conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and substance use disorders. These externalizing behaviors may actually mask internalizing problems (Pappas, 2019).
Males have higher rates of substance use disorders for alcohol, cocaine, cannabis, and phencyclidine (APA, 2013). Although inhalant-use disorders are comparable among adolescents, adult males are diagnosed more than adult females. For alcohol, the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) (SAMHSA, 2018) indicated that for adults 18 and over, 9.2 million men (7.6 percent of men in this age group) and 5.3 million women (4.1 percent of women in this age group) had an alcohol use disorder characterized by an impaired ability to stop or control alcohol use despite negative consequences. Approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States. Marijuana use among those 18-25 is increasing for women, but more men continue to use. Trends in marijuana use from 2015-2018 can be seen below.
Adult Gender Minorities:
Gender nonconforming people are much more likely to experience harassment, bullying, and violence based on their gender identity; they also experience much higher rates of discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, and education (Borgogna et al., 2019; National Center for Transgender Equality, 2015). Transgender individuals of color face additional financial, social, and interpersonal challenges, in comparison to the transgender community as a whole, as a result of structural racism. Black transgender people reported the highest level of discrimination among all transgender individuals of color. As members of several intersecting minority groups, transgender people of color, and transgender women of color in particular, are especially vulnerable to employment discrimination, poor health outcomes, harassment, and violence. Consequently, they face even greater obstacles than white transgender individuals and cisgender members of their own race. All these obstacles can result in psychological distress that manifests as mental health disorders, including being at an increased risk for suicide attempts: 41% as compared to 1.6% in the general population (APA, 2018b).
Eating Disorders:
Although eating disorders can occur in children and adults, they frequently appear during the teen years or young adulthood (National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 2016). Eating disorders affect all genders, although rates among women are 2½ times greater than among men. Similar to women who have eating disorders, men also have a distorted sense of body image, including muscle dysmorphia, which is an extreme desire to increase one’s muscularity (Bosson et al., 2019). Research on gender nonconforming and transgender individuals also indicate increased rates of eating disorders (Diemer, 2018). The prevalence of eating disorders in the United States is similar among Non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanics, AfricanAmericans, and Asians, with the exception that anorexia nervosa is more common among Non-Hispanic Whites (Hudson et al., 2007; Wade et al., 2011).
Risk Factors for Eating Disorders: Because of the high mortality rate, researchers are looking into the etiology of the disorder and associated risk factors. Researchers are finding that eating disorders are caused by a complex interaction of genetic, biological, behavioral, psychological, and social factors (NIMH, 2016). Eating disorders appear to run in families, and researchers are working to identify DNA variations that are linked to the increased risk of developing eating disorders. Researchers from King’s College London (2019) found that the genetic basis of anorexia overlaps with both metabolic and body measurement traits. The genetic factors also influence physical activity, which may explain the high activity level of those with anorexia. Further, the genetic basis of anorexia overlaps with other psychiatric disorders. Researchers have also found differences in patterns of brain activity in women with eating disorders in comparison with healthy women.
As discussed in module 4, media promotes the “thin ideal” that equates thinness with beauty. How much influence does media exert regarding the development of clinically diagnosed eating disorders? In a recent literature review, Ferguson (2018) concluded that media effects are not as causal as people believe. Rather, Ferguson concluded that real-life influences are more significant that media influences. Individuals are more likely to compare themselves to peers in their social groups than distant media figures they will never meet. In previous research, Ferguson (2013) concluded that women with preexisting body dissatisfaction may be primed by media ideals, and thus be more susceptible. In both reviews, media promoting the thin ideal did not cause eating disorders in women. Further, the muscularity ideal directed toward men, did not result in the development of eating disorders in males.
The main criteria for the most common eating disorders: Anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder are described in the DSM-5TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2022) and listed below:
Anorexia Nervosa Restriction of energy intake leading to a significantly low body weight
Intense fear of gaining weight
Disturbance in one’s self-evaluation regarding body weight
Bulimia Nervosa Recurrent episodes of binge eating
Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviors to prevent weight gain, including purging, laxatives, fasting or excessive exercise
Self-evaluation is unduly affected by body shape and weight
Binge-Eating Disorder Recurrent episodes of binge eating
·Marked distress regarding binge eating
The binge eating is not associated with the recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory behavior
Health Consequences of Eating Disorders: For those suffering from anorexia, health consequences include an abnormally slow heart rate and low blood pressure, which increases the risk for heart failure. Additionally, there is a reduction in bone density (osteoporosis), muscle loss and weakness, severe dehydration, fainting, fatigue, and overall weakness. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder (Arcelus et al., 2011). Individuals with this disorder may die from complications associated with starvation, while others die of suicide. In women, suicide is much more common in those with anorexia than with most other mental disorders.
The binge and purging cycle of bulimia can affect the digestives system and lead to electrolyte and chemical imbalances that can affect the heart and other major organs. Frequent vomiting can cause inflammation and possible rupture of the esophagus, as well as tooth decay and staining from stomach acids. Lastly, binge eating disorder results in similar health risks to obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, heart disease, Type II diabetes, and gall bladder disease (National Eating Disorders Association, 2016).
Eating Disorders Treatment: To treat eating disorders, adequate nutrition and stopping inappropriate behaviors, such as purging, are the foundations of treatment. Treatment plans are tailored to individual needs and include medical care, nutritional counseling, medications (such as antidepressants), and individual, group, and/or family psychotherapy (NIMH, 2016). For example, the Maudsley Approachhas parents of adolescents with anorexia nervosa be actively involved in their child’s treatment, such as assuming responsibility for feeding the child. To eliminate binge-eating and purging behaviors, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)assists sufferers by identifying distorted thinking patterns and changing inaccurate beliefs.
Abortion and Mental Health:
Receiving a wanted abortion does not increase the risk for depression, anxiety or suicidal thoughts. According to Abrams (2022):
More than 50 years of international psychological research show that having an abortion is not linked to mental health problems, but restricting access to safe, legal abortions does cause harm. Research shows that people who are denied abortions have worse physical and mental health, as well as worse economic outcomes than those who seek and receive them. (p. 40)
Rocca et al. (2020) followed 1000 women across 21 states and over 5 years to compare those who obtained an abortion with those who wanted an abortion but were denied. The results indicated that women who had an abortion did not indicate greater negative emotions than those who were denied an abortion, and 97% indicated that having the abortion was the correct decision for them. In fact, five years post-abortion, relief remained the most commonly felt emotion among the women who had an abortion.
What is harmful is harmful to women is a lack of access to an abortion and lack of accurate knowledge about the procedure. Women denied an abortion reported more anxiety and stress, lower self-concept and life satisfaction, more physical problems, worse credit scores, more frequent bankruptcies and evictions, higher chance of living in poverty, and they were more likely to stay with an abusive partner or raise children alone (Abrams, 2022).
The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling is especially concerning to women with fewer economic resources. For women who live in a state that bans abortion, traveling to obtain one requires money to pay for the traveling expenses in addition to the cost of the procedure. Women living in poverty, women of color, those living in rural areas, and younger women are especially vulnerable to abortion bans in their states (Abrams, 2022).
Older Adults:
Older women are more likely to be living in poverty, experience elder abuse and neglect, and endure more disabilities than older males, which makes them vulnerable to mental health disorders (APA, 2018b). Further, sexism persists and older women experience powerful negative stereotypes regarding their competence, assertiveness, and goals in late adulthood. It is not surprising then that a greater percentage of older females was diagnosed with depression based on scores from the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), a symptom-screening questionnaire that allows for criteria-based diagnoses of depressive disorders (Brody et al., 2018). As can be seen below, women at all adult ages exhibited higher rates of depression from 2013-2016 than men.
Older males have consistently demonstrated the highest rates of suicide than any other age group for both males and females. In 2018, the suicide rates for males were highest for those 75 and over and increased to 39.9 per 100,000 (Hedegaard et al., 2020). Although females attempt suicide at higher rates than males, males succeed more. Reasons for the higher rate of suicidality for older males are that they typically experience higher rates of substance use disorders, do not seek out mental health treatments, and use more lethal means. Retirement can also be a risk factor for older men who identified as workers and achievers and no longer have that role (Pappas, 2019).
In the final module we will examine the role of gender in aggression and crime. We will consider human aggression overall and why it occurs, the role of social gender roles in fostering aggression, the types of crime committed by and against those in particular gender groups, and incarceration.
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Case Study: Incel
As mentioned in module one, there are a number of men’s groups. Some are supportive of women and women’s rights, while others disguise their support in thinly veiled benevolent sexism. Incel is neither; it is openly hostile toward women, especially feminists, and toward women and men who engage in sex. Incel means involuntary celibacy. Members blame feminism for their celibacy. They believe that women are genetically inferior to men, and resent that women seek genetically superior males (Scaptura & Boyle, 2020). In online communities, members routinely comment on their frustration and anger of not being able to attract women. If incel was little more than a self-pity stage to vent, people would not be as concerned as they are about this group. A number of incel members hold very radical views; views that endorse the sexual subjugation of women, and that violence against women, especially if they are feminists, is legitimate.
In May of 2014, Elliot Rodger, a self-proclaimed member of incel, killed 6 people and wounded 14 others. His posted manifesto revealed that he held many of these radical views toward women. He became an “incel hero” to tens of thousands of members (BBC, 2018). One member who saw Rodger as a hero drove his van into pedestrians in Toronto, Canada, killing 10 and injuring 15. In a Facebook post before the attack he referenced Rodger’s actions and the belief that “the incel revolution had begun” (Wendling, 2018). Six months later there was a shooting spree in a Florida yoga studio, killing 2 women and wounding several others. In online videos the shooter expressed his support of groups like incel, and blamed women’s lack of understanding of the societal pressures placed on men (Chavez & McLaughlin, 2018).
According to Hines (2019) in the last decade, seven mass shootings have been perpetrated by men with ties to incel. Mass shooters often have a history of gender-based violence (Scaptura & Boyle, 2020). Moreover, as mass shooters frequently target romantic partners and family members, women and children are disproportionately among the victims. Groups like incel offer insight into the alarming toxicity of traditional views of masculinity.
Human Aggression
Aggression is behavior that is intended to harm another individual. Aggression may occur in the heat of the moment, for instance, when a jealous lover strikes out in rage or the sports fans at a university light fires and destroy cars after an important basketball game. Or it may occur in a more cognitive, deliberate, and planned way, such as the aggression of a bully who steals another child’s toys, a terrorist who kills civilians to gain political exposure, or a hired assassin who kills for money.
Not all aggression is physical. Aggression also occurs in nonphysical ways, as when children exclude others from activities, call them names, or spread rumors about them. Paquette and Underwood (1999) found that both boys and girls rated nonphysical aggression, such as name- calling as making them feel more “sad and bad” than did physical aggression. Bullying can include physical, verbal, or even cyber-behaviors.
Aggression is Part of Human Nature:
We may aggress against others in part because it allows us to gain access to valuable resources such as food, territory, and desirable mates, or to protect ourselves from direct attack by others. If aggression helps in the survival of our genes, then the process of natural selection may well have caused humans, as it would any other animal, to be aggressive (Buss & Duntley, 2006).
There is evidence for the genetics of aggression. Aggression is controlled in large part by the amygdala. One of the primary functions of the amygdala is to help us learn to associate stimuli with the rewards and the punishment that they may provide. The amygdala is particularly activated in our responses to stimuli that we see as threatening and fear-arousing. When the amygdala is stimulated, in either humans or in animals, the organism becomes more aggressive.
However, just because we can aggress does not mean that we will aggress. It is not necessarily evolutionarily adaptive to aggress in all situations. Neither people nor animals are always aggressive; they rely on aggression only when they feel that they absolutely need to (Berkowitz, 1993a). The prefrontal cortex serves as a control center on aggression; when it is more highly activated, we are more able to control our aggressive impulses. Research has found that the cerebral cortex is less active in murderers and death row inmates, suggesting that violent crime may be caused by a failure or reduced ability to regulate aggression (Davidson et al., 2000).
Hormones are also important in regulating aggression. Most important in this regard is the male sex hormone testosterone, which is associated with increased aggression in both males and females. Research conducted on a variety of animals has found a positive correlation between levels of testosterone and aggression. This relationship seems to be weaker among humans than among animals, yet it is still significant (Dabbs et al., 1996).
Consuming alcohol increases the likelihood that people will respond aggressively to provocations, and even people who are not normally aggressive may react with aggression when they are intoxicated (Graham et al., 2006). Alcohol reduces the ability of people who have consumed it to inhibit their aggression because when people are intoxicated, they become more self-focused and less aware of the social constraints that normally prevent them from engaging aggressively (Bushman & Cooper, 1990; Steele & Southwick, 1985).
Negative Experiences Increase Aggression:
When asked about the times that you have been aggressive, you would probably state that many of them occurred when you were angry, in a bad mood, tired, in pain, sick, or frustrated. You would be right because we are much more likely to aggress when we are experiencing negative emotions. The following are some causes of aggression:
• One important determinant of aggression is frustration. When we are frustrated we may lash out at others, even at people who did not cause the frustration. In some cases, the aggression is displaced aggression, which is aggression that is directed at an object or person other than the person who caused the frustration (Marcus-Maxwell et al., 2000).
• Aggression is greater on hot days than it is on cooler days and during hot years than during cooler years, and most violent riots occur during the hottest days of the year (Bushman et al., 2005).
• Pain also increases aggression (Berkowitz, 1993b).
If we are aware that we are feeling negative emotions, we might think that we could release those emotions in a relatively harmless way, such as by punching a pillow or kicking something, with the hopes that doing so will release our aggressive tendencies. This is incorrect! Catharsis or the idea that observing or engaging in less harmful aggressive actions will reduce the tendency to aggress later in a more harmful way, was considered by many as a way of decreasing violence. However, as far as social psychologists have been able to determine, catharsis simply does not work. Rather than decreasing aggression, engaging in aggressive behaviors of any type increases the likelihood of later aggression.
Research indicates that males exhibit greater physical aggression, and this difference appears around the age of two (Hyde, 2014). Although this gender difference in aggression is routinely found, in research in which the context of the situation is changed to reflect greater deindividuation, or greater anonymity, gender differences disappear. This indicates that gender role expectations appear to play a part in how aggressive an individual behaves. The stereotype that females exhibit significantly more relational aggression,or verbal aggression that is intended to harm peer relationships, has also not been validated in research studies.
Bullying:
According to Stopbullying.gov (2016), a federal government website managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, bullying is defined as unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. Further, the aggressive behavior happens more than once or has the potential to be repeated. There are different types of bullying, including verbal bullying, which is saying or writing mean things, teasing, name calling, taunting, threatening, or making inappropriate sexual comments. Social bullying, also referred to as relational bullying, involves spreading rumors, purposefully excluding someone from a group, or embarrassing someone on purpose. Physical Bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions.
A more recent form of bullying is cyberbullying, which involves bullying using electronic technology. Examples of cyberbullying include sending mean text messages or emails, creating fake profiles, and posting embarrassing pictures, videos or rumors on social networking sites. Children who experience cyberbullying have a harder time getting away from the behavior because it can occur any time of day and without being in the presence of others. Additional concerns of cyberbullying include that messages and images can be posted anonymously, distributed quickly, and be difficult to trace or delete. Children who are cyberbullied are more likely to: experience in-person bullying, be unwilling to attend school, receive poor grades, use alcohol and drugs, skip school, have lower self-esteem, and have more health problems (Stopbullying.gov, 2016).
The National Center for Education Statistics and Bureau of Justice statistics indicate that in 2010-2011, 28% of students in grades 6-12 experienced bullying and 7% experienced cyberbullying. The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, which monitors six types of health risk behaviors, indicate that 20% of students in grades 9-12 experienced bullying and 15% experienced cyberbullying (Stopbullying.gov, 2016).
Those at risk for bullying:
Bullying can happen to anyone, but some students are at an increased risk for being bullied including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered (LGBT) youth, those with disabilities, and those who are socially isolated. Additionally, those who are perceived as different, weak, less popular, overweight, or having low self-esteem, have a higher likelihood of being bullied.
Toxic Masculinity
Are traditional masculine norms harmful?
In 2018, the American Psychology Association (APA) provided guidelines to assist psychologists when working with men and boys (APA, 2018). The guidelines were developed over 13 years and were based on 40 years of research. A significant aspect of the guidelines was that traditional masculine norms, such as suppressing their emotions and not seeking help, undermined men’s and boy’s health. Additionally, stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression were designated as harmful to males (Pappas, 2019). The guidelines further indicated that men are more likely to be victims of violence, suicide, homicide and substance use. The intent of the guidelines was to provide research and suggest ways that psychologists could assist men and boys (APA, 2019).
These guidelines were approved in August 2018 and were printed in the APA’s monthly journal for psychologists in January 2019. Because of the article, social media became aware of the guidelines, and many media outlets asserted that APA had “declared war on men” and was attempting to remake them (APA, 2019). The attack on the APA guidelines coincided with Gillette Razor’s ad campaign that addressed toxic masculinity behaviors, such as bullying and “boys will be boys” excuses for inappropriate behavior (Russo, 2019). Both the APA guidelines and the Gillette ad received praise and condemnation from viewers. The same behaviors were either seen as normal masculine gender roles or toxic male expressions. So, when does traditional male behaviors become toxic?
The term toxic masculinity was originally defined by Kupers (2005) while working with prison inmates. Kupers called toxic masculinity, “the constellation of socially regressive male traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence” (p. 714). Kupers found that in prison, toxic masculinity is exaggerated and results in prison fights, assaults on guards, prison rapes, hypercompetitive interactions, and resistance to psychotherapy.
According to Parent et al. (2019) toxic masculinity is characterized by the enforcement of rigid gender roles, endorsement of misogynistic and homophobic attitudes, and involves the need to aggressively compete with and dominate others. Parent et al. researched whether there was a relationship between toxic masculinity and negative online interactions. Because many online environments are anonymous, the individuals’ pervasive need to dominate and control was hypothesized to promote negative engagement with online materials. Results indicated that “men who more strongly endorsed the dominance–heterosexism–misogyny triad of aspects of conformity to masculine norms were more likely to report negative online interactions,” (p. 282). These negative interactions included seeking out and reading content with which one disagreed and making hostile responses to such disagreement.
Mikorski and Szymanski (2017) reviewed the research on the relationships between certain aspects of traditional masculine ideology and sexual violence. They reported that men who scored higher on measures of hypersexuality, toughness, antifemininity, and male dominance were more likely to have committed domestic violence acts against their partners. They also indicated that males whose peer groups reflected toxic behaviors, such as demeaning their female partners, using sexual force against women, and being physically aggressive, were more likely to have engaged in sexual assaults themselves. In their own research, Mikorski and Szymanski also found that having abusive male peer groups and conforming to the masculine norms of power over women, violence, and exhibiting sexual promiscuity, predicted unwanted sexual advances toward women.
Rape
The United States Department of Justice (2012) defines rape as the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part of object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim. This definition replaced the previous rape definition from 1927 because it was considered outdated and did not reflect the experiences of survivors. According to the Attorney General:
For the first time ever, the new definition includes any gender of victim and perpetrator, not just women being raped by men. It also recognizes that rape with an object can be as traumatic as penile/vaginal rape. This definition also includes instances in which the victim is unable to give consent because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity. Furthermore, because many rapes are facilitated by drugs or alcohol, the new definition recognizes that a victim can be incapacitated and thus unable to consent because of ingestion of drugs or alcohol. Similarly, a victim may be legally incapable of consent because of age. Physical resistance is not required on the part of the victim to demonstrate lack of consent. (para 2)
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2020), the rate of rape and sexual assault victimization in 2019 was 1.7 persons per 1000. This rate was lower than in 2018 when it was 2.7 persons per 1000, and reflected an overall decrease in violent crimes from 2018 to 2019. However, getting accurate statistics on the occurrences of rape and sexual assaults are difficult to obtain as these crimes are under-reported, especially among men (Budd et al., 2017). Further, when looking at research that uses self-report measures, which usually indicate higher rates than official reports, the differences in measurement and definition of sexual assault make it difficult to know the true numbers (Fedina et al., 2016).
College and Sexual Assaults:
The majority of sexual assault victims are between the ages of 18 and 34, and being a college student is a greater risk factor for a males than it is for females (RAINN, 2020). Being an 18-24 year-old female and not in college, results in being four times more likely than the average female to be sexually assaulted. For those in college, they are three times more likely to be assaulted than the average female. For males, being in college makes them five times more likely to be sexually assaulted than their same-aged peers who are not in college. The differences for males may be due to an increased willingness to report sexual assaults in college due to exposure to campus sexual assault prevention programs (Streng & Kamimura, 2015).
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Looking at college demographics and sexual assaults, Mellins et al. (2017) found that gender nonconforming students (38%) were assaulted more than women (28%) or men (12.5%). A non-heterosexual identity, difficulty paying for basic necessities, fraternity/sorority membership, participation in more casual sexual encounters versus exclusive/monogamous or no sexual relationships, binge drinking, and experiencing sexual assault before college were also factors associated with higher rates of sexual assault in college. Budd et al. (2017) found that the average age for male and female victims was approximately 19 years old, but perpetrators who assaulted females tended to be an average of 23 years old, while those assaulting males were 29. Additionally, college sexual assaults with male victims were more likely to include multiple offenders, but less likely to involve a stranger or result in injuries in comparison to sexual assaults with female victims.
Intimate Partner Abuse
Violence in romantic relationships is a significant concern for women in early adulthood as females aged 18 to 34 generally experience the highest rates of intimate partner violence. According to the most recent Violence Policy Center (2018) study, more than 1,800 women were murdered by men in 2016. The study found that nationwide, 93% of women killed by men were murdered by someone they knew, and guns were the most common weapon used. The national rate of women murdered by men in single victim/single offender incidents dropped 24%, from 1.57 per 100,000 in 1996 to 1.20 per 100,000 in 2016. However, since reaching a low of 1.08 per 100,000 women in 2014, the 2016 rate increased 11%.
Intimate partner violence is often divided into situational couple violence, which is the violence that results when heated conflict escalates, and intimate terrorism, in which one partner consistently uses fear and violence to dominate the other (Bosson, et al., 2019). Men and women equally use and experience situational couple violence, while men are more likely to use intimate terrorism than are women. Consistent with this, a national survey described below, found that female victims of intimate partner violence experience different patterns of violence, such as rape, severe physical violence, and stalking than male victims, who most often experienced more slapping, shoving, and pushing.
The last National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey (NISVS) was conducted in 2015 (Smith et al., 2018). The NISVS examines the prevalence of intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking among women and men in the United States over the respondent’s lifetime and during the 12 months before the interview. A total of 5,758 women and 4,323 men completed the survey. Based on the results, women are disproportionately affected by intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and stalking. Results included:
• Nearly 1 in 3 women and 1 in 6 men experienced some form of contact sexual violence during their lifetime.
• Nearly 1 in 5 women and 1 in 39 men have been raped in their lifetime.
• Approximately 1 in 6 women and 1 in 10 men experienced sexual coercion (e.g., sexual pressure from someone in authority, or being worn down by requests for sex).
• Almost 1 in 5 women have been the victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner, while 1 in 7 men have experienced the same.
• 1 in 6 women have been stalked during their lifetime, compared to 1 in 19 men.
• More than 1 in 4 women and more than 1 in 10 men have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner and reported significant short- or long-term impacts, such as post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and injury.
• An estimated 1 in 3 women experienced at least one act of psychological aggression by an intimate partner during their lifetime.
• Men and women who experienced these forms of violence were more likely to report frequent headaches, chronic pain, difficulty with sleeping, activity limitations, poor physical health, and poor mental health than men and women who did not experience these forms of violence.
Child and Adolescent Abuse and Neglect
The Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 2019) defines child abuse and neglect as: Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm (p. viii). Each state has its own definition of child abuse based on the federal law, and most states recognize five major types of maltreatment: neglect, physical abuse, psychological maltreatment, sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Each of the forms of child maltreatment may be identified alone, but they can occur in combination.
The most recent national child abuse data is from 2018, and these statistics were collected using the annual Child Maltreatment Report Series (HSS, 2020). States provide the data for this report through the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System. The national number of children who received a child protective services investigation increased 8.4% from 2014 (3,261,000) to 2018 (3,534,000). Of those investigated, approximately 678,000 children were found to be victims of child abuse and neglect. This equates to a national rate of 9.2 victims per 1,000 children in the population. Of those, 48.5% were boys, 51.2% were girls, and the gender of 0.3% children was unknown. This results in a rate of 9.6 girls per 1000 and 8.7 boys per 1000.
The majority of victims (84.5%) suffered from a single maltreatment type (HSS, 2020). Three-fifths (60.8%) of victims were neglected only, 10.7 percent were physically abused only, 7.0 percent were sexually abused only, 0.1% were victims of sex trafficking, and 15.5% experienced multiple types of abuse. Although less in overall number of cases, boys have a higher child fatality rate than girls; 2.87 per 100,000 boys, compared with 2.19 per 100,000 girls in the population. For most of the categories, there were no sex differences, however for sex trafficking, the majority (89.1%) were female, while only 10.4% were male. The largest percentages for victims of sex trafficking (71.9%) are in the age group 14–17, and this is true for both sexes. Sex trafficking will be further discussed as a form of human trafficking.
More than one-half (53.8%) of perpetrators of child abuse are female and 45.3% of perpetrators are male; 0.9 percent are of unknown sex (HSS, 2020). The majority (77.5%) of perpetrators are a parent of their victim, 6.4 percent of perpetrators are a relative other than a parent, and 4.2 percent had a multiple relationship to their victims. Approximately 4.0% of perpetrators have an “other” relationship to their victims, including parent’s partner, babysitters, friends, neighbors, foster sibling, etc.
Sexual Abuse:
Sexual abuse is defined as a type of maltreatment that refers to the involvement of the child in sexual activity to provide sexual gratification or financial benefit to the perpetrator, including contacts for sexual purposes, molestation, statutory rape, prostitution, pornography, expo-sure, incest, or other sexually exploitative activities (HSS, 2020). Sexual abuse statistics reflect a greater percentage of girls, as approximately 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 13 boys experience child sexual abuse at some point in childhood (CDC, 2020). The median age for sexual abuse is 8 or 9 years for both boys and girls (Finkelhorn et al., 1990). Unfortunately, many children wait to report or never report child sexual abuse, so these numbers are probably a low estimate.
Most boys and girls are sexually abused by a male. Although rates of sexual abuse are higher for girls than for boys, boys may be less likely to report abuse because of the cultural expectation that boys should be able to take care of themselves and because of the stigma attached to homosexual encounters (Finkelhorn et al., 1990). Girls are more likely to be abused by family member and boys by strangers. According to Valente (2005) sexual abuse can create feelings of self-blame, betrayal, shame and guilt. Further, sexual abuse is particularly damaging when the perpetrator is someone the child trusts and may lead to depression, anxiety, problems with intimacy, and suicide.
ACES:
All types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18 are referred to as adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) (CDC, 2019). ACEs have been linked to risky behaviors, chronic health conditions, low life potential and early death, and as the number of ACEs increase, so does the risk for these results. When a child experiences strong, frequent, and/or prolonged adversity without adequate adult support, the child’s stress response systems can be activated and disrupt the development of the brain and other organ systems (Harvard University, 2019). Further, ACEs can increase the risk for stress-related disease and cognitive impairment, well into the adult years. Felitti et al. (1998) found that those who had experienced four or more ACEs compared to those who had experienced none, had increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide attempt, increase in smoking, poor self-rated health, more sexually transmitted diseases, an increase in physical inactivity and severe obesity. More ACEs showed an increased relationship to the presence of adult diseases including heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, skeletal fractures, and liver disease. Those with multiple ACEs were likely to have multiple health risk factors later in life.
According to Merrick et al. (2018), the foundation for lifelong health and well-being is created in childhood, as positive experiences strengthen biological systems while adverse experiences can increase mortality and morbidity. Overall, violence against children has detrimental effects, which can result in long-term negative physical and emotional development.
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking has been referred to as modern day slavery and affects millions of people worldwide, regardless of gender (International Labor Organization, 2020). According to the United Nations (2020):
Trafficking in persons is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. (para. 1)
Statistics for human trafficking can be difficult to obtain as survivors of human trafficking are often fearful of seeking help due to threats from their traffickers. According to the International Labor Organization (2020), 21 million people in the world are the victims of forced labor. In the United States, Polaris (2020) operates the National Human Trafficking Hotline, which provides 24/7 support and a variety of options for survivors of human trafficking to get assistance. In 2019, the trafficking hotline received 48,326 individual trafficking-related contacts. Also in 2019, Homeland Security initiated 1,024 human trafficking investigations and recorded 2,197 arrests, 1,113 indictments, 691 convictions and 428 victims were identified and assisted (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2020). Throughout the world, agencies are working together to identify survivors of human trafficking and prosecute the traffickers.
A myth of human trafficking is that female sex trafficking is the main type, and the traffickers are always male (Polaris, 2020). In reality there are many types of trafficking including forced work in healthcare, hotels/motels, house cleaning, agriculture, forestry, construction, landscaping, factories, trucking, child care, massage parlors, pornography, carnivals, outdoor solicitation and begging. Additionally, child soldiers and child brides are included, as well as the removal of organs. Females are overrepresented in sexual exploitation, but males and those who are transgender also are sex trafficked at high levels. Males make up the majority of those in forced labor, as child soldiers, and have their organs removed. Females are also traffickers, and focusing on traditional gender stereotypes ignores the reality that women can be very effective at gaining the trust of survivors and then exploiting them. This includes family members who may sell their children or relatives to traffickers.
Female Survivors of Sex Trafficking:
According to the American Psychological Association (2014), women and children make up the largest group of survivors in the sex trade. The average entry is 13-16 years of age, but girls as young as 10 have been exploited. There are many factors that contribute to sex trafficking females, and the most frequent include:
• Widespread objectification of the female body that creates women and girls as products in the economy
• Glamorization of pimping and prostitution within the culture
• Sexualization of adolescent girls in popular culture
• Pervasive poverty and shifts in economies that force females in rural areas to seek work in urban areas, thus removing them from family and community protection
• Participation in low skilled and low paying jobs that are traditionally associated with female roles of serving and nurturing and thus makes them vulnerable to forced labor
• Use of smugglers to cross into the United States who often work with pimps
• Unstable political environments caused by natural disasters, political conflicts, and wars that disrupt social functioning
• Corruption among all levels of a government
• Residing in a location where large numbers of military personnel were stationed for a long period of time
• History of past abuse, disabilities, language barriers, undocumented status, parents involved in substance use or criminal activity, abandonment, neglect, and being a runaway
Both significant physical and psychological consequences result from surviving sex trafficking (APA, 2014). Physical and sexual violence, including rapes, assault, gunshots, knife wounds, burns and torture are common, and homicides are the leading cause of premature death for those who are sex trafficked. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, anxiety, loneliness, dissociation, feelings of worthlessness, loss of memory, and negative beliefs about oneself, others and the world are present in survivors. Additionally, many survivors are diagnosed with Complex PTSD, which results from multiple or persistent trauma. A history of abuse and trust in the trafficker through grooming or being known to them, makes the survivor especially vulnerable to complex trauma. Complex trauma affects an individual’s affect regulation, consciousness, self-perception, and relationships with others. Those with complex trauma may turn to substance use, self-abusive behaviors, disordered eating and suicidal gestures.
Male Survivors of Sex Trafficking:
Gender stereotypes reflect the belief that because males are seen as the aggressors, they cannot be trafficked (Raney, 2017). However, this is false as males reside in similar dysfunctional situations to those experienced by girls and women. “Boys and men who have been trafficked present with issues that are similar to many victims of complex trauma: poverty, sexual abuse, violence or living in a home where substance abuse takes place,” (p. 22). Male survivors of sexual trafficking often present with additional trauma and shame as they believe they should have been “man enough” to stop the trafficking and abuse, even if they were a child at the time. Another difficulty for male survivors is the lack of available services as the majority of assistance is focused on female survivors.
Child Brides:
UNICEF estimates that in 2016, 5.6 million girls under the age of 18 became a child bride and more than 650 million women alive today were married before the age of 18 (Reid, 2018). During the past decade, the proportion of young women who were married as children decreased by 15 per cent, from 1 in 4 (25%) to approximately 1 in 5 (21%), and efforts are being made throughout the world to end child marriages by 2030. There are many factors that contribute to child brides including poverty, lower dowry costs, paying off debts, food insecurities, political unions, cultural and social norms, protection during unstable times, and to ensure young females remain virgins as to not dishonor their families.
Regardless of the reason, child marriages are associated with a range of poor health and social outcomes (United Nations Human Rights Council, 2014). These negative consequences include early and frequent pregnancies that are linked to high maternal and infant morbidity and mortality. Pregnancy-related complications are the main cause of death for young women, with girls being twice as likely to die from childbirth as women in their twenties. Girls who are subjected to childbirth early, and forced marriage are often unable to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. This compromises their ability to decide on the number and spacing of their children and places them at heightened risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections and HIV. Child marriage and early childbearing are also significant obstacles for participating in education, employment and other economic opportunities.
Although the majority of child brides are located in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (UNICEF, 2018), between 2000 and 2015, at least 207,459 minors were married in the United States (Tsui et al., 2017). The exact number is not known as not all states keep data on the age of those seeking marriage licenses as it is left to individual counties. Almost 90 percent of minors who married between 2000 and 2015 were girls. Although most of them were 16 or 17 years old, some were as young as 12 years old. While some minors married other minors, 86% married adults. Marriages involving minors occurred most often in Idaho, Kentucky, and West Virginia, which have large rural populations and higher levels of poverty. Girls from middle class and wealthy families, as well as those who live in cities, typically do not get married young.
An individual in the United States can marry without parental consent at the age of 18 in all states and at 19 in Nebraska. Underage marriages can occur when there is consent of the parents, consent of a court clerk or judge, if one of the parties is pregnant or has given birth, or if the minor is emancipated (World Population Review, 2020). Most states have a minimum marriage age for minors with parental consent, ranging from 12-17 years old. However, neither California nor Mississippi have minimum ages, and Massachusetts has the lowest minimum marriage age with parental consent of 14 years old for boys and 12 years old for girls. State-wide efforts are underway to raise the age of marriage for all individuals to 18, regardless of pregnancy or parental permission. Advocates of stricter state laws argue that current laws are failing to protect minors from being forced or coerced into marriages where they may face violence and sexual assault (Tsui et al., 2017).
Children who are wed before the legal age of adulthood may face additional legal challenges if they wish to leave the relationship as not all states automatically grant emancipation when a child marries (Tahirih Justice Center, 2017). Should they try to leave a marital relationship even for domestic violence they may find, depending on the state, that they are turned away from shelters as they are below the legal age of adulthood. Tahirih also found that child brides can be listed as a runaway, and if found may be returned to their family and potentially their abuser. In addition, the lack of emancipation may mean that the while the child can be married, they may not be able to file for a divorce, and must rely on the help of an adult to be their advocate.
Gender and Crime Statistics
Statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI; 2018) demonstrate that males commit the vast majority of the crimes in the United States. The following table depicts the most recent data from 2018 identifying the crime and the percent for males and females. Only two of the offenses listed indicate a higher percentage for females than males: embezzlement and prostitution.
Data measuring violent incidents in 2018, indicated that males were offenders in a greater percentage committed against males (81%) and against females (73%) (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2019). Males also experienced higher victimization rates than females for all types of violent crime except rape/sexual assault. Females were more likely to commit a violent act against other females (21%) than against males (16%). Violence in other cultures and countries reflect what is seen in America. Overall, in every society, males are more violent and commit more crimes than females (Kanazawa, 2008a).
What accounts for the significant gender differences in the level of crimes committed ?
According to the University of Minnesota (2015), biological differences are seen by some researchers as reasons, especially the role that testosterone plays in aggression. Gender role socialization is another theory as boys are raised to be assertive and aggressive, while girls are reared to be nurturing and kind. A further reason relates to opportunity, as parents watch their daughters more closely than they watch their sons, thus providing males more opportunities to engage in illegal behaviors, especially within a peer group. Additionally, women face lower incentives to engage in crime as criminal earnings are higher for men, and women with very young children receive more adverse effects, such as going to jail (Campaniello, 2019). The lower rates for women are also due to females being less likely to be arrested, sentenced, and incarcerated for the same crimes compared to males.
Theorists associated with the evolutionary perspective, indicate that the large number of homicides between men, compared to the number of homicides between women, or between the genders, is a direct consequence of males competing for mates (Kanazawa, 2008a). For example, most homicides between men are due to “trivial altercations.” A fight might begin because of trivial matters of honor, status and reputation. One male might insult another or show an interest in the other’s partner, resulting in violence because neither male would back down. Evolutionary psychologists believe that these mostly young men are fighting for status in their peer group because high-status individuals are more sexually attractive to women (Barber, 2015). Nonviolent crimes, such as stealing, are also explained through the evolutionary perspective as a way for males to accumulate resources that attract mates when they lack legitimate means to acquire these resources (Kanazawa, 2008b).
For females, the evolutionary perspective explains that they too may need to compete for resources and mates, especially when these are scarce (Kanazawa, 2008c). They may occasionally resort to violence, but more often spread negative gossip or rumors about a romantic rival than become violent with them. To obtain resources, they are more likely to engage in lower risk acts, such as embezzlement, rather than robbery. When women do steal, they tend to steal what they need to survive for themselves and their children, and they tend not to use crime for other purposes, like showing off and gaining status, as men do.
Despite the current gender gap, the number of women committing crimes is increasing. According to Campaniello (2019), women have more freedom than in the past, which provides more opportunities for crime. Additionally, the relative wage inequality between higher and lower earning women’s wages has resulted in more women at the low end of the wage distribution committing crimes.
Intersectionality and Incarceration
The racial and ethnic makeup of prisons in the United States continues to look substantially different from the country’s demographics. While their rate of imprisonment has decreased the most in recent years, black Americans are much more likely than their Hispanic and white counterparts to be in prison (Gramlich, 2020). In 2018, black Americans represented 33% of those in prison, almost triple their 12% share of the U.S. adult population. Whites accounted for 30% of prisoners, about half their 63% share of the adult population. Hispanics accounted for 23% of inmates, compared with 16% of the adult population.
Black men especially are likely to be imprisoned. There were 2,272 inmates per 100,000 black men in 2018, compared with 1,018 inmates per 100,000 Hispanic men, and 392 inmates per 100,000 white men. The rate was even higher among black men in certain age groups: Among those ages 35 to 39, about one-in-twenty black men were in state or federal prison (Gramlich, 2020).
Currently, women comprise only 7% of the federal prison population, and they also are a smaller percentage of inmates in state and local facilities. Even though there are significantly fewer female inmates than male, during the past 30 years there has been a 700% increase in female imprisonment in federal, state, and local correctional facilities (Cowan, 2019). While federal prisons have seen an uptick in numbers of incarcerated women during this period, the most dramatic increases are in state prisons and local jails. Although there has been an increase in women convicted of violent crimes, most incarcerated females are serving sentences for property and drug offenses.
Similar to men, women of color are overrepresented in prisons (Cowan, 2019). Black women are twice as likely to be incarcerated as white women: 96 per 100,000 versus 49 per 100,000. Additionally, rates of Hispanic women in correctional settings are 1.4 times higher than those for whites: 67 per 100,000 versus 49 per 100,000. Native American women are also overrepresented in prison in particular geographical locations. Even at the juvenile justice system level, black and Hispanic girls are more likely to be committed to juvenile residential facilities than white girls. What is consistent, is that females in prisons are overwhelmingly poor, with most living well below the poverty line. Because of their overall limited incomes, more women stay in prison without having been convicted of a crime because they cannot afford the cash bond to be released (Sawyer, 2018).
Compared to male inmates, female inmates are more likely to have experienced a lifetime of exposure to cumulative trauma, physical and sexual victimization, untreated mental illness, and substance use to manage distress (Ney et al., 2012). According to Sawyer (2018), women’s responses to gender-based abuse and discrimination are increasingly criminalized, such as fighting back against domestic violence, or running away from abuse for girls. Upon release from prison, rates of relapse are high for women, especially if they have not received the mental health or substance abuse treatment needed during incarceration. Stigma facing female parolees is greater than that facing males. There are fewer halfway programs and shelter beds for women. Female parolees have greater difficulty obtaining employment and housing than males, and are at greater risk for losing their homes (Bandele, 2017).
While incarcerated, women receive more disciplinary actions, and more severe sanctions than men (Sawyer, 2018). Even though female inmates are less likely to act out violently than males, they receive more physical restraints and disciplinary tickets for minor offenses, such as making a derogatory comment, disrespect, or refusing to obey an order (Pupovac & Lydersen, 2018). Critics of female prisons have stated that officers write emotionally driven tickets because they become frustrated and angry with female inmates for talking back or behaving disrespectfully. Women are more likely to have their phone privileges revoked or have visitation privileges with their children cancelled, and they spend more time in solitary confinement. Not surprisingly, these disciplinary actions hinder a woman’s ability to get time off her sentence or be paroled. Critics believe that women are expected to follow strict social controls in prison that would never be accepted by male prisoners.
Approximately 6%-10% of incarcerated women are pregnant (Stringer, 2019). In more than half of U.S. states, women are shackled to the bed during delivery and their baby is taken away and placed with a family member or into foster care. Over 60% of imprisoned women are mothers, and the time away from their children can negatively impact the mother-child bond. Incarcerated mothers may not be able to visit with their children or maintain custody of their children, even if the reason they are in prison has nothing to do with child abuse or neglect. When mothers are in prison, and especially if children are placed in foster care, children are more likely to experience homelessness and later involvement in the criminal justice system themselves (Cowan, 2019).
1.12: Gender Timeline
Important Societal, Legislative and Judicial Gender-related Events in the U.S.
1920 — 19th Amendment (women’s Suffrage Ratified)
1941-1945 — World War II forces millions of women to enter the workforce
1948 — Universal Declaration of Human Rights
1963 — Congress passes Equal Pay Act
1964 — Congress passes Civil Rights Act, which outlaws sex discrimination
1969 — Stonewall riots in NYC, forcing gay rights into the American spotlight
1972 –Congress passes Equal Rights Amendment; Title IX prohibits sex discrimination is schools and sports
1973 — American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from the DSM
1981 — First woman appointed to the US Supreme Court
1987 — Average woman earned \$0.68 for every \$1.00 earned by a man
1992 — World Health Organization no longer considers homosexuality an illness
1993 — Supreme Court rules that sexual harassment in the workplace is illegal
2011 — Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is repealed, allowing people who identify as gay serve openly in the US military
2012 — President Barak Obama becomes the first American president to openly support LGBT rights and marriage equality
2015 — Supreme Court in the Obergefell v. Hodges case struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage, legalizing it in all fifty states, and requiring states to honor out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses
2022 — Supreme Court in the Dobbs v. Jackson case struck down Row v. Wade allowing individual States to determine abortion access
Adapted from (Kang et al. 2017).
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textbooks/socialsci/Gender_Studies/The_Psychology_of_Gender_2e_(Valentine-French_and_Lally)/1.11%3A_Module_11-_How_Does_Gender_Play_a_Role_in_Aggression_and_Crime.txt
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Thumbnail: A plain rotating globe (CC BY-SA 3.0 Unported; AzaToth via Wikipedia).
01: Introduction to the World
Learning Objectives
1. Understand the focus of geography and the two main branches of the discipline.
2. Learn about the tools geographers use to study the earth’s surface.
3. Summarize the grid system of latitude and longitude and how it relates to seasons and time zones.
4. Distinguish between the different types of regional distinctions recognized in geography.
5. Understand the spatial nature of geography and how each place or region is examined, analyzed, and compared with other places or regions.
6. Determine the basic geographic realms and their locations.
What Is Geography?
Geography is the spatial study of the earth’s surface (from the Greek geo, which means “Earth,” and graphein, which means “to write”). Geographers study the earth’s physical characteristics, its inhabitants and cultures, phenomena such as climate, and the earth’s place within the universe. Geography examines the spatial relationships between all physical and cultural phenomena in the world. Geographers also look at how the earth, its climate, and its landscapes are changing due to cultural intervention.
The first known use of the word geography was by Eratosthenes of Cyrene (modern-day Libya in North Africa), an early Greek scholar who lived between 276 and 194 BCE. He devised one of the first systems of longitude and latitude and calculated the earth’s circumference. Additionally, he created one of the first maps of the world based on the available knowledge of the time. Around the same time, many ancient cultures in China, southern Asia, Polynesia, and the Arabian Peninsula also developed maps and navigation systems used in geography and cartography.
The discipline of geography can be broken down into two main areas of focus: physical geography and human geography. These two main areas are similar in that they both use a spatial perspective, and they both include the study of place and the comparison of one place with another.
Physical geography is the spatial study of natural phenomena that make up the environment, such as rivers, mountains, landforms, weather, climate, soils, plants, and any other physical aspects of the earth’s surface. Physical geography focuses on geography as a form of earth science. It tends to emphasize the main physical parts of the earth—the lithosphere (surface layer), the atmosphere (air), the hydrosphere (water), and the biosphere (living organisms)—and the relationships between these parts.
The major forms of study within physical geography include the following:
• Geomorphology (the study of the earth’s surface features)
• Glaciology (the study of glaciers)
• Coastal geography (the study of the coastal regions)
• Climatology (the study of climates and climate change)
• Biogeography (the study of the geographic patterns of species distribution)
Some physical geographers study the earth’s place in the solar system. Others are environmental geographers, part of an emerging field that studies the spatial aspects and cultural perceptions of the natural environment. Environmental geography requires an understanding of both physical and human geography, as well as an understanding of how humans conceptualize their environment and the physical landscape.
Physical landscape is the term used to describe the natural terrain at any one place on the planet. The natural forces of erosion, weather, tectonic plate action, and water have formed the earth’s physical features. Many US state and national parks attempt to preserve unique physical landscapes for the public to enjoy, such as Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Grand Canyon.
Human geography is the study of human activity and its relationship to the earth’s surface. Human geographers examine the spatial distribution of human populations, religions, languages, ethnicities, political systems, economics, urban dynamics, and other components of human activity. They study patterns of interaction between human cultures and various environments and focus on the causes and consequences of human settlement and distribution over the landscape. While the economic and cultural aspects of humanity are primary focuses of human geography, these aspects cannot be understood without describing the landscape on which economic and cultural activities take place.
The cultural landscape is the term used to describe those parts of the earth’s surface that have been altered or created by humans. For example, the urban cultural landscape of a city may include buildings, streets, signs, parking lots, or vehicles, while the rural cultural landscape may include fields, orchards, fences, barns, or farmsteads. Cultural forces unique to a given place—such as religion, language, ethnicity, customs, or heritage—influence the cultural landscape of that place at a given time. The colors, sizes, and shapes of the cultural landscape usually symbolize some level of significance regarding societal norms. Spatial dynamics assist in identifying and evaluating cultural differences between places.
Traditionally, the field of cartography, or map making, has been a vital discipline for geographers. While cartography continues to be an extremely important part of geography, geographers also look at spatial (space) and temporal (time) relationships between many types of data, including physical landscape types, economies, and human activity. Geography also examines the relationships between and the processes of humans and their physical and cultural environments. Because maps are powerful graphic tools that allow us to illustrate relationships and processes at work in the world, cartography and geographic information systems have become important in modern sciences. Maps are the most common method of illustrating different spatial qualities, and geographers create and use maps to communicate spatial data about the earth’s surface.
Geospatial techniques are tools used by geographers to illustrate, manage, and manipulate spatial data. Cartography is the art and science of making maps, which illustrate data in a spatial form and are invaluable in understanding what is going on at a given place at a given time.
Making maps and verifying a location have become more exact with the development of the global positioning system (GPS). A GPS unit can receive signals from orbiting satellites and calculate an exact location in latitude and longitude, which is helpful for determining where one is located on the earth or for verifying a point on a map. GPS units are standard equipment for many transportation systems and have found their way into products such as cell phones, handheld computers, fish finders, and other mobile equipment. GPS technology is widely implemented in the transport of people, goods, and services around the world.
Remote sensing technology acquires data about the earth’s surface through aerial photographs taken from airplanes or images created from satellites orbiting the earth. Remotely sensed images allow geographers to identify, understand, or explain a particular landscape or determine the land use of a place. These images can serve as important components in the cartographic (map-making) process. These technologies provide the means to examine and analyze changes on the earth’s surface caused by natural or human forces. Google Earth is an excellent example of a computer tool that illustrates remotely sensed images of locations on the earth.
Geographic information science (GIS), often referred to as geographic information systems, uses a computer program to assimilate and manage many layers of map data, which then provide specific information about a given place. GIS data are usually in digital form and arranged in layers. The GIS computer program can sort or analyze layers of data to illustrate a specific feature or activity. GIS programs are used in a wide range of applications, from determining the habitat range of a particular species of bird to mapping the hometowns of university students.
GIS specialists often create and analyze geographical information for government agencies or private businesses. They use computer programs to take raw data to develop the information these organizations need for making vital decisions. For example, in business applications, GIS can be used to determine a favorable location for a retail store based on the analysis of spatial data layers such as population distribution, highway or street arrangements, and the locations of similar stores or competitive establishments. GIS can integrate a number of maps into one to help analysts understand a place in relation to their own specific needs.
GIS also focuses on storing information about the earth (both cultural and natural) in computer databases that can be retrieved and displayed in the form of specialized maps for specific purposes or analyses. GIS specialists require knowledge about computer and database systems. Over the last two decades, GIS has revolutionized the field of cartography: nearly all cartography is now done with the assistance of GIS software. Additionally, analysis of various cultural and natural phenomena through the use of GIS software and specialized maps is an important part of urban planning and other social and physical sciences. GIS can also refer to techniques used to represent, analyze, and predict spatial relationships between different phenomena.
Geography is a much broader field than many people realize. Most people think of area studies as the whole of geography. In reality, geography is the study of the earth, including how human activity has changed it. Geography involves studies that are much broader than simply understanding the shape of the earth’s landforms. Physical geography involves all the planet’s physical systems. Human geography incorporates studies of human culture, spatial relationships, interactions between humans and the environment, and many other areas of research that involve the different subspecialties of geography. Students interested in a career in geography would be well served to learn geospatial techniques and gain skills and experience in GIS and remote sensing, as they are the areas within geography where employment opportunities have grown the most over the past few decades.
The Earth and Graticule Location
When identifying a region or location on the earth, the first step is to understand its relative and absolute locations. Relative location is the location on the earth’s surface with reference to other places, taking into consideration features such as transportation access or terrain. Relative location helps one compare the advantages of one location with those of another. Absolute location, on the other hand, refers to an exact point on the earth’s surface without regard to how that point is related to any other place. Absolute location is vital to the cartographic process and to human activities that require an agreed-upon method of identifying a place or point.
Just as you were taught in geometry that there are 360 degrees in a circle or a sphere, the earth also has 360 degrees, and they are measured using a grid pattern called the graticule. Lines of latitude and longitude allow any absolute location on the earth to have an identifiable address of degrees north or south and east or west, which allows geographers to accurately locate, measure, and study spatial activity.
Geographers and cartographers organize locations on the earth using a series of imaginary lines that encircle the globe. The two primary lines are the equator and the prime meridian. From these lines, the systems of longitude and latitude are formed, allowing you to locate yourself anywhere on the planet. The line is the longest when you travel along in an east-west direction. At the equator, the sun is directly overhead at noon on the two equinoxes, which occur in March and September.
Figure 1.3 Basic Lines of Longitude and Latitude
Parallels or Lines of Latitude
The equator is the largest circle of latitude on Earth. The equator divides the earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres and is called 0 degrees latitude. The other lines of latitude are numbered from 0 to 90 degrees going toward each of the poles. The lines north of the equator toward the North Pole are north latitude, and each of the numbers is followed by the letter “N.” The lines south of the equator toward the South Pole are south latitude, and each of the numbers is followed by the letter “S.” The equator (0 latitude) is the only line of latitude without any letter following the number. Notice that all lines of latitude are parallel to the equator (they are often called parallels) and that the North Pole equals 90 degrees N and the South Pole equals 90 degrees S. Noted parallels include both the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, which are 23.5 degrees from the equator. At 66.5 degrees from the equator are the Arctic Circle and the Antarctic Circle near the North and South Pole, respectively.
Meridians or Lines of Longitude
The prime meridian sits at 0 degrees longitude and divides the earth into the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. The prime meridian is defined as an imaginary line that runs through the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, England, a suburb of London. The Eastern Hemisphere includes the continents of Europe, Asia, and Australia, while the Western Hemisphere includes North and South America. All meridians (lines of longitude) east of the prime meridian (0 and 180) are numbered from 1 to 180 degrees east (E); the lines west of the prime meridian (0 and 180) are numbered from 1 to 180 degrees west (W). The 0 and 180 lines do not have a letter attached to them. The meridian at 180 degrees is called the International Date Line. The International Date Line (180 degrees longitude) is opposite the prime meridian and indicates the start of each day (Monday, Tuesday, etc.). Each day officially starts at 12:01 a.m., at the International Date Line. Do not confuse the International Date Line with the prime meridian (0 longitude). The actual International Date Line does not follow the 180-degree meridian exactly. A number of alterations have been made to the International Date Line to accommodate political agreements to include an island or country on one side of the line or another.
Climate and Latitude
The earth is tilted on its axis 23.5 degrees. As it rotates around the sun, the tilt of the earth’s axis provides different climatic seasons because of the variations in the angle of direct sunlight on the planet. Places receiving more direct sunlight experience a warmer climate. Elsewhere, the increased angle of incoming solar radiation near the earth’s poles results in more reflected sunlight and thus a cooler climate. The Northern Hemisphere experiences winter when sunlight is reflected off the earth’s surface and less of the sun’s energy is absorbed because of a sharper angle from the sun.
The Tropic of Cancer is the parallel at 23.5 degrees north of the equator, which is the most northerly place on Earth, receiving direct sunlight during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer. Remember that the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees, which accounts for seasonal variations in climate. The Tropic of Capricorn is the parallel at 23.5 degrees south of the equator and is the most southerly location on Earth, receiving direct sunlight during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer.
The tropics (Cancer and Capricorn) are the two imaginary lines directly above which the sun shines on the two solstices, which occur on or near June 20 or 21 (summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere) and December 21 or 22 (winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere). The sun is directly above the Tropic of Cancer at noon on June 20 or 21, marking the beginning of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. The sun is directly above the Tropic of Capricorn at noon on December 21 or 22, marking the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Solstices are the extreme ends of the seasons, when the line of direct sunlight is either the farthest north or the farthest south that it ever goes. The region between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn is known as the tropics. This area does not experience dramatic seasonal changes because the amount of direct sunlight received does not vary widely. The higher latitudes (north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn) experience significant seasonal variation in climate.
The Arctic Circle is a line of latitude at 66.5 degrees north. It is the farthest point north that receives sunlight during its winter season (90 N − 23.5 = 66.5 N). During winter, the North Pole is away from the sun and does not receive much sunlight. At times, it is dark for most of the twenty-four-hour day. During the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, the North Pole faces more toward the sun and may receive sunlight for longer portions of the twenty-four-hour day. The Antarctic Circle is the corresponding line of latitude at 66.5 degrees south. It is the farthest location south that receives sunlight during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere (90 S − 23.5 = 66.5 S). When it is winter in the north, it is summer in the south.
The Arctic and Antarctic Circles mark the extremities (southern and northern, respectively) of the polar day (twenty-four-hour sunlit day) and the polar night (twenty-four-hour sunless night). North of the Arctic Circle, the sun is above the horizon for twenty-four continuous hours at least once per year and below the horizon for twenty-four continuous hours at least once per year. This is true also near the Antarctic Circle, but it occurs south of the Antarctic Circle, toward the South Pole. Equinoxes, when the line of direct sunlight hits the equator and days and nights are of equal length, occur in the spring and fall on or around March 20 or 21 and September 22 or 23.
Time Zones
Universal Time (UT), Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or Zulu Time (Z): all four terms can be defined as local time at 0 degrees longitude, which is the prime meridian (location of Greenwich, England). This is the same time under which many military operations, international radio broadcasts, and air traffic control systems operate worldwide. UTC is set in zero- to twenty-four-hour time periods, as opposed to two twelve-hour time periods (a.m. and p.m.). The designations of a.m. and p.m. are relative to the central meridian: a.m. refers to ante meridiem, or “before noon,” and p.m. refers to post meridiem, or “after noon.” UT, UTC, GMT, and Z all refer to the same twenty-four-hour time system that assists in unifying a common time in regard to global operations. For example, all air flights use the twenty-four-hour time system so the pilots can coordinate flights across time zones and around the world.
The earth rotates on its axis once every twenty-four hours at the rate of 15 degrees per hour (15 × 24 = 360). Time zones are established roughly every 15 degrees longitude so that local times correspond to similar hours of day and night. With this system, the sun is generally overhead at noon in every time zone that follows the 15-degree-wide system. The continental United States has four main time zones (see Table 1.1 “Four Main Time Zones in the Continental United States and Their Central Meridians” and Figure 1.7 “Major Time Zones of the World”).
Table 1.1 Four Main Time Zones in the Continental United States and Their Central Meridians
USA Time Zones Central Meridian
Eastern standard time zone 75 degrees W
Central standard time zone 90 degrees W
Mountain standard time zone 105 degrees W
Pacific standard time zone 120 degrees W
Figure 1.7 Major Time Zones of the World
The twenty-four times zones are based on the prime meridian in regard to Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), Greenwich Mean Time (GMT), or Zulu Time (Z), which all operate on the twenty-four-hour time clock. Local time zones are either plus or minus determined by the distance from the prime meridian.
In this diagram, 75 W is the central meridian for the eastern standard time zone in the United States.
The eastern standard time zone is five hours earlier than the time at the prime meridian (UTC) because it is about 75 degrees west of 0 degrees (5 × 15 = 75). For example, if it is noon in London, then it is 7 a.m. in New York. If it is 1 p.m. in New York, it is 10 a.m. in San Francisco, which is three times zones to the west. Since there are twenty-four hours in a day, there are twenty-four time zones on Earth. Each time zone is 15 degrees wide.
A problem with the 15-degree time zones is that the zones do not necessarily follow state, regional, or local boundaries. The result is that time zones are seldom exactly 15 degrees wide and usually have varied boundary lines. In the United States, the boundaries between the different time zones are inconsistent with the lines of longitude; in some cases, time zones zigzag to follow state lines or to keep cities within a single time zone. Other countries address the problem differently. China, for example, is as large in land area as the United States yet operates on only one time zone for the entire country.
Regions in Geography
A region is a basic unit of study in geography—a unit of space characterized by a feature such as a common government, language, political situation, or landform. A region can be a formal country governed by political boundaries, such as France or Canada; a region can be defined by a landform, such as the drainage basin of all the water that flows into the Mississippi River; and a region can even be defined by the area served by a shopping mall. Cultural regions can be defined by similarities in human activities, traditions, or cultural attributes. Geographers use the regional unit to map features of particular interest, and data can be compared between regions to help understand trends, identify patterns, or assist in explaining a particular phenomenon.
Regions are traditionally defined by internal characteristics that provide a sense of place. Their boundaries vary with the type of region, whether it is formal, functional, or vernacular; each type has its own meaning and defined purpose. A formal region has a governmental, administrative, or political boundary and can have political as well as geographic boundaries that are not open to dispute or debate. Formal boundaries can separate states, provinces, or countries from one another. Physical regions can be included within formal boundaries, such as the Rocky Mountains or New England. An official boundary, such as the boundary of a national park, can be considered a formal boundary. School districts, cities, and county governments have formal boundaries.
Natural physical geographic features have a huge influence on where political boundaries of formal regions are set. If you look at a world map, you will recognize that many political boundaries are natural features, such as rivers, mountain ranges, and large lakes. For example, between the United States and Mexico, the Rio Grande makes up a portion of the border. Likewise, between Canada and the United States, a major part of the eastern border is along the Saint Lawrence Seaway and the Great Lakes. Alpine mountain ranges in Europe create borders, such as the boundary between Switzerland and Italy.
While geographic features can serve as convenient formal borders, political disputes will often flare up in adjacent areas, particularly if valuable natural or cultural resources are found within the geographic features. Oil drilling near the coast of a sovereign country, for example, can cause a dispute between countries about which one has dominion over the oil resources. The exploitation of offshore fisheries can also be disputed. A Neolithic mummy of a man who died in 3300 BCE caused tension between Italy and Switzerland: the body was originally taken to Innsbruck, Switzerland, but when it was determined that the body was found about 90 meters (180 feet) inside the border of Italy, Italian officials laid claim to the body.
Functional regions have boundaries related to a practical function within a given area. When the function of an area ends, the functional region ends and its boundaries cease to exist. For example, a functional region can be defined by a newspaper service or delivery area. If the newspaper goes bankrupt, the functional region no longer exists. Church parishes, shopping malls, and business service areas are other examples of functional regions. They function to serve a region and may have established boundaries for limits of the area to which they will provide service. An example of a common service area—that is, a functional region—is the region to which a local pizza shop will deliver.
Vernacular regions have loosely defined boundaries based on people’s perceptions or thoughts. Vernacular regions can be fluid—that is, different people may have different opinions about the limits of the regions. Vernacular regions include concepts such as the region called the “Middle East.” Many people have a rough idea of the Middle East’s location but do not know precisely which countries make up the Middle East. Also, in the United States, the terms Midwest or South have many variations. Each individual might have a different idea about the location of the boundaries of the South or the Midwest. Whether the state of Kentucky belongs in the Midwest or in the South might be a matter of individual perception. Similarly, various regions of the United States have been referred to as the Rust Belt, Sun Belt, or Bible Belt without a clear definition of their boundaries. The limit of a vernacular area is more a matter of perception than of any formally agreed-upon criteria. Nevertheless, most people would recognize the general area being discussed when using one of the vernacular terms in a conversation.
Using a State as a Comparison Guide
In comparing one formal political region with another, it is often helpful to use a familiar country, state, province, or political unit as a reference or guide. Wherever you are located, you can research the statistical data for a formal region familiar to you to provide a common reference. The US state of Kentucky is one example that can be used to compare formal political regions. Kentucky ranks close to the middle range of the fifty US states in terms of its population of 4.3 million people. Kentucky is also within the median range of the fifty states in overall physical area. The state’s 40,409-square-mile physical area ranks it thirty-seventh in size in the United States. Kentucky is not as large in physical area as the western states but is larger in physical area than many of the eastern states. Kentucky includes part of the rural peripheral region of Appalachia, but the state also has cosmopolitan core urban centers such as Lexington and Louisville. Kentucky also borders the metropolitan city of Cincinnati. The rural peripheral regions of the state are home to agriculture and mining. The urban core areas are home to industry and service centers. Other US states could also be used as examples. Identifying a state’s geographical attributes provides readers both in and outside the United States with a comparison indicator for geographic purposes.
Figure 1.9
The state of Kentucky can be used as a comparison guide for understanding other formal political regions around the world.
World Regional Geography
World regional geography studies various world regions as they compare with the rest of the world. Factors for comparison include both the physical and the cultural landscape. The main questions are, Who lives there? What are their lives like? What do they do for a living? Physical factors of significance can include location, climate type, and terrain. Human factors include cultural traditions, ethnicity, language, religion, economics, and politics.
World regional geography focuses on regions of various sizes across the earth’s landscape and aspires to understand the unique character of regions in terms of their natural and cultural attributes. Spatial studies can play an important role in regional geography. The scientific approach can focus on the distribution of cultural and natural phenomena within regions as delimited by various natural and cultural factors. The focus is on the spatial relationships within any field of study, such as regional economics, resource management, regional planning, and landscape ecology.
Again, this textbook takes a regional approach with a focus on themes that illustrate the globalization process, which in turn helps us better understand our global community. The regions studied in world regional geography can be combined into larger portions called realms. Realms are large areas of the planet, usually with multiple regions, that share the same general geographic location. Regions are cohesive areas within each realm. The following eleven realms are outlined in this text:
1. Europe (Eastern Europe and Western Europe)
2. The Russian Realm (Russian republic of the former Soviet Union)
3. North America (United States and Canada)
4. Middle America (Caribbean, Mexico, Central America)
5. South America
6. North Africa, the Middle East and central Asia
7. Subsaharan Africa (Africa south of the Sahara Desert)
8. Southern Asia (India and its neighbors)
9. Eastern Asia (China, Mongolia, Japan, and the Koreas)
10. Southeast Asia (mainland region and the islands region)
11. Australia and the Pacific (including New Zealand)
Figure 1.10 Major World Realms
Key Takeaways
• Geography is the spatial study of the earth’s surface. The discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences. The two main branches of geography include physical geography and human geography. GIS, GPS, and remote sensing are tools that geographers use to study the spatial nature of physical and human landscapes.
• A grid system called the graticule divides the earth by lines of latitude and longitude that allow for the identification of absolute location on the earth’s surface through geometric coordinates measured in degrees. There are twenty-four time zones that are set at 15-degree intervals each and organize time intervals around the world.
• The tilt of the earth’s axis at 23.5 degrees helps create the earth’s seasonal transitions by either absorbing or reflecting the sun’s energy. The line of direct sunlight always hits the earth between 23.5 degrees north (Tropic of Cancer) and 23.5 degrees south (Tropic of Capricorn), depending on the time of year.
• A region is the basic unit of study in geography. Three main types of boundaries define a region: formal, functional, and vernacular. World regional geography is the study of a particular group of world regions or realms as each compares with the rest of the world.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. How does the discipline of geography provide a bridge between the social sciences and the physical sciences?
2. How does the cultural landscape assist in indicating the differences between a wealthy neighborhood and a poverty-stricken neighborhood?
3. How can remote sensing technology assist in determining what people do for a living?
4. What is the significance of the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn?
5. What occupations depend on knowledge of the seasons for their success?
6. If it is 4 p.m. in San Francisco, what time is it in London, England?
7. How would GIS, GPS, or remote sensing technology be used to evaluate the destruction caused by a tornado in Oklahoma?
8. How is the cultural landscape influenced by the physical landscape?
9. Can you list a formal region, a functional region, and a vernacular region that would include where you live?
10. What methods, topics, or procedures would be helpful to include in the study of world geography?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arctic Circle
• Antarctic Circle
• Equator
• International Date Line
• North Pole
• Prime meridian
• Tropic of Cancer
• Tropic of Capricorn
• South Pole
Activities
1. Use Google Earth to locate your current school or residence.
2. Draw a map of your home state or province and include lines of latitude and longitude.
3. Compile the statistical data on your home state, province, or territory to use in comparing formal political regions.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/01%3A_Introduction_to_the_World/1.01%3A_Geography_Basics.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Explain how climate and human habitation are related and distinguish between the main climate types.
2. Explain the dynamics of tectonic plates and their relationship to earthquakes and volcanic activity.
3. Outline the main causes of and problems with deforestation. Explain the relationship between deforestation and climate change.
4. Point out where the rain shadow effect takes place and explain why it occurs in those places and how it may influence human activity.
5. Understand how climate change occurs and the relationship between greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide and the planet’s temperature regulation.
Climate and Human Habitation
The earth’s ability to receive and absorb sunlight is a primary factor in the earth’s environment, and it also has a big impact on human populations. There are no large cities or human communities in Antarctica because it is so cold; most of the sunlight filtering down to Antarctica is reflected off the earth at that latitude because of the tilt of the earth’s axis and the resulting angle of incoming solar radiation. Answering the basic questions of where most humans live on Earth and why they live there depends on understanding climate. Moderate type C climates usually provide the greatest opportunities for human habitation.
Since the region between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn receives the most direct sunlight throughout the year, it is favorable to plant and animal life, provided there is adequate moisture or precipitation. Humans have been living in the tropics for a long time, even when the ice sheets were covering parts of the midlatitudes. The problem with the tropics is that the soils are usually of poor quality and the nutrients have been leached out. Today, when we look at the earth and the distribution of human population, two main factors attract human habitation: moderate climates and access to water.
More than 70 percent of the earth’s surface is covered with water. The only problem is that less than 3 percent of the water is fresh, and most of that fresh water is stored in ice caps at the North or South Pole. This leaves less than 1 percent of the world’s fresh water for human use, usually in lakes, rivers, streams, or groundwater and underground aquifers. Climate plays an important role in where humans live because precipitation is necessary for growing crops, raising livestock, and supplying fresh water to urban communities.
Several geographers have developed categories to identify climate types. Climate can be defined as a long-term average weather pattern evident in a particular region of the world. Weather is a term usually used to define conditions on a short-term or even daily basis. The two main elements in climate conditions are temperature and precipitation. For the purposes of this overview of world geography, the various climate types have been broken down into six basic types—A, B, C, D, E, and H—after the Köppen-Geiger classification system. Type H climates are actually a subset of the type E climate category.
• Type A: Tropical or equatorial climates
• Type B: Dry or arid climates
• Type C: Moderate or temperate climates
• Type D: Cold or continental climates
• Type E: Polar or extreme climates
• Type H: (Unclassified) highland climates
Figure 1.12 Basic Climate Regions Based on the Köppen-Geiger Classification System (Local Conditions May Vary Widely)
Type A: Tropical or Equatorial Climates
Tropical type A climates experience warm temperatures year round and a higher annual rainfall, such as this location in coastal Belize.
The humid tropical type A climate, usually found in the tropics, has warm temperatures year round with a high level of precipitation, typically in the form of rain. Type A climates have various subgroups that indicate how variably the rainfall is distributed throughout the year. Some type A climates produce a dry season and a wet season (monsoon), while others receive consistent rainfall throughout the year.
Type B: Dry or Arid Climates
The dry type B climate is exemplified by the earth’s desert regions. Temperatures can be extreme, with little precipitation. Type B climate regions experience low rainfall and high temperatures during the day and cooler temperatures at night or during the winter season. Terrain in type B climates can range from sand deserts to prairie grasslands or steppes. Type B climates have fewer trees than most other climate areas.
There is a direct relationship between highlands and type B climates in various places in the world. This climate condition, known as the rain shadow effect, or more accurately, the precipitation shadow effect, occurs when one side of a mountain range receives abundant rainfall while the region on the other side of the mountain range is a desert or has more arid climate conditions. This phenomenon is evident wherever there is terrain with enough elevation to restrict the movement of precipitation-bearing clouds.
Rain shadows are created when prevailing winds carrying moisture rise quickly in elevation up a mountainside, where the air cools and condenses to precipitate out its moisture in the form of rain or snow. By the time the air mass hits the top of the mountain, its moisture is much reduced. The dried air rushes down the other side of the mountain range, where it increases in temperature. The warm, dry air coming off the mountains continues to pull moisture out of the land, resulting in desert or arid climate conditions.
Dry or arid type B climates such as central Arizona have fewer trees than other climates. The saguaro cactus can withstand long periods with little precipitation.
The Hawaiian island of Kauai has an extreme example of the rain shadow effect. The island’s windward side receives more rain than almost any other place on Earth: as much as 460 inches (almost 40 feet) a year. Only a part of the island, however, receives that amount of rain. The height of the mountains causes a rain shadow on the dry leeward side, creating semidesert conditions and type B climates.
Death Valley in California is also a result of the rain shadow effect. Little rain falls on Death Valley because any moisture in the prevailing winds falls on the western side of the bordering mountain ranges. The whole state of Nevada is dry because of the rain shadow effect. All the rain coming off the Pacific Ocean falls on the coastal mountains and the Sierra Nevada in California. The mountains are high enough to shadow that region of Nevada, and the basin and ranges further the rain shadow effect on a local basis.
On the other side of the earth, the Himalayas are an excellent example of mountains that create the rain shadow effect. Most of western China has type B climates because of the rain shadow effect caused by high mountains that stop rain clouds from ever reaching the region. The southern side of the Himalayas receives extensive rainfall because of monsoon rains arriving from the Indian Ocean, but western China is essentially a desert. It is sparsely inhabited compared with the high-density regions in China Proper to the east, where rainfall is plentiful.
Type C: Moderate or Temperate Climates
Moderate type C climates are good for agriculture. For example, in Appalachia, tobacco and hardwood forests grow well.
Often described as moderate in temperature and precipitation, type C climates are the most favorable to human habitation in that they host the largest human population densities on the planet. Type C climates are found mostly in the midlatitudes bordering the tropics. Seasonal changes are pronounced, with a distinct winters and summers. Winters are cool to cold and summers are usually warm. Precipitation varies from low to high, depending on location. In the United States, C climates dominate the southeast and the West Coast.
Type C climates are not the most widespread on the planet, but they have attracted the largest human populations. One reason for the attraction has been the abundance of forests, farmland, and fresh water found in type C regions. The main population centers of the planet are in type C climates. With over seven billion people on the planet and growing, humans have populated most of the regions with type C climates and are now filling up the other areas that have A, B, or D climate types.
Type D: Cold or Continental Climates
Colder type D climates are prominent in states such as North Dakota, which has the coldest annual winter temperatures of the continental forty-eight states.
Type D climate regions are often found in the interiors of continents away from the moderating influence of large bodies of water. They are often farther north than type C regions, resulting in colder winters. Seasonal variations exist, with cool to hot summers and cold winters. Precipitation is usually in the form of rain in summer and snow in winter. Regions with type D climates can be found in the Great Lakes region of the United States, much of Canada, and a large portion of Russia.
Type E: Polar or Extreme Climates
Type E is an extreme climate type found in the polar regions near or to the north of the Arctic Circle and near or to the south of the Antarctic Circle. Regions with type E climates are cold with permanent ice or permafrost year round. Vegetation is minimal, and there are no trees. Temperatures may warm slightly during the short summer months but rarely rise above 50 degrees.
Type H: Highland Climates
Type H highland climates are usually listed as a subcategory of type E climates. Mountain ranges can create a variety of climate types because of the change in elevation from the base of the range to the summit. Different climate types can be found on the same mountain at different elevations. Type H climates designate highlands or mountain terrain. Variations in climate exist on most mountain ranges. Climates at the base of mountains will vary depending on whether the mountains are found in the tropics or in the higher latitudes. For example, high mountains near the equator may have a type A climate at their base and a type E climate at their summit with various type C and type D climates between them. Type H climates are found where elevation differences are profound enough to provide different climate zones. Higher elevation relief can reach above the tree line and have permanent snow cover at the summit. The term relief is used in geography to indicate elevations of a land surface. Elevation zones with permanent ice or snow can resemble a type E polar climate.
Deforestation
The planet’s growing population has increased demands on natural resources, including forest products. Humans have been using trees for firewood, building homes, and making tools for millennia. Trees are a renewable resource, but deforestation occurs when they are removed faster than they can be replenished. Most people in rural areas in developing countries rely on firewood to cook their food. Many of these areas are experiencing a fast decline in the number of trees available. People living in mainly type B climates may not have access to a lot of trees to start with; therefore, when trees are cut down for firewood or for building materials, deforestation occurs. In the tropical areas, it is common for hardwood trees to be cut down for lumber to gain income or to clear the land for other agricultural purposes, such as cattle ranching. Countries that lack opportunities and advantages look to exploit their natural resources—in this case, trees—for either subsistence agriculture or economic gain. Deforestation has increased across the globe with the rapid rise in worldwide population.
During the Industrial Revolution, European countries chopped down their forests at a rapid rate. Much of the British Isles was forested at one point, but today few forests remain on the British Isles, and they are typically protected. Colonialism brought the Europeans to the Americas. The United States, in its early development, pushed west from the original thirteen colonies, and many old growth forests were cut down in the process. As railroad tracks were laid down and pioneer development pushed west into the Great Plains, where there were few trees, the great cutover occurred in the eastern and central forests—cutover is a term indicating the systematic deforestation of the eastern and central forests. Michigan and Wisconsin saw their trees removed in a systematic deforestation.
Forests are removed for timber, and burning the excess then clears the land for other purposes.
Some areas were allowed to grow back, but many other areas were turned into farmland. Few old-growth forests remain in the United States. Today there are conflicts over how the timber industry is handling the forests in places such as the Pacific Northwest region of the United States.
Countries that are better off economically no longer have to cut down their own trees but can afford to substitute other resources or import lumber from other places. Developing regions of the world in Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia are experiencing serious problems with deforestation. Deforestation is widespread: Residents of Haiti have cut down about 99 percent of the country’s forests; most of the wood has been used as fuel to cook food. People in Afghanistan have cut down about 70 percent of their forests. Nigeria has lost about 80 percent of its old-growth forests since 1990. Ethiopia has lost up to 98 percent of its forested acreage, and the Philippines has lost about 80 percent of its forests.
Brazil’s Amazon basin has undergone many projects that have driven deforestation. For example, about half the state of Rondônia in western Brazil has been deforested since 1990. The countries of Central America have lost about half their original forests, and deforestation continues on a systematic basis. Tropical regions of Southeast Asia and Africa are being exploited for their timber at unsustainable rates, causing deforestation that the next generation will have to deal with. India, with over a billion people, still has a high demand for firewood and building materials; their forests are declining faster than they can be replanted. China, with its billion plus population, has been attempting to address its deforestation problems by implementing a massive replanting program and conservation measures. Other countries are starting to adopt similar measures.
Figure 1.19
A man in Malawi carries firewood for cooking and heating purposes.
Tropical rain forests only make up about 5 percent of the earth’s surface but contain up to 50 percent of the earth’s biodiversity. These forests are cut down for a variety of reasons. Norman Meyers, a British environmentalist, estimated that about 5 percent of deforestation in tropical regions is caused by the push for cattle production. Nineteen percent of these forests are cut down by the timber industry, 22 percent are cut down for the expansion of plantation agriculture, and 54 percent are removed due to slash-and-burn farming. Most tropical rain forests are located in the Amazon basin of South America, in central Africa, and in Southeast Asia. All these areas are looking for advantages and opportunities to boost their economies; unfortunately, they often target their tropical rain forests as a revenue source.
What Are the Problems with Deforestation?
Deforestation causes more than the loss of trees for fuel, building materials, paper products, or manufacturing. Another related issue in the deforestation equation is soil erosion. Without the trees to hold the soil during heavy rains, soils are eroded away, leaving the ground in an unproductive state. In tropical areas, soils are often degraded and lack nutrients. Most of the nutrients in the tropical areas rest in decaying material at the base of the trees that supplies energy back into the ecosystem. Once the trees are removed, there is little replenishing of this energy supply. Soil erosion in tropical areas makes it hard for forests to grow back once they have been removed. Landslides can be a more severe component of the soil erosion problem. After heavy rainfall, entire hillsides saturated with water can slide downward, causing serious structural damage to buildings, homes, and agricultural plots. Tree roots help hold hillsides together and therefore help prevent landslides.
Forests play an important role in the water cycle. Trees pull up moisture with their roots from the soil and transpire it through their leaves back into the atmosphere. Moisture in the atmosphere collects into clouds, condenses, and falls back to Earth. Not only do trees store water, but organic matter at the base of the trees also stores water and makes it available to the larger ecosystem, which may slow down water runoff. Forest canopies disperse water during rainfall and create another layer of moisture in their leaves and branches, which either is used by other organisms or evaporates back into the atmosphere. Deforestation eliminates the role that forests play in the water cycle.
Forest ecosystems provide for a diverse community of organisms. Tropical rain forests are one of the most vibrant ecosystems on the planet. Their abundant biodiversity can provide insight into untapped solutions for the future. Plants and organisms in these habitats may hold the key to medical or biological breakthroughs, but wildlife and vegetation will be lost as deforestation eliminates their habitat and accelerates the extinction of endangered species.
Trees and plants remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the plant structure through the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is a major greenhouse gas that is a part of the climate change process. Carbon dioxide and other similar gases reduce the amount of long-wave radiation (heat) that escapes from the earth’s atmosphere, resulting in increased temperatures on the planet. As more carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere, climate change occurs. The removal of trees through deforestation results in less carbon dioxide being removed from the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change. Slash-and-burn farming methods that burn forests release the carbon in the plant life directly into the atmosphere, increasing the climate change effect.
Climate Change
Climate change has been a constant activity in the planet’s evolution. The increase in temperature in our environment is the activity that has gained the most attention in recent years. Questions have been raised about the rate and extent of climate change around the world. Understanding the dynamics of the temperature increase can assist in understanding how it is related to human activity.
The atmosphere is the gaseous layer that surrounds the earth and marks the transition between its surface and space. The atmosphere consists of a mixture of gases, composed of nitrogen (77 percent), oxygen (21 percent), and minor elements (1 percent) including argon, helium, carbon dioxide, and water vapor. The small amount of carbon dioxide is a critical component in the control of the earth’s temperature. The atmosphere extends over three hundred miles above the earth’s surface, and the lower level makes up the earth’s climatic system. This lowest level is called the troposphere and is responsible for the conditions that allow life to exist on the planet’s surface.
Since the 1960s, scientists have been concerned about the concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. These so-called greenhouse gases can trap heat energy emitted from the earth’s surface and may increase global temperatures and cause climate change. Since the Industrial Revolution, human activity—the burning of fossil fuels and large-scale deforestation—has increased the amount of heat-trapping greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and similar gases act like the glass panels of a greenhouse that allow shortwave radiation from the sun to enter but do not allow the long-wave radiation of heat to escape into space.
An increase in carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere will normally cause an increase in the temperature of the planet’s climate, which in turn may cause changes in weather conditions in various places on Earth. Temperature changes may affect precipitation patterns and alter weather patterns, which may affect agricultural outputs and influence energy needs that can create increasing economic instability. Changes in climate also impact environmental conditions for organisms adapted to specific habitat ranges. When climates change, an organism’s habitable zone may also change, which in turn can impact entire ecosystems.
Deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels can contribute to climate change. Fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas are created when dead plant and animal life are under pressure, decay for long periods, and retain their carbon component. Burning fossil fuels releases the carbon back into the atmosphere. The increasing need for energy and lumber by human activity will continue to contribute to climate change unless alternatives can be found. The increase in temperatures may result in the melting of the ice caps, which in turn may raise sea levels, impacting human activity around the world. More information about climate change is included in chapter 13 on Antarctica.
Tectonic Plates
The movement of tectonic plates is another aspect of the earth’s dynamics that affects human activity. The earth’s crust, which is between 10 and 125 miles thick, is not one big solid chunk but rather a series of plates that cover a molten iron core at the center of the planet. The plates that cover the earth’s surface slowly shift and move. Plates can slide away from each other or they can collide, and they can slide parallel to each other in opposite directions. When two plates collide and one plate slides under an adjacent plate, the process is called subduction. Movement or shift where two plates meet can cause earthquakes and is usually associated with volcanic activity.
Mountain chains, such as the Himalayas, are a direct result of two plates colliding. The collision pushes up the earth into a mountain chain, either by direct pressure or by volcanic activity. Plates can move up to an inch a year in active regions. Driven by the earth’s internal heat, these plates have created the planet’s mountain landscapes. Earthquakes and volcanic action along plate boundaries (called faults) continue to affect human activity and can cause serious economic damage to a community. Plate boundaries can be found near many natural edges of continents. The continuous action of the plates causes serious earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that can devastate human activities. Earthquakes near the sea often trigger tsunamis that can create enormous waves that bring destruction to coastal regions in their path. The earthquake off the east coast of Japan in 2011 created a tsunami that brought additional destruction to nuclear energy facilities, exposing parts of Japan and the rest of the world to radiation.
Key Takeaways
• Human activity on the planet correlates with the type of climate and terrain that presents itself to humans in the form of natural resources or habitability. Six basic climate zones (A, B, C, D, E, and H) describe the earth’s climate types. Temperature and precipitation are the two main variables that create a climate zone and its corresponding environmental attributes.
• The earth’s crust consists of a number of separate plates that move, creating earthquakes and volcanic activity. Most mountain ranges on Earth are a product of tectonic plate activity.
• Removing trees faster than they can grow back is called deforestation. Humans are cutting down the forests in many areas at an unsustainable rate. Deforestation can result in soil erosion, changes in weather patterns, and the loss of habitats. Trees are being cut down for firewood, building materials, or profit.
• Mountains or high elevation relief can restrict the passage of rain clouds and cause the clouds to lose their precipitation as the air mass increases in elevation. The other side of the mountain or range does not receive any precipitation and is reduced to a more arid or drier region, creating desert conditions.
• Climate change is a phenomenon whereby gases such as carbon dioxide and methane increase in the troposphere and restrict long-wave radiation from escaping the planet, which can result in warmer temperatures on Earth. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which may reduce climate change.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What climate type do you live in?
2. What are the main attributes of each climate type?
3. What two main climatic qualities do humans gravitate toward?
4. What is the difference between weather and climate?
5. How can the main causes of deforestation be alleviated or diminished?
6. What are tectonic plates, and how do they help shape the planet?
7. How would tectonic plate movement affect human activities?
8. Who is responsible for addressing the problems caused by climate change? What can you do about it?
9. What causes a rain shadow effect? Name some examples of this phenomenon.
10. Which regions of the planet are being affected the most by deforestation?
Activities
1. Research and determine when the last three earthquakes nearest where you live occurred. What damage did they cause?
2. Chart the annual average temperature for where you live for the past one hundred years to illustrate any trend in climate change.
3. Determine the nearest location to where you live that is impacted by a rain shadow effect.
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Learning Objectives
1. Explain the demographic transition process. Understand the concept of carrying capacity as it relates to the planet’s human population.
2. Outline the relationship between urbanization and family size. Show how rural-to-urban shift relates to industrialization and the change in rural populations.
3. Interpret a population pyramid and determine if the population is increasing or declining and if the pace of growth is intensifying or slowing.
4. Distinguish between the concepts of culture and ethnicity as these terms are used in this textbook.
5. Understand the difficulty in determining the number of languages and religions existing on Earth. Name the main language families and the world’s major religions.
Demographic Transition
Demography is the study of how human populations change over time and space. It is a branch of human geography related to population geography, which is the examination of the spatial distribution of human populations. Geographers study how populations grow and migrate, how people are distributed around the world, and how these distributions change over time.
For most of human history, relatively few people lived on Earth, and world population grew slowly. Only about five hundred million people lived on the entire planet in 1650 (that’s less than half India’s population in 2000). Things changed dramatically during Europe’s Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s and into the 1800s, when declining death rates due to improved nutrition and sanitation allowed more people to survive to adulthood and reproduce. The population of Europe grew rapidly. However, by the middle of the twentieth century, birth rates in developed countries declined, as children had become an economic liability rather than an economic asset to families. Fewer families worked in agriculture, more families lived in urban areas, and women delayed the age of marriage to pursue education, resulting in a decline in family size and a slowing of population growth. In some countries (e.g., Russia and Japan), population is actually in decline, and the average age in developed countries has been rising for decades. The process just described is called the demographic transition.
At the beginning of the twentieth century, the world’s population was about 1.6 billion. One hundred years later, there were roughly six billion people in the world, and as of 2011, the number was approaching seven billion. This rapid growth occurred as the demographic transition spread from developed countries to the rest of the world. During the twentieth century, death rates due to disease and malnutrition decreased in nearly every corner of the globe. In developing countries with agricultural societies, however, birth rates remained high. Low death rates and high birth rates resulted in rapid population growth. Meanwhile, birth rates—and family size—have also been declining in most developing countries as people leave agricultural professions and move to urban areas. This means that population growth rates—while still higher in the developing world than in the developed world—are declining. Although the exact figures are unknown, demographers expect the world’s population to stabilize by 2100 and then decline somewhat.
In 2010, the world’s population was growing by about eighty million per year, a growth rate found almost exclusively in developing countries, as populations are stable or in decline in places such as Europe and North America. World population increase is pronounced on the continent of Asia: China and India are the most populous countries in the world, each with more than a billion people, and Pakistan is an emerging population giant with a high rate of population growth. The continent of Africa has the highest fertility rates in the world, with countries such as Nigeria—Africa’s most populous and the world’s eighth most populous country—growing rapidly each year. The most striking paradox within population studies is that while there has been marked decline in fertility (a declining family size) in developing countries, the world’s population will grow substantially by 2030 because of the compounding effect of the large number of people already in the world—that is, even though population growth rates are in decline in many countries, the population is still growing. A small growth rate on a large base population still results in the birth of many millions of people.
Earth’s human population is growing at the rate of about 1.4 percent per year. If the current growth rate continues, the human population will double in about fifty years to more than twelve billion. The current population increase remains at about eighty million per year. A change in the growth rate will change the doubling time. Between 2010 and 2050, world population growth will be generated exclusively in developing countries.
The three largest population clusters in the world are the regions of eastern China, south Asia, and Europe. Southeast Asia also has large population clusters. Additional large population centers exist in various countries with high urbanization. An example is the urbanized region between Boston and Washington, DC, which includes New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and neighboring metropolitan areas, resulting in a region often called a megalopolis. The coastal country of Nigeria in West Africa or the island of Java in Indonesia are good examples of large population clusters centered in the tropics.
Social dynamics and geography will determine where the new additions to the human family will live. Providing food, energy, and materials for these additional humans will tax many countries of the world, and poverty, malnutrition, and disease are expected to increase in regions with poor sanitation, limited clean water, and lack of economic resources. In 2010, more than two billion people (one-third of the planet’s population) lived in abject poverty and earned less than the equivalent of two US dollars per day. The carrying capacity of the planet is not and cannot be known. How many humans can the earth sustain in an indefinite manner? There is the possibility that we have already reached the threshold of its carrying capacity.
Human population will continue to grow until it either crashes due to the depletion of resources or stabilizes at a sustainable carrying capacity. Population growth exacts a toll on the earth as more people use more environmental resources. The areas most immediately affected by increased populations include forests (a fuel resource and a source of building material), fresh water supplies, and agricultural soils. These systems get overtaxed, and their depletion has serious consequences. Type C climates, which are moderate and temperate, are usually the most productive and are already vulnerable to serious deforestation, water pollution, and soil erosion. Maintaining adequate food supplies will be critical to supporting a sustainable carrying capacity. The ability to transport food supplies quickly and safely is a major component of the ability to manage the conservation of resources. Deforestation by humans using wood for cooking fuel is already a serious concern in the arid and dry type B climates.
Urbanization and Family Size
As countries move from an agricultural to an industrial economy, there is a major shift in population from rural to urban settings. The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century ushered in major technological developments and changes in labor practices, which encouraged migration from the farm to the city. Because of increased mechanization, fewer farm workers are needed to produce larger agricultural yields. At the same time, factories in urban areas have a great need for industrial workers. This shift continued into the information age of the late twentieth century and continues in many parts of the developing world in the current century.
A basic principle of population growth that addresses this rural-to-urban shift states that as countries industrialize and urbanize, family size typically decreases and incomes traditionally increase. Though this may not be true in all cases, it is a general principle that is consistent across cultural lines. Agricultural regions generally have a larger average family size than that of their city counterparts. Fertility rate is the average number of children a woman in a particular country has in her lifetime, whether or not they all live to adulthood. If a fertility rate for a given country is less than 2.1—the replacement level—the population of that country is in decline, unless there is significant immigration. A fertility rate greater than 2.1 indicates that the country’s population is increasing. Some children will never reach reproductive age nor have children of their own, so the replacement rate has to be slightly greater than 2. The concept of fertility rate is slightly different from the term family size, which indicates the number of living children raised by a parent or parents in the same household. In this textbook, family size is used to illustrate the concept of population growth and decline.
Population Demands
A country’s demographic statistics can be illustrated graphically by a population pyramid. A population pyramid is essentially two bar graphs that depict male and female age cohorts either in absolute size or as a percentage of the total population. Male cohorts are typically shown on the left side of the pyramid, and females are on the right side.
The shape of a country’s population pyramid tells a story about the history of its population growth. For example, a high-growth-rate country has a pyramid that is narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, showing that every year more children have been born than the year before. As family size decreases and women in a society have fewer children, the shape of the pyramid changes. A population pyramid for a postindustrialized country that has negative growth would be narrower at the bottom than in the middle, indicating that there are fewer children than middle-aged people. Four basic shapes indicate the general trends in population growth:
1. Rapidly expanding
2. Expanding
3. Stationary
4. Contracting
These shapes also illustrate the percentage of a population under the age of fifteen or over the age of sixty-five, which are standard indicators of population growth. Many postindustrial countries have a negative population growth rate. Their population pyramids are narrow at the bottom, indicating an urbanized population with small family sizes.
Culture and Ethnicity
The term culture is often difficult to differentiate from the term ethnicity. In this textbook, ethnicity indicates traits people are born with, including genetic backgrounds, physical features, or birthplaces. People have little choice in matters of ethnicity. The term culture indicates what people learn after they are born, including language, religion, and customs or traditions. Individuals can change matters of culture by individual choice after they are born. These two terms help us identify human patterns and understand a country’s driving forces.
The terms culture and ethnicity might also be confused in the issue of ethnic cleansing, which refers to the forced removal of a people from their homeland by a stronger force of a different people. Ethnic cleansing might truly indicate two distinct ethnic groups: one driving the other out of their homeland and taking it over. On the other hand, ethnic cleansing might also be technically cultural cleansing if both the aggressor and the group driven out are of the same ethnic stock but hold different cultural values, such as religion or language. The term ethnic cleansing has been used to describe either case.
Figure 1.26 Major Language Families of the World
Languages of the World
Language is the communication mode of human culture, and it represents the complete diversity of thought, literature, and the arts. All the billions of people on the planet speak at least one language. While Ethnologue, a publication pertaining to the world’s languages, estimates that there were 6,909 living languages in the world as of 2009, the exact number may never be determined. Other data sets count languages differently, but most agree that there are more than 6,000. There are even communities in various parts of the world where people can communicate by whistling messages to each other or by using clicking sounds.
Of the more than 6,000 languages, about a dozen are spoken by more than one hundred million people each. These are the world’s main languages used in the most populous countries. However, the vast majority of the world’s languages are spoken by a relatively small number of people. In fact, many languages have no written form and are spoken by declining numbers of people. Language experts estimate that up to half the world’s living languages could be lost by the end of the twenty-first century as a result of globalization. New languages form when populations live in isolation, and in the current era, as the world’s populations are increasingly interacting with each other, languages are being abandoned and their speakers are switching to more useful tongues.
There are nine dominant language families in the world. Each of the languages within a language family shares a common ancestral language. An example of a language family is the Indo-European family, which has a number of branches of language groups that come from the same base: a language called Proto-Indo-European that was probably spoken about six thousand years ago. As populations migrated away from the ancestral homeland, their language evolved and separated into many new languages. The three largest language groups of the Indo-European family used in Europe are the Germanic, Romance, and Slavic groups. Other Indo-European languages include Hindi (spoken in India) and Persian (spoken in Iran).
Table 1.2 Languages of the Continents
World Area Number of Languages Percentage of All Languages
Africa 2,110 30.5
Americas 993 14.4
Asia 2,322 33.6
Europe 234 3.4
Pacific 1,250 18.1
Totals 6,909 100.0
Table 1.3 Thirteen Major Languages of the World
Language First Language (Millions of Speakers) Second Language (Millions of Speakers) Total Speakers (Millions)
Mandarin 845 180 1,025
Hindi/Urdu 242 224 466
Arabic (All) 206 246 452
English 340 110 450
Spanish 329 53 382
Russian 144 106 250
Bengali 181 69 250
Portuguese 178 42 220
Indonesian 23 140 163
German 95 28 123
Japanese 122 1 123
French 65 55 120
Punjabi 109 6 115
Languages with more than one hundred million speakers (speakers given in millions)
These thirteen languages are spoken by more than four billion people, or about 60 percent of the current world population in 2009.
Table 1.4 Nine Major Language Families
1. Indo-European languages
2. Sino-Tibetan languages
3. Niger-Congo languages
4. Afro-Asiatic languages
5. Austronesian languages
6. Dravidian languages
7. Altaic languages
8. Austro-Asiatic languages
9. Japonic languages
Note: There are more than nine language families, but these are the dominant ones with over one hundred million speakers each.
Language Characteristics
The following terms are used to describe language characteristics.
• accent. An accent is the pronunciation of words within a language that is different from that used by a different group of the same language. For example, people in Mississippi pronounce words differently from people in North Dakota, but the differences are less severe than dialects.
• creole. Similar to pidgin, a creole language arises from contact between two other languages and has features of both. However, Creole is a pidgin that becomes a primary language spoken by people at home. Creole languages are often developed in colonial settings as a dialect of the colonial language (usually French or English). For example, in the former French colony of Haiti, a French-based creole language was developed that is spoken by people at home, while French is typically used for professional purposes.
• dead language. A dead language is one that is no longer used for local communication. For example, Latin is no longer used by local people to communicate but is still used by the Roman Catholic Church in some of its services.
• dialect. A dialect is a regional variety of a language that uses different grammar or pronunciation. Examples include American English versus British English. Linguists suggest that there are three main dialects of the English language in the United States: a Southern dialect, a midland dialect, and a Northern dialect. Television and public media communication has brought a focus on more uniform speech patterns that have diminished the differences between these three dialects.
• isolated language. An isolated language is one not connected to any other language on Earth. For example, Basque is not connected to any other language and is only spoken in the region of the Pyrenees between Spain and France.
• lingua franca. A lingua franca is a second language used for commercial purposes with others outside a language group but not used in personal lives. For example, Swahili is used by millions in Africa for doing business with people outside their own group but is not used to communicate within local communities.
• official language. The official language is the language that is on record by a country to be used for all its official government purposes. For example, in India the official language is Hindi, though in many places the lingua franca is English and several local languages may be spoken.
• pidgin. A pidgin is a simplified, created language used to communicate between two or more groups that do not have a language in common. For example, Residents of New Guinea mix English words with their own language to create a new language that can bridge speakers of different local language groups. Though the words are in English, the grammar and sentence structure is mixed up according to local vocabulary. There are many English-based pidgin languages around the world.
• slang. Slang is the local use of informal words or phrases that are not part of the official language. For example, a lot of musicians use slang in their lyrics.
Religions of the World
Religious geography is the study of the distribution of religions and their relationship to their place of origin. Religious geographers recognize three main types of religions: universal (or universalizing), ethnic (or cultural), and tribal (or traditional) religions. Universal religions include Christianity, Islam, and various forms of Buddhism. These religions attempt to gain worldwide acceptance and appeal to all types of people, and they actively look for new members, or converts. Ethnic religions appeal to a single ethnic group or culture. These religions do not actively seek out converts. Broader ethnic religions include Judaism, Shintoism, Hinduism, and Chinese religions that embrace Confucianism and Taoism. Finally, traditional religions involve the belief in some form of supernatural power that people can appeal to for help, including ancestor worship and the belief in spirits that live in various aspects of nature, such as trees, mountaintops, and streams (this is often called animism). Subsaharan Africa is home to many traditional religions.
Although the world’s primary religions are listed here, many other religions are practiced around the world, as well as many variations of the religions outlined here. The top four religions by population are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. Because the official doctrine of Communism was nonreligious or atheist, there are actually many more followers of Buddhism in China than demographic listings indicate. The percentage of the world’s population that follows Buddhism is probably much higher than the 6 percent often listed for this religion.
• Christianity and Islam originated out of Judaism in the eastern Mediterranean and the Arabian Peninsula. Both are monotheistic religions that look to the Jewish patriarch Abraham as a founding personage. Christianity, based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who lived in Palestine in the first century CE, spread rapidly through the Roman Empire. Islam is based on the teachings of Muhammad, a seventh-century religious and political figure who lived on the Arabian Peninsula. Islam spread rapidly across North Africa, east across southern Asia, and north to Europe in the centuries after Muhammad’s death.
• Buddhism is a religion or way of life based on the teachings and life of Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in what is now India/Nepal around the fifth century BCE. There are three main branches of Buddhism: southern or Theravada Buddhism, eastern or Mahayana Buddhism, and northern or Vajrayana (Tibetan) Buddhism.
• Hinduism, a religious tradition that originated on the Indian subcontinent, is one of the oldest major religions still practiced in the world, and it may date back to as far as 2000 BCE or earlier. Unlike other world religions, Hinduism has no single founder and is a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. Hinduism has a large body of scripture, including the Vedas, the Upanishads, and epic tales such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
• Sikhism, a religion founded in the Punjab region of southern Asia, is a monotheistic religion centered on justice and faith. High importance is placed on the principle of equality between all people. The writings of former gurus are the basis for the religion.
• Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, whose traditions and ethics are embodied in the Jewish religious texts, the Tanakh, and the Talmud. According to Jewish tradition, Judaism began with the covenant between God and Abraham around 2000 BCE.
• Shintoism is a major ethnic religion of Japan focused on the worship of kami, which are spirits of places, things, and processes.
• Confucianism and Taoism are ethnic Chinese religions based on morality and the teachings of religious scholars such as Confucius.
Figure 1.28 Major Religions of the World. Wikimedia Commons – CC BY-SA 3.0.
Key Takeaways
• The human population was approaching seven billion in 2011 and is increasing rapidly, mainly in developing regions of Asia and Africa. No one can agree on the earth’s carrying capacity for our human population, but unless the growth rate changes, the human population will double in about fifty years.
• Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been moving from rural areas to urban areas. Workers were needed in the factories and fewer workers were needed on the farms because of improved technology. This trend is still happening in many rural areas of developing countries. Population pyramids are one method of illustrating demographic data for a country to show if the population is declining or increasing and at what rate.
• Though often interchangeable in general terms, for the purpose of geography in this textbook, ethnicity is what you are born with and culture is what you learn after you are born.
• There are about six thousand languages in the world today, with about thirteen of them spoken by over one hundred million people or more. Of the main language families, nine include at least 1 percent or more of the human population.
• There are thousands of religions or variants of them in the world. Religious geographers recognize three main types of religions: universal, ethnic, and traditional. The four main religions of the world are Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What is the planet’s current human population?
2. What happens when overpopulation occurs? Do we know the earth’s carrying capacity?
3. Where are the earth’s three main high-density population regions?
4. Outline the four basic shapes of population pyramids. What do they indicate?
5. What is the difference between culture and ethnicity?
6. What is ethnic cleansing? Where has ethnic cleansing occurred in the world during your lifetime?
7. Approximately how many languages are there in the world? Which continent has the most?
8. What are the five most widely spoken languages in the world? Where would each be mainly spoken?
9. What are the four major world religions by percentage of followers?
10. What is the difference between an ethnic, universal, or a traditional religion? Give an example of each.
Activities
1. Create a population pyramid for your state, province, or country using the population data available at http://www.census.gov.
2. Compare population pyramids for countries from each world region found at this site: www.census.gov/population/international/data/idb/informationGateway.php.
3. Learn five common phrases in a language you do not speak.
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Learning Objectives
1. Recognize that globalization has been a human activity since the era of European colonialism and that more recent globalization has been evident in the post–Cold War era through an increase in global activities by multinational corporations.
2. Explain how the concepts of opportunity and advantage create a stronger rural-to-urban shift and fuel migration in various regions of the world.
3. Understand the dynamics of the core-periphery spatial relationship and determine whether a country is a part of the core or periphery by its respective attributes.
4. Determine how countries gain national income and which activities are renewable or have value-added profits. Understand the vital roles that labor and resources play in the economic situation for each country.
5. Comprehend the patterns illustrated in the index of economic development—especially in terms of how it illustrates a country’s development status in regard to family size and economic indicators. Learn the relationship between the concepts of rural-to-urban shift, core-periphery spatial relationships, opportunity and advantage, and haves and have-nots.
Globalization
US President George H. W. Bush gave a speech during his presidency (1988–92) indicating the real possibility of a New World Order. The speech, given during the Persian Gulf War when Iraq occupied Kuwait, was quite surprising to many, and it created questions about what he meant. Geographers and professionals in other disciplines understand that the world is not static. Cultural forces continue to act on human activities as globalization creates new alliances and global networks. The goal is to understand globalization and to make sense of what is happening. The better we understand the world and human dynamics, the better we will be prepared to address the changes that are occurring. Geography provides a means to spatially examine these changes.
Globalization is a process with a long history. People have been exploring, migrating, and trading with each other throughout human history, and these activities have created interactive networks connecting the different parts of the planet and producing dependent economic relationships. In modern times, globalization can be recognized by noting iconic global corporations, such as Walmart, McDonald’s, or Toyota, that trade across international borders and integrate labor and resources from different countries to sell a product or service in the global marketplace. In a number of countries, people have protested against the building of new Walmarts or McDonalds’, and such protests exemplify concerns about globalization and the growing expansion of dominant global economic units into local communities. These ubiquitous corporations represent corporate interests that are primarily concerned with company profits. Global corporations tend to view countries or communities as either markets for their products or sources of labor or raw materials. Globalization can seriously impact local communities for better or for worse, depending on local circumstances. The main force that encourages globalization is economic activity based on technological advancements. Cultural and societal changes often occur as a consequence and are no less significant.
Political geography examines geography’s influence on political systems and globalization, which are related to issues concerning the development of borders and the distribution of government types. One of the most significant events in political geography was colonialism, which is connected to the development of capitalism. Eric Wolf, in his book Europe and the People without History, details the expansion of European powers throughout the world to control both human and natural resources as well as expand a country’s world power and promote Christianity. The British parliamentary system of government was exported to various areas of the British Empire. Now the parliamentary system is used throughout the world in former British colonies and throughout the British Commonwealth. Additionally, colonialism helped spread the English language throughout the world, for example, to India and the United States.
European colonialism was an early wave of globalization that changed the planet and shaped most of the world’s current political borders. This early wave of global conquest was fueled by the Industrial Revolution. Colonialism transferred technology, food products, and ideas around the globe in merchant ships that centered on the European power bases of the colonial empires of Europe—mainly Britain, Spain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands. When the United States became independent of these European colonial powers, it began to extend its power and influence around the world. Thus the first major wave of globalization was a result of European colonialism.
European colonialism changed many things. The expansion of European empires was driven by the search for profits from resources and labor in the acquisition of new lands. European colonialism had a significant impact on people and cultures.
The space race and the information age of the latter portion of the twentieth century initiated a second major wave of globalization. The space race was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to develop space-related technologies, including satellites, and to land on the moon. The end of the Cold War, with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, coincided with advancements in computer technology that fueled the second major wave in modern globalization. Technology and corporate activity have stimulated a wave of globalization that is impacting the economies of countries around the world. In European colonialism, the land and people were physically conquered by the mother country and became colonies ruled by the European colonizer’s government. Great Britain was the most avid colonizer and amassed great fortunes through its colonial possessions. One difference between European colonialism and globalization today is that globally active multinational corporations do not wish to own the country or run the government directly. Corporations are not concerned with what government type is in power or who is running the country as long as they can operate and make a profit. This neocolonialism (new colonialism or corporate colonialism), like European colonialism, continues to exploit natural resources, labor, and markets for economic profits. Its critics claim that corporate colonialism is nothing more than a legal method of pillaging and plundering, and its supporters claim it is the most efficient use of labor and resources to supply the world with the lowest-priced products.
Figure 1.31
After the turn of the twenty-first century, Walmart became the world’s largest corporation. Its global expansion and economic relationships are good examples of the activities of corporate colonialism.
Examples of corporate colonialism can be seen in the trade relationships between the United States and places such as Mexico and China. US corporations move their manufacturing plants to Mexico to earn more profits by exploiting cheap labor. The corporations do not take over Mexico politically; they exploit it economically. The many US corporations that have started manufacturing their products in China do not attempt to overthrow the Communist Chinese government; they want to exploit the cheap Chinese labor pool and open up markets to sell products to Chinese consumers. Desire for profits drives corporate colonialism.
Opportunity and Advantage
Considering the drive of individuals to increase their opportunities or advantages is one way to understand our world. People who have access to opportunities and advantages can generally achieve a higher standard of living than people without. This can be true for individuals, global corporations, or whole countries. Countries that have an opportunity or an advantage over others can achieve a higher standard of living for their people, and countries without such opportunities or advantages will struggle in a global economy. A country’s opportunities and advantages can be determined by various factors, such as the amounts of available natural or human resources, arable land for farming, forests for timber, and freshwater for fishing or a specific location that provides a greater access to the world markets. Examples of human resources are a large labor pool or a high percentage of educated professionals. Individuals seek to gain opportunities or advantages by increasing their education, learning new skills that can translate into higher earning power, or migrating to a place with improved employment prospects.
Rural-to-urban shift occurs when people move from rural agricultural areas to the cities for employment or in search of a better life and is an example of a migration pattern based on people seeking greater opportunities or advantages. When people migrate from a poorer country to a postindustrial country, they are seeking opportunities or advantages in life. The “have” countries are those with opportunities and advantages; the “have-not” countries are those with fewer opportunities and advantages for their people or for their country’s future. Migration patterns around the world usually shift people from places without resources to places with resources. These migration patterns, which are evident in rural-to-urban shift and periphery-to-core migration, allow individuals to seek a greater opportunities or advantages for the future.
Core-Periphery Spatial Relationship
Economic conditions vary across the globe. There are wealthy countries and there are poor countries, and the determination of which countries are wealthy and which countries are poor has generally been determined by the availability of economic opportunities and advantages. There are three core areas of wealthy industrialized countries, all of which are found in the Northern Hemisphere: North America, Western Europe, and eastern Asia. The main market centers of these regions are New York City, London, and Tokyo. These three core areas and their prosperous neighbors make up the centers of economic activity that drive the global economy. Other wealthy countries can be found dispersed in regions with large amounts of natural resources, such as the Middle East, or places of strategic location, such as Singapore. The world’s poorer countries make up the peripheral countries. A few countries share qualities of both and may be called semiperipheries.
The periphery countries and the core countries each have unique characteristics. Peripheral locations are providers of raw materials and agricultural products. In the periphery, more people earn their living in occupations related to securing resources: farming, mining, or harvesting forest products. For the workers in these occupations, the profits tend to be marginal with fewer opportunities to advance. In the periphery, there is a condition known as brain drain, which describes a loss of educated or professional individuals. Young people leave the peripheral areas for the cities to earn an education or to find more advantageous employment. Few of these individuals return to the periphery to share their knowledge or success with their former community.
Brain drain also happens on an international level—that is, students from periphery countries might go to college in core countries, such as the United States or countries in Europe. Many international college graduates do not return to their poorer countries of origin but instead choose to stay in the core country because of the employment opportunities. This is especially true in the medical field. There is little political power in the periphery; centers of political power are almost always located in the core areas or at least dominated by the core cities. The core areas pull in people, skills, and wealth from the periphery. Lack of opportunities in the periphery pushes people to relocate to the core.
Power, wealth, and opportunity have traditionally been centered in the core areas of the world. These locations are urbanized and industrialized and hold immense economic and political power. Ideas, technology, and cultural activity thrive in these core areas. Political power is held in the hands of movers and shakers who inhabit the core. The core depends on the periphery for raw materials, food, and cheap labor, and the periphery depends on the core for manufactured goods, services, and governmental support.
The core-periphery spatial relationship can be viewed on various levels. On a local level, one can select eastern Kentucky, with the city of Morehead as an example. Morehead has a population of about ten thousand people and is the only significant town in its county. Morehead, with a university, regional hospital and retail services, serves as a core hub for the surrounding periphery. The hinterland of Morehead has an economy based on agriculture, coal mining, and timber, which is typical of a peripheral region. The city of Morehead has the political, economic, and educational power that serves the people of its local area.
If we move up a level, we can understand that entire regions of the United States can be identified as peripheral areas: the agricultural Midwest, rural Appalachia, and the mountain ranges and basins of the western United States. The large metropolitan areas of the East and West Coasts and the Industrial Belt act as the core areas. Los Angeles and New York City anchor each coast, and cities such as Chicago, St. Louis, Denver, and Indianapolis represent the heartland. All the other large cities in the United States act as core areas for their surrounding peripheral hinterlands. Southern cities such as Atlanta, Memphis, Dallas, or Phoenix act as core centers of commerce for the South in a region known as the Sun Belt.
EAC is not an “official” organization but is a recognized economic group.
On a global scale, we can understand why North America, Western Europe, and eastern Asia represent the three main economic core areas of the world. They all possess the most advanced technology and the greatest economic resources. Core regions control the corporate markets that energize and fuel global activity. Peripheral regions include portions of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and all the other places that primarily make their living from local resources and support the economic core. These peripheral regions may include key port cities. A semiperiphery would be a transitional area between the core and the periphery, which could include countries such as Russia, India, or Brazil that are not exactly in the core and not really in the periphery but might have qualities of both. World migration patterns follow the core-periphery spatial relationship in that people and wealth usually shift from the peripheral rural regions to the urban core regions. The “have” countries of the world are in the core regions, while the “have-not” countries are most likely in the peripheral regions.
National Income Methods
It is easier to understand why people move from rural to urban, from periphery to core, from Mexico to the United States when one begins to understand the global economy. Economic conditions are connected to how countries gain national income, opportunities, and advantages. One way of gaining wealth is simply by taking someone else’s wealth. This method has been common practice throughout human history: a group of armed individuals attacks another group and takes their possessions or resources. This is regularly practiced through warfare. Unfortunately, this pillage-and-plunder type of activity has been a standard way of gaining wealth throughout human history. The taking of resources by force or by war is frowned upon today by the global economic community, though it still occurs. The art of piracy, for example, is still practiced on the high seas in various places around the globe, particularly off the coast of Somalia.
The main methods countries use to gain national income are based on sustainable national income models and value-added principles. The traditional three areas of agriculture, extraction/mining, and manufacturing are a result of primary and secondary economic activities. Natural resources, agriculture, and manufacturing have been traditionally targeted as the means to gain national income. Postindustrial activities in the service sector would include tertiary and quaternary economic activities, which make up a large part of a nation’s economy but might not hold the same value-added quotient for national income as the traditional three areas.
Agriculture is the method of growing crops or trees or raising livestock that provides food and some raw materials. The excess is usually sold for profits. This is a renewable method of gaining wealth, as long as conditions are favorable. Profits for agricultural products might be low because of global competition. Countries with minerals, oil, or other natural resources can earn income from the extraction and sale of those items. Saudi Arabia and other countries with abundant petroleum reserves can gain wealth by selling that resource to other countries. Since these resources are not renewable, once the minerals or oil run out, the country must turn to other activities to gain national income.
Places around the world have sometimes been named after the methods used to gain wealth. For example, the Gold Coast of western Africa received its label because of the abundance of gold in the region. The term breadbasket often refers to a region with abundant agricultural surpluses. Another example is the Champagne region of France, which has become synonymous with the beverage made from the grapes grown there. Banana republics earned their name because their large fruit plantations were the main income source for the large corporations that operated them. Places such as Copper Canyon and Silver City are examples of towns, cities, or regions named after the natural resources found there. The United States had its Manufacturing Belt, referring to the region from Boston to St. Louis, which was the core industrial region that generated wealth through heavy manufacturing for the greater part of nineteenth and twentieth centuries
Manufacturing has offered the industrialized world the opportunity for the greatest value-added profits. From the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, solid profits have been made by turning raw materials into useable products that can be mass-produced and sold in high quantities. The core areas of the world have all made enormous wealth from manufacturing profits. Today, information technology and high-tech manufactured products generate substantial wealth. The Microsoft Corporation manufactures information by placing data in the form of computer programs on inexpensive disks or in digital files that are then sold at a profit to a world computer market. The geographic region of California south of San Francisco was labeled Silicon Valley after this type of information-generating activity.
For a country to gain national wealth, income must be brought in from outside the country or be generated from within. Other than the big-three methods of agriculture, extraction/mining, and manufacturing, there are additional ways a country can gain wealth, such as through tourism and services. Postindustrial economic activities (the service sector) contribute to a large percentage of employment opportunities in industrialized countries and generate a large percentage of their national economies. However, the service sector does not have the high value-added profits traditionally provided by the manufacturing sector. In the gaming industry, for example, casinos do not have a large wealth-generating potential for the country unless they can either attract gamblers from other countries or provide for other wealth-generating services. Gambling shifts wealth from one person to another and provides little national income. The activity of gambling does, however, generate service jobs for the gaming industry.
Figure 1.34 Major Methods of Gaining National Income Based on Sustainable National Income Models and Value-Added Principles
Methods of Gaining National Income Pillage and Plunder (Unnaceptable)
Discouraged by Civilized Nations
1. Grow it: Renewable with Low Profits
(Agriculture, Forestry, etc.)
2. Extract It: Nonrenewable and Selective
(Ores, Oil, and Minerals)
3. Manufacture It: High Value-Added Profits
(Mass-Produced Products)
Postindustrial Services (Mixed Profits)
Communications, Financial/Credit, Information Data, Travel and Tourism Requirement for Success
Good Education System, Highly Skilled Workforce, Quality Infrastructure
National Debt
Countries with few opportunities to gain wealth to support their governments often borrow money to provide services for their people. National debt is a major problem for national governments. National income can be consolidated into the hands of a minority of the population at the top of the socioeconomic strata. These social elites have the ability to dominate the politics of their countries or regions. The elites may hold most of a country’s wealth, while at the same time their government might not always have enough revenues to pay for public services. To pay for public services, the government might need to borrow money, which then increases that country’s national debt. The government could have a high national debt even when the country is home to a large number of wealthy citizens or a growing economy. Taxes are a standard method for governments to collect revenue. If economic conditions decline, the amount of taxes collected can also decline, which could leave the government in a shortfall. Again, the government might borrow money to continue operating and to provide the same level of services. Political corruption and the mismanagement of funds can also cause a country’s government to lack revenues to pay for the services it needs to provide its citizens.
National debt, defined as the total amount of money a government owes, is a growing concern across the globe. Many governments have problems paying their national debt or even the interest on their national debt. Governments whose debt has surpassed their ability to pay have often inflated their currency to increase the amount of money in circulation, a practice that can lead to hyperinflation and eventually the collapse of the government’s currency, which could have serious negative effects on the country’s economy. In contrast to the national debt, the term budget deficit refers to the annual cycle of accounting of a government’s excess spending over the amount of revenues it takes in during a given fiscal year.
Development and Demographics
The Industrial Revolution, which prompted the shift in population from rural to urban, also encouraged market economies, which have evolved into modern consumer societies. Various theories and models have been developed over the years to help explain these changes. For example, in 1929, the American demographer Warren Thompson developed the demographic transition model (DTM) to explain population growth based on an interpretation of demographic history. A revised version of Thomson’s model outlines five stages of demographic transition, from traditional rural societies to modern urban societies:
• Stage 1: High birth and death rates; rural preindustrial society
• Stage 2: Declining death rate; developing country
• Stage 3: Declining birth rate; high urbanization rate
• Stage 4: Low birth and death rates; stabilized population
• Stage 5: Declining population; urban postindustrial society
In the 1960s, economist Walt Rostow outlined a pattern of economic development that has become one model for growth in a global economy. Rostow’s model outlined the five stages of growth in the economic modernization of a country:
• Stage 1: Traditional society
• Stage 2: Preconditions for take-off
• Stage 3: Take-off
• Stage 4: Drive to maturity
• Stage 5: Age of high mass consumption
The human development index (HDI) was developed in 1990 and used by the United Nations Development Program to measure a standard of human development, which refers to the widening opportunities available to individuals for education, health care, income, and employment. The HDI incorporates variables such as standards of living, literacy rate, and life expectancy to indicate a measure of well-being or the quality of life for a specific country. The HDI is used as an indicator of a country’s economic and technological development.
The basic principles of Rostow’s DTM and the HDI can be illustrated in a general index for understanding development. Two variables of the DTM’s correlating five stages are family size and economic income, which can illustrate the population pattern or development potential. All countries of the world are at one of the five stages. The general index addresses how population growth rates relate to rural-to-urban shift, which has traditionally been a result of industrialization. By tracking both family size and economic conditions, a pattern of population growth and economic development can be illustrated and more clearly understood.
Fertility rate is often defined as the number of children born to a woman in her lifetime, regardless of whether they all live to adulthood. Fertility rate may (or may not) vary from family size, which is an indication of the number of living children raised by a parent or parents in the same household. A high infant mortality rate may account for a fertility rate that is greater than family size. To simplify the understanding, family size is used in this textbook to illustrate economic dynamics. Though the statistical data may vary slightly between the two terms, this should not present any problem in understanding basic patterns of development.
As a general trend, when a country experiences increasing levels of industrial activity and greater urban growth, the outcome is usually a higher standard of living for its people. Additionally, rural-to-urban shift takes place, driven by the pull of opportunities and advantages in the industrializing and urbanizing areas. Though there are exceptions, a decrease in family size usually coincides with a higher level of urbanization. There are cases in which only core regions within a country transition through the five development stages without the peripheral regions experiencing the coinciding levels of economic benefit. The five stages of the index of economic development assist in illustrating these general patterns.
Stage 1 indicates traditional rural societies, which are usually based on agriculture and not as dependent on the outside world. Stage 1 families are larger, their income levels are low, and their advantages and economic development opportunities are low. Health care, education, and social services are in short supply or nonexistent. High birth and death rates maintain a high fertility rate/family size and a low population-growth status. Populations in stage 1 development have a stationary population pyramid. Though there may be regions of the world that exhibit stage 1 development patterns, few if any entire countries fall into this category as of the year 2000.
Stage 2 countries experience high population growth rates because family size remains high but modern medicine or improved nutrition allows people to live longer, which lowers the death rate. Population is exploding in countries in stage 2. During this stage, young people from rural areas often migrate to the cities looking for employment. Rural stage 2 regions are starting to urbanize and integrate their economic activities with the outside world. Regions in stage 2 often have a surplus of cheap labor. Income levels remain low and family size continues to be large. Countries in this stage often have a rapidly expanding population pyramid.
Societies that have made business connections that provide for manufacturing of products, industrial activities, or an increased service sector might progress to stage 3, the rural-to-urban shift stage. These regions are experiencing a high rate of rural-to-urban shift in their populations. These regions are often targeted by multinational corporations for their labor supply, and as people migrate from rural areas to the cities looking for employment, urban populations grow and core or central cities experience high rates of self-constructed housing (slums). Income levels start to increase and family size starts to drop significantly. Stage 3 countries have an expanding population pyramid.
Societies that have urbanized and industrialized and are members of the global marketplace might enter stage 4. Members of an urban workforce assist in building a networked economy. Family size is lower as urban women enter the workforce and have fewer children. Health care, education, and social services become increasingly available, and income levels continue to rise. In stage 4, there is typically a high level of growth in the industrial and service sectors with a great need for infrastructure in the form of transportation, housing, and human services. Countries in stage 4 development have populations that resemble a stationary population pyramid.
As incomes increase and family size decreases, a consumer society emerges, creating stage 5, where high mass consumption can drive the economy. Many countries in stage 5 can eventually experience a negative population growth rate in which the fertility rate (family size) is below replacement levels (statistically around 2.1 children). With a low number of young people entering the workforce, stage 5 regions become an attractive magnet for people looking for opportunities and advantages in the job market. Illegal immigration might become an issue. Europe and the United States are now experiencing this condition. Japan has the same low family size, but because of their island location and strict laws, they have a different set of illegal immigration issues compared with Europe or the United States. Populations in stage 5 development have a contracting population pyramid.
The four basic shapes of population pyramids can parallel the various stages of a country’s economic development. Many of the concepts used in this textbook are interrelated. The various methods, models, or theories used in geography are often used by other disciplines as well. Understanding one concept usually assists the reader in learning about the other concepts and how they apply to different geographic locations. In this case, the stages of economic development and the population pyramids illustrate the contrast between rural and urban societies and the changes in family size during the industrialization process.
Geography of Opportunity
Highly industrialized countries in Western Europe, eastern Asia, or North America can offer more economic opportunities compared with developing countries. The push-pull factors that push people out of poorer countries and pull them to an industrialized country are strong. Portions of the population of countries in the earlier stages of the index of economic development often migrate to countries in the latter stages of the index looking for work and other opportunities. This transition has created a dichotomy between people who have opportunities and advantages and those who do not. People who do not have opportunities and advantages often want to move to places that do have them so they can work to attain greater economic security for themselves and their families. The haves and have-nots are general categories of economic status and not necessarily cultural values.
Countries in stage 4 or 5 of the index of economic development are often attractive places for those seeking greater economic opportunities or advantages. Populations in these stages generally have fewer children, so the demand for entry-level workers is often higher. Immigrants with fewer skills take the entry-level jobs to enter the economic workforce. An established country with a long-standing history and culture does not always welcome an influx of new immigrants. The arrival of an immigrant labor pool often includes individuals who hold different cultural traditions or customs than those of the mainstream society. Social tensions arise if different ethnic groups are vying for the same cultural spaces and opportunities. One example is the large number of people entering the United States across its southern border. Europe is experiencing a similar immigration issue, with immigrants from North Africa, the Middle East, and former colonies. Japan, on the other hand, has taken pride in holding on to its ubiquitous Japanese culture but is facing the same employment situation.
Opportunities in Geography
The following information on careers in geography is from the website of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), which is a resource for those interested in pursuing employment in the field of geography (www.aag.org).
Many occupations require knowledge of and skills in geography. Geographers work in many different areas, such as environmental management, education, disaster response, city and county planning, community development, and more. Geography is an interdisciplinary field that offers diverse career opportunities.
Many geographers pursue rewarding careers in business; local, state, or federal government agencies; nonprofit organizations; and schools. Geographers with graduate (master’s and doctorate) degrees may become educators in higher education (community colleges and universities).
Using information from the US Department of Labor, the AAG has compiled data on a broad list of occupations related to geography. Using this online career database, you can explore the diverse career opportunities available to geographers, as well as retrieve data on salaries, projected growth, demand for key skills, and much more to guide your career planning. Occupations can be found at the following site: www.aag.org/cs/salary_data_and_trends/salary_data_and_trends_overview.
Key Takeaways
• The search for cheap labor and resources drives the need for profits by multinational corporations that fuel the global economy. This activity is creating a second major wave of globalization, often referred to as neocolonialism or corporate colonialism.
• The concepts of opportunity and advantage provide a means to understand the attractiveness or unattractiveness of a place to immigrants or economic activities. Opportunities and advantages drive rural-to-urban shift, migration, and movement of corporate activity.
• Core areas are usually urban with high levels of industrial and economic development. Peripheral areas are typically suppliers of food and raw materials used in the core. Political and economic power is held in the core, while the periphery suffers from lower incomes and brain drain.
• National income methods are based on standard economic practices and value-added principles. Agricultural activities are renewable, but extractive activities are not. Manufacturing has historically provided the highest value-added profits and has been the main means of the core economic regions of the world to gain income. The service sector provides a high number of jobs but might not contribute to national income at the same levels as agriculture, extraction activities, or manufacturing.
• Development and population models can help one understand a country’s socioeconomic dynamics. Family size and economic income are two indicators that can be tracked to assist in understanding the industrialization or urbanization levels of a country or demographic region.
• Globalization has prompted a greater understanding of how opportunities and advantages relate to haves and have-nots. Whether it is individuals or countries, some have greater levels of opportunity and advantage than others. Human migration patterns usually coincide with the push-pull forces of opportunity or advantage levels.
• Many of the concepts used to understand the dynamics of a region or place are related. The four main types of population pyramids can help illustrate the various stages of a country’s socioeconomic situation as illustrated in the index of economic development.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What prompted the first major wave of rural-to-urban migration in modern history?
2. What human economic activities would you find in a core region? What human economic activities would you encounter in the periphery?
3. What is meant by the terms opportunity and advantage? How can they help us understand world geography?
4. What are the three main traditional methods through which a country can gain national income? Of the three, which has traditionally provided the highest value-added profits?
5. What are the three main economic core areas of the world that have dominated the global economy?
6. What are the main elements of business that global corporations seek in terms of a geographic location to make the highest profits?
7. What is the main human migration pattern between the core and the periphery?
8. What does each stage of the index of economic development represent or illustrate?
9. Would minimum wage tend to go up or down for countries moving from stage 4 to stage 5 of the index of economic development?
10. How is it that countries with strong or stable economies run up a high national debt?
Activities
1. Compare the main opportunities and advantages for the place you live with another place either in the same country or in another country with a similar population pyramid profile.
2. Determine the main economic activities for your city or country and check if they coincide with any of the methods listed in the explanation in Section 1.1.4 “World Regional Geography” on how a country gains national income.
3. Outline the main migration pattern for people moving into or out of your current location.
1.S: Introduction to the World (Summary)
Chapter Summary
• Geography is the spatial study of the earth’s surface. The dynamic discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences. Geography’s spatial nature can be illustrated by the creation of maps as an important means of communicating information. Human geography and physical geography are the two main fields of the discipline. GPS, GIS, and remote sensing are tools geographers use to spatially study a location or the physical or cultural landscape.
• Geographers divide the earth into a geometric grid to provide location references to places on its surface. Human activity is orientated around the grid system to provide time zones, navigation, and the organization of communication systems. Climate and seasonal changes can be tracked using this grid system of longitude and latitude.
• Regions are the basic units of geographic study. World geography divides the world into sets of regions called realms that are used as comparison studies regarding human and physical landscapes and activities. Climate regions or zones are helpful in understanding the earth’s environmental conditions. Historically, human activity has been strongly affected by the variation in climates. Type C climates have generally attracted large human populations.
• The relationship between the environment and human activity is an important component of geography. The movement of tectonic plates sometimes causes earthquakes and volcanic activity, which affects human activity. The rain shadow effect can also impact where and how humans live. Human activity contributes to environmental problems such as deforestation, which impacts the environment through the loss of habitats, soil erosion, and possibly climate change.
• The human population continues to increase. The earth’s carrying capacity for humans is debatable, but the impact that humans have on the planet is undeniably extensive. Some factors and conditions encourage high population growth, while others discourage population growth. Migration, rural-to-urban shift, and urbanization are related to changes in population. As population increases, the number of languages continues to decrease—an example of the impact of globalization.
• European colonialism created a major wave of globalization that extended up until about the time of World War II. After the Cold War ended, a second wave of globalization was fueled by the information age and the introduction of new communication and transportation technologies. Concepts such as labor and resources, opportunity and advantage, or haves and have-nots can help explain the dynamics of globalization.
• The core-periphery spatial relationship helps explain how human economic activity is organized around either an urban core or a rural periphery. The methods countries use to gain national income are a means to understand the ways in which economic activity is categorized and explained. The index of economic development is a model relating to the stages a country may transition through to reach a postindustrial development level. All these concepts, models, and theories are tools used to understand the human activities that are elements of the globalization process.
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe the various climate types and physical landforms of the European continent.
2. Explain how Europe’s physical geography has supported its development.
3. List Europe’s various natural resources.
4. Summarize the environmental concerns Europe faces.
From the Roman Empire to the European Union (EU), Europe’s historical pattern of development is a model study in regional geography. From historic empires to diverse nation-states to a multicountry union, the continent struggles to confront the cultural forces that unite and divide it. The powerful impact European colonialism has had on the world since the Industrial Revolution is still felt today. The rural-to-urban shift prompted by the Industrial Revolution first impacted Europe and continues to impact developing countries. Understanding the geographic region of Europe is essential to understanding our world. This short summary of the basic concepts will provide a valuable lesson in globalization, which affects every human being on the planet. The concepts and principles that apply to Europe can also apply to other countries and regions.
Figure 2.1 Map of Europe
Location and Climate
Europe is a northern continent. All the British Isles, for example, fall above the fiftieth parallel. If we compare Europe’s position on a globe with that of the contiguous United States, we see that much of Europe lies north of the United States. Paris, France, is at about the same latitude as Fargo, North Dakota. Athens, Greece, is at about the same latitude as St. Louis, Missouri. Europe’s northern position affects its growing seasons and people’s moods, and it should be taken into consideration as an important influence in the evolution of the European character. Europe is also surrounded by bodies of water: the Atlantic Ocean borders Europe on the west, the Arctic Ocean borders Europe to the north, and many seas surround the various peninsulas and coastal regions.
The oceans exert significant influence on the world’s climates. The oceans collect and store vast amounts of solar energy, particularly around the equator, and transport that heat with their currents. Ocean currents can move water for thousands of miles from one temperature zone to another. Because oceans can absorb so much heat, maritime climates are often milder than continental ones, with smaller temperature variations from day to night as well as from winter to summer. This influences not only temperature but also precipitation patterns over wide regions of Europe and the rest of the world. Water moderates coast environments in a number of ways. Water heats and cools more slowly than land. This heat inertia allows coastal communities to have climates that tend to be more moderate than one might imagine for places so far north. Interior Europe does not benefit from coastal waters and can have winters as cold as those found within the upper midwestern United States.
The Gulf Stream is perhaps the most important current for Western Europe’s climate and is responsible for producing a temperate climate for a northern latitude location. Most of Western Europe has a moderate type C climate. The Gulf Stream originates in the Gulf of Mexico, where the waters are warmed. This powerful current follows the Eastern Seaboard of the United States before crossing the Atlantic Ocean for Europe. The Gulf Stream’s most dramatic effect can be found in the western coastal islands of Scotland, which has a mild enough climate to support some forms of tropical flora, even though it is a degree of latitude as far north as Hudson Bay, Canada.
The coast of Norway provides another example. While most of Norway’s coastal area lies within the Arctic region, it remains free of ice and snow throughout the winter. People living farther inland and closer to Eastern Europe and Russia encounter the colder type D climates. Colder air sweeps down from the Arctic north or from eastern Siberia and provides colder winters in this eastern region. The Mediterranean Sea moderates the temperature to the south, providing a type C climate around its shores. Type C climates meet up with type E climates at or near the Arctic Circle in Norway and in Iceland.
Four Main European Landforms
Europe has four main landforms, many islands and peninsulas, and various climate types. The four main landforms include the Alpine region, Central Uplands, Northern Lowlands, and Western Highlands. Each represents a different physical part of Europe. The wide-ranging physical environment has provided Europe with an abundance of biodiversity. Biodiversity refers to diversity of the number of species in an ecosystem and the quantity of members in each species. The physical environment also provides natural resources and raw materials for human activities. Europe’s moderate climates and favorable relative location are supported by its access to the many rivers and seas. These advantageous developmental factors supported the development of the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which gave rise to highly technical and urban societies. Europe has emerged as one of the core economic centers of the global economy. Associated with the urbanization of Europe are high human population densities that have placed a strain on the natural environment. As result, there has been significant deforestation and the loss of natural habitat, which has in turn has decreased the realm’s level of biodiversity.
Rivers are abundant in Europe and have provided adequate transportation for travel and trade throughout its history. Most of Europe is accessible by water transport either via the many rivers or along the extensive coastlines of the peninsulas and islands. Two main rivers divide Europe: the Danube and the Rhine. Both have their origins in the region of southern Germany on or near the border with Switzerland. The Rhine River flows north and empties into the North Sea in Rotterdam, Holland, one of the world’s busiest ports. The Danube flows east through various major European cities, such as Vienna, Budapest, and Belgrade before emptying into the Black Sea.
Alpine Region
The High Alps, which range from eastern France to Slovenia, are central to the Alpine region. Included in the Alpine Range are the Pyrenees, located on the border between France and Spain; the Apennines, running the length of Italy; the Carpathians, looping around Romania from Slovakia; and finally, the shorter Dinaric Alps in former Yugoslavia. Mountains usually provide minerals and ores that were placed there when the earth’s internal processes created the mountains. Mountains also isolate people by acting as a dividing range that can separate people into cultural groups.
The Alpine region encircles the Mediterranean coastlines, which have more temperate type C climates that are particularly warm with hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. This climate type allows for the cultivation of food products such as olives, citrus fruit, figs, apricots, and grapes. Evergreen scrub oaks and other drought-resistant shrubs are common in the Mediterranean region.
The Central Uplands
The region bordering the main Alps to the north, which includes a large portion of southern Germany extending eastward, is known as the Central Uplands. These foothills to the Alps are excellent sources of raw materials such as forest products and coal, which are valuable resources for industrial activities. The Central Uplands are also good locations for dairy farming and cattle raising. This middle portion of the continent has a mixed deciduous-coniferous forest, and the vegetation includes oak, elm, and maple trees intermingled with pine and fir trees. There are four distinct seasons in this region with moderate amounts of precipitation year round.
Northern Lowlands
The Western Highlands meet the lowlands in central Scotland.
Similar to the breadbasket of the midwestern United States, Europe’s Northern Lowlands possess excellent farmland. Major agricultural operations here provide for a large European population. The land is flat to rolling with relatively good soils. The Northern Lowlands are a great plain that extends across northern Europe from southern France, north through Germany, and then all the way to the Ural Mountains of Russia. This area is typified by prairies and areas of tall grasses and is mostly used as farmland. The lowlands area also contains bogs, heaths, and lakes. The eastern part of this great plain around Ukraine is characterized by a steppe biome. It is a flat and relatively dry region with short grasses and is generally an agricultural region. This eastern area has great swings in temperature, both from day to night and from summer to winter. Winter temperatures in the eastern steppe can drop to below −40 °F, with summer temperatures reaching as high as 105 °F. This is similar to the steppes of eastern Montana or western North Dakota in the United States.
Western Highlands
On the western edges of the European continent arise short rugged mountains called highlands that extend throughout Norway, parts of Britain, and portions of the Iberian Peninsula of Portugal and Spain. These Western Highlands hold sparser populations and are less attractive to large farming operations. Agriculture is usually limited to grazing livestock or farming in the valleys and meadows. The Scottish Highlands are noted for their wool products and Highland cattle. In England, the central chain of highlands called the Pennines proved valuable during the Industrial Revolution because they enabled hydropower and, later, coal mining. Coal mining was prominent in the highland regions of Wales. In the far northern regions of Scandinavia, tundra environments prevail. In this coldest and driest biome, permafrost dominates the landscape, and the land becomes soggy for brief periods during the few weeks of summer. The flora consists primarily of lichens, mosses, low shrubs, and wildflowers.
Natural Resources in Europe
The physical landforms of Europe provide a diversity of geographic opportunities that have catapulted Europe through the Industrial Revolution and into the information age. With an abundance of natural resources, European countries have gained wealth from the land and leveraged their geographic location to develop a powerhouse of economic activity for the global marketplace. Europe has placed a strong focus on manufacturing activity to take advantage of its natural resources. The highly urbanized society has struggled to find a balance between modernization and environmental concerns. Industrial activities have contributed to the degradation of the environment and the demise of a number of species.
Different regions of Europe are blessed with fresh water supplies, good soils, and various minerals. Chief among the mineral deposits in Europe is iron ore, which can be found in Sweden, France, and Ukraine. Other minerals exist in smaller quantities, including copper, lead, bauxite, manganese, nickel, gold, silver, potash, clay, gypsum, dolomite, and salt. Extraction activities have supported the continent’s industrialization.
The ready access to vast areas of the Atlantic Ocean and a number of major seas, lakes, and rivers has elevated fish to an important natural resource in Europe. The seas around Europe provide about 10 percent of the world’s fish catches. Mirroring the situation around the world, European fishing activity increased as population increased. Europeans are becoming increasingly aware of the effects of overfishing. Stocks of Atlantic cod and Atlantic mackerel are considered to be at risk because of the twin threats of overfishing and changes in the environment that are affecting natural mortality and slowing spawning. Stocks of eastern North Atlantic bluefin tuna are also attracting attention for the same reason. Other species of fish in the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea are considered overexploited. Changes to the fishery are a major concern for strictly ecological reasons and also because fish comprise such a significant portion of the European economy.
The countries of Europe, with the formation of the EU, began to work toward shared research and policies with respect to the fishery. The Common Fisheries Policy was drafted and includes strict and extensive rules and guidelines for fishing, particularly of cod. The rules are so strict and thus so controversial that Norway and Iceland decided to opt out of the EU rather than agree to abide by these rules. The effect of these rules is incompletely known, but the cod stocks in the North Sea do not seem to be rebounding as quickly or substantially as expected.
Forest covers more than 40 percent of the continent’s land area, with the majority on the Russian side. Forests exist primarily in the less populous Nordic and Baltic countries and in Central Europe. About half the forest land in Europe is privately owned. Interestingly, there are several different forms of private ownership, including large family holdings, holdings by forest industries, and small to very small holdings by thousands of individuals. Most of the forested land is managed, and about 85 percent of the forests produce exploitable resources. The percentage of forested land in Europe is rebounding because of an extensive tree-planting initiative since 2000. Pollution has caused great harm to the forests of Poland, the Czech Republic, and eastern Germany, and acid rain and air pollution have seriously harmed forests such as the Black Forest of southern Germany, which has also experienced heavy logging activity.
Soil resources are of critical importance. Soil is necessary for growing food, supporting livestock, supporting other natural resources such as the forests, and supplying groundwater. Soil resources are only just beginning to receive attention in Europe. Problems to be addressed include loss of topsoil from development and building activities, older-style agricultural practices, mining, contamination from industries and other sources, and acidification as a result of acid rain.
Coal, now substantially depleted, is abundant in several areas of Great Britain, including some offshore areas, as well as in the industrial centers of Germany and in Ukraine. Other coals deposits are found in Belgium, France, Spain, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Russia. The burning of coal has produced high levels of air pollution. Acid rain has been a major concern in the northern countries, where wind currents carry pollutants north into Scandinavia from the industrial regions of Central Europe. In Scandinavia, acid rain has diminished fish populations in many of the lakes. Forest health is also being challenged, which is diminishing the economic conditions of regions that depend on forests for their economic survival.
Petroleum and natural gas deposits exist underneath the North Sea and were first tapped in the 1970s. Five European countries have rights to these resources, including Norway, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Germany, with Norway holding the bulk of the rights. The governments of these five nations agree that, although tapped only decades ago, half the North Sea oil reserves have been consumed.
Before the extraction of petroleum products from the North Sea, Russia and the former Soviet Union’s other republics supplied petroleum to Europe. These areas still have a number of active extraction operations. Hydroelectric power has been important in Europe as well. With both coal and oil resources largely depleted and the desire to avoid the environmental damage caused by dams, the European Energy Commission is devoting substantial energy and resources to encouraging use of renewable resources such as wind and solar energy. In March 2007, European leaders agreed that a binding target of 20 percent of all energy must be from alternative sources by 2020. Also, 10 percent of the transportation fuels used by EU members must be sustainable biofuels.
Key Takeaways
• The Gulf Stream provides a moderate type C climate for much of Western Europe. Eastern Europe can experience colder type D climates.
• Europe has four main physical landforms that provide a diversity of natural resources. The North European Lowland holds the majority of its agricultural potential.
• An increase in population has also increased the demand on the environment. Various environmental concerns are becoming more evident. Acid rain from industrialization has caused extensive damage to forests and fish populations in northern Europe. Atlantic fisheries are also experiencing a decline in production.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Identify and locate the four main physical landforms of Europe. What are the main features of each?
2. How do these landforms and natural resources provide wealth, opportunities. and advantages to the European community?
3. Why is there a higher concentration of acid rain in northern Europe? How is acid rain affecting the environment?
4. What two rivers act to naturally divide Europe? Which rivers flow through Paris and London?
5. Track the flow of each of the two main rivers and identify the major cities that each flows through.
6. Where are the major mountain ranges of the Alpine region?
7. How does the Alpine region contribute to the economies of the countries of Europe?
8. Why do the countries of Western Europe have more moderate type C climates even though they are in the northern latitudes?
9. How does agricultural production vary with physical landforms or climate changes?
10. How are Europeans addressing the decline in the North Atlantic fishing industry?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Alpine region
• Alps
• Apennines
• Black Forest
• Black Sea
• Carpathians
• Central Uplands
• Danube River
• Dinaric Alps
• Iberian Peninsula
• Mediterranean Sea
• North Sea
• Northern Lowlands
• Pyrenees
• Rhine River
• Scottish Highlands
• Strait of Gibraltar
• Ural Mountains
• Western Highlands
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/02%3A_Europe/2.01%3A_Introducing_the_Realm.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline how the Roman Empire and the Viking era contributed to European development.
2. Describe how European colonialism changed or influenced other countries.
3. Explain the major developments that prompted the Industrial Revolution.
4. Summarize the impact of the rural-to-urban shift and its impact on urbanization specifically.
5. Outline the concept of a nation-state and explain how this applies to Europe.
6. Explain how cultural forces can positively or negatively influence political units.
7. Identify the three main language groups and the three main religious denominations of Europe.
Europe didn’t become a center for world economics with high standards of living by accident. Historical events in global development have favored this realm because of its physical geography and cultural factors. In southern Europe, the Greeks provided ideas, philosophy, and organization. Greek thinkers promoted the concept of democracy. The Romans carried the concept of empire to new levels. From about 150 BCE to 475 CE, the Romans brought many ideas together and controlled a large portion of Europe and North Africa. The Roman Empire introduced a common infrastructure to Europe. The Romans connected their world by building roads, bridges, aqueducts, and port facilities. They understood how to rule an empire. By taking advantage of the best opportunities of each region they controlled, they encouraged the best and most-skilled artisans to focus on what they did best. This created the specialization of goods and a market economy. No longer did everyone have to make everything for themselves. They could sell in the market what they produced and purchase products made by others, which would be of higher quality than what they could make at home. Regions that specialized in certain goods due to local resources or specialty skills could transport those goods to markets long distances away. The Roman Empire connected southern Europe and North Africa.
The Vikings of Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark; 900–1200 CE) are often inaccurately referred to as rogue bands of armed warriors who pillaged and plundered northern Europe. Though they were fierce warriors in battle, they were actually farmers, skilled craftsmen, and active traders. They developed trade routes throughout the north. Using their seafaring knowledge and skills, the Vikings used Europe’s waterways for transportation. They were the early developers of the northern world from Russia to Iceland and even to North America. They developed colonies in Iceland, Greenland, and what is present-day Canada. Their longships were renowned for versatility and provided an advantage on the sea. The Vikings made advances deep into Europe—all the way to Constantinople. History indicates that the Byzantine Empire employed Scandinavian Vikings as mercenaries.
In a general sense, the regions to the west of Scandinavia—such as Iceland, Scotland, Ireland, and Greenland—were targeted by the Norwegian Vikings. Southern regions such as England and France were more often destinations of the Danish Vikings. Russia and areas of Eastern Europe were standard trading grounds for the Swedish Vikings, though the different Viking groups could occasionally be found in the same destinations. The present-day Scandinavian countries were established after the main Viking period. The Vikings connected northern Europe with trade during the Dark Ages.
Colonialism
It wasn’t until after the Dark Ages of Europe ended that a rebirth of ideas, technology, and progress took hold. The Renaissance of the late fifteenth century prompted activity in Europe that changed the world. In 1492, Columbus and his three ships crossed the Atlantic to land on the shores of the Americas. This event symbolized the beginning of the era of European colonialism, which only diminished after World War II. Colonialism’s effects remain in the colonies or protectorates that European countries still possess. Colonialism was fueled by the economic concept of mercantilism that included the drive of governments to control trade, promoting the acquisition of wealth by the quick gain of gold or silver from their colonies.
Colonialism included the development of colonies outside the home country, usually for the expansion of imperial power and the exploitation of material gain. The building of larger ships and an understanding of sea travel allowed an exchange of new goods and ideas between continents. North and South America were opened up to the European explorers for colonial expansion. European colonialism brought newfound wealth from the colonies back to Europe. All the regions of the world outside Europe were targeted for colonialism. Africa was divided up, “Latin” America was created, and Asia became a target for resources and trade. The few powerful countries along the Atlantic coast of Europe began the drive to dominate their world. If you live in the Western Hemisphere, consider the language you speak and the borders of your country: both were most likely products of European colonialism. Most of the current political geographic boundaries were drawn up or shaped through colonial conflict or agreement.
The Agrarian Revolution
The post-Renaissance era introduced a number of agricultural changes that impacted European food production. Before this time, most agricultural methods were primitive and labor intensive, but new technologies were introduced that greatly enhanced agricultural production. Plows, seeders, and harvesting technologies were introduced, and land reform and land ownership transitioned to adapt to the changing times. These innovations supported the expanding port cities that created urban markets for agricultural surpluses. Colonial ships returned from the colonies with new crops such as the potato that revolutionized crop production. This era’s progress in agricultural advancements is often referred to as the agrarian revolution. The agrarian revolution led to the industrial developments such as the steam tractor and steel implements that further advanced agricultural production worldwide.
The Industrial Revolution
Great Britain, being an island country, developed the world’s largest navy and took control of the seas. Their colonial reach extended from what is now Canada to Australia. The Industrial Revolution, initiated in northern England in the late 1700s, introduced an industrial period that changed how humans produced products. The shift to coal for energy, the use of the steam engine for power, the smelting of iron, and the concept of mass production changed how goods were produced.
Mass production during the Industrial Revolution prompted a rural-to-urban shift in the population. Coal for energy and steam for power energized industrial activities.
Buzrael – Old train – CC BY-NC 2.0.
The development of the steam-powered engine provided a mobile power source. Waterwheels powered by steep-flowing rivers or streams were an early source of power. With coal for fuel and steam for power, the engines of industry were mobile and moved full speed ahead. Power looms converted textiles such as cotton and wool into cloth. Powered by a steam engine, a power loom could operate twenty-four hours a day and could be located anywhere. Industrialization with cheap labor and adequate raw materials brought enormous wealth to the industrial leaders and their home countries.
With the mass production of goods and advancements in technology, there was a major shift in human labor. Fewer people were needed on the farms, and more workers were needed in factories. There was a large rural-to-urban shift in the human population. Europe experienced the development of the major cities of its realm during this period. In Britain, for example, in 1800 only 9 percent of the population lived in urban areas. By 1900, some 62 percent were urban dwellers. As of 2010, it is more than 90 percent. Europe, as a whole, is about 75 percent urban. As a comparison, the US population is about 80 percent urban.
As discussed in earlier sections, the rural-to-urban shift that began with the Industrial Revolution in Europe continues today in developing countries. The Industrial Revolution, which started in northern England’s Pennine mountain chain, rippled through Europe and across the Atlantic to the United States. The majority of countries in Europe are currently in stage 5 of the index of economic development. The five stages of the index of economic development illustrate a pattern of development and population dynamics for a country or region. The model outlines how rural societies with an agrarian economy in stage 1 can make the transition to stage 5: the stage that indicates an urban society with a consumer economy. As a general trend, when a country’s levels of industrial activity and urban growth rise, the outcome is usually a higher standard of living and smaller family sizes. Additionally, rural-to-urban shift takes place, driven by the pull of opportunities and advantages in the industrializing and urbanizing areas. Countries in stage 5 of the index have small families with a fertility rate below the replacement level. Their incomes, based on a consumer economy, are generally at high levels.
As Europe industrialized and progressed through the stages of the index of economic development, certain core regions reached the postindustrial stages earlier than others. Western Europe established a core industrial region with an extended periphery. The postindustrial activity in this core area continues today in four main centers of innovation: (1) Stuttgart in southern Germany, (2) Lyon in southeastern France, (3) Milan in northern Italy, and (4) Barcelona in northeastern Spain. These four industrial centers have been referred to by some as the Four Motors of Europe because they promote business and industry for the European community. The European core region extends as far as Stockholm in the north to Barcelona in the south.
Attractive “pull” forces draw immigrants to the core economic area of Europe, seeking opportunity and advantage. “Push” forces cause people to leave an area due to negative cultural or environmental forces, and/or the lack of opportunity and advantage.
Central Business Districts and Primate Cities
European urban development centered on port cities that had industrial activity. Ships could import raw materials, the factories could manufacture the goods, and the ships could export the products. A central business district (CBD) developed around these activities. Since walking was the main transportation mode, all business activities had to be located in the same vicinity. Banks, retail shops, food markets, and residential dwellings had to be close to the factories and port facilities. Modern cities emerged from this industrialization process, and Europe is one of the more urban realms on the planet.
Many European countries have one main primary city that is more than twice as large as their second city. The term primate city indicates a city that is more than twice as large as their second city and exceptionally expressive of national feeling and heritage. One may instinctively think that the primate city is the same as the capital city of a country; this, however, is not always the case. For example, Washington, DC, is the US capital, but New York City is the country’s primate city. Primate cities represent a country’s persona and often are symbolic of the country’s heritage and character. Though common, not all countries of the world have a primate city. Financial and business centers in cities such as London, Rome, or Paris support the industrial activity that led to their development as primate cities. Most primate cities are ports or are located on a major river.
Rural-to-Urban Shift and Population Growth
Consider the trend that the Industrial Revolution brought to Europe. Do you remember the population growth principle? This principle states that as countries industrialize and urbanize, family size naturally goes down and incomes traditionally go up. Integrate this with the rural-to-urban shift that occurs when countries progress through the five stages of the index of economic development. By understanding these basic trends, one can determine the average family size in Europe and why it is declining.
Because Europe is an urbanized realm, one can understand why family size in Europe is small. As a matter of fact, various countries in Europe have negative population growth rates. Family size in Spain and Italy is around 1.2, with the average family size in all of Europe at 1.4 children. The replacement rate to maintain an even population-growth pattern would be a fertility rate of about 2.1 children. Small families do not provide enough young people to cover the available entry-level service jobs. Europe, the United States, and Japan are all in stage 5 of the index of economic development and are facing low or negative population growth and a deficit in their cheap labor supply. As a core economic global power, Europe has experienced an increase in immigration. With a lower fertility rate and an increase in postindustrial activity, Europe is a magnet for people from poorer peripheral countries and even peripheral regions within Europe who are looking for opportunities and advantages.
With the planet’s human population increasing overall, one might think that a smaller family size is a positive trend. It may be, but there are problems along the way. If there are fewer young people in a community—fewer children and fewer people of employment age—consider how this affects the economic situation. With a declining European population, who will apply for the entry-level jobs? Economic core areas attract immigrants seeking opportunities and advantages. Europe follows this pattern. There has been increasing tension between the long-standing European cultural groups and immigrants from developing countries who often speak non-European languages or follow religions other than Christianity. The main religion of immigrants from North Africa or the Middle East is Islam, which is the fastest-growing religion in Europe.
Declining Family Size in Europe
There are six main reasons for declining family size in Europe:
1. The high cost of living makes supporting a large family expensive.
2. Confined living spaces in urban areas are expensive for larger families.
3. Young people are naturally putting off marriage and family until they are older.
4. Family planning and health care for women is available.
5. More people are earning an education and putting off having children.
6. More women choose professional careers and have fewer children.
The following problems arise with the decline in family size in Europe:
• Fewer children results in a shrinking workforce for entry-level jobs.
• The workforce is getting older and more professionals are retiring.
• Pension costs are increasing and there are fewer younger workers to pay for them.
• The tax burden is shifting to fewer younger professionals in the workplace.
• More revenues are needed to pay for the health care of a larger population of senior citizens.
• Immigrants seeking employment may not share the same cultural heritage or values.
Nation-States and Devolution
The agrarian revolution and the Industrial Revolution were powerful movements that altered human activity in many ways. New innovations in food production and the manufacturing of products transformed Europe, which in turn impacted the rest of the world. Even before the agrarian revolution was under way, other transitions in European political currents were undermining the established empire mentality fueled by warfare and territorial disputes. The political revolution that transformed Europe was a result of diverse actions that focused on ending continual warfare for the control of territory and introducing peaceful agreements that recognized sovereignty of territory ruled by representative government structures. Various treaties and revolutions continued to shift the power from dictators and monarchs to the general populace. The Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 and those that followed helped establish a sense of peace and stability for Central Europe, which had been dominated by the Holy Roman Empire and competing powers. The Holy Roman Empire, which was centered on the German states of Cental Europe from 962–1806, should not be confused with the Roman Empire, which was based in Rome and ended centuries earlier. The French Revolution (1789–95) was an example of the political transformation taking place across Europe to establish democratic processes for governance.
The political revolution laid the groundwork for a sense of nationalism that transformed Europe into nation-states. The term nation refers to a homogeneous group of people with a common heritage, language, religion, or political ambition. The term state refers to the government; for example, the United States has a State Department with a secretary of state. When nations and states come together, there is a true nation-state, wherein most citizens share a common heritage and a united government.
European countries have progressed to the point where the concept of forming or remaining a nation-state is a driving force in many political sectors. To state it plainly, most Europeans, and to an extent every human, want to be a member of a nation-state, where everyone is alike and shares the same culture, heritage, and government. The result of the drive for nation-states in Europe is an Italy for Italians, a united Germany for Germans, and a France for the French, for example. The truth is that this ideal goal is difficult to come by. Though the political borders of many European countries resemble nation-states, there is too much diversity within the nations to consider the ideal of creating a nation-state a true reality.
Various ethnic populations in Europe desire their own nation-states within their countries of residence. They want to devolve or separate from the larger state. The term devolution refers to the process whereby regions or people within a state demand independence and autonomy at the central government’s expense. There are now a number of cases where devolution is occurring in Europe. For example, Scotland and Wales seek to devolve from the United Kingdom. The Basque region between Spain and France would like to have its own nation-state. Former Yugoslavia broke up into seven smaller nation-states. Various other minority groups in Europe seek similar arrangements. Thus both cohesive cultural forces and divisive cultural forces are active in the European community.
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
Cultural forces continually apply pressure on a country. Some of these cultural forces pull the nation together (centripetal forces) and others pull it apart (centrifugal forces). Primary sources of these cultural forces include religion, language, ethnicity, politics, and economic conditions.
Table 2.9
Centrifugal Forces Divide a State
• Centrifugal forces divide a state and centripetal forces hold a state together.
When there is division, conflict, or confrontation, the centrifugal forces are at play. When unification, agreement, or nationalism are being exercised, centripetal forces are evident. The sources that tie a country together can also be the sources that divide a country. Ethnic unity can be a positive force, while ethnic division and conflict can be a divisive force. If centrifugal forces become strong, the result may be outright civil war, as was seen in the United States in the 1860s. Unity can also be evident through national struggles, such as the nationalism displayed immediately after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States. After the attacks, an outpouring of goodwill and agreement strengthened the bonds within the United States.
To understand our world, it is helpful to understand the cultural forces that are active in any one location. Disagreement, inequity, or injustice related to the cultural factors of ethnicity, religion, language, and economics of a region or country is the cause of most conflicts. The strong personalities that provide leadership can similarly prove to be powerful forces that either divide or unite a nation. An example of cultural forces in conflict in Europe can be found in Northern Ireland, where political forces use religious differences as a means of social division.
Religion and Language in Europe
Europe has historically been considered a Christian realm. The three main branches of Christianity in Europe are Roman Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox. Rome has been the geographical base for the Roman Catholic Church since the Roman Empire. Operating on the Romance language, Latin, the Catholic Church has provided southern Europe with a common religion for over 1,500 years.
The Roman Catholic Church split when Constantinople, now called Istanbul, gained preeminence. The Eastern Orthodox Church launched itself as the primary organization in the Slavic lands of Eastern Europe and Russia. The reformation of the fourteenth century, led by people such as Martin Luther, brought about the Protestant Reformation and a break with the Roman Catholic Church. Protestant churches have dominated northern Europe to this day.
Table 2.1 Three Main Language Groups
Germanic Language Group (Found Mainly in Northern Europe) Romance Language Group (Latin Based; Found Mainly in Southern Europe) Slavic Language Group (Found Mainly in Eastern Europe)
English, Dutch, German French, Italian, Spanish Polish, Russian, Czech
Danish, Norwegian, Swedish Portuguese, Romanian, Walloon Ukrainian, Slovak, Slovene
Icelandic, Faroese, Frysian Romancsh, Catalan, Provencal Belarussian, Serbo-Croatian, Lusatian
Macedonian, Bulgarian
Figure 2.10 Three Dominant Language Groups and Three Dominant Christian Denominations of Europe
Three main Indo-European language groups dominate Europe. Though there are additional language groups, the dominant three coincide with the three main religious divisions. In the east, where the Eastern Orthodox Church is dominant, the Slavic language group prevails. In the north, along with Protestant Christianity, one finds the Germanic language group. In southern Europe, where Roman Catholicism is dominant, the Romance languages are more commonly spoken.
Key Takeaways
• The Roman Empire connected southern Europe and created an infrastructure to help promote trade and intercultural connections. The Vikings connected northern Europe through trade and exploitation.
• Technological advancements helped European colonialism dominate other countries and exploit their labor and resources. Coastal European countries created colonies and external sources of wealth.
• The Industrial Revolution was promoted by the development of steam power with coal as a fuel source. The mass production of goods gave the European countries an advantage in the world marketplace.
• The Industrial Revolution prompted a shift in population from the rural agricultural regions to the urban centers. More people were needed in the factories and fewer workers were required on the farms because of improved agricultural methods. This shift resulted in smaller families and more women entering the workplace.
• The early empires of Europe gave way to the concept of a similar people (the nation) unifying under a common government (the state) to create nation-states.
• Divisive centrifugal cultural forces tend to divide and separate people in a state, whereas cohesive centripetal cultural forces tend to unify a state.
• The Indo-European language family has three dominant groups in Europe: Germanic in the north, Romance in the south, and Slavic in the east. The Christian religion has three main divisions in Europe: a Protestant north, Catholic south, and an Orthodox east.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why do you think the Industrial Revolution started where it did?
2. How did the Industrial Revolution affect Europe’s population and employment opportunities?
3. What was the relationship between industrial activity and urbanization?
4. What is a CBD? Where would you find it in your closest city?
5. How does Europe’s fertility rate impact employment opportunities?
6. Why is family size declining in Europe?
7. What are the three dominant language branches of the Indo-European language family in Europe?
8. How are the three main branches of Christianity distributed in Europe?
9. What are some examples of centrifugal and centripetal cultural force where you live?
10. Why do people gravitate toward a nation-state structure as a political unit?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Barcelona, Spain
• Constantinople
• Denmark
• Lyon, France
• Milan, Italy
• Norway
• Stuttgart, Germany
• Sweden
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/02%3A_Europe/2.02%3A_Historical_Development_Patterns.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Locate and describe the various traditional regions of Western Europe.
2. Outline how the physical geography varies from region to region.
3. Explain how each region has met the challenges of retaining its cultural identity or uniqueness.
4. Summarize how each region has developed an industrialized economy.
Europe has been traditionally divided into regions based on location according to the four points of the compass: Eastern Europe, southern Europe, Western Europe, and northern Europe. The British Isles are often considered a separate region but can be included as a part of Western Europe. These regions are purely geographical regions that may share similar physical geography or cultural traits based on physical geographical demands. For historical political purposes, Europe is divided into the two regions of Western Europe and Eastern Europe. In this case, the region of Western Europe includes the regions of northern Europe, southern Europe, Central Europe, and the British Isles. Eastern Europe is everything east of Germany, Austria, and Italy. These regional labels are used more for identification than for regional analysis. They serve as traditional labels of geographic location.
The traditional regions of Europe are not as relevant today as they have been historically with the creation of the European Union (EU). Economic and political relationships are more integrated than they were in past eras when nation-states and empires were more significant. Economic conditions have often superseded cultural factors and have intensified the need for increased integration. Cultural forces have traditionally supported nationalistic movements that work to preserve the culture, heritage, and traditions of a people. Regional cultural differences remain the social fabric of local communities that support the retention of their identity. Modern transportation and communication technology has brought this cornucopia of European identities into one single sphere of global recognition.
Northern Europe
Europe has many different cultural identities within its continent. Northern Europe has traditionally included Iceland, Finland, and the three Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. These countries are often referred to as the Nordic countries. All these countries were influenced by Viking heritage and expansion. Their capital cities are also major ports, and the largest cities of each country are their primate cities. The languages of the three Scandinavian countries are from the Germanic language group and are mutually intelligible. Finnish is not an Indo-European language but is instead from the Uralic language family. Most of Iceland’s inhabitants are descendents of Scandinavian Vikings. Protestant Christianity has prevailed in northern Europe since about 1000 CE. The Lutheran Church has traditionally been the state church until recent years. These countries were kingdoms, and their royal families remain highly regarded members of society. The colder northern climate has helped shape the cultural activities and the winter sports that are part of the region’s heritage. Peripheral isolation from the rest of Europe because of their northern location and dividing bodies of water have allowed the northern culture to be preserved for centuries and shape the societies that now exist in northern Europe.
Human rights, education, and social concerns are high priorities of the governments of northern Europe, and the quality of these elements rank highly by global comparisons. Standards of living are among the highest in Europe. Isolation in northern Europe does create an element of economic cost, and transportation technology has been leveraged to address this. A modern bridge has been constructed across the Baltic Sea from Denmark to Sweden to increase the flow of people, goods, and materials between the Scandinavian Peninsula and mainland Europe. Iceland is the most remote of the Nordic countries. Its small population—less than a half million people—is connected to Europe by sea and air transportation and communication technologies. Almost all elementary school children in the Nordic countries are taught English as a second language. Fish, meat, and potatoes are traditional dietary staples; fish in particular has been an important food source. The cuisine of the region is not noted for being spicy. Northern Europe has worked diligently to integrate itself with the global community and yet maintain its cultural identity.
As a standard practice, the northern European countries have exploited the opportunities and advantages of their natural resources to expand their economies. Sweden, northern Europe’s largest country, has used its natural iron ore supply to develop its manufacturing sector. Sweden was the production base of Saab and Volvo vehicles as well as other high-tech products; however, GM purchased the Saab auto division in 2000 and some of its automobiles were manufactured in Mexico. In 2010, Saab was sold back to European investors and production resumed in Sweden. Volvo Car Corporation was purchased by Ford Motor Corporation in 1999 and then acquired by a Chinese automaker in 2010.
Finland has vast timber resources and is one of Europe’s major sources of processed lumber. It was the original manufacturer of Nokia cell phones, an example of its technological advancements. Nokia is the largest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world and has production facilities in eight different countries.
Norway has been benefiting from the enormous oil and natural gas reserves under the North Sea. Fishing and modest agricultural activities had been Norway’s traditional means of gaining wealth, but now it is the export of the much-in-demand energy resources. Because of its economic and energy independence, Norway has opted not to join the EU.
Vikings were masters of the seas and colonized Greenland, which is located next to Canada and is considered to be the world’s largest island. Danish colonization in the eighteenth century included Greenland and the Faeroe Islands, which are located between Scotland and Iceland. Both are now under the government of Denmark but retain a high level of self-rule and autonomy, which has aided them in holding on to their cultural identity. Greenland has also opted not to become a part of the EU even though Denmark is a member. Greenland only had a population of about 57,670 in 2011, and 80 percent of its surface is covered with ice. Fish is Greenland’s main export, but minerals, diamonds, and gold are also present in viable amounts.
Denmark has a consumer economy with a high standard of living. This Scandinavian country is often ranked as the least corrupt country in the world and has the happiest people. The country has supported a positive environment and implemented strong measures to protect its natural areas. Denmark’s main exports are food products and energy. The country has sizeable oil resources in the North Sea but also receives over 15 percent of its electricity from wind turbines.
The Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia have often been included in the northern European designation because of their northern location. Estonia has the strongest similarities in religion, traditions, and culture, and geographic literature often has included it as a part of northern Europe. The Baltic states have been associated with Eastern Europe through the Soviet era but, like their neighbors to the north, are becoming more economically integrated with Western Europe.
Northern Europe is a peripheral region. Southern Sweden has an advanced industrial base and resembles a core area. Sweden’s northern portion and the main parts of the other Nordic countries act as sources of raw materials for Europe’s urban core industrial region. In the core-peripheral spatial relationship, northern Europe most resembles a semiperipheral region that has attributes of both the urban core and the rural periphery.
Norway, Sweden, and Finland are quite large in area but are not densely populated compared with other European nations. Sweden ranks as the fourth-largest European country in physical area. Sweden is larger than the US state of California, but in the 2010 census, it had less than ten million people. In 2010, Finland, Norway, and Denmark all had less than six million people each.
The cultures and societies of northern Europe have progressed along similar paths; that is, they have advanced from once Viking-dominated lands into modern democratic and socially mature nations. Northern Europe is known for its concern for the social welfare of its citizens. Their strong egalitarian ideals have contributed to extensive advancements in free medical care, free education, and free social services for all, regardless of nationality or minority status. Civil rights for minorities, women, and other groups is assured and protected. Denmark doesn’t have a legal age for consumption of alcoholic beverages, though tradition sets the age at about fourteen. Culture and the arts are well developed; examples include everything from the Nobel Peace Prize to Hans Christian Anderson to the 1970s chart-topping pop group ABBA. Sweden has become a major exporter of music worldwide. Rock, hip-hop, and pop music are common genres. With English as a widely spoken language in Scandinavia, music and cultural trends have a larger export market in places such as the United States and Britain.
Southern Europe
Southern Europe includes three large peninsulas that extend into the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. The Iberian Peninsula consists of Spain and Portugal. The Pyrenees mountain range separates the Iberian Peninsula from France. Greece, the most southern country on the Balkan Peninsula, includes hundreds of surrounding islands and the large island of Crete. The Italian Peninsula is the shape of a boot with the Apennine Mountains running down its center. Italy also includes the islands of Sicily and Sardinia. Technically, the island country of Cyprus is also included in southern Europe. There are five ministates in this region. The small island of Malta is located to the south of Sicily and is an independent country. Monaco, San Marino, Andorra, and Vatican City are also independent states located within the region. Southern Europe’s type C climate, moderated by the water that surrounds it, is often referred to as a Mediterranean climate, which has mild, wet winters and hot, dry summers.
Rural-to-urban shift in southern Europe has not been as strong as that of Western Europe. Only about 50 percent of the people in Portugal are urban; in Spain and Greece, about 60 percent are urban.
Italy is more representative of Europe, with about 68 percent of the population urbanized. Italy is also divided, with northern Italy being more industrialized than southern Italy. The southern regions of Italy, including the island of Sicily, are more rural with fewer industries. Northern Italy has the metropolitan city of Milan as an anchor for its global industrial and financial sector in the Lombardy region, which includes the city of Turin and the port of Genoa. This northern region of Italy has the economic muscle to be one of Europe’s leading manufacturing centers. The so-called Ancona Line can be drawn across the middle of Italy from Ancona on the east coast to Rome on the west coast to separate the industrial north with the more agrarian south. The north also has the noted cultural cities of Venice, Florence, and Pisa.
A similar situation exists in Spain. The urbanized Catalonia region around Barcelona in the northeast has high-tech industries and a high standard of living. Southern Spain has large rural areas with economies heavily based on agricultural production. Portugal and Greece are not as industrialized and do not have the same economic opportunities. Historically, southern Europe, Portugal, and Greece in particular each have had a much lower gross domestic product (GDP) per capita than northern or Central Europe. Their economies have been much more aligned with the economic periphery than with the industrial core region of Europe. Greece has had serious economic difficulty in the past few years.
Southern European countries have much larger populations than their northern European counterparts. Italy has about sixty million people in an area smaller than Norway, which has less than five million. Spain has about forty million; both Portugal and Greece have more than ten million. Cultural factors are also different here than in northern Europe. The culture of southern Europe has been built around agriculture. Traditional cuisine is based on locally grown fresh food and wine. Olive oil and wine have been major agricultural exports. The main languages of Iberia and Italy are based on the Romance language group, and Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The most dominant religious affiliation in the south is Roman Catholicism, except in Greece, where the Eastern (Greek) Orthodox Church is prominent.
Because of its diversity, Spain is not categorized as a nation-state.
Spain is the most diverse nation in southern Europe with a number of distinct ethnic groups. The Basques in the north along the French border would like to separate and create their own nation-state. The region of Galicia in northwest Spain is an autonomous region and was once a kingdom unto itself. There are many other autonomous communities in Spain, each with its own distinct heritage and culture. Farther east in the Mediterranean is the island state of Cyprus, which is divided by Greek and Turkish ethnic groups. The southern part of the island is dominated by Greek heritage and culture, and the northern part of the island is dominated by Turkish culture and traditions. Islam is the main religion of the Turkish north. The people of southern Europe are diverse and hold to many different traditions but are tied together by the sea and the land, which create similar lifestyles and economic activities.
Special Section: The Cities of Italy
Italy has a population of about sixty million people, with about 68 percent living in cities. Italian culture balances the food and lifestyle of the rural countryside with the history and heritage of the cities. Cultural regions such as Tuscany, along the northwest coast, or Sicily, the island to the south, evoke thoughts of Italian heritage and culture. The large cities of Italy each have their own draw and persona that emulates the nation’s heritage and history. Italy has four cities with population estimates of over one million people each, and a number of others are major cultural centers. The metropolitan areas around these cities can be extensive.
Table 2.2 Major Italian Cities
Rank by Population Population Estimate
1. Rome (capital) 3.357 million
2. Milan 2.962 million
3. Naples 2.27 million
4. Turin (Torino) 1.662 million
5. Palermo 872,000
8. Florence 381,762
13. Venice 297,743
Population is for city only and not for metropolitan area.
Rome, Italy’s capital and its largest city, was at the center of the Roman Empire and has a significant historical connection to the culture and heritage of Italy. Rome is also home to Vatican City, which holds a separate political identity. The Vatican City is home to the pope, who is the head of the Roman Catholic Church. Rome provides a historical and political center for the nation of Italy and is located along the Ancona Line, which distinguishes northern Italy from southern Italy.
The northern city of Milan is a core industrial center for the nation and for Europe. With a large metropolitan area, the city of Milan has a long history as a center of industry and power. The city continues to hold its powerful status and has expanded its international reach into the world of high-end fashion and the arts.
Naples is located along the west coast to the south of Rome. Founded by the Greeks as a colony, Naples was transferred to the Roman Empire. This historic city is home to many artistic, musical, and cultural activities that emulate the heritage of the Italian people from the time of the Renaissance.
Figure 2.19
The central part of the city of Naples, Italy, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Italy is densely populated with many historical cities emulating the culture and traditions of each part of the country.
The industrial city of Turin (Torino) is located in northwest Italy in the Alpine region on the banks of the Po River. Turin is second only to Milan in its industrial capacity within Italy. Automobile manufacturing as well as prestigious universities, art galleries, and cultural centers can be found here. The hosting of the 2006 Winter Olympics gave witness to Turin’s capacity and success.
Palermo is located on the island of Sicily. Founded by the Phoenicians, this city became the capital of the kingdom of Sicily. Palermo is the center of culture and cuisine for Sicily and has been a destination for tourists from around the world. Italy’s mild Mediterranean climate has enhanced tourism opportunities for many Italian cities such as Palermo.
Florence and Venice each have their own unique characteristics. Traditionally, Florence has been a city of commerce, trade, and the arts. Located in the Tuscany region, it is often referred to as the birthplace of the Renaissance. Florence is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is noted for its art and architecture. Venice is located on the northeast coast of Italy at the edge of the Adriatic Sea. The city was a powerful trade and commerce center in the Middle Ages and during the Renaissance. Often referred to with romantic overtones, the city is built on 117 small islands using canals as streets. The uniqueness of the landscape, arts, food, and architecture make this city one of the major tourist destinations in Italy.
Central Europe
In the regional sense of location, when discussing the political geography of the European continent, the specific states located in the western part of the European mainland are often referred to as Central Europe. The term Western Europe is also applicable to this region when discussing regional variations within the realm outside of Eastern Europe. Germany and France are the two dominant states, with Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg making up the Benelux countries. Switzerland and Austria border the Alpine region. The ministate of Liechtenstein is located on the border between Switzerland and Austria. France is the only country with coastlines on both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. These countries are located in the core economic region of Europe and have stable democratic governments and a relatively high standard of living by world comparisons.
Figure 2.20
Barges transport goods along the beautiful Rhine River in Germany, where historic towns share the landscape.
Central Europe is a powerhouse of global economics. The Rhine River is a pathway for industrial activity from southern Germany to Europe’s busiest port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. Western France has the political capital of the EU along the Rhine at Strasbourg. To the south is France’s second-largest city, Lyon, which is a major industrial center for modern technology. Germany had the historical Ruhr industrial complex along the Rhine that supported the high-tech industries in southern Germany in the cities of Stuttgart, Mannheim, and Munich. Germany is the most populous country in Europe, with over eighty-two million people in 2010. Germany is also Europe’s largest economy and has the largest GDP overall as a country. Belgium has major business centers in Brussels and Antwerp. Switzerland is noted for its banking and financial markets. Luxembourg has one of the highest GDP per capita in all of Europe. Austria is noted for its high level of cultural activities in Vienna and Salzburg. All these countries complement each other in creating one of the dominant economic core areas in the world.
In the first half of the twentieth century, the political geography of Central Europe was not conducive to the high level of economic cooperation that now exists. In World War Iand World War II, Germany and France were on opposite sides, and the Benelux countries were caught in middle. The cultural differences between the Germans and the French start with the differences in language and religious affiliation. Germany was divided after World War II into East Germany and West Germany, separated by the so-called Iron Curtain. East Germany was under a Communist government, and West Germany was a capitalist democracy. They were reunited in 1990 when the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall came down. The two countries merged under one government. Europe is gradually being united economically, but each country or region still retains its cultural uniqueness.
The Benelux Countries
The Benelux countries have a great deal in common historically. Before the economic union that created the term Benelux, these countries were collectively referred to as the Low Countries, so called because of their relative position to sea level. The Benelux countries are some of the most densely populated countries. They have managed to work together toward a common economic objective in spite of their cultural differences.
The capital and largest city in Belgium is Brussels, with the other urban areas being the ports of Antwerp and Ghent. Belgium is split into three large geographic areas. The dominant language in the northern region of Flanders is Dutch (Flemish), and the people are known as Flemings. In the southern region of Wallonia, most people speak French and are known as Walloons. German is the third official language and is spoken along the eastern border.
When the Industrial Revolution diffused across the English Channel and arrived in Europe, Belgium was one of the early countries to adapt to the technological developments. Belgium remains heavily industrialized and is a major exporter of products, including finished diamonds, food products, nonferrous metals, technology, petroleum products, and plastics. In general, Belgium imports the raw materials to manufacture these goods for export. Belgium also has a significant services sector. The services sector, including real estate, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment, thrives in part because Brussels is the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and components of the EU. Many countries and organizations maintain offices in Brussels to have easy access to these headquarters; therefore, Brussels is the temporary home to many diplomats and foreign business people.
Figure 2.21
Brussels is connected to other European cities through high-speed rail networks.
The European country of the Netherlands also includes the colonies of the Netherlands Antilles in the Caribbean. The Netherlands, sometimes called Holland, is actually the name of two provinces (North Holland and South Holland) in the northwest part of the country. The largest city is Amsterdam. The Hague is the seat of government and is home to the United Nations International Court of Justice. Rotterdam is located at the mouth of the Rhine River and is one of the busiest ports on the continent. The country is famous for its Zuider Zee, which is the large inland region below sea level that has been drained of water and surrounded with an extensive dike protecting it from the North Sea. Reclaiming land from the sea in areas called polders has provided this densely populated country with more land area for its people to expand their activities.
For a small country with few natural resources, the Netherlands has an impressive GDP. The Dutch have made good use of their location on the North Sea and of the location of several large navigable rivers. This has facilitated voluminous exports to the inland parts of Europe. The major industries include food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. The Netherlands is a top exporter of agricultural products, which contribute substantially to its economy. Dutch agricultural exports consist of fresh-cut plants, flowers, and bulbs as well as tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers.
The main languages spoken in the small landlocked country of Luxemburg are French, German, and Luxembourgish. Luxembourg’s one major city is Luxembourg City. Luxemburg has an enviable economic situation with a stable and prosperous economy, low unemployment, and low inflation. Thanks to rich iron-ore deposits, this country was able to develop a very robust steel industry, which was the cornerstone of the nation’s prosperity until the 1970s. As steel declined, Luxemburg remade itself as an important world financial center. Luxembourg leads Europe as the center for private banking and insurance industries and is second only to the United States in terms of being an investment fund center.
France
France covers 211,209 square miles and is the second-largest European country; Ukraine is slightly larger in physical area. The physical landscapes of France vary widely from the northern low-lying coastal plains to the Alpine ranges of the east. Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in the Alpine range at 15,782 feet, is located in France near the Italian border. In the far south, the Pyrenees run along the border with Spain. The south-central region of the country is home to the Massif Central, which is a plateau and highland region made up of a large stretch of extinct volcanoes.
During the colonial era, France was a major naval power and held colonies around the world. The French Empire was the second largest at the time. The French language is still used for diplomacy in many countries. Though the French Empire no longer exists, France has progressed into a postindustrial country with one of the most developed economies in the world. It is a major player in European affairs, the EU, and the United Nations (UN). France is a democratic republic that boasts a high-quality public education system and long life expectancies.
The Eiffel Tower, a symbol of the primate city of Paris, was built in 1889. The city of Paris started as a citadel on an island in the middle of the Seine River.
In 2010, France’s population was about sixty-five million, with about ten million living in France’s primate city of Paris. The city of Paris is on an excellent site, it is favorably situated with regard to its surrounding area. It is a major core area of France serving a large peripheral region of the country. The next largest city of Lyon, which is a major high-tech industrial center for Europe’s economy, can only boast a population of about 1.4 million. Even with a large population, the country is able to produce enough food for its domestic needs and for export profits. France leads Europe in agricultural production.
France enjoys a robust economy and is one of the world’s leading industrial producers. Its industrial pursuits are diverse, including the manufacture of planes, trains, and automobiles, as well as textiles, telecommunications, food products, pharmaceuticals, construction and civil engineering, chemicals, and mechanical equipment and machine tools. Additionally, defense-related industries make up a significant sector of the economy. France’s production of military weapons is recognized worldwide. The country has been a leader in the use of nuclear energy to produce electricity. Nuclear energy supplies about 80 percent of the country’s electricity, which reduces the need for fossil fuels and imported oil.
Agriculture is an important sector of the French economy, as it has been for centuries, and is tied to industry through food processing. Food processing industries employ more people than any other part of the French manufacturing sector. If you think of cheese and wine when you think of France, you have identified two of its largest food processing endeavors, along with sugar beets, meats, and confectionaries. World-renowned wines are produced in abundance, sometimes in areas that bear their names, such as in Burgundy, around the city of Bordeaux, and in Champagne in the Loire Valley. French cuisine and fashion have long been held in highest esteem worldwide and are a source of national pride. Food and wine are important elements of the French way of life, and each region of France boasts a suite of famous dishes.
Thanks to the climate and favorable soil conditions, agriculture is highly productive and lucrative for France. France is second only to the United States in terms of agricultural exports. Exports mainly go to other EU countries, to the United States, and to some countries in Africa. The plains of northern France are excellent for wheat, which is grown on vast agricultural operations. Dairy products are a specialty in the western regions of France, which also produce pork, poultry, and apples. Beef cattle are raised in the central portion, where a cooler, wetter climate provides ample tracts of grasslands for grazing. Fruit, including wine grapes, is grown in the central and southern regions, as are vegetables. The region around the Mediterranean is blessed with hot, dry weather ideal for growing grapes and other fruits and vegetables.
Special Section: France’s Home Front
French governments have been challenged by the country’s high unemployment rates. In response to decades of high unemployment, the French government has, over time, introduced legislation to try to distribute available work more evenly among the population. Long periods of unemployment and underemployment put France at risk of developing a permanent underclass, along with the social ills, including crime and political unrest, that come with it. The unemployment rate continues to be higher for women, and women tend to have lower-paying jobs. Additionally, women are underrepresented in government. France has a significant immigrant population, which means that, as in many countries with newcomers, the settlement and integration of new arrivals is an issue. Some have blamed the high youth crime rate not just on unemployment but on governmental failure to fully integrate immigrants into French society.
Another demographic matter is a strong rural-to-urban shift. As people move to the cities, rural areas are significantly depopulated. Though more than seventy languages are spoken in France due to its large immigrant population, French has been recognized as the official language by law. Eighty percent of French people identify themselves as Roman Catholics, though the percentage of practicing Catholics is much lower and declining. Approximately one-third of Europe’s Jewish population resides in France. About 5 percent of the population self-identifies with Islam, which is a growing population because of immigrants from North Africa, some of whom are Muslim and tend to have larger families. Most of these immigrants target the urban areas in search of employment and opportunity.
In 1995, France experienced three terrorist attacks, which killed eight people and wounded more than a hundred. The attacks were, of course, troubling, but the real issue before France is how to ensure that it does not become a breeding ground for Islamic extremists bent on terrorist activity. The situation of unemployed, disenfranchised youth can provide the perfect setting from which to attract new terrorist recruits. After decades of dealing with this type of unrest, France passed laws in response to the 1995 Islamic terrorist bombings that some civil libertarians found unsettling. Many forms of surveillance are legal and routine, including forms of surveillance that violate private communications. France also passed a law prohibiting “association with wrong-doers involved in a terrorist enterprise.” This gives French authorities the right to arrest, detain, try, and convict anyone suspected of any crime that might be even remotely related to terrorist activity. Balancing civil liberties with the quashing of terrorist plans has become a constant challenge for many countries, including France.
Germany
Germany’s location in Central Europe has meant that throughout history many peoples—all with their own cultures, ideas, languages and traditions—have traversed Germany at one time or another. Thus Germany’s culture has received many influences over the centuries.
Germany’s present geopolitical configuration is quite young, as it reunified the eastern and western portions into a single entity in 1990. Germany was formed in 1871 during the leadership of Otto von Bismarck in an attempt to create a Germanic power base. World War I was fought during the last years of the German Empire. Germany, as part of the Central powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Bulgaria), was defeated by the Allies with much loss of life. The German Republic was created in 1918 when, having been defeated in World War I, Germany was forced to sign the Treaty of Versailles.
In 1933, with an environment of poverty, disenfranchisement of the people, and great instability in the government, Germany gave way to the appointment of Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany. Within a mouth of taking office, Hitler suspended normal rights and freedoms and assumed absolute power. A centralized totalitarian state quickly resulted. In a move to expand Germany, Hitler started to expand its borders. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 kicked off what would become World War II. In 1941, Germany invaded the Soviet Union and declared war on the United States. After Germany’s defeat, the country was divided into East Germany, controlled by the Soviet Union, and West Germany, controlled by the Allied powers. The Iron Curtain divided the two Germanys, with the Berlin Wall dividing the city of Berlin. The Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall were major symbols of the Cold War. In 1989, the Berlin Wall came down, and the two Germanys were reunited in 1990. Today, Germany is a vibrant country and an active EU member.
Germany is Europe’s largest economy, with strong exports of manufactured goods. To gain national income, Germany has promoted manufacturing as a major component of its economy. Most exports are in automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods. Germany has positioned itself strategically to take economic advantage of the growing global awareness of environmental issues and problems by focusing on improvements and manufacturing of wind turbines and solar power technology. The service sector also contributes heavily to the economy. Deutsche Bank holds the enviable position of being one of the most profitable companies on the Fortune 500 list. Germany is also a major tourist destination. The Black Forest, Bavaria, the Alpine south, a variety of medieval castles, national parks, and a vibrant assortment of festivals such as Oktoberfest attract millions of tourists to Germany every year.
German reunification in 1990 posed some challenges for the economy. Notably, the East German infrastructure was far behind that of the West. In an effort to update transportation systems, telecommunications, and other areas needed to support industry and commerce, enormous amounts of money had to be poured into the system. While there has been considerable success in the renewal of infrastructure, unemployment in former East Germany is still significantly higher, and the necessary retraining of the workforce is ongoing and expensive.
Language, religion, and education have been strong cultural forces in Germany. German is the official language of the country and the one spoken by most of its people. More than 60 percent of Germans self-identify as Christian, and another 30 percent self-identify as agnostic or atheistic. During the Cold War, East Germany was under a Communist government that promoted a nonreligious ideology, resulting in a high percentage of people with agnostic or atheistic beliefs in that part of Germany. Historically, there has been a strong connection between the religious reformation and education. The early leaders of the Christian Reformation were generally highly educated themselves and were strong advocates of education, which they viewed as a path to positive moral and social reform. The German tradition of excellence in education continues. Education is provided at no cost (other than taxation) to students at all levels, including the university level, though some universities are now starting to charge very modest amounts for tuition.
The Alpine Center
Landlocked in the center of Europe are the two main states of Switzerland and Austria. Sandwiched on the border of these two states is the ministate of Lichtenstein. This region is dominated by the Alpine ranges. Switzerland, officially known as the Swiss Confederation, is divided into twenty-six cantons (states). Because of its location and close ties with neighboring countries, four languages are spoken in Switzerland: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Typically, one language predominates in any given canton. Berne is the country’s capital, and Geneva, Zurich, and Basel are the other major cities. As of 2010, Switzerland’s population was about 7.8 million. Its land area is just slightly larger than the US state of Maryland.
Internationally, Switzerland is well known for its political neutrality. The UN European offices are located there. The Red Cross and the main offices of many international organizations are located in Switzerland. Switzerland joined the UN in 2002 and has applied for EU membership. Swiss culture is thought to have benefited from Switzerland’s neutrality. During times of war and political turmoil, creative people found refuge within the Swiss borders. Swiss banking practices and policies are known throughout the world, and Swiss banks have benefited greatly from the country’s politically neutral status. Banking is one of the country’s top employers and sources of income. The Swiss people enjoy a high standard of living.
Sports are popular in Switzerland and football, or soccer, is popular as it is in much of Europe. Switzerland has also produced excellence in hockey, skiing, and of late, tennis. There is an emphasis on science in Swiss culture with good historical reason: the field of modern chemistry originated in Switzerland. The Bernoulli family, famed for their significant contributions to mathematics over many years, hails from Basel. The Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, one of the top-ranked universities in the world, has produced an unusually high number of Nobel Prize winners. Albert Einstein, though born in Germany, relocated to Switzerland and later became a Swiss citizen.
Austria is larger than its neighbor Switzerland and is similar in area to the US state of South Carolina. In 2010, the population was estimated at 8.4 million. Austria has various Alpine ranges, with the highest peak at 12,457 feet in elevation. Only about a fourth of the land area is considered low lying for habitation. The Danube River flows through the country, including the capital city of Vienna. Austria has a well-developed social market economy and a high standard of living.
For more than six hundred years, beginning just before the dawn of the fourteenth century, Austria was tightly associated with its ruling dynasty, the Habsburgs. The Hapsburgs came to power in a new way with the formation of the Austrian Empire in 1804. In Germany’s rise to power before World War II, Hitler annexed his native Austria to Germany. Austria regained its independence a decade after the war ended and joined the EU in 1995. Austria is a German-speaking country, and nearly the entire population self-identifies as ethnic Austrian.
Austria is predominantly Roman Catholic and was home to many monasteries in the Middle Ages, influencing a strong Austrian literary tradition. Austria’s best-known cities are its capital of Vienna and Salzburg and Innsbruck. Vienna was the center of the Habsburg and Austrian Empires and earned a place as one of the world’s great cities. It is famed for its baroque architecture; its music, particularly waltzes; and theater. The Habsburgs were great patrons of the arts, and hence music, drama, and art thrived for centuries in Austria. The country has been home to many famous composers and musicians and is the setting for the story behind the movie The Sound of Music. Austria has a worldwide reputation in music and the arts.
The British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago (group of islands) separated from the European mainland by the English Channel. The British Isles are often included in the region of Western Europe when discussing political geography; however, the fact that they are separated from the mainland of Europe by water provides them with a separate identity. The British Isles consists of two separate, independent countries: the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. The United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain consists of the regions of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. All four regions are now under the UK government. The Republic of Ireland is independent of the United Kingdom and does not include Northern Ireland. The primate city and UK capital is London, which is a financial center for Europe. The capital city of the Republic of Ireland is Dublin.
Influenced by the Gulf Stream, the climate of the British Isles is moderate, in spite of its northern latitude location. The UK and Ireland are located above the fiftieth degree of latitude, which is farther north than the US-Canadian border. The northern latitude would normally place this region into the type D climates, with harsher winters and more extreme seasonal temperatures. However, the surrounding water moderates temperature, creating the moderate type C climate that covers most of the British Isles. The Gulf Stream pulls warm water from the tropics and circulates it north, off the coast of Europe, to moderate the temperature of Western Europe.
The Western Highlands and the Northern Lowlands dominate the islands. Scotland, Wales, and parts of England have highland regions with short mountains and rugged terrain. The lowlands of southern England, Ireland, and central Scotland offer agricultural opportunities. The Pennines mountain chain runs through northern England and was the source of the coal, ores, and waterpower that fueled the Industrial Revolution. To the east of Britain is the North Sea, which provided an abundance of petroleum resources (oil) for energy and wealth.
Though the heritage of the British Isles is unique to this region, the geographic dynamics are similar to Central Europe—that is, smaller families, urbanization, industrialization, high incomes, and involvement with economic globalization. The EU has had an enormous influence on the British Isles. Ireland has embraced EU’s economic connections, but the British people have been hesitant to relinquish full autonomy to the EU. This reluctance can be noted in the fact that the United Kingdom kept the British pound sterling as their currency standard after the euro currency was implemented. However, the Republic of Ireland converted to the euro currency.
The regions of the British Isles follow similar dynamics to those of other countries in Western Europe. Though some regions are not as wealthy as others, they all demonstrate a high level of industrialization, urbanization, and technology. These urban societies have smaller families and higher incomes and are heavy consumers of energy, goods, and services. Just as the Industrial Revolution attracted cheap labor, the aging workforce has enticed people from former British colonies to migrate to the United Kingdom in search of increased employment opportunities. The mix of immigrants with the local heritage creates a diverse community. London has diverse communities with many ethnic businesses and business owners.
Devolutionary forces are active in the United Kingdom. Scotland and Wales are already governing with their own local parliaments. Devolutionary cultural differences can be noted by studying the different heritages found in each region. Just as the Welsh language is lingering in Wales, Gaelic continues in Ireland and Scotland. Each region has made efforts to retain local heritage and rally support for its own nation-state. However, this is all done with the overall perspective of remaining under the umbrella of the EU.
Northern England
The first iron bridge ever built (1879) was located in central England, home of the Industrial Revolution.
Home to the Industrial Revolution, major industrial cities such as Manchester and Birmingham brought together the labor, raw materials, and industry connections necessary to manufacture products. The port city of Liverpool gave access to the world markets established by Britain’s extensive colonial empire, and the colonies provided raw materials, new ideas, and cheap labor for the new industrial factories. Great Britain was an avid colonizer and controlled colonies on all inhabited continents. Raw materials such as cotton, which did not grow well in Britain, became a major import that fueled the textile mills of the Industrial Revolution.
Industrialization caused a rural-to-urban shift in Britain. In 1800, only 9 percent of the population lived in urban areas, but by 1900 some 62 percent resided in cities and towns. As of 2010, over 90 percent of Britain’s population is composed of urban dwellers. The British colonial empire also caused a migration pattern whereby people moved from colonies to the home country, with the core area located in the Midlands of northern England. Cheap immigrant labor and resources from the colonies provided the manufacturing enterprises of wealthy British industrialists with good fortunes. Raw cotton was brought in from the colonies of India and Egypt. Cheap labor, brought in from the Caribbean and South Asia, resulted in a more diverse population in the industrialized northern England.
As the information age developed, the industrial centers of northern England gave way to a postindustrialized southern England. The north’s heavy industries experienced a decline in demand. Factories closed, production became automated, and unemployment increased. The transition from the Industrial Revolution to a postindustrial society turned northern England into the Rust Belt of the British Isles. The port of Liverpool has been updated with modern and automated systems that do not require the high level of manual labor that was necessary during earlier industrial times. Rail service connects Liverpool with London, which is connected to Paris through a tunnel under the English Channel called the Chunnel.
The postindustrial economic activities have shifted the focus of employment away from manual labor to the service sector of information. Many places have looked to tourism to boost their economic situation. Northern England has many attractive physical environments that have been developed into major tourist attractions. The Lake District of northern England is a noted vacation destination, and short mountains and scenic landscapes attracted a number of England’s writers. The city of Blackpool on the Irish Sea, just north of Liverpool, is a major vacation destination for the English. The dales and moors of northern England, complemented by the short Pennines, provide a sharp contrast to the urban metropolitan landscapes of London and southern England.
Southern England
Anchored by the primate city of London, southern England also is home to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge. This is Great Britain’s most affluent region and is a center of postindustrial activity. Located on the Thames River, London is a central player in the world economic markets. Southern England also houses about one-third of the UK population. With immigration from the former colonies, this region is also becoming more diverse. This is an urbanized region, where the cost of living, transportation, and housing is high. For example, the price of gasoline in the United Kingdom might be two or three times that in the United States. Many urban dwellers do not own automobiles but instead use public transportation.
England is the most populous region of the United Kingdom with a density of about one thousand people per square mile. About half the population increase is because of immigration. The UK population is aging as a result of smaller family sizes and a growing number of senior citizens. This trend is common in countries in stage 5 of the index of economic development. Immigrants from many parts of the world have targeted the England as their new home. Many are from former British colonies in Asia and Africa. England has a diverse population. Islam is the fastest growing religion, even though Muslims make up less than 10 percent of the total population. London is even home to a growing Sikh community.
London is not only the primate city and capital of the United Kingdom; it is the largest administrative municipality in the entire EU. Only Paris has a larger overall metropolitan area. London is a global center that holds prominence in world markets and the globalization process. About one-fifth of Europe’s largest corporations have their headquarters in London. The city’s cultural influence is felt around the world in the fashion industry, media, entertainment, and the arts. London is an international city that has a powerful draw for tourists. The core economic region of Europe is anchored by London’s international recognition.
Southern England is also home to Great Britain’s seat of government The UK government is considered a constitutional monarchy with a king or queen as head of state. The parliament is the official legislative body with a prime minister as head of government. The parliament has two bodies: the House of Commons, whose members are elected, and the House of Lords, whose members are appointed for life. As head of state, the monarch is mainly a figurehead with little actual political power. A number of dependencies remain under the British Crown as far as sovereignty is concerned. Small islands such as Guernsey, Jersey, the Isle of Man, and various islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic and Pacific Oceans remain under the British government for administrative, economic, and defense purposes.
Wales
A highland region to the west of England, Wales holds a Celtic heritage in which the Welsh language and stories of coal mining can still be heard. However, the English language has become more dominant and tourism has replaced coal mining as the main economic activity. The decline in the use of coal depressed the economy but did not depress the culture and heritage of the Welsh people. The largest city and capital of Wales is Cardiff. In the early twentieth century, the port of Cardiff handled the largest amount of coal in the world and handled more tons of cargo than Liverpool or London. The decline in coal mining has reduced the shipping activity in the port of Cardiff in the twenty-first century.
Devolution is alive and well in Wales. Welsh nationalism prompted the declaration of a separate parliament in the capital of Cardiff. The break with London provided local autonomy, but Wales is still reliant on the United Kingdom in national and foreign affairs. Many of the young people in Wales emigrate to find work because of the depressed economy. Emigration has caused a leveling off of population growth, and the number of people who speak Welsh has diminished. Wales and England share a common Protestant Christian religion. Wales is turning to tourism as a means of economic income; the scenic and picturesque landscape of the highland region, with its many castles, provides a pleasant experience for tourists.
Scotland
United with England in 1707, Scotland has been integrated into the United Kingdom while keeping its separate heritage and culture. Scotland has strong centripetal forces uniting the Scottish people, including victories over the British by Scottish clans lead by William Wallace in 1297 and Robert the Bruce in 1314; these forces within Scotland have created a devolutionary split with the UK parliament. In the quest to become a nation-state unto itself, in 1997 Scotland received permission to create its own parliament to govern local affairs. Though Scotland would like to separate into an independent state, they do not wish to isolate themselves from the EU or greater Europe. This contradictory trend, in which local states want autonomy and self-rule yet also want to remain within the larger regional community for economic and national security, is common. The phrase “separate within the Union” is surfacing in Europe with stronger voices. For now, Scotland remains under the British Crown and shares a Protestant Christian heritage with its UK associates.
The Scottish Highlands provide for livestock production, and the central Scottish Lowlands are favorable for agriculture. The North Sea has extensive oil resources. With resources such as these, Scotland is in a position to gain wealth and support its small population of about five million people. As an early export product, scotch whisky has profited many whisky marketers and has become the largest export product of Scotland. Scotland benefited and gained wealth during the Industrial Revolution. As a part of an island, early shipbuilding produced ships that brought about trade and development that coincided with European colonialism.
Postindustrial activities have become a focus of the current economy. High-tech computer industries have concentrated in Silicon Glen, an information-age industrial sector that lies between Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, and its capital of Edinburgh. With natural resources and postindustrial opportunities, Scotland is in a good position to compete in the global economic community. Scottish banking firms reach around the globe through their investment holdings. Scotland attracts a healthy tourism market with its Highlands and many castles. Kilts and bagpipes are a part of Scottish history and often distinguish themselves as a part of the region’s heritage. The game of golf originated in Scotland and is still popular today.
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is a place in which strong cultural forces often erupt into violence. Officially part of the United Kingdom, this small region with about 1.7 million people has developed a unique set of cultural problems. Most people consider the religious differences to be the main problem in Northern Ireland. People of Irish heritage are predominately Roman Catholic, and those of Scottish and English heritages are usually Protestant Christians. But it is not so simple. If the troubles (as they are called in the United Kingdom) in Northern Ireland were based solely on religion, then we should expect to see similar violence in other regions of the United States or of Europe.
The core of the cultural problems in Northern Ireland is actually based on political affiliations. Most of the population in the region is not Irish. About 55 percent of the population is of Scottish or English descent, with only about 45 percent of Irish descent. The real problem centers on the governing of Ireland. The Irish would like to see Northern Ireland join with the Republic of Ireland, which received its independence from the British in 1921. The Irish do not want to be under the UK parliament with the Queen of England as head of state. Irish countrymen want total independence from the United Kingdom. The non-Irish population does not want to be a part of the Republic of Ireland and its Irish parliament and would rather remain under the British Crown. The people of Scottish descent would prefer total independence from all outside forces. English people definitely want to remain with the UK parliament.
Though the real problem is political, religion has become the scapegoat. Because cultural differences can be clearly witnessed between Catholics and Protestants, religion has become the identifier of the two sides. They are not necessarily fighting over religious beliefs but rather over political power and control.
The troubles of Northern Ireland have diminished its economic and employment opportunities. Underground paramilitary groups such as the Irish Republican Army (IRA) have heightened tensions between the two groups for decades, with car bombings and other terrorist acts. Hope might lie with a generational change in the population. As the younger generation seeks more opportunities and advantages, the issues that separate the two sides could diminish. The hatred that has been built up over the years can be eased with each new generation if centripetal forces work to bridge the differences and unite the social fabric. If the killing and hatred are passed down to successive generations, it will only take longer to recover.
In 1998, after a series of terrorist acts that were condemned on all sides, a movement took place to create the Northern Ireland Assembly with members of both sides of the division. Obstacles continue to surface to disrupt this calming process, but there is hope that in the future solutions such as this assembly can work toward producing a lasting peace. The devolutionary forces active in Wales and Scotland may act to create a more separate Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Assembly was only one step. Progress in Northern Ireland is an uphill battle with high unemployment, a poor resource base, and few economic opportunities. Only by working together will Northern Ireland become a stable, peaceful part of the British Isles.
The Republic of Ireland
The whole island of Ireland was under the control of the British Crown for centuries. In 1921 independence was gained from the British for all but Northern Ireland. This bitterly fought conflict has become well entrenched in Irish culture and literature. As an independent country separate from the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland has ascended the economic ladder to become a part of the global economic community. Because the climate is type C, there is adequate rainfall for crops and vegetation, and the green landscape gives it the title, “The Emerald Isle.” The island has few other natural resources. There are trees but no large forest reserves for commercial exploitation. Peat, which is an early version of coal, is cut from the bogs and burned as fuel.
Ireland is not a large country. It is just a bit larger than the US state of West Virginia, with a population of about four million. There are no tall mountain ranges in Ireland. The soils are traditionally rocky with few nutrients. Before colonial times, the traditional food crops included such turnips and rutabagas. When the potato was imported from the Americas, it was well received in Ireland. The potato plant grew well and replaced traditional root crops as the main food source.
In the early 1800s the population of the whole of Ireland (including what is now Northern Ireland) was as high as eight million. Starting in the 1840s, blight and rot destroyed much of the potato crop year after year, causing a serious famine in Ireland. More than a million people died, and another two million people left the island. The potato famine caused losses reminiscent of the Black Death, which had ravaged Europe centuries earlier. The history of the Black Death may have led to the term Black Irish, which referred to people who fled Ireland during the potato famine and immigrated to the United States. They were often regarded as lower-class citizens and were discriminated against. Well-established Irish families having immigrated to the United States before the 1840s were not considered Black Irish and assimilated into mainstream American society more easily.
The lack of natural resources and the lack of opportunities and advantages held back the Republic of Ireland from developing a strong economy. It wasn’t until the 1990s that conditions improved. With the creation of the EU and advancements in communication, Ireland became an ideal location for expanding North American corporations. The attractive elements included a mild climate, a similar English language, an educated workforce, and a low cost of living. Many high-tech computer firms, communication companies, and automated industries established their base of operations in Ireland—Dublin in particular. Because Ireland was a member of the EU, it was a convenient intermediary location between the United States and the European mainland. Business boomed in the 1990s, and incomes and the cost of living rose. Tourism also has become a growing sector of the economy. The economic growth in Ireland earned it the title Celtic Tiger to indicate its growing economic power.
However, the rapidly expanding economic conditions of the 1990s have not extended into the twenty-first century. Since 2007, the global depression has taken its toll on the Irish economy. Starting in 2008, the country witnessed a sharp increase in unemployment that coincided with serious banking scandals. Various banks have been targeted for bailout funds from the government, and the economy witnessed a sharp decline. Property values have plummeted, and protesters have staged demonstrations in the streets demanding the government address the economic situation. Tourism has taken up some of the slack and has expanded by highlighting the Emerald Isle’s mild climate and green countryside. Cities such as Dublin are working with the growing pains of recovery in the economic recession. Unemployment remains a concern, as well as declining economic opportunities. Overall, Ireland is working to reposition itself for future economic growth. The country wants to maintain itself as an important link in the EU’s relationship with the United States. Ireland is bracing itself for a sluggish economic road ahead.
Key Takeaways
• Western Europe can be divided into a number of smaller geographic regions, including northern Europe, southern Europe, Central Europe, and the British Isles.
• The differences in climate, terrain, and natural resources provide for a diversity of economic activities that influence cultural development within the European community.
• The countries of Western Europe have high standards of living compared with world standards. The southern countries of Portugal, Greece, and southern Italy are more agrarian and have been struggling economically since the global recession began in 2007.
• The British Isles comprise the two independent countries of Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland. Great Britain is made up of five geographical regions, with Wales and Scotland having more autonomy to govern local affairs.
• Since World War II, the many states of Western Europe have been evolving into a more integrated realm. Each nation has worked to develop its economy to take advantage of its physical geography and its cultural history and heritage. Devolutionary forces remain strong in many areas to counterbalance the forces of supranationalism.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Outline the main economic activities for each of the regions of Western Europe.
2. How have strong egalitarian ideals shaped northern European countries?
3. How are the differences between northern and southern Italy a reflection of southern Europe as whole?
4. Outline where devolutionary forces are active in Western Europe.
5. Which of the states of Western Europe most resembles a nation-state?
6. Why is there an increased level of cultural diversity in France and other parts of Western Europe?
7. How do the demographic dynamics differ between northern Europe and southern Europe?
8. How does agricultural production vary with physical geography in Western Europe?
9. What are the key factors that make Western Europe an economic core area of the world?
10. How are the troubles in Northern Ireland similar to or different from the Basque situation?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Baltic Sea
• Greenland
• Faeroe Islands
• Balkan Peninsula
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/02%3A_Europe/2.03%3A_Regions_of_Western_Europe.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Explain how Eastern Europe and Western Europe were divided and how they united again.
2. Describe the various aspects of transition from socialism systems to capitalist democracies.
3. Outline which countries were former republics of the Soviet Union but are now a part of Eastern Europe. Define the current borders of the Eastern European countries.
4. Describe some of the cultural dynamics that make each region or country unique.
5. Summarize the basic economic activities that are evident in the various countries and how they have transitioned into a postindustrial economy.
6. Understand the cultural and political geography of former Yugoslavia and how the drive for nationalism and nation-state status has fractured and divided the region.
Transitions of Eastern Europe after the Cold War
After World War II ended in 1945, Europe was divided into Western Europe and Eastern Europe by the Iron Curtain. Eastern Europe fell under the influence of the Soviet Union, and the region was separated from the West. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, all the Soviet Republics bordering Eastern Europe declared independence from Russia and united with the rest of Europe. The transition Eastern Europe has experienced in the last few decades has not been easy; however, most of the countries are now looking to Western Europe for trade and economic development. Cooperation continues between Eastern and Western Europe, and the European Union (EU) has emerged as the primary economic and political entity of Europe.
The collapse of Communism and the Soviet Union led to upheaval and transition in the region of Eastern Europe in the 1990s. Each country in the region was under Communist rule. The countries bordering Russia were once part of the Soviet Union, and those countries not part of the Soviet Union were heavily influenced by its dominant position in the region. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the bordering countries declared independence and began the process of integration into the European community. Moldavia changed its name to Moldova. The countries of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia each broke into multiple countries and, because of the diverse ethnic populations, organized around the concept of nation-states. (See Section 2.2.6 “Nation-States and Devolution” for a discussion of nation-states.) Czechoslovakia peacefully agreed to separate into two states: the Czech Republic and the Republic of Slovakia. Yugoslavia was not so fortunate.
Most Eastern European political borders resemble ethnic boundaries. Each of the regions once resembled nation-states. In principle, Romania is set apart for Romanians, Hungary for Hungarians, and so on. Few are true nation-states because of ethnic minorities located within their borders, but the countries held on to their common heritage throughout the Communist era. In most Eastern European countries, cultural forces have brought people together to publicly support the move to unite and hold onto a heritage that is as old as Europe itself.
Governments that had been controlled by Communist dictators or authoritarian leaderships before 1991 were opened up to democratic processes with public elections. With the fall of Communism came economic reforms that shifted countries from central planning to open markets. Under central planning, the governments dictated which products were produced and how many of each were to be produced. The open markets invited private capitalism and western corporate businesses.
The power of the state was transferred from the Communist elite to the private citizen. People could vote for their public officials and could choose businesses and work individually. With the EU looming over the realm, the now-independent countries of Eastern Europe shifted their economic direction away from Moscow and the collapsing Communist state and toward the core industrial countries of Western Europe and the EU.
The stage for the transition from communism to capitalism was further set by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who began to liberalize the Soviet Union by allowing multiparty elections and encouraging economic reform and societal openness (concepts known throughout the world by the Russian words perestroika and glasnost, respectively). At the same time, the world watched as the Chinese government violently cracked down on student protests in the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, which strengthened the revolutionary sentiments and intentions of many people in the Eastern bloc, the former Communist countries of Eastern Europe.
Hungary
During the Communist period, Hungary enjoyed a higher standard of living than its neighbors. It was likely the marked contrast in daily life between the Communist period and the post-Communist period that influenced the outcome of the 1994 elections, which gave the Hungarian Socialist Party, led by former Communists, an absolute majority in parliament. Many were concerned that Hungary was signaling a wish to return to the past, but instead, all three main political parties joined together to work toward the common goals of continued liberalization of the economy, closer ties with the West, and full EU membership.
Economic reforms have not been easy for Hungary and have resulted in a lower standard of living for most people. The removal of government subsidies, a pillar of Communist rule, led to recession. To avoid massive inflation and attract investment, government fiscal policies had to be conservative to the point of austerity. Hungary’s large-scale manufacturing and stable government have aided it through the latest global economic downturn.
An important characteristic of post-Communist Hungary is its desire to become an active member of the global community by joining international organizations. In 1990, Hungary was the first Eastern bloc nation to join the Council of Europe. In 2004, Hungary joined the EU. In addition, Hungary joined the other international organizations, including the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Another endeavor that would not have been possible under the Communist rule was the development of tourism as an important economic sector. Budapest’s reputation as a city of great elegance has helped it become one of the major tourist attractions in Eastern Europe. Major movie studios have also traveled to the city to film.
The Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
Each country in Eastern Europe has a different story to tell regarding its path from communism to independence. Countries such as the Czech Republic and Hungary were more prepared and better equipped to meet the challenges and were early qualifiers for entry into the EU. Historically, the region occupied by the modern Czech Republic was known as Bohemia and Moravia. The Czech Republic and Slovakia were, until recently, part of the same country: Czechoslovakia, which was created in 1918 from part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War II ended. On January 1, 1993, they became two new independent nations. Slovakia is known officially as the Slovak Republic.
Czechs and Slovaks alike descended from Slavic peoples. The national language of the Czech Republic is Czech, while the official language of Slovakia is Slovakian. Both languages are in the Slavic linguistic family. About 94 percent of the population of the Czech Republic identify themselves as ethnically Czech. The others are Slovenian, Polish, German, Hungarian, and Roma (Gypsy). About 86 percent of the inhabitants of Slovakia self-identify as ethnically Slovakian. Hungarians make up the largest minority population, and about 2 percent of the population identify themselves as Roma.
Under Communist rule, the standard of living was very high in Czechoslovakia. When market reforms began in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the standard of living declined to some extent. In general, the Czech Republic has more rapidly and effectively transferred state control of industry to private ownership than has Slovakia. Also, Slovakia was hit harder by the move away from defense industries, which had employed many people during the Communist period. Unemployment has consistently been higher in Slovakia. Slovakia is not as industrialized as the Czech Republic but has made strides since independence to provide economic opportunities for its people. Both countries expanded their economic opportunities when they were admitted into the EU in 2004.
The Baltic Republics
The small Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania transitioned away from their old Soviet connections. After independence, they were quick to look toward Western Europe for trade and development. Most Eastern European countries followed this pattern. Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania received their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Russia withdrew its troops from the region in 1994. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the EU welcomed them as members in 2004. They have transitioned to market economies with democratic governments. The people of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania rapidly expanded their economic conditions after independence but have been hard hit by the downturn in the global marketplace in 2008.
Poland
Poland has a long-standing history of working to oppose the Communist domination of its country. The Solidarity movement in Poland started out as an independent trade union in the 1980s but became a lightning rod for political change in Poland. The Communist Party dominated politics and suppressed any movement to organize labor or the people against the government. The strength of Solidarity became evident by the 1990 election, when Solidarity candidate Lech Wałęsa won the Poland’s presidential election. Solidarity’s victory signified the collapse of the power of the Soviet Union and Communism in Eastern Europe. The country has emerged with democratic government and a thriving capitalist economy.
Since the fall of Communism, Poland left behind its old state-directed economy and transitioned to a market economy, in which businesses are privately owned and run. When the Communists controlled Poland, there was a strong emphasis on heavy industry, and that focus remains alive today. Poland produces cars, buses, helicopters, trains, and heavy military equipment, including tanks and ships. Before the Communists industrialized the Polish economy, it was largely agrarian. Though Poland continues to be one of Europe’s leading agricultural producers, with a wide variety of crops and dairy and meat production, it is unable to meet the food demands of its large population. Poland’s economy is still considered to be under development. Reforms, including privatization, must continue before Poland can adopt the euro, the common EU currency.
Unemployment has at times presented very significant problems for the Polish economy and society. Unemployment skyrocketed to nearly 20 percent in the early 1990s. The situation improved, but unemployment was still at about 14 percent in 2006. By 2010 the situation improved further, and the unemployment rate was around 7 percent. When Poland joined the EU, many people left Poland in search of work. Some of those workers who left have recently returned, as the employment rate and wages are both increasing substantially.
Moldova
A variety of cultural and social forces provided different levels of civility in the transitions of Eastern Europe. The poor, agrarian economy of the small, landlocked country of Moldova provides few opportunities or advantages to grow its economy and provide a stronger future for its people. As a result, young people earning an education or technical skills immigrate to other countries for opportunities or employment.
Belarus
In 1991, independence came to the former Soviet Republic of Belarus, but Belarus took a different path from most of the other Eastern bloc countries in that Belarus did not distance itself from its Russian connection. Belarus has consequently experienced authoritarian governments well into the twenty-first century. In this case, Russia and Belarus created a stronger relationship by signing agreements to increase economic integration. Difficulties have hindered implementation of many of these policies. For one thing, the government of Belarus has been slow to move toward democratic reforms. In fact, the president has taken on greater authoritarian powers. Some of the personal freedoms that have been granted in other European countries—freedom of the press, free speech, and the right to peacefully assemble—are still restricted in Belarus. As of 2010, Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova have not been admitted into the EU. Belarus has indicated that it might join with the Russian Republic and has not even applied for entry into the EU.
Ukraine
With the largest physical area in Europe, Ukraine is slightly larger than France. Its population in 2010 was approximately forty-six million, and 77 percent of the population is ethnically Ukrainian and 17 percent is Russian. Most of the population live in the industrial regions of the southeast or eastern parts of the country. Though the official language is Ukrainian, many Ukrainians still speak Russian. As is the case with neighboring states, the Eastern Orthodox Church dominates the religious and cultural reflections of the arts, literature, and architecture. Christian themes are often reflected in the paintings, books and performances.
The demographic trend in Ukraine follows a pattern of industrialization with smaller family sizes but continues to have a higher death rate than most European countries. The country is now losing about 150,000 people per year. The low birth rates are similar to those of Russia and southern Europe. Poor health and childhood poverty in Ukraine are two of the main issues confirmed by the United Nations (UN). In 2010, Ukraine had a negative population growth rate of −0.62 percent. Fertility rates have been in decline throughout Europe over the past few decades. The average fertility rate in Ukraine is 1.1, one of the world’s lowest; in Europe as a whole, the average is about 1.3. The causes for some of these trends can be attributed to alcoholism, poor diets, smoking, and the lack of medical care. The average life expectancy for an adult male in Ukraine is about sixty-two years. In comparison, the average life expectancy for men in France is about seventy-eight years.
Of the former Soviet Union republics, excluding Russia, Ukraine was far and away the most important economic component, producing about four times the output of the next-ranking Soviet republic. Its fertile black soil generated more than one-fourth of the overall Soviet agricultural output, and its farms provided substantial quantities of meat, milk, grain, and vegetables to other republics. Likewise, its diversified heavy industry supplied steel pipes and raw materials to Russia’s oil and mining industry. Ukraine’s political relationship with Russia has been complicated since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but Russia still supplies enormous amounts of natural gas and oil to fuel the economy, and Russia’s markets are still highly integrated with those of Ukraine.
Though Ukraine has transitioned from a Soviet republic to a fully independent country, divisive centrifugal forces have made Ukraine’s path to free elections and democratically elected leaders difficult. The country has held political elections, but they have been challenged or tainted with corruption and accusations of fraud. Today, the country has a democratically elected government and is working toward improving its economy and creating stability for its people.
Romania
A number of countries of Eastern Europe have fully transitioned from Communist dictatorships to modern, integrated economies. Romania is one of those countries. Romania encompasses an area equivalent to the US state of Minnesota. Its population of 21.5 million people includes two million who live in Bucharest, the capital and largest city of the country. The Carpathian Mountains circle Romania, with the Transylvanian Alps to the south. The Danube River runs across the region and creates a natural border with Bulgaria and Serbia before flowing into the Black Sea. The Romanian forests are some of the largest in Europe, with about half (13 percent of the country) set aside from logging and placed in watershed conservation programs. The integrity of the ecosystems in the Romanian forests provide diverse habitats for plants and animals. Romania claims to have the most European brown bears and about 40 percent of all European wolves living within its borders.
Tourism is growing in Romania. Almost 5 percent of Romania is placed in protected areas, including thirteen national parks and three biosphere reserves, all of which are attractive to tourists. Tourist attractions also include medieval castles as well as historic Transylvanian cities. Rural tourism focuses on folklore and traditions including such sites as Bran Castle, referred to locally as the castle of Dracula, a mythical person patterned after the stories and legends of Vlad III the Impaler.
Figure 2.33 Bran Castle Near Brasov in Transylvania
Romania’s Communist dictator, Nicolae Ceauşescu, ruled from 1965 to 1989. The end of his domination came when the government was overthrown by a revolution. Ceauşescu and his wife were arrested and shot to death. Even after his death, the Communist Party maintained strong ties to the government until the mid-1990s.
The transition to integrate Romania’s economy with that of the greater European economy was delayed because of Romania’s obsolete industrial infrastructure, established during the Communist era. Since joining the EU in 2007, Romania has developed a stronger export market with Western European countries. Investments and consumer confidence have fueled the growth of the domestic economy. Romania has worked through a number of difficult issues in its attempts to provide a stable government and a growing market economy.
Albania
The southern Adriatic is home to the small country of Albania. The rugged mountainous country of Albania has a Muslim majority. Poverty, unemployment, and a lack of opportunities to gain wealth have plagued the country. Albania has even received Communist support from China. As a result of the war in Kosovo, Albania suffered a major setback in its progress toward an improved standard of living and integration with the rest of Europe. When stability is established, Albania can progress toward becoming more integrated with the European economy and raise its standard of living for its people. A parliamentary democracy has been installed since the Communist era, and foreign investments have aided in developing updated transportation and power grids.
Bulgaria
Located in the crossroads of the continents, Bulgaria has a major trans-European corridor running through its territory that connects all the way to Asia. The country is home to diverse landscapes, which include the sunny Black Sea coast and the higher elevations of the Balkan Mountains, which reach an elevation of 9,596 feet. The Danube River flows across the border with Bulgaria on its way to the Black Sea. About one-third of the country consists of plains, which provide for extensive agricultural activity. Ore and minerals can also be found in Albania, which has allowed the country to gain wealth.
Upon declaring independence from Russia, Bulgaria held multiparty elections. Its economy is emerging, but the transition to a capitalist system has not been without the difficulties of unemployment, inflation, and corruption. Bulgaria became a member of NATO in 2004 and was accepted for EU membership in 2007. The transition to a free market economy is still in progress, with mining, industry, and agriculture as the main economic activities. Tourism is an emerging segment of the economy that has been gaining international attention in recent years. The country has a milder climate than the northern states of Eastern Europe and has been marketing itself as a major tourist destination. Main points of interest include historical monasteries, coastal resorts on the Black Sea, and the capital city of Sofia.
Special Section: A Story of “Yes” and “No” in Bulgaria
Here is an example of cultural differences between the United States and Bulgaria. This story is from Elizabeth Kelly, a US Peace Corps volunteer working in Bulgaria (2003–5).
“I’ll have coffee,” I tell the waitress at a cafe during my first week in Bulgaria. She shakes her head from side to side. “OK, tea,” I say, thinking that maybe there’s something wrong with the coffee machine. Again, she shakes her head. “Um. cola?” Once more, she shakes her head. By now, she’s looking at me like I’m crazy, and I’m totally confused. Then I remember: A shake of the head by a Bulgarian means “yes,” and a nod—what the rest of the world does for “yes”—means “no.”
Early on, when I communicated with Bulgarians, it seemed like my head was moving in ways my brain hadn’t told it to. Sometimes I wanted to grab my ears and use them as controls. Learning a language with a completely different alphabet was challenging enough without trying to figure out whether to nod or shake.
When I began teaching, all this head bobbing made communication in the classroom interesting. Although I had made sure my students knew about this cultural difference on the first day of school, we all frequently forgot what we were doing. My students would answer a question correctly or say something really great, and I’d nod. A second later, they were trying to change their answer, since they thought the nod meant they had been wrong. But the confusion went both ways. Sometimes I’d ask a student a yes-or-no question and he or she would answer with a nod or a shake, without saying anything. Not remembering the difference, we’d have to go through the motions several times before I understood. Frequently I found myself saying, “Da or ne—just tell me one or the other!”
I also had to deal with confused colleagues who couldn’t figure out why I kept nodding my head while they talked, as if I were arguing with them. In truth, I was just trying to show that I understood and was following along with the story. And then there was the even greater problem of how to act with Bulgarians who spoke English and were aware of the nodding–shaking problem. Was I supposed to nod or shake for “yes” when I was speaking English with them? And what was I supposed to do when we were speaking Bulgarian? What if we were in a situation where both languages were being spoken? To make matters even more complicated, after going a couple of weeks without any contact with other Americans, we’d finally get together and I’d find myself shaking when I should have been nodding. My head was spinning!
Tuning in to how the people around me communicate has brought me closer to the people and the culture of Bulgaria. And whenever we slip up and forget to control our heads, the laughter that follows brings us together. Luckily, a smile is a smile the world over.
A Valuable Lesson in Political and Cultural Geography
The name Yugoslavia, applied to the region along the Adriatic in 1929, means Land of the South Slavs. From 1918 to 1929, the region had been called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. Non-Slavic populations surround Yugoslavia. The region’s core is mountainous. The Dinaric Alps, with the highest peak at just below nine thousand feet in elevation, run through the center of the Balkan Peninsula. The rugged mountains separate and isolate groups of Slavic people who, over time, have formed separate identities and consider themselves different from those on the other sides of the mountain ridges. Distinct subethnic divisions developed into the Slovenes, Macedonians, Bosnians, Montenegrins, Croats, and Serbs, with various additional groups. These differences led to conflict, division, and war when the breakup of former Yugoslavia began.
World War I started in the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia, when a Serb advocate assassinated Archduke Ferdinand of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. In the next conflict, World War II, there was also divisiveness within Yugoslavia: Croatia sided with Nazi Germany, but Serbia was an ally with the Communist Soviet Union. The region of Bosnia, with a Muslim majority, faced religious opposition from its mainly Christian neighbors. A group headed by Marshal Tito (a.k.a. Josip Broz) led Yugoslavia after World War II ended in 1945. Tito created a Communist state that attempted to retain its own brand of neutrality between the Warsaw Pact nations led by the Soviet Union and the NATO nations of the West.
Tito was a centripetal force for the region of Yugoslavia. For over forty years, he held the many ethnic Slavic groups together under what he called Brotherhood and Unity, which was actually the threat of brute military force. It appears to have been effective. The 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo as witness to the progress and unity of Tito’s Yugoslavia. At the same time, Yugoslavia started manufacturing a model of automobiles called the Yugo. While the Yugo was not in the same league as high-end European luxury cars, the ability to make and purchase automobiles was a testimony to the rising industrial level of the Yugoslav economy. This progressive trend, unfortunately, was not to last.
Macedonia is officially called the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) because of a name conflict with Greece. Albania is an independent country and was never a part of Yugoslavia.
Table 2.3 Status of States in Former Yugoslavia
Country Year of Independence Religion Population Size (Sq. Mi.) World War II Ally
Slovenia 1991 Catholic, 57%; Muslim, 2.4%;Orthodox, 2.3% 2 million 7,827 (about the size of Vermont)
Croatia 1991 Catholic, 88%; Orthodox, 4.4%; Muslim, 1.3% 4.5 million 21,831 (about the size of West Virginia) Nazi Germany
Bosnia 1991 Muslim, 40%; Orthodox, 31%; Catholic, 15% 4 million 19,741 (about the size of West Virginia)
Serbia 2006 Orthodox, 85%; Muslim, 4%; Other, 10% 10 million 29,915 (about the size of South Carolina) Soviet Union
Kosovo* 2008 Muslim, 90%; Orthodox, 9% 1.8 million 4,203 (about the size of Connecticut)
Macedonia 1991 Orthodox, 67%; Muslim, 30% 2.1 million 9,781 (about the size of Vermont)
Montenegro 2006 Orthodox, 74%; Muslim, 18%; Catholic, 3.5% 678,177 5,423 (about the size of Connecticut)
*Note: As of 2008, Kosovo was not accepted by the UN. Its status is pending.
The Breakup of Former Yugoslavia
Tito died in 1980. The unity that had helped hold the country together began to break down in the early 1990s with the Soviet Union’s collapse. With the dual loss of the Soviet Union and Tito’s strong policies as centripetal forces, the power struggle for dominance among the various ethnic groups began.
In 1991, Slobodan Miloševik began pushing for the nationalistic goal of uniting all the ethnic Serbs that lived in the various parts of Yugoslavia into a Greater Serbia. The efforts were not approved or supported by the UN, which rejected Yugoslavia for membership in 1992. At that time, Kosovo and Montenegro were part of the Serb state. Miloševik first sent the Yugoslav military to Kosovo to take control from the majority Albanian population and secure the region for Greater Serbia. Fearing war, Slovenia, Croatia, and Macedonia declared independence in 1991. Yugoslavia was breaking up.
Miloševik then moved into Croatia to secure Serb areas for his Greater Serbia. After a brief but bitter war between Serbia and Croatia, the UN stepped in to halt the conflict. The first signs of ethnic cleansing were reported during this conflict. Serb military units would roll into a town or village and claim it as a Serb-only location. The Croats and any other people living there were forced to leave. Reports of assaults on women and the systematic killing of men of fighting age were documented. Sadly, ethnic cleansing began to be reported on all sides of the war. The bitter hatred between Croats and Serbs, which had been handed down from the World War II era, surfaced for a new generation. After the UN stopped Miloševik in Croatia, he turned to the Serb areas of Bosnia to expand his Greater Serbia. Bosnia immediately declared independence and was approved by the UN in 1992.
The bitter battle for Bosnia extended from 1992 to 1995, and Europe wondered if the Bosnian war would develop into World War III. The region of Bosnia included people of Serb, Croat, and Bosnian ethnic backgrounds. Bosnia broke up along ethnic lines. The Serb group supported Greater Serbia; the Bosnian group wanted independence. In March 1994, the Croat group signed an agreement joining with the Bosnian group against the Serbs. In 1995, with strong pressure from Europe and the United States, the warring groups signed a peace agreement known as the Dayton Accord, named after a meeting in Dayton, Ohio. The Dayton Accord accepted Bosnia’s borders and supported the creation of a unity government that was democratic and included the multiethnic groups. The country of Bosnia was divided into three parts: Serb, Croat, and Bosnian.
Military forces continue to monitor and secure the regions of Bosnia. Portions of Bosnia under Serb control have declared themselves the Republic of Srpska and have attempted to create their own nation-state. The remaining territory of Bosnia (51 percent) consists of a joint Bosnian/Croat federation. Both regions have sublevel governments within the formal country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Herzegovina is a small region extending from the city of Mostar to the southern border with Montenegro. In June of 2006, the region of Montenegro declared itself independent of Serbia. Montenegro uses the euro as its currency and has applied for WTO membership. Montenegro has privatized its main industries and is soliciting a tourism industry.
The War for Kosovo
Yugoslavia, under the leadership of President Miloševik, sought to ensure that Kosovo would never leave the umbrella of Greater Serbia. The 1.8 million Albanian Muslims who lived in Kosovo constituted 90 percent of the population by 1989. They did not want to live under Serb control. Serbia claimed that Kosovo was the heart of the Serb Orthodox Church and the cradle of the medieval Serbian Empire. The historic battles against the Islamic Turkish Ottoman Empire in Kosovo have been memorialized in Serb tradition and history.
The main opposition to the Serb power structure in Kosovo in the early 1990s was the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). Many in the KLA wanted an independent Kosovo and an alliance with Albania. In 1998, Miloševik sent troops into areas controlled by the KLA. The civil war in Kosovo between Serbs and Albanian Muslims was devastating the region and creating thousands of refugees. The tension, hatred, and massacres by both forces further complicated the peace process. In March of 1999, NATO implemented a unified mission, called Operation Allied Force, to force Miloševik to discontinue the ethnic cleansing campaign and end the violence in Kosovo.
In June of 1999, Miloševik yielded to a peace agreement that brought Kosovo under the auspices of the UN and NATO forces, removed the Serb military, and allowed for the safe return of over eight hundred thousand refugees from Albania, Montenegro, and Macedonia. Miloševik lost his bid for the presidency in the elections of 2000, was arrested for crimes against humanity in 2001, and was transferred to the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague, the Netherlands. The charges brought against him included ethnic cleansing and torture. He died in 2006 while in custody before the trial ended.
Figure 2.36
The wars in former Yugoslavia were fueled by strong cultural forces.
NATO forces continue to be stationed in Kosovo to keep the peace and work toward restoring order. After much negotiation between the UN and regional entities, the Kosovo Assembly declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Serb officials overwhelmingly opposed Kosovo’s independence, as they had in 1991. Kosovo’s status is now pending in the UN.
Conclusion of Former Yugoslavia
Kosovo and the independent republics of former Yugoslavia provide an excellent study in the dynamics of ethnicity, culture, and political geography. The lessons learned from this region could be applied to many other areas of the world suffering similar conflicts, such as Chechnya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Rwanda, Congo/Zaire, or East Timor. Former Yugoslavia represents an example of how divisive centrifugal and devolutionary forces can lead to nationalism and eventually to war. The drive toward a nation-state has fueled nationalism and conflict in the Balkans. The civil wars within former Yugoslavia have cost thousands of lives and destroyed an infrastructure that had taken decades to build. Geographers have called Eastern Europe a shatterbelt because of the conflicts and divisions that have occurred there.
In spite of the problems with the transition in Eastern Europe, the region has nonetheless seen enormous economic gains. Even Slovenia, once part of former Yugoslavia, has rebounded with strong economic growth. Many of the progressive Eastern European countries have been accepted into the EU. The map of the EU includes many of the developing Eastern bloc countries. Eastern Europe has experienced many transitions throughout its history. The transition from communism to capitalism is only one part of the geography and history of Eastern Europe.
Key Takeaways
• After World War II ended in 1945, Europe was divided into Western Europe and Eastern Europe by the Iron Curtain. Western Europe promoted capitalist democracies, and Eastern Europe came under the Communist influence of the Soviet Union. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Eastern Europe began to transition toward Western European ideals.
• Eastern Europe has been shifting toward democratic governments, open market economies, private ownership, and the EU rather than the old Soviet Union.
• Countries with stable governments and industrial potential have been accepted into the EU and have expanding economies. Other countries that have not reached that level of economic development or political reforms have not been admitted into the EU.
• The transition of former Soviet republics to capitalist systems has not been without difficulties, including unemployment, inflation, corruption and crime, and poverty. Political infighting has been evident in the transitioning countries that do not yet have a stable democratic government or economy.
• The breakup of former Yugoslavia was an example of how strong devolutionary forces can promote nationalism resulting in open war. The once stable country of Yugoslavia split into seven separate countries patterned after the nation-state concept. Bosnia remains the most diverse state, with a majority Muslim population.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What were four of the main reforms that occurred in Eastern Europe with the collapse of the Soviet Union?
2. Which Eastern European countries were once members of the Soviet Union?
3. What factor has most heavily influenced most of the political boundaries of Eastern Europe?
4. How would the change from central planning to open markets influence the use of natural resources?
5. Which countries of Eastern Europe are members of the EU?
6. How did the larger Slavic population of former Yugoslavia five hundred years ago become the existing subgroups of the Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Montenegrins, and Serbs?
7. Why was Slobodan Miloševik so determined to keep the region of Kosovo under Serb control?
8. What was the purpose of ethnic cleansing in former Yugoslavia?
9. What role did religion play in the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo?
10. Why would the United States be so concerned about the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo—so much so that the United States spent billions to help end the war and then billions more to keep the peace and rebuild the region?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Adriatic Sea
• Albania
• Baltic Sea
• Belarus
• Black Sea
• Bosnia
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Hungary
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Macedonia
• Moldova
• Montenegro
• Poland
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Ukraine
2.05: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
• The European continent extends from the North Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains in Russia. The Russian segment of the European continent is usually studied with Russia as a whole. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south.
• The Gulf Stream helps create a type C climate for much of Western Europe. Type D climates dominate the north and eastern portions of Eastern Europe. Europe has four main physical landforms that provide a diversity of resources for human activity.
• European colonialism brought increased wealth and economic activity to Western Europe. The Industrial Revolution also began here. Europe developed into an industrialized realm with powerful economic forces that continue to drive the postindustrial engine of globalization. Rural-to-urban shift and urbanization were products of industrialization. The result for Europe has been smaller families and higher incomes.
• The Roman Empire created early networks of infrastructure for southern Europe, while the Vikings connected northern Europe through trade and warfare. The latest attempt to unify the European nations is through supranationalism in the formation of the European Union (EU). Countries that have strong economies and stable governments are allowed to join the EU.
• Western Europe can be divided into various geographic regions based on the points of the compass. The distinctions often relate to the type of economic activity the people are engaged in or are based on cultural traits such as the variations of Christianity or the branches of the Indo-European language.
• Since the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, Eastern Europe has been transitioning from Communist governments to democratic governments with capitalist-style economies. Some countries have made this transition more easily than others. Many of the more progressive countries have been accepted into the EU. Other countries continue to struggle to establish stable democratic governments and a growing economy.
• The breakup of former Yugoslavia is an excellent example of how cultural forces shape geographic areas. The Slavic region that makes up former Yugoslavia was separated through nationalism and strong devolutionary forces. The largest state of Serbia dominated the breakup with the push for a Greater Serbia for Serbs only. The result was the creation of seven smaller states following a nation-state design.
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Learning Objectives
1. Identify Russia’s climatic influences and physical regions.
2. Determine how the czars expanded their territorial power to create the Russian Empire.
3. Contrast the ways that the governments of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union dealt with the issue of diverse nationalities within their countries.
4. Describe some of the environmental problems facing the Russian republics today.
The massive expanse of Russia exhibits a variety of physical environments, such as tundras, steppes, mountains, and birch forests. Type D (continental) climates dominate most of the country and characterize large landmasses such as Eurasia and North America. Land in the center of a large continent, far from the moderating effects of oceans, tends to heat up rapidly in the summer and cool down rapidly in the winter. These areas are known for hot summers and cold, harsh winters. Northern Russia borders the Arctic Ocean, and frigid air masses from the Arctic swoop south across Russia each winter. Moreover, Russia’s northerly latitude means that it experiences a short growing season and has never been an agricultural superpower; the country usually has to import grain to feed its people. Mountain ranges to the south block summer rains and warm air masses that would otherwise come from South and Central Asia, thus creating deserts and steppes in southern Russia.
Most of Russia’s population live in the European part of the country on the Eastern European Plain, also known as the Western Russian Plain, or the Russian Plain, the most agriculturally productive land in Russia. The eastern edge of the plain is marked by the Ural Mountains, a low-lying mountain chain (about 6,000 feet) that crosses Russia from the Arctic Ocean to Kazakhstan. The mountains contain deposits of coal, iron ore, and precious and semiprecious stones and are considered the boundary between Europe and Asia. To the south of the Russian Plain is another mountain range, the Caucasus Mountains, which bridges the gap between the Caspian and Black Seas. East of the Urals are the West Siberian Plain, the Central Siberian Plateau, the Yakutsk Basin, the Eastern Highlands, and the Central Asian Ranges. Russia has rich natural resources, such as petroleum, natural gas, and forest products.
Figure 3.2 Physical Regions of Russia
Expansion of the Empire
The territory that makes up the Russian Federation was gradually conquered by the Russian Empire as the country expanded from its political core around Moscow/St. Petersburg during the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. By the end of the eighteenth century, Czarina Catherine the Great had expanded Russia to include the area that is now Ukraine (the north side of the Black Sea), the northern Caucasus Mountains, and Alaska (which Russia later sold to the United States). During the next century, the Russian Empire expanded eastward into Central Asia (what is now Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and the other Central Asian republics), southward into the rest of the Caucasus region, and westward into Poland and Finland. In the twentieth century, when the Russian Empire disintegrated and was replaced by the Soviet Union (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or USSR), the central government continued to expand and strengthen its control of the vast area from Eastern Europe to the Pacific Ocean.
Both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union were imperial powers. In other words, these governments ruled a large variety of ethnic groups in distant places: people who spoke many languages, people who worshiped different gods in different ways, people who had various skin and hair colors, and people who did not consider themselves to be Russian. Although the British and some other European powers had an arguably more difficult task of ruling empires that were widely scattered around the world, Russia had the largest empire in terms of territory. Ruling this diverse, immense empire was an incredible challenge.
The czars ruled this empire with Russification and the sword. Russification refers to the attempt to minimize cultural differences and turn all Russian subjects into Russians, or at least to make them as Russian as possible. As they were all subject to the Russian czars, people were taught the Russian language and were encouraged to convert to Russian Orthodoxy. Russification was not very successful, and the farther people were from Moscow the less likely they were to be Russified. When the Soviets took over the Russian Empire, millions of Muslims still lived in Central Asia, on the Crimean peninsula of southern Ukraine, in the Caucasus Mountains, and elsewhere.
The Soviets took a different tack when it came to taming the diversity of the empire. Instead of emphasizing unity under the Russian czar, the Russian language, and the Russian Orthodox religion, the Soviets decided to organize—and thus try to control—the diversity of ethnic groups found in the Soviet Union. They chose some of the major groups (Uzbek, Kazakh, and so forth) and established Soviet Socialist Republics that corresponded to these major groups. Thus they created the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR), the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (Kazakh SSR), the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukrainian SSR), and a different republic for each of fourteen ethnic groups, plus the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. About eighty-five other ethnic groups were not given their own republics, although some of them were allocated regions within the Russian Republic. In theory, each of the Soviet Socialist Republics was an independent state choosing to ally with the Soviet Union. In practice, of course, these republics were part of a totalitarian, centrally ruled state with far fewer autonomous rights than states in the United States.
The creation of these republics strengthened certain ethnic/national identities and weakened others. There had not been a fully developed Uzbek national identity before the formation of the Uzbek SSR. The same was true for the Kazakh SSR, the Turkmen SSR, and others. Although people in a certain area might have spoken the same language, they did not think of themselves as belonging to a nation of fellow Uzbeks, Kazakhs, or Turkmen until they were put into one by the Soviet rulers. In 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, these Soviet Socialist Republics were able to declare their independence from Russia, and the national identities fostered during the Soviet era came to fruition.
At the same time that the Soviets were organizing minority ethnic groups into republics, they were also sending ethnic Russians to live in non-Russian parts of the Soviet Union. Some were sent by force—such as Russians who were sent to prison camps in Siberia and stayed in the area after they were eventually freed. Other Russians were sent around the empire to work in factories, power plants, and other industries, or they were sent to help administer the government. By sending Russians to the far reaches of the Soviet Union, the Russian government hoped to consolidate its control over the various republics and to dilute the strength of the minority ethnicities. This policy also had unintended consequences: when the Soviet Union collapsed after 1991 and the various republics became independent countries, they each had to deal with sizable Russian minorities. For example, at the time of its independence, nearly as many ethnic Russians lived in Kazakhstan (38 percent) as ethnic Kazakhs (40 percent). In the twenty years since then, many Russians moved to Russia from the former Soviet republics. In 2010, Kazakhstan’s population was only about 24 percent ethnic Russian1.
The Russian federation was created with eighty-three federal subjects: two autonomous federal cities; forty-six provinces (oblasts) and nine territories (krais) that function in the same way and are the most common type of federal unit; twenty-one republics; four autonomous districts (okrugs); and one autonomous oblast. Moscow and St. Petersburg are the two federal cities that function as their own units. The oblasts and krais each have a governor appointed by the central government and a locally elected legislature. The governorship was an elected position in the 1990s, but President Vladimir Putin changed the structure to strengthen the power of the central state. The republics, designed to be home to certain ethnic minorities, are allowed to have their own constitutions and governments and to select an official language that will be used besides Russian, but they are not considered independent countries with the right to secession. The autonomous districts were also formed for ethnic minorities and are administered either by the central state or by the province or territory in which they are located. The only autonomous oblast was created in the 1930s to be a home for Jews in the Russian Far East, but only about 1 percent of the population remains Jewish today.
Regional Environmental Problems
Each region of the Russian republic has its own environmental issues. The core region surrounding Moscow, with all its industrial activity and large urban expanses, introduces sewage and chemicals to the country’s waterways, contributing to serious water pollution. The same water pollution is found east of the Ural Mountains—and in the waterways in that region—because of the industrial cities found there. Moscow and the ring of industrial cities surrounding it have seen a dramatic increase in automobile use since 1991, contributing to air pollution. Russia is blessed with abundant natural resources, but significant environmental damage has been the price of exploiting and extracting those resources. Massive oil spills have occurred in the taiga and tundra areas, where the lack of safety management has increased environmental damage during oil exploration and development. The taiga is the large expanse of evergreen or boreal forests in the north just south of the tundra in North America, Europe, and Asia. The taiga is most common in type D climates and is one of the largest biomes on earth. The taiga is the largest biome in Russia. Mining and smelting processes in Siberian cities have added to the region’s air and water pollution. These ecosystems are rather fragile and will take years to recover from such damage.
Water pollution from the rivers extends into the Black Sea, the Caspian Sea, and other bodies of water. Lake Baikal, described as the largest freshwater lake in the world, was at one time pristine, but pollutants have entered its waters from nearby industrial activity. Increased pollution in the Black and Caspian Seas, as well as overfishing, the lack of fishing regulations, and the lack of law enforcement, has resulted in the devastation of fish populations such as the caviar-producing sturgeon. The Arctic waters of the Barents Sea off the northern coast of Russia have been a dumping ground for nuclear waste products and expended nuclear reactors from naval vessels. The consequences of this nuclear pollution are not widely known or studied. Many additional aging nuclear reactors from the Soviet era dot the landscape, and they will need to be decommissioned at some point, adding to the nuclear waste issues. Various regions in Siberia were used for nuclear testing and are also contaminated with nuclear radiation.
Key Takeaways
• Russia’s climate is characterized by long, cold winters and short summers, and because of a short growing season, the country has such poor agriculture that usually it needs to import grain.
• The Russian Empire gradually expanded its territory to the east, west, and south of Moscow and by the end of the nineteenth century had accumulated a vast area of land and a great variety of people of many ethnicities, languages, and religions.
• The Soviets sent ethnic Russians across the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) to better control and govern the territory and its people.
• When the Soviet Union collapsed, its internal nationality-oriented republics declared independence, and the Russians who had been sent to live around the USSR were now living in non-Russian countries. While most of the ethnic Russians stayed in their current countries, many others returned to Russia after 1991.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What physical feature provides a divide between European and Asian Russia?
2. What are Russia’s main physical regions?
3. In what ways was Russia a colonial empire?
4. What strategies did the Russian Empire use to govern a multiethnic state?
5. What were Soviet Socialist Republics, and why were they created?
6. What was a long-term consequence of the formation of Soviet Socialist Republics for the current geopolitical organization of this world region?
7. What are some of the major environmental problems in Russia?
8. Why did so many of the Soviet republics separate and become independent in 1991?
9. Why wasn’t the Russian Orthodox Church more prominent or powerful during the Soviet era?
10. Why do more people live on the smaller European side of Russia than the larger Asian side?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Barents Sea
• Black Sea
• Caspian Sea
• Caucasus Mountains
• Central Asian Ranges
• Central Siberian Plateau
• Eastern Highlands
• European Plain
• Lake Baikal
• Ural Mountains
• West Siberian Plain
• Yakutsk Basin
1“Demography of the Soviet Union,” Wikipedia, en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Demography_of_the_Soviet_Union; “The World Factbook,” Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/xx.html.
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Learning Objectives
1. Define the main tenets of a socialist economy.
2. Describe some of the conditions of life in the Soviet Union.
3. Briefly explain why the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) collapsed.
4. Describe the post-Soviet economic and political situation.
As we learned in Section 3.1 “Introducing the Realm”, the Russian Empire was built by the czars over the course of a few hundred years. However, the economic and political systems of the Russian Empire were not sustainable in the modern era. The vast majority of the population were poor, and most were landless peasant farmers—and in a place with short growing seasons, farming was not an easy path to riches. Political decisions were made by a very small elite group. At the dawn of the twentieth century, one hundred years after the Industrial Revolution swept through Great Britain and Western Europe, Russia remained an agricultural country and had not yet begun large-scale industrialization. Outside of the aristocracy, few supported the status quo in Russia, and there was widespread desire for a new political system and government.
However, no one could agree on what a new government would look like. In the aftermath of the First World War, a civil war erupted in Russia. During these chaotic times, the last czar, Nicholas II, was forced from office, and he and his family were executed. The most powerful group battling for control of Russia was a Communist group called the Bolsheviks, which literally meant the “larger group.” Other groups, including the “smaller group,” the Mensheviks, lost the civil war. The Bolshevik leader was Vladimir Lenin, and in 1917 he and his supporters embarked on a quest to turn Russia into a Communist state.
The capital city was moved back to Moscow from St. Petersburg, where it had been since the time of Czar Peter the Great in the eighteenth century. St. Petersburg’s name was changed to Petrograd and then Leningrad in honor of Vladimir Lenin, as the atheist Soviets did not want any references to Christian saints. The entire territory of the Russian Empire was turned into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). The Russian people traded a monarchy for a Marxist totalitarian state (see the explanation of Marxism in Section 3.2.1 “Marxist-Leninist Central Planning”).
Figure 3.5 Vladimir Lenin and Josef Stalin
Wikimedia Commons – public domain
The Soviet Union lasted from 1922 to 1991. Josef Stalin, the Soviet dictator who took over after Lenin, was incapacitated in 1922 (and died in 1924). He was a ruthless leader who murdered his way to power and killed or exiled anyone who got in his way. Stalin is famous for initiating economic plans that helped move Russia from a poor, agrarian state to a large, industrial superpower. He pushed for rapid industrialization, the eradication of family farms in lieu of large communal farms, the end of personal ownership of land or businesses, and the dramatic weakening of organized religion. All these changes came at a great price. During his reign of terror, an estimated thirty million people lost their lives. The forced collectivization of agriculture brought about a devastating famine in 1932–33, in which between six and eight million people starved to death or were killed outright, many of them in Ukraine. Stalin led periodic purges of his perceived political enemies. The largest of these is known as the Great Purge. At that time (1936–38), about one million so-called enemies of the state were executed. More people lost their lives under Stalin than in all the concentration camps of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi regime. The full extent of Stalin’s purges of his people may never be fully known. Stalin’s rule ended in 1953, when he reportedly died of natural causes. However, some historians believe he was poisoned by his close associates.
Table 3.1 Soviet Leaders and Russian Presidents
Soviet Union Leaders Time as Leader Life Span
Vladimir Ilich Ulyanov (Lenin) 1917–24d 1870–1924
Josef Vissarionovich Djugashvili (Stalin) 1924–53d 1879?–1953
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev 1953–64 1894–1971
Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev 1964–82d 1906–1982
Yuri Vladimirovich Andropov 1982–84d 1914–84
Konstantin Ustinovich Chernenko 1984–85d 1911–85
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev 1985–91 1931–
Russian Federation presidents (1991+)
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin 1991–99 1931–2007
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin 2000–2008 1952–
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev 2008– 1965–
d = died while in office
Marxist-Leninist Central Planning
The Soviet Union espoused the philosophies of Karl Marx, a nineteenth-century German theorist. Marx wrote that all political and economic life can be understood as a struggle between the various classes in society. People who adhere to Marx’s philosophy are called Marxists, and the Soviet version of Marxism is called Marxism-Leninism. In Marxist thought, capitalism is an oppressive economic system in which the working class (the proletariat) is oppressed by the bourgeoisie (the wealthy middle class). Marxists believe that the proletariat should revolt, rise up against the bourgeoisie, take the property away from the rich, and give it to the government to control it for the benefit of the common people. Ultimately, a pure Communist system would result, with no social or economic classes, no private property, no rich people, and no poor people. In real life, governments that adopt these ideas practice socialism and are said to be socialist.
As a socialist state, the Soviet Union did not include open markets. The Soviet Union was a command economy, in which economic decisions were made by the state and not left to the market to decide. During the Soviet era, for example, industrial production was planned by the central government. The government would decide what would be produced, where it would be produced, the quantity produced, the number of workers who would produce it, where the raw materials would come from, and how the final product would be distributed. By mobilizing the entire country to work toward common goals, the USSR was able to achieve the rapid industrialization that it so desired. However, the Soviets underestimated the power and efficiency of free-enterprise capitalism, and their socialist system was undermined by waste, fraud, and corruption.
Another main economic feature of the Soviet Union was collectivized agriculture. The Soviet leaders did not want individual, capitalist farmers to become rich and threaten their economic system. Nor did they want thousands of small, inefficient farms when the country was perpetually unable to feed itself. Instead, they decided to streamline agricultural production into large farm factories. All the farmland in each area was consolidated into a government-owned collective operation. Some collective farms were run by the state, while others were run by private cooperatives. During the transition period to collective farming, individual farmers were forced to give up their land, animals, farm equipment, and farm buildings and donate them to the collective farm in their area. The state also demanded a high percentage of the crops produced. At times, the government collected the entire harvest, not even allowing seed crops to be held for the following season. This brought about widespread famine in 1932–33. Collectivized agriculture remained the norm in the Soviet Union until the country’s dissolution in 1991 and even afterward in some areas.
The Cold War
From the end of World War II in 1945 until the collapse of the USSR in 1991, the Soviet Union and the United States competed in the global community for the control of labor, resources, and world power. Each side attracted allies, and most countries were on the side of either the United States or the Soviet Union; very few remained neutral. This era, known as the Cold War, did not involve direct military armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union, but it transformed the world into a political chessboard, with each side wanting to block the other side from gaining ground. Whenever the Soviets would enter into an alliance with a certain country, the United States was right there to try to counter the move. Wars, armed conflicts, sabotage, spying, and covert activities were the methods of the Cold War. Both sides stockpiled as much deadly weaponry as possible, including nuclear warheads and missiles. They also competed in the race to put people in outer space.
The Cold War led to wars fought in Vietnam, Korea, Grenada, Afghanistan, Angola, and the Middle East, with the Soviet Union funding one side and the United States supplying the other. Covert wars or guerilla wars with secret agents and political assassinations were fought in Cuba, Nicaragua, Chile, Guatemala, Mozambique, Laos, Cambodia, and a host of other third-world countries. The Cold War divided the world into two main camps, each with a high number of nuclear weapons. Eastern Europe was sectioned off by the Iron Curtain, and the Berlin Wall divided the city of Berlin, Germany. These physical barriers divided the communist countries of Eastern Europe with the capitalist democracies of Western Europe. Germany itself was divided into two separate countries, as explained in Chapter 2 “Europe”.
Various Soviet dictators came to power and died in office before the end of the Cold War. The last Soviet leader was Mikhail Gorbachev, who assumed power in 1985. The US president at the time was Ronald Reagan. During the 1980s the United States was outspending the Soviets militarily, and its economy was growing at a much faster rate than that of the USSR. At the same time, the Soviets were engaged in a costly war in Afghanistan, and their economy was faltering and in danger of collapse. Gorbachev realized that reforms had to be implemented to modernize the Soviet system: political life needed to be more open so that people would feel ownership of the country, and the economy needed to be restructured. Gorbachev implemented perestroika (restructuring of the economy with market-like reforms) and glasnost (openness and transparency of all government activities). The restructuring exposed fundamental problems in the economy, and by 1990 the Soviet economy was in worse shape than ever before.
The first McDonald’s restaurant in the former Soviet Union was in Moscow, Russia.
The end came in 1991: the Soviet Union collapsed when fourteen of the Soviet republics broke away and declared their independence. At this point, the Soviet state was too weak to prevent it. All the republics, including Russia itself (now called the Russian Federation), became independent countries. The only territories that did not achieve independence were the smaller republics and autonomous regions that existed within the Russian Federation’s boundaries. The Iron Curtain melted away seemingly overnight, and people were free to travel to and from the former Communist countries. The old Russian flag flew over the Kremlin—the seat of the Russian government—for the first time since Czar Nicholas II had been in power seventy-three years earlier. The Communist era of the Soviet Union and the Cold War were over.
The post-Soviet transition was filled with political, economic, and social turmoil. Boris Yeltsin, the first president of the new Russian Federation, ushered in a series of economic reforms that privatized state-owned enterprises. Russian leaders tried to reverse socialism rapidly through what they called “shock therapy,” which they knew would be painful but hoped would be brief. These reforms created a new class of capitalist entrepreneurs.
Wealth, once controlled by the political elite, was now being shifted to the business elite, a pattern found in most capitalist countries. Many ordinary workers faced unemployment for the first time as the new owners of various companies trimmed unnecessary staff. Private ownership forced housing costs to skyrocket, and while families were generally allowed to keep the homes they already lived in, purchasing houses or condominiums became out of reach for many people. The value of the ruble, Russia’s currency, declined rapidly, and older people watched as their life savings evaporated overnight. Western goods were more easily accessible, and all kinds of consumer products became much more widely available than they were during the Soviet era. Bread lines and empty store shelves became distant memories as the former Communist state shifted over to a type of capitalist democracy. Yeltsin became increasingly less popular as citizens became dissatisfied with corruption and the high social costs of the post-Soviet transition. He resigned in 1999 and was replaced by Vladimir Putin.
Outline of Russia’s Historical Geography
1. The Region’s Early Heritage
• Vikings created fortified trading towns called gorods
• Genghis Khan’s Mongol Empire invaded (1240 CE)
• Feudal states arose around dominant trading centers
2. Czarist Russia, 1547–1917
• Czars unified empire by internal colonialism
• Forward capital of St. Petersburg created
• Pioneers pushed eastward to Siberia and North America
3. Bolshevik Revolution, 1917–22
• Czar Nicholas II and his family executed
• Russian Civil War fought
• Vladimir Lenin created Communist imperial state
• Capital moved to Moscow; republics broke away
4. The Soviet Union (USSR), 1922–91
• Czarist Empire became the Soviet Union
• Central planning, collectivization, and the Cold War began
• Republics kept together by military force
• External interaction of glasnost initiated (1980s)
• Economic restructuring and reforms of perestroika introduced (1980s)
5. The Russian Republic, 1991–Present
• Independent republics lost with internal unrest
• Economics privatized
• Democracy introduced (1990s)
• Central state strengthened (twenty-first century)
Behind the Borodinsky Bridge on the right are the government buildings of the Russian Federation.
Kirill Vinokurov – Borodinsky Bridge – CC BY 2.0.
Twenty-First-Century Russia
A Russian style of capitalism replaced the social, political, and economic system of the Communist era with a growing market economy. The export of Russia’s vast quantities of natural resources, such as oil, natural gas, and timber, to Europe and the rest of the world helped the country rebound from the economic collapse of the 1990s. Russia has benefited from the recent increase in energy prices, and oil, natural gas, metals, and timber account for more than 80 percent of exports and 30 percent of government revenues. However, Russia still needs to modernize its dilapidated manufacturing base if it is to economically compete against the European Union, North America, or eastern Asia. During Vladimir Putin’s presidency (2000–2008), Russia witnessed substantial economic growth that inspired foreign investors to pump money into the Russian economy and catapulted Moscow into an investment haven and one of the richest cities in the world. In 2008, Moscow claimed to have more billionaires than any other city in the world. Russia has reestablished itself as a major player in the global economy, although much of its population still suffers from poverty and social problems.
Russia’s population grew steadily during the Soviet era, except during periods of famine or warfare, and the country underwent a rural-to-urban shift as farm workers moved to cities to labor in factories. However, when the USSR collapsed, Russia’s population began a steep decline, falling from a peak of 149 million in 1991 to about 143 million in 2005. The trend of low birth rates actually began during the Soviet period. The population decline occurred because birth rates always decline during periods of economic and social crisis as people delay or decide against having children, and the country experienced particularly high death rates because of alcoholism, heart disease, and the collapse of the social safety net. Any time death rates surpass birth rates, a country’s population will decline unless the difference is offset by immigration. Russia’s birth rate was also impacted by very high rates of abortion: in 1992, for example, there were 221 abortions in Russia for every 100 live births (Johnston’s Archive). Although Russia’s population has seemingly bottomed out, the only reason it is not continuing to decline is immigration from the former Soviet republics. Russia still has a negative rate of natural increase.
To put Russia’s demographic profile in context, its fertility rate was only about 1.5 in 2010, meaning that the average woman would have 1.5 children in her lifetime. This is below the 2.1 children each woman would need to have for the population to remain stable. The fertility rate in Russia is similar to that of countries in Europe (1.5) but lower than that of the United States (2.1) (Central Intelligence Agency). Life expectancy for Russian men is variously reported as sixty years up to sixty-three years, while women can expect to live seventy-three to seventy-five years. In Western Europe, life expectancies are about eighty years.
About 80 percent of Russia’s population is ethnically Russian. The next largest group is Tatar (3.8 percent), a group that traditionally has spoken the Tatar language and practiced Islam. More than 150 ethnic groups are represented in Russia, including indigenous people of the Arctic who herd reindeer for a living. Each of the nationalities of the former Soviet republics has a presence in Russia, and because of its relatively strong economy, Russia (especially Moscow) is an immigration magnet for residents of those countries. Most of these groups have their own language and cultural traditions.
The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant religious denomination in Russia. For generations, it was the country’s official religion, and Russian people were automatically considered to be Orthodox, no matter what their personal beliefs. During the Soviet era, the government did much to weaken the church, including killing tens of thousands of priests, monks, and nuns and closing most churches. The much smaller church that survived was largely controlled by the state. Because of state-sanctioned atheism during the Soviet era, only 15 to 20 percent of Russia’s population today actively practices Orthodoxy, although a much greater number claim to be Russian Orthodox Christians. Another 15 percent of the country’s population practices Islam, especially in places such as the Caucasus region and the southern Ural Mountains, and about 2 percent practice other forms of Christianity, such as Catholicism and Protestantism (Central Intelligence Agency). Even though Orthodoxy is practiced by a minority of Russia’s population, the church has increased its influence since 1991 and often acts as an official church. A small percentage of the population are Buddhists, and various ethnic groups in Siberia and the Far East practice tribal religions and pagan rites.
The Russian Language
Like English, Russian is an Indo-European language. Russian is on the Slavic branch of the language tree, along with languages such as Polish, Ukrainian, and Serbo-Croatian. A relatively new language, it developed from a language called Old East Slavic that was spoken around 1100 CE. Medieval Russian developed in the thirteenth century, and modern literary Russian is usually traced back to the early nineteenth century. Russian uses the Cyrillic alphabet, which was developed from Greek. The Russian language is the official language of the Russian republic. With over one hundred languages used in the country, twenty-seven of them are officially recognized in various regions within the republic.
Key Takeaways
• The Communist state was created in 1917 as the result of a civil war, which evolved into the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. During this era, the Russian people traded a monarchy for a Marxist totalitarian state.
• One of the primary goals of the new USSR was rapid industrialization, and this goal was achieved through central planning and the collectivization of agriculture. Inefficiencies in the system persisted throughout the Soviet era.
• The Soviet Union’s Communist system was maintained at great cost: millions were killed by purges and in government-produced famines.
• A weakened USSR tried to reform in the 1980s through Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of perestroika and glasnost but instead collapsed in 1991.
• Early post-Soviet years were ones of democratization, rapid privatization, and the unraveling of the social safety net. The shift to capitalism restructured the Russian economy.
• The Russian economy strengthened after 2000, and Russian president Vladimir Putin strengthened the power of the central state.
• Russia has a low fertility rate and a negative rate of natural increase. High rates of abortions and alcoholism have been contributing factors.
• The Russian Orthodox Church is the dominant religious denomination in Russia.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. By what process did the Russian Empire become the Soviet Union?
2. Who were the first two leaders of the USSR, what were some of their accomplishments, and what were some of the human costs?
3. What were some of the main features of Karl Marx’s philosophy?
4. What were two main economic policies of the Soviet Union?
5. Who was fighting the Cold War? Where were major conflicts fought during this war?
6. How did the Cold War end? What leaders were in power in the United States and the Soviet Union when it ended?
7. What two policies did the last Soviet leader implement to assist in reforming the USSR?
8. What happened to the many external republics after 1991?
9. How did the economic system change for Russia after 1991?
10. What are some reasons for Russia’s population decline?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Moscow
• St. Petersburg
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/03%3A_Russia/3.02%3A_The_USSR_and_the_Russian_Federation.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Name the major cities, rivers, and economic base of Russia’s core region.
2. Identify the economic base of cities in the Eastern Frontier and the identity of the world’s most voluminous freshwater lake.
3. Describe the physical attributes of Siberia and the Far East.
4. Explain why Chechnya has been at war with Russia twice since 1994.
5. Learn why Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and discover the role of fossil fuels in the economies of Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The Core Region
Most of Russia’s population and its major industries are located west of the Ural Mountains on the Russian Plain. Known as Russia’s geographic core, this includes the Moscow region, the Volga region, and the Ural Mountain region. Moscow, Russia’s capital city, anchors a central industrial area that is home to more than fifty million people. Moscow alone has more than ten million residents, with about thirteen million in its metropolitan area, making it slightly smaller than the Los Angeles, California, metro area. A ring of industrial cities surrounding Moscow contains vital production centers of Russian manufacturing. During the Communist era, Moscow expanded from its nineteenth-century core (although the city dates from at least the twelfth century) and became an industrial city with planned neighborhoods. This world-class city has an extensive subway and freeway system that is expanding to meet current growth demands. Although rents, commodities, and domestic goods had fixed prices during the Communist era, the Soviet Union’s collapse changed all that. Today Moscow is one of the most expensive places to live in the world, with prices based on supply and demand. Many want to live in Moscow, but it is financially out of reach for many Russians.
Russia’s second-largest city, with a population of about five million, is St. Petersburg. Located on the Baltic Sea, it is western Russia’s leading port city. The city was renamed Petrograd (1914–24) and Leningrad (1924–91) but today is often called Petersburg, or just “Peter” for short. Peter the Great built the city with the help of European architects in the early eighteenth century to rival other European capitals, and he made it the capital of the Russian Empire. Named after St. Peter in the Bible (not Peter the Great), it is a cultural center for Russia and a major tourist destination. It is also known for shipbuilding, oil and gas trade, manufacturing, and finance. Its greatest tragedy took place when it was under siege for twenty-nine months by the German military during World War II. About one million civilians died of starvation or during the bombardment, and hundreds of thousands fled the city, leaving the city nearly empty by the end of the siege.
To the far north of St. Petersburg on the Barents Sea are the cities of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk. Murmansk is a major military port for Russia’s navy and nuclear submarine fleet. Relatively warm water from the North Atlantic drift circles around Norway to keep this northern port city fairly free of ice. Arkhangelsk (which literally means “archangel”), used as a port for lumber exports, has a much shorter ice-free season than Murmansk. Both of these cities are in Russia’s far north, with long winters and exceedingly brief summers.
The Volga River flows through the core region of Russia, providing transportation, fresh water, and fishing. The Volga is the longest river in Europe at 2,293 miles, and it drains most of Russia’s western core region. This river has been a vital link in the transportation system of Russia for centuries and connects major industrial centers from the Moscow region to the south through an extensive network of canals and other waterways. The Volga River flows into the Caspian Sea, and a canal links the Volga with the Black Sea through a connecting canal via the Don River.
At the eastern edge of Russia’s European core lie the Ural Mountains, which act as a natural divide between Europe and Asia. These low-lying mountains have an abundance of minerals and fossil fuels, which make the Ural Mountains ideal for industrial development. The natural resources of the Urals and the surrounding area provide raw materials for manufacturing and export. The eastern location kept these resources out of the hands of the Nazis during World War II, and the resources themselves helped in the war effort. Oil and natural gas exploration and development have been extensive across Russia’s core region and have greatly increased Russia’s export profits.
The Eastern Frontier
East of the Urals, in south-central Russia, is Russia’s Eastern Frontier, a region of planned cities, industrial plants, and raw-material processing centers. The population is centered in two zones here: the Kuznetsk Basin (or Kuzbas, for short) and the Lake Baikal region.
The Kuzbas is a region of coal, iron ore, and bauxite mining; timber processing; and steel and aluminum production industries. Central industrial cities were created across the Eastern Frontier to take advantage of these resource opportunities. The most important of these is Novosibirsk, the third-largest city in Russia after Moscow and St. Petersburg and home to about 1.4 million people. The city is not only noted for its industries but it is also the region’s center for the arts, music, and theater. It is host to a music conservatory and a philharmonic orchestra, a division of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and three major universities.
Agriculture, timber, and mining are the main economic activities in the eastern Lake Baikal region, which is more sparsely settled than the Kuzbas. Lake Baikal (400 miles long, 50 miles wide) holds more fresh water than all the US Great Lakes together and about 20 percent of all the liquid fresh water on the earth’s surface. Its depth has been recently measured at 5,370 feet (more than a mile). Some of the longest river systems in the world flow through the Eastern Frontier. The Irtysh, Ob, Yenisey, and Lena are the main rivers that flow north through the region into Siberia and on to the Arctic Ocean. To the east, the Amur River creates the border between Russia and China until it flows north into the Sea of Okhotsk. In addition to waterways, the Trans-Siberian Railway is the major transportation link through the Eastern Frontier, connecting Moscow with the port city of Vladivostok in the Far East.
Siberia
Siberia, as a place name, actually refers to all of Asian Russia east of the Ural Mountains, including the Eastern Frontier and the Russian Far East. However, in this and some other geography textbooks, the term Siberia more specifically describes only the region north of the Eastern Frontier that extends to the Kamchatka Peninsula. The word Siberia conjures up visions of a cold and isolated place, which is true. Stretching from the northern Ural Mountains to the Bering Strait, Siberia is larger than the entire United States but is home to only about fifteen million people. Its cities are located on strategic rivers with few overland highways connecting them.
Type D (continental) climates dominate the southern portion of this region, and the territory consists mainly of coniferous forests in a biome called the taiga. This is one of the world’s largest taiga regions. Type E (polar) climates can be found north of the taiga along the coast of the Arctic Sea, where the tundra is the main physical landscape. No trees grow in the tundra because of the semifrozen ground. Permafrost may thaw near the surface during the short summer season but is permanently frozen beneath the surface. On the eastern edge of the continent, the mountainous Kamchatka Peninsula has twenty active volcanoes and more than one hundred inactive volcanoes. It is one of the most active geological regions on the Pacific Rim.
The vast northern region of Russia is sparsely inhabited but holds enormous quantities of natural resources such as oil, timber, diamonds, natural gas, gold, and silver. There are vast resources in Siberia waiting to be extracted, and this treasure trove will play an important role in Russia’s economic future.
The Far East
Across the strait from Japan is Russia’s Far East region, with the port of Vladivostok (population about 578,000) as its primary city. Bordering North Korea and China, this Far East region is linked to Moscow by the Trans-Siberian Railway. Before 1991, Vladivostok was closed to outsiders and was an important army and naval base for the Russian military. Goods and raw materials from Siberia and nearby Sakhalin Island were processed here and shipped west by train. Sakhalin Island and its coastal waters have oil and mineral resources. Industrial and business enterprises declined with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Today, the Far East is finding itself on the periphery of Russia’s hierarchy of productivity. However, it has the potential to emerge again as an important link to the Pacific Rim markets.
Southern Russia
In the southern portion of the Russian core lies a land bridge between Europe and Southwest Asia: a region dominated by the Caucasus Mountains. To the west is the Black Sea, and to the east is the landlocked Caspian Sea. The Caucasus Mountains, higher than the European Alps, were formed by the Arabian tectonic plate moving northward into the Eurasian plate. The highest peak is Mt. Elbrus at 18,510 feet. Located on the border between Georgia and Russia, Mt. Elbrus is the highest peak on the European continent as well as the highest peak in Russia.
Most of this region was conquered by the Russian Empire during the nineteenth century and held as part of the Soviet Union in the twentieth. However, only a minority of its population is ethnic Russian, and its people consist of a constellation of at least fifty ethnic groups speaking a variety of languages.
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Caucasus region has been the main location of unrest within Russia. Wars between Russia and groups in the Caucasus have claimed thousands of lives. Some of the non-Russian territories of the Caucasus would like to become independent, but Russia fears an unraveling of its country if their secession is allowed to proceed. To understand why the Russians have fought the independence of places such as Chechnya but did not fight against the independence of other former Soviet states in the Caucasus such as Armenia, it is necessary to study the administrative structure of Russia itself.
Of the twenty-one republics, eight are located in southern Russia in the Caucasus region. One of these, the Chechen Republic (or Chechnya), has never signed the Federation Treaty to join the Russian Federation; in fact, Chechnya proposed independence after the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Although other territories to the south of Chechnya, such as Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, also declared their independence from Russia after 1991, they were never administratively part of Russia. During the Soviet era, those countries were classified as Soviet Socialist Republics, so it was easy for them to become independent countries when all the other republics (e.g., Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan) did so after 1991. However, Chechnya was administratively part of the USSR with no right to secession. After 1991, Russia decided that it would not allow territories that had been administratively governed by Russia to secede and has fought wars to prevent that from happening. It feared the consequences if all twenty-one republics within the Russian Federation were declared independent countries.
Chechnya has fought against Russia for independence twice since the USSR’s collapse. The First Chechen War (1994–96) ended in a stalemate, and Russia allowed the Chechens to have de facto independence for several years. But in 1999, Russia resumed military action, and by 2009 the war was essentially over and Chechnya was once more under Russia’s control. Between twenty-five thousand and fifty thousand Chechens were killed in the war, and between five thousand and eleven thousand Russian soldiers were also killed (Wikipedia). In 2003, the United Nations called Grozny, Chechnya’s capital, the most destroyed city on Earth. Reconstruction of Grozny has slowly begun.
Even before the recent wars, Chechnya had a difficult past. Over the course of its history, it has been at the boundary between the Ottoman Empire, the Persian Empire, and the Russian Empire. Most of the people converted to Sunni Islam in the 1700s to curry favor with the Ottomans and seek their protection against Russian encroachment. Nevertheless, Chechnya was annexed by the Russian Empire. During Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s reign of terror, more than five hundred thousand Chechens were loaded on train cars and shipped to Kazakhstan, where as many as half died.
Transcaucasia
The independent countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan make up the region of Transcaucasia. Although they are independent countries, they are included in this chapter because they have more ties to Russia than to the region of Southwest Asia to their south. They have been inextricably connected to Russia ever since they were annexed by the Russian Empire in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, and they were all former republics within the Soviet Union. When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, these three small republics declared independence and separated from the rest of what became Russia.
Geographically, these three countries are located on the border between the European and Asian continents. The Caucasus Mountain range is considered the dividing line. The region known as Transcaucasia is generally designated as the southern portion of the Caucasus Mountain area.
The country of Georgia has a long history of ancient kingdoms and a golden age including invasions by the Mongols, Ottomans, Persians, and Russians. For a brief three years—from 1918 to 1921—Georgia was independent. After fighting an unsuccessful war to remain free after the Russian Revolution, Georgia was absorbed into the Soviet Union. Since it declared independence in 1991, the country has struggled to gain a stable footing within the world community. Unrest in the regions of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Adjara (where the populations are generally not ethnic Georgian) has destabilized the country, making it more difficult to engage in the global economy. Russia and Georgia had a military conflict in 2008, when Russian troops entered the South Ossetian region to support its move toward independence from Georgia. Georgia considered South Ossetia to be a part of Georgia and called the Russians an occupying force. Many other countries, including the United States, condemned Russia for their action. Russian troops pulled out of Georgia but supported the independence of South Ossetia and Georgia’s westernmost region of Abkhazia. Neither South Ossetia nor Abkhazia are considered independent states by most of the world’s countries.
A democratic-style central government has emerged in Georgia, and economic support has been provided by international aid and foreign investments. The country has made the switch from the old Soviet command economy to a free-market economy. Agricultural products and tourism have been Georgia’s main economic activities.
In 2010, Armenia, to the south of Georgia, had a population of only about three million in a physical area smaller in size than the US state of Maryland. It is a country with its own distinctive alphabet and language and was the first country in the world to adopt Christianity as a state religion, an event traditionally dated to 301 CE. The Armenian Apostolic Church remains the country’s central religious institution, and the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel has an Armenian Quarter, an indication of Armenia’s early connection with Christianity.
The small landlocked country has experienced invasions from every empire that controlled the region throughout history. The geographic area of the country decreased when the Ottoman Empire took control of western Armenia, and that region remains a part of Turkey to this day. A bitter conflict between Turks and Armenians during World War I resulted in the systematic deaths of as many as a million Armenians. This genocide continues to be commemorated annually on April 24, the traditional date of the Armenian Martyrs’ Day, but Turkey still denies the events were genocide.
Like the other former Soviet republics, Armenia has shifted from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. Before independence in 1991, Armenia’s economy had a manufacturing sector that provided other Soviet republics with industrial goods in exchange for raw materials and energy. Since then, its manufacturing sector has declined and Armenia has fallen back on agriculture and financial remittances from the approximately eight million Armenians living abroad to support its economy. These remittances, along with international aid and direct foreign investments, have helped stabilize Armenia’s economic situation.
Azerbaijan is an independent country to the east of Armenia bordering the Caspian Sea. It is about the same size in area as the US state of Maine. This former Soviet republic has a population of more than eight million in which more than 90 percent follow Islam. Azerbaijan shares a border with the northern province of Iran, which is also called Azerbaijan. Part of Azerbaijan is located on the western side of Armenia and is separated from the rest of the country.
Located on the shores of the Caspian Sea, Baku is the capital of Azerbaijan and is the largest city in the region, with a population approaching two million. During the Cold War era, it was one of the top five largest cities in the Soviet Union. The long history of this vibrant city and the infusion of oil revenues have given rise to a metropolitan center of activity that has attracted global business interests. Wealth has not been evenly distributed in the country, and at least one-fourth of the population still lives below the poverty line.
Azerbaijan is rich with oil reserves. Petroleum was discovered here in the eighth century, and hand-dug oil wells produced oil as early as the fifteenth century. Since the Industrial Revolution, the rising value of petroleum for energy increased the industrial extraction of oil in Azerbaijan. At the end of the nineteenth century, this small country produced half the oil in the world. Oil and natural gas are the country’s main export products and have been a central focus of its economy. Large oil reserves are located beneath the Caspian Sea, and offshore wells with pipelines to shore have expanded throughout the Caspian Basin. As much as the export of oil and natural gas has been an economic support for the country, it has not been without costs to the environment. According to US government sources, local scientists consider parts of Azerbaijan to be some of the most devastated environmental areas in the world. Serious air, soil, and water pollution exist due to uncontrolled oil spills and the heavy use of chemicals in the agricultural sector.
Key Takeaways
• The vast majority of Russia’s population live in the western core area of the country, the region around the capital city of Moscow.
• Most of the cities on the Barents Sea and in the Eastern Frontier were established for manufacturing or for the exploitation of raw materials.
• The Volga River and its tributaries have been an important transportation network for centuries. The Volga is the longest river in Europe.
• Very few people live in Siberia, but the region is rich with natural resources.
• The most contentious region in Russia is the Caucasus Mountain region, especially the area of Chechnya. The Caucasus is characterized by ethnic and religious diversity and by a desire for independence from Russia.
• South of Russia in the Caucasus is the region of Transcaucasia. It is ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse. Countries there are independent of Russia, although they have a long history of being part of the Russian and Soviet Empires. Some of the countries are rich in petroleum reserves.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are Russia’s four main regions and what are the main qualities of each?
2. What connects Moscow with Russia’s Far East, and why is this important?
3. What are some of the major environmental problems in Russia and Transcaucasia?
4. What is the relationship between the countries of Georgia and Russia? Describe their 2008 conflict.
5. What happened to Chechnya? Why has Russia fought two wars in Chechnya since the Soviet Union’s collapse?
6. What are the three independent countries of Transcaucasia, and when did they gain independence from Russia?
7. Which of the three Transcaucasian countries has the least opportunity to gain wealth? What is the largest source of income in this region?
8. What physical feature demarcates the boundary between Europe and Asia in southern Russia?
9. What is the largest city in Transcaucasia? On what sea is it located?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Abkhazia
• Adjara
• Arctic Ocean
• Amur River
• Arkhangelsk
• Armenia
• Azerbaijan
• Baku
• Baltic Sea
• Bering Strait
• Black Sea
• Caspian Sea
• Chechnya
• Don River
• Eastern Frontier
• Georgia
• Grozny
• Irtysh River
• Kamchatka Peninsula
• Kuznetsk Basin
• Lake Baikal
• Lena River
• Murmansk
• Mt. Elbrus
• Novosibirsk
• Ob River
• Sakhalin Island
• Sea of Okhotsk
• Siberia
• South Ossetia
• Transcaucasia
• Vladivostok
• Volga River
3.04: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
• Russia is a large country that crosses the boundary between Europe and Asia. It has abundant natural resources, continental and arctic climates, mountains, plains, and massive river systems.
• Russia’s vast size has made it challenging to govern, both for the Russian Empire and for the Soviet Union. Each government dealt with the size and cultural diversity in different ways.
• Both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union were empires—that is, they were large countries in which Russian political control dominated the many peoples of various cultures and ethnicities within its boundaries.
• The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was founded through a violent rebellion and civil war. It was ruled by the Bolshevik party, a socialist group led by Vladimir Lenin. The second leader of the USSR, Josef Stalin, was renowned for the millions of people that he killed as he consolidated his power and sought economic growth for his country.
• The USSR was a command economy, in which economic decisions were made by the central state. Economic objectives of the early leaders included rapid industrialization and agricultural collectivization.
• The Soviet economy was ultimately corrupt and inefficient—two factors that, along with other problems, led to the unraveling of the Soviet Union in 1991. The reforms of the final Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, were not enough to prevent its collapse.
• The early post-Soviet years were ones of rapid privatization, immense wealth for a small few, economic hardship for most, and the disappearance of the social safety net.
• Since 1999, Russian presidents Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev have strengthened Russia’s economy and consolidated the power of the central state.
• Most Russians live in the western part of the country near Moscow, and other large population centers are also located in the country’s European core. There are a few industrial cities in the Eastern Frontier region, but most of Russia east of the Urals is a vast wilderness.
• Southern Russia—the Caucasus Mountain region—is the portion of the country that has caused the most unrest for Moscow. Non-Russian groups such as the Chechens would like to be independent, but Russia has engaged in warfare to prevent them from seceding.
• The countries of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were once part of the USSR but are now independent states. They are south of the Russian border, in the southern Caucasus Mountains. These countries are not without their challenges, as they are influenced both by Russia and by the Middle East to their south. They are home to large components of Muslims and Christians and a variety of ethnic groups. While Armenia is the poorest of the three countries, Georgia and Azerbaijan have some wealth from petroleum exports.
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Learning Objectives
1. Define the physiographic regions of North America.
2. Explain the two dominant climate patterns in North America.
3. Find out which three European countries had the most significant early influence on North America, what parts of the region they dominated, and what their long-term impacts have been.
4. Determine the population distribution of the United States and Canada.
North America is divided into a number of physical regions with distinct landforms. The western part of the continent is marked by north-south mountain ranges in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Mountains and Valleys physiographic provinces, with the Intermontane Basins and Plateaus in between. The eastern portion of North America is defined by the ancient Appalachian Highlands, a mountain range that is much less rugged than the Rockies but with no less influence on the history and development of the United States. The interior of the continent is characterized by plains—the Interior Lowlands and the Great Plains. To the north is the Canadian Shield, geologically the oldest part of North America, and a sparsely populated area with poor soils. At the southern and eastern edge of the continent is the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain, a relatively flat zone that extends from New York to Texas.
Figure 4.2 Physical Regions of the United States and Canada
The climates of the United States and Canada include the frigid type E climate of the tundra of northern Canada and Alaska, the tropical type A climate of southern Florida and Hawaii, the type C climates of the humid eastern United States, the seasonal type D climates of the northern United States and most of Canada, and the arid type B climates of the Southwest and Great Plains. In general, there are two different climate patterns common in North America. The first pattern is that temperatures get warmer as you travel from north to south and get closer to the equator. The second pattern is that there is a decrease in precipitation as you move from east to west across the continent until you reach the Pacific Coast, where rainfall is abundant again.
The second climate pattern is created by the rain shadow effect of the western mountain ranges. As wet air masses move from the Pacific Ocean over the North American continent, they run into the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada. The Cascade ranges of Washington State and Oregon cut off moisture from falling on the leeward side of the mountains; thus eastern Washington State and eastern Oregon are semiarid. The western United States experiences a strong rain shadow effect. As the air rises to pass the mountains, water vapor condenses and is released as rain and snow. This means that west of these mountain ranges there is much more precipitation than to their east, resulting in arid and semiarid lands. The entire Great Plains of the western United States are affected by the rain shadow effect and have a semiarid type B climate.
European Realms in North America
Both the United States and Canada are products of European colonialism. North America was inhabited by many Native American groups before the Europeans arrived. Complex native societies, federations, and traditional local groups faced the European invasion. While the indigenous population of North America was robust at the time of the European encounter, within a few generations, these native peoples were overwhelmed by the diseases, weapons, and sheer numbers of the European arrivals.
The Europeans—mainly the Spanish, French, and British—left a strong imprint on their North American colonies. The oldest colonial city in North America is St. Augustine, Florida (1565), founded by Spain when Florida was a remote portion of the Spanish Americas. Spain also had outposts in what are now California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas. The forms of settlement characteristic of those areas were similar to the Spanish colonies of Central America. While Spain governed what is now the southern United States, France ruled Canada and much of the interior of the North American continent. The French first came to Canada in the late 1500s to engage in fishing in the North Atlantic and soon expanded their reach by creating a fur trade in the area surrounding the Great Lakes and throughout the Mississippi River system.
Although there were fewer settlers from France than from other European countries—especially in what became the United States—this French era left behind place names (Baton Rouge and Detroit), patterns of land use, and a French-speaking population in Canada. Despite the early influence of Spain and France in North America, most North Americans speak English as their native language as a result of Britain’s colonial dominance in the United States and Canada. The earliest permanent British colony, Jamestown, was founded in 1607 in what became Virginia. The British built up a successful empire in the New World. Their thirteen American colonies became populous, economically robust, and militarily strong enough to gain independence in 1776. Canada functions as an independent country but remains part of the British Commonwealth.
Population Distribution in North America
The US population surpassed the three hundred million mark in 2006. Canada now has over thirty-four million people. The US population is growing by about 2.5 million people each year. A little less than half the growth can be attributed to immigration and the rest to birth rates. The pace of growth is slower than the world average but more rapid than many other industrialized countries such as those in Europe.
The population is not uniformly spread over North America, nor are the population growth rates the same in all locations. Most Canadians live in near proximity to the US border. The North American population tends to be clustered in cities, with about 80 percent of US citizens residing in urban/suburban areas. Additionally, over time, the population has been moving southward and westward. US states experiencing the greatest rates of population growth include those located on the southern portion of the eastern seaboard, as well as Texas, Nevada, Utah, California, Oregon, and Washington. Three states—California, Texas, and Florida—accounted for about a third of the entire US population growth since 1990. Still, the Northeast is the most densely populated area of the country thanks, in large part, to the megalopolis that forms the corridor and encompasses the cities from Washington, DC, north to Boston. The largest concentration of Canadians lives in the most southern-reaching province of Ontario. For this reason, the province of Ontario is often referred to as South Canada.
In general, the population of minorities is growing most rapidly. Some of the fastest-growing populations in the United States are Hispanics. Another interesting factor in population growth is the increase in life expectancy. As more people live longer, the growth of the segment of the population aged sixty-five has doubled in the last fifty years. However, it appears that the growth of this population segment is slowing. Of this group, the greatest increase was seen in people aged eighty-five years and older.
The American population tends to be on the move. The US Census Bureau data show that the average American moves once every seven years; these data further predict that about forty million people move each year (US Census Bureau). Data also indicate Americans will move to a metropolitan area. Urbanization has been a trend since about 1950. Until that time, most Americans lived in small towns or more rural settings. The population density of the cities, and especially the suburban areas, has grown steadily since that time, bringing about a rural-to-urban population shift. Now a significant majority of people in North America live in suburban areas.
Urbanization has brought some challenges. The layout of these areas often makes owning a car a necessity; thus traffic congestion is a major problem in many suburban and urban areas. Other issues that have arisen are overcrowded schools, racial tensions, and a widening economic gap between the wealthy and impoverished. As people move to the cities, housing and other resources might not be able to meet demand, forcing prices upward. The gap between the cost of living in an urban area and the population’s ability to pay has contributed to poverty and homelessness. Environmental issues also abound, including how to reduce or eliminate smog, manage waste, and ensure adequate clean water supplies.
Key Takeaways
• The United States and Canada have mountain ranges along their eastern and western portions, with lowlands in the middle.
• In general, temperatures get cooler as you move from south to north, and the climate gets more arid as you move from east to west across the continent.
• The Spanish were the earliest Europeans to establish a permanent settlement in the United States or Canada. They controlled the territory in the southern edge of what is now the United States, and their influence is still felt today through the Mexican American culture in that region.
• The French colonized eastern Canada, the Great Lakes, and the Mississippi River valley. Although the number of settlers was small outside Quebec, French place names and French land-use patterns are still evident.
• The British colonized the eastern coast of what became the United States. The number of English-speaking settlers was so high that the English culture dominated the region and left a strong long-term impact in terms of language, religion, and many other cultural aspects.
• The more than 310 million people who live in the United States and the more than 34 million people who live in Canada are not evenly distributed across North America. The realm continues to urbanize, and minority groups are the fastest-growing segment of the population.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Who were the three main European colonizers of what became the United States and Canada?
2. Where was each European colonizer most influential?
3. Describe long-term impacts of each European power in North America.
4. What is a main reason the Great Plains and the western part of the United States are so arid?
5. What three states had the highest population growth since 2000?
6. What segment of the population has doubled in the past fifty years?
7. What are the current populations of the United States and Canada?
8. What problems have been caused by urbanization in North America?
9. Why do about forty million people move within the United States each year?
10. Why do most Canadians live near the US border?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Appalachian Highlands
• Canadian Shield
• Great Lakes
• Great Plains
• Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain
• Interior Lowlands
• Intermontane Basins and Plateaus
• Mississippi River
• Pacific Mountains and Valleys
• Rocky Mountains
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Learning Objectives
1. Explain how the United States acquired its geographic boundaries.
2. Examine patterns of immigration to and migration within the United States through the period of westward settlement.
3. Examine urban growth and its connection to development of new forms of transportation.
4. Explain which economic patterns helped the United States become the world’s largest economy.
5. Consider how the concept of the American Dream has been exported globally.
Early Development Patterns
With abundant resources and opportunity, the original thirteen colonies prospered and expanded into what became the fifty US states. The political geography of this nation was a product of various treaties and acquisitions that eventually resulted in the country extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. Fueling the expansion was the concept of Manifest Destiny: the belief of some Americans that the new nation was divinely predestined to expand across the continent. The United States negotiated with France for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, acquiring millions of acres in the central United States (see Figure 4.5 “Geopolitical Map of the Creation of the United States from the Atlantic to the Pacific”). Florida was acquired from Spain in 1819, and Texas was annexed in 1845. The British sold portions of the Pacific Northwest to the United States, and the exact northern boundary between the United States and Canada was settled in 1846. Through conflicts with Mexico, large portions of the West were ceded to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century. Alaska was purchased from the Russians in 1867 for only \$7.2 million. Alaska and Hawaii were the last two possessions to enter into statehood, which they did in 1959.
Figure 4.4 The Thirteen Original Colonies
Manifest Destiny
The concept of Manifest Destiny came from the works of John O’Sullivan in 1839. O’Sullivan wrote,
The far-reaching, the boundless future will be the era of American greatness. In its magnificent domain of space and time, the nation of many nations is destined to manifest to mankind the excellence of divine principles; to establish on earth the noblest temple ever dedicated to the worship of the Most High—the Sacred and the True. Its floor shall be a hemisphere—its roof the firmament of the star-studded heavens, and its congregation an Union of many Republics, comprising hundreds of happy millions, calling, owning no man master, but governed by God’s natural and moral law of equality, the law of brotherhood—of “peace and good will amongst men” (John L. O’Sullivan).
As the United States developed, it acquired external colonial possessions. With victory over Spain in the Spanish-American War of 1898, the US government gained control of the Philippines, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and various Pacific islands. Cuba and the Philippines later became independent countries, but Puerto Rico and Guam continue to be part of the United States. The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1918 after World War I as a location to provide strategic military support to protect the shipping lanes through the Caribbean and the Panama Canal.
Westward Settlement Patterns and European Immigration
The thirteen original colonies are often grouped into three regions, each with its own economic and cultural patterns. These three areas—New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the South—are considered culture hearths, or places where culture formed and from which it spread. The three regions were source areas for westward migration, and migrants from these regions carried with them the cultural traditions of their culture hearths. New England was characterized by poor soils, subsistence agriculture, and fishing communities and was the birthplace of North America’s Industrial Revolution. Its largest city was Boston. Settlers from New England traveled west across New York State and into the upper Midwest and the Great Lakes region. The Mid-Atlantic region, focused on Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was known for its fertile soils, prosperous small-scale agriculture, and multinational population. Prosperous farming led to a vibrant economy and a robust network of towns and cities. People who wanted to migrate west from this region traveled down the Great Valley into the Appalachian Mountains and across the Cumberland Gap into Kentucky, or they crossed Pennsylvania and traveled west via the Ohio River valley. The heart of the South was Virginia, a region oriented around plantation agriculture. The South was overwhelmingly rural, and in time the bulk of its agricultural workforce consisted of slaves brought to the United States from Subsaharan Africa.
Westward migration was spurred along by the gold boom in California (1849) and by the completion of the transcontinental railroad (1869). The settlement frontier pushed westward during the course of the nineteenth century and was declared “closed” by the Bureau of the Census in 1890. This did not mean that settlers were spread uniformly across the continent by 1890; indeed, vast areas of the Great Plains and the mountain west remained sparsely populated by Europeans at that time. The Homestead Act of 1862 also encouraged westward migration by offering 160 acres of free land to households willing to move west. The continental United States had been organized into official states by the end of the nineteenth century, except Oklahoma (1907), Arizona (1912), and New Mexico (1912).
Most US residents at its founding in 1776 had roots in Great Britain, with large numbers from other northern and western European countries and many others from Africa (most of whom were slaves in the South). During the nineteenth century, migrants continued to immigrate to the United States as its economy grew, especially after the 1830s. Germans and Irish began arriving in large numbers, joining others from Britain and other countries, predominantly those in western Europe. As the century progressed, others from southern and eastern Europe, from countries such as Italy, Russia, and Austria, became the most significant stream of immigrants to the United States. The new arrivals were different from the early British immigrants: they practiced Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox Christianity (not Protestantism), they primarily moved to urban areas, and they found work in the new manufacturing sector growing rapidly in the Northeast and around the Great Lakes. Very few immigrants came from Latin America or Asia at that time.
Industrial Development and Urbanization
The Industrial Revolution that began in Great Britain in the late eighteenth century eventually moved across the Atlantic and took hold in the United States. Rapid industrial growth emerged in the nineteenth century and was focused in the northeastern United States around the Great Lakes in an area called the Manufacturing Belt (Figure 4.7 “Manufacturing Belt Turned Rust Belt”). Mechanized manufacturing began with textiles (New England), moved to steel and other metals (Pennsylvania and Indiana), and later was dominated by the manufacture of automobiles (Michigan). Of course, manufacturing would not have been possible without an abundant supply of power. Coal mining became an important industry in western Pennsylvania and in Appalachia.
Manufacturing took place in the cities and towns of the Manufacturing Belt. Not until the second half of the twentieth century did manufacturing move to rural areas; until then, it was almost entirely an urban activity. As the United States went through its Industrial Revolution, its population shifted from being almost entirely rural to being mostly urban. In 1790, only about 5 percent of the US population lived in urban areas; by 1920, about 50 percent lived in cities. As the rural to urban shift took place, the function and form of US cities also changed.
Table 4.1 US Population and Percentage Urban
Year Percentage Urban Population in Millions
1790 5.1 3.9
1810 7.3 7.2
1830 8.8 12.9
1850 15.4 23.2
1870 25.7 38.6
1890 35.1 63
1910 45.6 92.2
1930 56.1 123.2
1950 60 151.3
1970 73.6 203.3
1990 75.2 248.7
2010 82.0 308
From the colonial era until the late nineteenth century, US cities were walking cities. Because most Americans lived on farms, cities were small, compact, and centrally oriented: everything was located within walking distance. Only wealthy people had access to transportation by horse, and city dwellers needed to live within a short distance of where they worked, shopped, and carried out all their activities. The invention of the electric streetcar (1888) allowed cities to increase in size. People could live farther from their place of employment as long as they lived within walking distance of a streetcar line. Streetcar suburbs grew up along streetcar lines, and these neighborhoods were often segregated by ethnicity and race. Fewer people lived in downtowns, which became dedicated to retail and manufacturing. Cities remained oriented around a central business district (CBD), which was often located near the railway station. Factories needed to be near modes of transportation for both shipping in parts and shipping out completed products and so that workers could easily get to work.
Large numbers of middle class Americans began acquiring automobiles after about 1920; this eventually led to a complete rethinking of the spatial layout of the city. Automobile suburbs sprang up outside the traditional city limits as people were able to buy homes far from streetcar lines or railway stations. Cities became increasingly decentralized: people could go shopping in suburban malls instead of downtown department stores, factories could spring up at highway interchanges and not only near rivers and the railroad, and people could live in one suburb and work in another instead of living in the suburbs and working downtown. Neighborhoods became even more racially and economically segregated than they had in the past as middle-class whites moved into the new automobile suburbs and left the poorer African Americans behind in the cities.
By the late twentieth century, the automobile had led to a new urban form: the edge city. Edge cities are areas of dense urban development outside the boundaries of the traditional city. They often form at the intersection of major interstate highways and contain shopping malls, office complexes, high-rise apartment buildings, industrial parks, restaurants, and hotels. Sometimes edge cities are called suburban downtowns. Edge cities have supplanted the CBD as the destination of choice for Americans, whether they are heading to work or to play.
Economic Changes
For the purpose of understanding economic geography, all economic activities can be grouped into one of four categories, each with its respective terms, depending on the nature of what is being produced:
1. Primary economic sector activities include everything that pertains to the collection of raw materials, such as agriculture, forestry, fishing, and mining—in other words, growing and extracting activities.
2. Secondary economic sector activities involve the processing of those raw materials through manufacturing, which has been the mainstay of economic growth for most developed countries.
3. Tertiary economic sector activities are those that produce services, not physical products.
4. Quaternary economic sector activities are those that deal with information collecting and processing, as well as management.
The tertiary and quaternary economic sectors are often thought of together as the service sector. In the explanation of how countries gain national income (Section 1.4 “Globalization and Development”), only primary and secondary activities produce actual physical products, and manufacturing traditionally earns the highest value-added profits. Tertiary activities are selective in gaining national wealth. For example, service activities such as tourism can bring in national wealth if the visitors are from outside the country. Tourism within a country can also influence economic conditions by increasing the amount of consumer spending.
During the colonial era and into the nineteenth century, when the majority of Americans lived on farms and worked in agriculture, most economic activity in the United States took place within the primary economic sector. Today, the primary sector is still an important component of the US economy, but far fewer people are employed in it. For example, less than 1 percent of Americans make their living by farming, but agricultural output has continued to grow because of advancements in mechanization and the development of high-tech seeds, fertilizers, and pesticides. The United States has been able to export surplus agricultural output to other parts of the world. Fewer people work in coal mines than in the past, but because of new mining technologies and methods such as mountaintop removal, coal production remains high.
The geographic distribution of primary activities depends both on the location of natural features such as physical geography and climate and on the location of the market for a particular crop or resource. The nineteenth-century German economist Johann von Thünen created a model that predicted land use around a central market. In his theory, land closest to the market would be used to produce crops that were expensive to transport, such as dairy. Land far from the market would be used for the production of crops that were less expensive to transport and less perishable, such as grain. The von Thünen model predicts a series of concentric rings surrounding a central market, with each ring producing a different kind of crop. If the von Thünen model is applied at a much larger scale to the United States as a whole, with the densely populated urban zone from Boston to Washington, DC (called a megalopolis), used as the central market, the model does a fairly good job predicting the United States’ agricultural land use. Dairy farms are found close to the market, grain farms are farther away, and ranch lands used for livestock production are even farther away.
The von Thünen model as it relates to the development west of the East Coast megalopolis. For example, New Jersey is called the Garden State, Appalachia has its forests, the Midwest has its agricultural production, and the Great Plains has its large cattle ranching operations. This model was more applicable in past centuries for local communities when modern transportation technology was not available.
Figure 4.9 Farm Resource Regions
Anything that involves the processing of raw materials—manufacturing—is a secondary activity. As the United States moved into the Industrial Revolution and into the mid-twentieth century, the percentage of the US workforce involved in manufacturing grew from almost nothing until it peaked in the late 1970s. It was the main area of economic growth for decades. Although manufacturing was present in most areas of the country, it was focused in the northeastern United States and along the Great Lakes. Factories were close both to the reserves of labor and to the markets for manufactured products found in the densely populated Northeast. The steel industry was located in Pittsburgh and its environs because of the area’s access to iron ore (mined in Minnesota and transported via the Great Lakes) and to coal (mined in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and other parts of Appalachia).
As manufacturing has grown in other parts of the world, the secondary economic sector has declined in the United States. US labor statistics indicate that the United States lost about five million manufacturing jobs between 2000 and 2010 (Nance-Nash, S.). Many of these jobs were lost to countries with lower labor costs, such as Mexico or China.
The third group of economic activities takes place in the tertiary and quaternary sectors, commonly known as the service sector. Tertiary and quaternary activities create services, not physical products. Service jobs include everything from engineering to finance, restaurants to sports, and childcare to medicine. The tertiary sector makes up more than three quarters of the US economy, as measured by its share of the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a given year. The GDP is then divided by the country’s population to provide a GDP per capita statistic. The 2010 estimated GDP composition by sector for the United States is shown in Table 4.2 “US GDP by Sector (2010 Data)”.
Table 4.2 US GDP by Sector (2010 Data)
Economic Sector GDP (%)
Agriculture 1.2
Industry and mining 22.2
Services 76.7
These figures show that the United States has shifted to a postindustrial service economy. The rise of the information age in the latter part of the twentieth century shifted the workforce into the information sector. By the start of the twenty-first century, less than 2 percent of the US workforce was employed in agriculture, 15 percent in industry, and the rest in services (18 percent) and information activities (65 percent).
The locations of service-sector jobs are much more flexible than are jobs in the primary or secondary sectors. They are called footloose jobs: an accountant can live in New York or in Denver, whereas it is much more difficult for factories to move from one place to another and it is impossible for farms to relocate. Many of the information-technology jobs are emerging in the southern regions of the United States called the Sun Belt. Southern cities such as Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix are centers of innovation and population growth. The warmer climate, combined with a lower cost of living and less congestion, makes the Sun Belt an attractive location for emerging information-based companies. Note that the popularity of the South and West for service-sector jobs only came about after the invention and adoption of air-conditioning. Air-conditioning was not widespread until after the Second World War in the 1950s.
While the population of the Southern states has increased, the population of some Northern states has decreased. The Sun Belt has always been a destination for people escaping the harsh winters of the Northern states. This has usually been only a seasonal transition. However, the new trend is one of permanent growth because of the increase in information technologies and in the service industry. Emerging companies looking to establish their businesses have targeted major cities from the Carolinas to the Southwest.
Migration Patterns
The United States has not only undergone a massive rural-to-urban shift in its population; intermigration within the United States from one region to another has also been prevalent. Each of the US regions has witnessed changes in demographics because of migration patterns.
In the agricultural regions of the United States, such as the Midwest, the migration pattern has been caused by changes in farm technology. Portions of the United States were opened up for agriculture because of the Homestead Act of 1862, where each person could receive 160 acres from the government to start a farm. They could keep the acres if they lived on them and farmed them for a period of years. In the 1800s, 160 acres was enough land to support a family if conditions were appropriate. The Industrial Revolution brought about improved farm equipment and technology. Larger and more expensive tractors and improved farming methods pushed the small farmers to sell out. Farms increased in size and fewer people were required to operate them. Since fewer farm workers are needed in rural areas, there has been a major rural-to-urban shift in the population. Central cities are increasing in population, while small towns and rural areas in the Midwest and across the nation are decreasing in population.
Americanism and Globalization
The freedom of personal expression in the United States has supported individual ingenuity and creative ambition to create the largest economy in the world. US citizens have pushed American corporations to become a major force in the world markets. Products and franchises from the United States are being distributed throughout the world. Items such as fast food, computers, news networks, and Hollywood movies have become the products of choice in countries across the globe. The English language dominates the Internet, which has been heavily influenced by US corporations. The power of the American Dream—the idea that through hard work anyone can achieve upward mobility and financial success—as it is portrayed in the US media holds sway in the minds of people both in the United States and abroad.
Figure 4.10 US Corporate McDonald’s Franchise in Israel
US news networks, such as CNN, are so dominant that small countries, having no resources to create networks, rely on the US networks to deliver their world news. US fast food franchises, of which McDonald’s is the largest, exist in over one hundred countries. Despite humble beginnings in Arkansas, Walmart grew to become the world’s largest corporation. It has become the buyer and seller of retail trade that shapes and molds cultural attitudes and fashions internationally.
The size of the US population (more than 310 million strong as of 2010) and the country’s vast resource base have allowed it to become a world military superpower. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the United States became the most powerful military force in the world. The United States has also dominated the world’s economy and its communications networks. The advancements of multinational corporations have in essence enabled the sale of America to the rest of the world. The selling of American products and the large consumer market in the United States have provided the profits that have fueled global economic markets.
The United States has become a worldwide franchise of its own. Corporate colonialism has advanced the American brand to a level that is now synonymous with consumerism, success, and power worldwide. Media advancements have promoted the concept of the American Dream across the seven seas. The reaction of the global community includes both admiration and disdain. Many view Americanism as interchangeable with globalization. Some welcome it; others reject it. The country of Iran is an example of this dichotomy. Young people in Iran wearing blue jeans gather in secret to watch American television programming from a hidden illegal satellite dish, while at the same time the anti-American forces in their government condemn America as decadent, immoral, and imperialistic.
Corporate colonialism has become a dominant force impacting the global cultural fabric. Supporters appreciate access to American goods and services, while opponents claim that the English language and the American corporate franchise system are destroying the culture and heritage of untold millions who see their unique traditional ways of life being overshadowed and destroyed.
Some argue that American television advertisements exemplify a trend that supports conformity and uniformity in American culture. They contend that America’s unique cultural diversity, which historically has provided ingenuity and creativity, is being eroded by the franchising of similar retail products, fast food, professional sports, and Hollywood entertainment that stifle the creative will of the American people. Others continue to see opportunities to pursue the American Dream and believe that innovation and ideas continue to emerge in spite of these trends.
Walmart is one of the greatest success stories of the American Dream. It started in Arkansas with one store and grew to become the largest corporation in the world. Now it is one of the most aggressive forces of corporate colonialism across the globe.
Many people worry about the future of the American Dream. American culture continues to evolve as people face changing economic and social conditions. Over the course of their history, Americans have faced both difficult and prosperous times, and now the future of this vibrant country is in the hands of the current generation. The United States has developed into one of the most powerful countries on the planet. Will the American Dream continue to motivate people in the future? Only time will tell.
Key Takeaways
• The United States’ territory expanded gradually through various treaties and land acquisitions and was influenced by the concept of Manifest Destiny.
• The three main colonial regions in the United States—New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the South—had their own distinct economic foundations, settlement patterns, and social structures. People from these regions moved westward in particular migration patterns.
• In the beginning of the nineteenth century, most immigrants were from western and northern Europe. By the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, immigrants were coming in large numbers from southern and Eastern Europe and moving to industrial cities of the Northeast.
• City structure changed from the walking cities of colonial America, to the railroad and streetcar cities of the late nineteenth century, to the automobile cities of the mid- and late-twentieth century.
• The US economy was initially based in the primary economic sector (particularly farming), then was based in the secondary economic sector (manufacturing), and is now oriented around the tertiary and quaternary economic sectors (services and information).
• The diverse immigrants who have created American society have been unified by common aspirations and common ideals that created the concept of the American Dream. The concept indicates that regardless of one’s station in life, by working hard, applying oneself, and following the rules, one can obtain upward economic mobility.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What did “Manifest Destiny” mean for the United States?
2. What European region did most early nineteenth-century immigrants come from? How did that change by the end of the nineteenth century?
3. How did modes of transportation affect the layout of American cities?
4. What is an edge city, and how did edge cities form?
5. How does the von Thünen model relate to the spatial pattern of land use in the United States?
6. How have economic sectors shifted in the United States in the past two hundred years?
7. What is the American Dream, and how has it been expanded globally?
8. What has been the major migration pattern in the Midwest region of the United States? Why is this occurring?
9. What part of the United States has been a target for the location of information age–based businesses? What was the role of air-conditioning technology in making this possible?
10. Outline some examples of how US culture influences the rest of the world.
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Cumberland Gap
• Great Valley
• Manufacturing Belt
• Midwest
• Original thirteen colonies
• Sun Belt
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Figure 4.12
The Statue of Liberty has long been a symbol of the American ideals that welcome immigrants to America.
Learning Objectives
1. Explain the concepts of the cultural melting pot and the American Dream and how they have contributed to American society and culture.
2. Describe the current demographic profile of the United States.
3. Identify the size, distribution, and other characteristics of the Hispanic population in the United States.
4. Explain the two most significant processes that led to the spatial distribution of African Americans in the United States.
5. Describe the distribution of the dominant religious affiliations in the United States.
The American “Melting Pot”
Early immigration to America was dominated by people from the British Isles, resulting in an American population for whom speaking English and practicing Protestant Christianity was the norm. There were some regional exceptions to this, such as Catholicism in Maryland and the widespread speaking of German in Pennsylvania, but by and large English and Protestantism were standard in the American colonies. As migrants arrived in the United States from non-English-speaking countries, within a generation they learned English and assimilated into American society, giving rise to the idea of the United States as a cultural melting pot. People were drawn to the United States by the hope of economic opportunities; most immigrants were poor and came to the United States to make a living and improve their financial well-being. They viewed assimilation into mainstream society as a necessity for success. They believed in the American Dream—that through hard work, you could achieve upward mobility and financial success no matter your background. The dream came true for millions of Americans but remains out of reach for many who live in poverty.
As of 2010, the United States was home to approximately 310 million people and was the third-most populated country in the world after China and India. Among developed countries, the US population is one of the fastest growing, at about 1 percent each year. This is thanks to a fertility rate of about 2.1 that is higher than the 1.5 for that of most European countries, as well as a positive net migration rate (more people immigrating to the United States than emigrating from it). In terms of human well-being, life expectancy is more than seventy-eight years for men, and the average woman can expect to live more than eighty years. While this may seem high, especially when compared with a century ago, life expectancy in the United States is lower than in forty-nine other countries.
Although English has remained the dominant language, as a country of immigrants, the United States is home to people from all corners of the world and home to many cultural or ethnic minority groups. According to the 2010 census, the ethnic minority groups in the United States included 16.3 percent Hispanic (who can be of any race); 12.6 percent black or African American; 5.0 percent Asian and Pacific Islander; and 1.0 percent Native American (American Indians, Eskimos, and Aleuts) (US Census Bureau). An interesting trend is that Asians are growing faster than any other ethnic group in California, the nation’s largest state. The 2010 census reported that the Asian population in California had increased 31.5 percent since 2000 to a total of five million.
The US Hispanic Population
One of the most striking shifts in immigration patterns of the past few decades has been the dramatic increase in Hispanic/Latino immigrants to the United States. While there have long been Spanish speakers living in the United States (recall that Spain colonized Florida, Texas, and the Southwest before those regions became part of the United States), for most of American history the Hispanic minority had little impact outside of a few areas of the country. In 1970, Hispanics made up less than 5 percent of the US population, but by 2010, forty-eight million Hispanics made up about 16 percent of the population (Figure 4.13 “Hispanic Population in the United States and the US Sun Belt”). For the first time, Hispanics were the largest ethnic minority in the United States, surpassing blacks as the largest minority starting with the 2000 US census (12.5 percent Hispanic compared with 12.3 percent black). The US Hispanic population doubled between the 1990 and 2000 censuses. Between 2000 and 2006, Hispanic population growth accounted for about half the nation’s growth and grew about four times faster than the country’s population as a whole.
The growth of the US Hispanic population is a direct result of increased immigration from Latin America to the United States in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries (Hoefer, M., et. al., 2011) and the Hispanic population having higher fertility rates than the non-Hispanic US population (Archibold, R. C., 2011).
Nearly half the Hispanics in the United States live in California or Texas, although there has been a large increase in the Hispanic population outside those states in the past decade, especially in the South. For example, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina all experienced Hispanic population growth rates between 55 and 61 percent from 2000 to 2006. All regions of the country saw double-digit growth rates of their Hispanic populations during that time. In places such as California, the large Hispanic population has an especially significant impact on the economy, politics, and every aspect of social life: more than one-third of Californians are Hispanic (37 percent), while 42 percent are non-Hispanic white, and a much smaller minority are African American (7 percent).
Who are the Hispanics living in the United States? Most were born in the United States (60 percent), while the rest are immigrants. Two thirds are either from Mexico or of Mexican descent, while others hail from the US territory of Puerto Rico, Cuba, or the Dominican Republic. Note that all Puerto Ricans are US citizens and can move to and from the US mainland without any special documentation requirements. More Hispanics come from Central America than from South America. Hispanics work in all professions but are found in professions such as agriculture, construction, and food service at higher rates than the country’s non-Hispanic population.
Two men tried to cross the US border from the Mexican side with a homemade ladder built of rebar. They hooked the ladder to the wall. One man climbed over and was arrested by the US Border Patrol; the other man ran away and was arrested by the Mexican border police.
The draw of opportunities and advantages has always pulled people toward the United States. While many of the Latin American immigrants enter the United States legally, according to the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics, there were about 10.8 million undocumented immigrants residing in the United States as of 2010; 62 percent are from Mexico (US Department of Homeland Security). This number is lower than it was in previous years, possibly because of the economic recession and higher-than-usual rates of unemployment. The US-Mexican border is about 1,970 miles long and runs through an arid and open region between the two countries. It is difficult to control the illegal immigration across this border, as the attraction to American jobs is so compelling that people will risk death to cross the deserts of the Southwest. According to 2010 estimates, undocumented workers make up about 5 percent of the United States’ civilian workforce, including approximately 24 percent of the agricultural workforce.
The amount of remittances sent from undocumented workers in the United States to Mexico is estimated in the billions of dollars. The remittances from Mexican nationals living outside Mexico and sending money home to their families are Mexico’s second-largest source of foreign income. Without remittances, many Mexican families would have a difficult time making ends meet.
The African American Population
Most African Americans were concentrated in the South before the Civil War, where they worked as slaves in the cotton and tobacco plantations that supported the region. In some counties, blacks made up most of the population, and this did not change when the war was over. Many of the newly freed slaves remained as poor agricultural workers in the South well into the twentieth century. Even as late as 1910, seven out of every eight African Americans lived in the South.
Union States are in the north, Confederate States are in the south, and border states are in the middle.
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as the industrialization of northern cities was accelerating, the increased need for factory workers was largely met by immigration from Europe, especially from southern and eastern Europe. However, when the First World War began (1914), European immigration began to slow down. European immigration then nearly ground to a halt in the 1920s as Americans set quotas in place to reduce the number of Eastern European immigrants. At that time, the factories in the Manufacturing Belt continued to need workers, but instead of European workers, they recruited African Americans from the South.
This led to a massive migration of blacks from the South to cities of the North and West. This migration was so significant to African Americans in the United States that it is called the Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1925, more than 10 percent of African Americans made the journey north, and even more followed. Examining a map of the distribution of African Americans today shows the legacy of the Great Migration, as blacks live in many parts of the United States, both in the South and in postindustrial cities of the north and the Midwest. Blacks also now live in Sun Belt cities, as people of all races look for jobs related to the new information technologies and service industries.
Geography of Religion in the United States
Most early settlers to the United States were Protestant Christians: Puritans lived in New England and Anglicans (later called Episcopalians) lived in Virginia. Roman Catholic immigrants settled in Maryland, and members of the Society of Friends (Quakers) founded Pennsylvania. Even within that overall picture, there was a great deal of religious diversity in the United States, and that diversity increased as new arrivals came from different countries with different religious backgrounds. The current pattern of religious affiliation in the United States remains quite complex, and one can find observers of nearly every major religion, and many minor ones, in virtually every area of the country. That being said, there are clear patterns to the geography of religion in the United States that tell stories of immigration and migration history, as well as stories about other aspects of American history. The map of leading church bodies (Figure 4.18 “Distribution of Religious Organizations in the United States”) shows regions of religious observance that are worth examining.
The most striking feature of the map is the block of red in the Southeast in which Baptist churches are the leading church body. Although Baptist churches are the leading religious body in about 45 percent of all counties in the United States, most of those counties are found in the South. This region is considered the nation’s Bible Belt, and it is a region in which churches are more likely than in other parts of the country to teach a literal interpretation of the Bible. Baptist churches grew in popularity in the South after the Civil War as more liturgical denominations such as Methodists went into decline, and Baptist churches are popular among both African American and white residents.
Dehart’s Bible and Tire is located in the peripheral region of eastern Kentucky in the Bible Belt. Customers get a free Bible with every set of new tires.
Another interesting Protestant region is northern Appalachia and the lower Midwest from Ohio to Iowa and Kansas. As seen on the map, some of these counties are Baptist, in some of them the strongest church presence is Methodist, and in others it is Christian churches (Disciples of Christ and historically similar denominations) that prevail. The Methodist and other Christian areas were heavily influenced by the Second Great Awakening of the early nineteenth century, which promoted the theology that every person could be saved through revivals. The movement provided for strong showings of Protestant denominations that arose during that time. The third Protestant region is the northern Midwest and Great Plains: Minnesota, the Dakotas, and surrounding areas. This was the destination of German and Scandinavian Lutheran settlers during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the leading denominations today in much of that area remain Lutheran.
The Roman Catholic Church, which is the leading religious body in 40 percent of US counties, is well represented in the Northeast, West, and Southwest. In the Northeast and Midwest, the Catholic dominance points to nineteenth- and early twentieth-century immigration from Roman Catholic countries in Europe such as Italy, Ireland, and Poland. Those earlier Catholics have been joined more recently by large numbers of Hispanic immigrants. The dominance of Roman Catholics in the western United States, the Southwest, and even Florida in the Southeast are a reflection of the strong Hispanic presence in those parts of the country.
In the western United States, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon church or LDS) dominates a region including Utah and surrounding states. Utah was the destination of Mormon members as they migrated westward during the mid-nineteenth century.
Major urban centers are home to people who follow all the major religions of the world. Muslim populations are found in cities as a result of late twentieth century immigrants arriving from countries such as India, Pakistan, and places in the Middle East and moving to urban areas for employment. Detroit and its surrounding counties in southeastern Michigan are one part of the country with a high concentration of Muslim immigrants.
Key Takeaways
• US immigrants learned English and assimilated into American society, giving rise to the idea of the United States as a cultural melting pot.
• Immigrants created the American Dream—the idea that by working hard and following the rules, one could achieve upward mobility and financial success regardless of one’s background or heritage.
• The Hispanic population is the largest minority group in the United States, and its population is growing.
• Hispanics have an especially strong presence in California and Texas but are found all over the South as well as in rural and urban areas around the country.
• One-third of Hispanics are immigrants to the United States, and most undocumented workers to the United States are Hispanic (58 percent are from Mexico).
• Mexican nationals are an important component of the US workforce, and they send home billions of dollars each year in the form of remittances.
• African Americans are heavily represented in former plantation agricultural states of the South, as well as in cities of the Rust Belt and far West.
• Patterns of religious observance in the United States reflect immigration patterns.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why has the United States been called a melting pot? What are the largest minority groups in the country?
2. What parts of the United States have the highest representation of the four largest minority groups?
3. How did the US Hispanic population change in size and location from 2000 to 2010? Why is the Hispanic population growing faster than other ethnic groups in the United States?
4. What two states have about 50 percent of the Hispanic population?
5. What have been the push-pull factors for Hispanic immigration to the United States?
6. What is a remittance, and how are remittances significant for immigrants to the United States?
7. Describe the spatial pattern of the African American population. Why do so many blacks live in the Southeast?
8. What was the Great Migration, and what were some of its long-term impacts on the United States?
9. List three of the main Protestant religious denominations in the United States, describe their spatial patterns, and explain what caused these patterns.
10. Name the states or provinces that have high percentages of Catholics.
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Learning Objectives
1. Identify where in the country most Canadians live and why.
2. Identify and locate the dominant physical features of Canada.
3. Distinguish between the French-speaking and English-speaking areas of Canada and discuss the key activities in the effort to promote French culture in Canada.
4. Name the characteristics of some of the minority ethnic groups in Canada.
5. Determine which economic sectors are at the core of the Canadian economy and how the Canadian and US economies are connected.
Canadian Provinces and Territories
Canada’s democratic state shares a similar developmental history and economic status with the United States. As of 2011, Canada had a population of just over thirty-four million (2011), which is less than the population of California. Canada is larger than the United States, making it the second-largest country in the world. However, despite this vast territory for a relatively small population, more than 90 percent of Canadians live within 150 miles of the US border. Northern Canada is not considered part of Canada’s ecumene, or habitable zone, for permanent human settlement. Only a narrow band of territory in southern and eastern Canada has the climate and physical geography suitable for agricultural production and widespread settlement. Moreover, Canada’s economy is so closely tied to that of the United States that it makes sense for people to live close to the US border.
Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories (see Table 4.3 “Canadian Provinces, Territories, and Capitals”). Ottawa is the nation’s capital, and Toronto is its largest city.
Table 4.3 Canadian Provinces, Territories, and Capitals
Population Province/Territory Capital
Maritime Provinces of the east 2.3 million Newfoundland St. Johns
Nova Scotia Halifax
New Brunswick Fredericton
Prince Edward Island Charlottetown
French Canada 7.9 million Quebec Quebec (City)
South Canada 13.2 million Ontario Toronto
Prairie Provinces 6.0 million Manitoba Winnipeg
Saskatchewan Regina
Alberta Edmonton
Pacific Canada 4.5 million British Columbia Victoria
Territories About 110,000 Yukon Whitehorse
Northwest Territories Yellowknife
Nunavut Iqaluit
Physical Geography of Canada
As you can see from Table 4.3 “Canadian Provinces, Territories, and Capitals”, Ontario has by far the largest population of any of Canada’s provinces, with about 39 percent of the total. Quebec, the dominantly French-speaking province, is home to about 23 percent. Almost everyone else lives in British Colombia, west of the Rocky Mountains (13 percent); in the prairies (18 percent); or along the Atlantic coast (7 percent). The wide-open areas of Canada’s far north are occupied by only one-third of 1 percent of the population.
Type D (continental) climates dominate most of central Canada, with their characteristically warm summers and cold winters, although the farther north you go, the cooler the summers are. Canada’s west coast receives the most rainfall—between eighty and one hundred inches a year—while coastal areas in the Maritime Provinces can receive up to sixty inches per year. The northern territory of Nunavut barely receives ten inches per year, usually in the form of snow. Of course, far northern Canada has an arctic type E climate, and conditions there are so harsh that only a very few people inhabit it. The cultural influence of the colder climates and the long winters on the people is evident by the sports that are enjoyed by most Canadian citizens. Ice hockey is Canada’s most prevalent sport and its most popular spectator sport. Other sports such as curling are also common in Canada.
Canada has abundant natural resources for its population. The Canadian Shield is an area of rock and forest that covers much of central Canada around the Hudson Bay. This region, and the area to the east and west of it, provides timber and minerals for Canadian industries and for export. In the Maritime Provinces of the east, the main economic activities include fishing and agriculture. Some of Canada’s best farmland is located along the St. Lawrence River and in the southern Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The St. Lawrence River region includes dairy farms and agriculture, which provide food for the larger cities of the region. The province of Ontario has fertile farmland on the north and east sides of the Great Lakes. The farmland in the Prairie Provinces has much larger grain and beef operations.
Centered in the province of Alberta is a large region of fossil fuel exploration. Coal, oil, and natural gas are found there in abundance, and much of it is exported to the United States for profit. Oil is found absorbed in surface soil called tar sands and is being extracted for energy. When tar sands are heated, the oil is separated and refined for fuel. Projections are that there is more oil in the tar sands of Canada than in the underground reserves of Saudi Arabia. Natural resources have even filtered into the cultural arena: Edmonton’s professional hockey team is called the Edmonton Oilers.
The Rocky Mountains and the coastal ranges located in western Canada provide for mining and lumber mills. Vancouver, on the coast in British Columbia, has become a major port for Canada to export and import goods to and from the Pacific Rim. The Yukon Territory, also located in the mountains, has experienced a gold rush in years past. Canada has adequate natural resources to provide for its people and gain wealth.
British versus French Canada
As explained in Section 4.1 “Introducing the Realm”, French fishermen and fur traders initially colonized Canada, the British later took it from the French, and immigrants from various other countries moved there to farm and otherwise make a living. Although none of the provinces retain French names, countless cities—especially in Quebec—have French names, among them Montreal, Trois-Rivières, Charlesbourg, and Beauport.
The names of several provinces indicate the British connection: Nova Scotia means “New Scotland,” and it was so named by the British when they took over the island from the French. Prince Edward Island was named for the father of the famous nineteenth-century British queen, Victoria. You can see remnants of British colonialism in the way Canadian government is organized. Canada, like many countries of Europe, including Great Britain, is a parliamentary democracy. The monarch of the United Kingdom is still the top-ranking government official in Canada, but only as a figurehead. The queen (or king) appoints a governor general to be her (or his) representative in the Canadian federal government. Again, this is a symbolic position. There are two chambers, a House of Commons and a Senate. Members of the House of Commons are elected and are called members of Parliament (MPs). Senators are appointed to a lifelong term by the prime minister.
As of 2006, about 58 percent of Canadians spoke English as their primary language, French was the mother tongue of 22 percent, and another one-fifth of the population (20 percent) spoke a mother tongue other than English or French (Province and Territory, 2006). For most of Canada the lingua franca remains English. The French-speaking portion of Canada is a reminder of Canada’s history as a French colony. Many of today’s French speakers are descendants of those earlier French settlers. The proportion of French speakers in Canada is declining as more and more immigrants (who also have higher fertility rates than Francophones [French speakers]) arrive from other parts of the world and as more Francophones begin using English instead of French as their primary language. The new immigrants (along with native peoples) make up the 20 percent of Canada’s population who speak neither English nor French as their native language. About 90 percent of Canadian Francophones live in Quebec, which is a center of French culture in Canada.
The separation between French Canada and British Canada goes back to colonial times. Beginning in the 1530s, the French were the first to develop fur-trading activities in the region and colonize what is present-day Canada, calling it New France. The French claimed much of the St. Lawrence River valley and the Great Lakes region, including the region that is now Ontario. When Britain began to dominate the eastern coast of North America in the 1680s, they entered into a series of wars with France. As a result of these wars, New France was eventually turned over to Britain.
Not wanting continued war with France, Britain allowed the French-dominated region to retain its land ownership system, civil laws, and Catholic faith. The Revolutionary War in 1776, which granted the United States independence from Great Britain, also pushed many people of English descent—especially those who had sided with the British during the Revolutionary War—from the United States into Canada. British North America no longer included the United States; Canada became the main British colony in North America.
Figure 4.23 Bilingual Stop Sign in Ottawa, Ontario
In an attempt to keep the peace between French and English settlers, in 1791 the British Parliament divided Quebec into Upper and Lower Canada, which later evolved into the provinces of English-speaking Ontario and French-speaking Quebec. The Maritime Provinces of the east were then separated into individual provinces.
The cultural differences between Francophone Canada and the rest of Canada have since erupted into serious political conflicts. The Francophone areas, mainly southern Quebec, argue that they are treated unfairly, since they have to learn English but the rest of the country is not required to learn French.
During the second half of the twentieth century, many people in Quebec supported a separatist movement that sought to break Quebec off from the rest of Canada into an independent country. In the 1980s, the separatist initiative lost in a public vote, but only by a small margin. The issue of Quebec’s sovereignty continued to be raised in the public arena. In 1998, Canada’s Supreme Court ruled that Quebec could not separate from the rest of Canada under international law but that the matter would have to be negotiated between Quebec and the rest of Canada if secession was to proceed.
French and English are the two official languages of the Canadian government as a whole, but the French people in Quebec, fearing that English was dominating the media, the Internet, and industry to such an extent that it was endangering their French culture, have declared French as the only official language of the province. To combat the encroachment of English, laws were enacted in Quebec requiring all public advertising to be in French, or if other languages are used, they must be half the size of the French letters. All businesses employing more than fifty employees are required to conduct all business in French. Immigrants who wish to be citizens of Quebec must learn French. All primary and secondary education takes place in French unless the child’s parents were educated in English elsewhere in Canada. Civil servants dubbed the “language police” monitor and enforce the French language laws. A business found to be out of compliance with the language laws could be fined or shut down. Even though the official language of Quebec is French, since the national government takes place in both English and French, some services are still available in Quebec in English.
French Canada does not include the entire province of Quebec. Northern Quebec has traditionally been native Cree territory. When the initiative for Quebec to secede from Canada was being considered, an additional initiative was presented by the Cree to separate northern Quebec from the French region of Quebec. This would have caused the French separatist region of Quebec to lose major hydroelectric dams and important mineral and timber reserves. Other regions of Quebec that did not hold a French majority would then have promoted separating from Quebec and joining Ontario.
For Quebec to remain economically competitive, they would need the northern Cree region to remain part of the province to use the resources and energy found there. They would also need the businesses currently in Quebec to stay there, although many would probably have left if Quebec had become an independent state with French as the only language. When secession was being considered, it was found that businesses that employed more than fifty employees did not want to switch over and conduct all their business in French; they were conducting all their business in English to work with the global economic community. In 1994, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was established between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. The goal was to open up new lines of business operations between the three countries and to increase economic opportunities to better compete with the European Union and the Pacific Rim nations. What would Quebec do if it separated from Canada? Would Quebec be able to join the NAFTA agreement? What if the other NAFTA partners cut off Quebec? Quebec would have faced serious economic consequences if they had separated from Canada. A number of English-speaking businesses have already moved to Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, to avoid changing to French. It appears Quebec will remain with the rest of Canada and work out any internal cultural issues.
Other Ethnic Groups in Canada
Of course, we cannot forget the native groups who were displaced when the Europeans arrived. About 1.2 million people who identify themselves as Aboriginal live in Canada, or about 3.8 percent of the total population. They include North American Indians (also called First Nations), Métis (descendants of both Europeans and American Indians), and Inuit (inhabitants of the far Arctic north). Of those three groups, Inuit are the smallest, with only about fifty thousand remaining. These native people represent more than six hundred recognized groups and sixty-five language dialects, although only a handful of these languages are still spoken by a large enough core of people to remain viable languages for the long term.
Countless place names in Canada, just as in the United States, derive from native words. For example, the city of Quebec is built at the original head of navigation on the St. Lawrence River. Its name comes from an Algonquin word for “where the river narrows.” The word Canada is likely derived from the St. Lawrence Iroquois word Kanata, meaning “village” or “settlement.” While the French explorer Jacques Cartier was traveling up the St. Lawrence River in 1535, the indigenous peoples directed him to a specific village, the future Quebec City, using the word Kanata. He later used Canada to refer to the general area, and European mapmakers adopted it for the entire region.
Quebec is not the only place where devolutionary forces have been dividing cultural groups in Canada. In 1999, Nunavut officially broke from the Northwest Territory to become its own territory. Nunavut has only about thirty thousand people in an area larger than any other province or territory in Canada. It comprises about one-fifth of Canada’s land area. Most of the people who had claimed the land before the Europeans arrived are Inuit. Iqaluit, the capital city of Nunavut, is on Baffin Island near Canada’s east coast.
Canada has a great deal of ethnic diversity. One measure of this is the number of languages spoken there. One source estimates that there are about 145 languages spoken in Canada, including English and French. This reflects both the rich native heritage and the history of immigration from around the world. As of 2006, the foreign-born population was 6.2 million, or nearly 20 percent of Canada’s population. There are few countries that match this level of immigration. Even the United States had only about a 12.5 percent foreign-born population in 2006. If Canada’s current immigration rates continue, by 2017 more than 22 percent of Canada’s population will be foreign born, which equals the high rate seen in the early twentieth century, during the golden age of Eastern European immigration to North America. During this period, people from all the countries of Eastern Europe immigrated to all parts of Canada (Statistics Canada).
The current surge of immigrants to Canada does not include many Europeans. Instead, these immigrants come from Asian countries, especially China and countries in South Asia such as India and Pakistan. If immigration patterns stay the same, by 2017 about one in five people in Canada will belong to a nonwhite minority group. According to the 2010 Canadian census, more than a million Chinese and more than a half million South Asians lived in Canada. Other groups increasing rapidly include people from the Middle East and Korea.
The Canadian Economy
Not surprisingly, Canada and the Unites States are each others’ largest trading partners. More than 80 percent of Canadian exports go to the United States and 70 percent of imports to Canada come from the United States. Except for some natural-resource industries, most businesses are centered in Canadian cities to take advantage of the available labor force. Canada is rapidly moving toward a knowledge-based economy built on innovation and technology. Knowledge-intensive industries, such as biotechnology and information technology, are on the rise, and these are typically located in cities to facilitate partnering with universities and other researchers.
Although Canada is developing into a knowledge-based economy, the foundations of the Canadian economy have always been its abundant natural resources. Canada’s primary industries have traditionally been agriculture, fishing, mining, fuel/energy, and logging/forestry. Success in tapping these natural resources for their economic benefit allowed the country to double in population since 1960 while the economy has increased sevenfold. The primary industries now make up less than 10 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Just as in the United States, the most dramatic structural change in the economy has been the rise of the service sector, which now employs about three-quarters of all Canadians and generates over 60 percent of the GDP. Canadian manufacturing has been a strong sector of the economy with close ties to United States and multinational corporations.
Canada’s economy is tightly tied to that of the United States. One of the best examples is how the Canadian economy fluctuates depending on whether the Canadian dollar was weak or strong compared with the US dollar. For example, in 2002, one American dollar was worth about \$1.60 in Canada. For many years, the American dollar was much stronger on the world market than the Canadian dollar; therefore, Canadian goods and labor were less expensive for Americans than comparable US labor and goods. During the time of the weak Canadian dollar, many film and television industries moved to Canada to film television shows and movies, as it was less expensive to do so in Canada. Many popular television shows and movies have been shot in Canada, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver.
More recently, the value of the American dollar declined against other major currencies. The Canadian dollar remained strong, which meant that goods produced in Canada became much less affordable in the United States, causing the television and film industries to move back south of the border and Canadian exports to the United States to decline. In 2007, the Canadian dollar and the US dollar reached parity for the first time in thirty years. The two currencies continue to fluctuate with market values.
As mentioned earlier, NAFTA, the 1994 trilateral agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico, was one of the most significant economic events in North American history. For Canada, the agreement has meant more secure, stable access to US and Mexican markets. The agreement eliminated many tariffs; opened previously protected sectors in agriculture, energy, textiles, and automotive trade; and set specific rules for trade in services such as finance, transportation, and telecommunications. Perhaps most importantly for Canada, the agreement set rules for settling trade disputes.
The United States continues to exert its powerful influence on many countries in the world, but perhaps on none so strongly as Canada. Because of the geographical proximity of the two countries and the fact that the vast majority of Canadians live very close the US border, speak English as their first language, and share a great number of cultural similarities, American trends tend to be adopted by Canadians. Canadians differentiate themselves from Americans in legal issues, laws, and health care. For example, Canada has a health care system, funded by the provinces with financial help from the federal government, that provides free services to its citizens. Canadians often point to this difference as a one of the defining elements of their culture that is different from the United States.
Canada is a great consumer of American popular culture. Canadians listen to, watch, and read tremendous quantities of American music; television and movies; and news, books, and other literature—so much so that some Canadians believed Canadian culture was in danger of being extinguished. In response to these concerns, a law was passed and a watchdog agency created so that a certain percentage of all radio and television broadcasts emanating from Canadian radio and television stations had to originate in Canada or have significant Canadian content. Others were less worried about the impact of American pop culture on Canadian culture. This segment of the Canadian population felt that Canadians have long identified themselves in contrast to Americans; therefore, consuming American books, newspapers, television shows, and movies would only give Canadian a greater basis of comparison and thus strengthen the Canadian identity and perception of Canadian culture.
Key Takeaways
• Canada is a very large country with rich natural resources but a relatively small population that mostly lives in a narrow band in the southern part of the country.
• Canada’s English and French bilingualism is part of its British and French colonial past. The French culture is dominant in Quebec, where the population has considered seceding from Canada and becoming an independent country.
• Canada’s native population makes up less than 4 percent of the country’s population but represents a great deal of cultural and linguistic diversity.
• More than one in five Canadians is an immigrant, and most of the recent immigrants come from non-Western countries, especially those in Asia.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Where do most of the people live in Canada? Why do they live where they do?
2. What is Canada’s capital city? What is Canada’s largest city?
3. What is the difference in farming operations between the two main agricultural areas in Canada?
4. Where are large deposits of fossil fuels found in Canada? What are tar sands?
5. Where is the highest rainfall found in Canada? Where is the least amount of precipitation found in Canada? Explain this precipitation pattern.
6. Who were Canada’s main colonizers? How does colonialism impact Canada today?
7. Where have devolutionary forces been active but not totally successful? Where have devolutionary activities already taken place in Canada?
8. What problems might Quebec experience if it were to secede from the rest of Canada?
9. Where is Nunavut? Why is it a separate territory? Why do you think its capital city in located on the eastern coast of the territory?
10. How are current Canadian immigrants impacting the cultural and ethnic makeup of the country?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
Provinces and Territories
• Alberta
• British Columbia
• Manitoba
• New Brunswick
• Newfoundland
• Northwest Territories
• Nova Scotia
• Nunavut
• Ontario
• Prince Edward Island
• Quebec
• Saskatchewan
• Yukon Territory
Major Cities of Canada
• Calgary
• Charlottetown
• Edmonton
• Fredericton
• Halifax
• Iqaluit
• Montreal
• Ottawa
• Quebec City
• Regina
• St. Johns
• Toronto
• Vancouver
• Victoria
• Whitehorse
• Winnipeg
• Yellowknife
Locations and Features
• Arctic Ocean
• Baffin Island
• Canadian Shield
• Coastal Ranges
• Elsmere Island
• Hudson Bay
• Labrador
• Rocky Mountains
• St. Lawrence River
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/04%3A_North_America/4.04%3A_Canada.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Name the key characteristics of the regions of the United States and Canada.
2. Understand the patterns of population growth or decline for the various regions.
3. Determine which regions have significant minority groups and why.
4. Examine the environmental and social costs to rapid growth in the West.
5. Explain how physical geography has contributed to economic activities.
The Northeastern Core
The Northeastern Core includes the upper Midwest (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Michigan); the mid-Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, and New Jersey plus northern Virginia; and the southern New England states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. It also includes southern Ontario, Canada’s capital (Ottawa), and its largest city (Toronto). The physical environments of the Northeastern Core are quite diverse, including the northern Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain, the northern Appalachians, and the area surrounding the Great Lakes. This region, anchored by North America’s largest metropolis, New York, is the economic heart of the United States and Canada and home to more than a third of each country’s population. The megalopolis—the built-up area from Washington, DC, to Boston—is part of this region. The core region contains the Manufacturing/Rust Belt, which was once the main manufacturing region for North America but suffered decline with the advent of the information age. The core region hosts the headquarters of countless corporations, banks, financial markets (e.g., Wall Street), universities (from community colleges to the Ivy League), cultural institutions (e.g., Broadway, world-class museums, dance and music organizations), and even global organizations such as the United Nations.
Downtown Philadelphia’s city hall is an example of the urban qualities of the megalopolis that extends from Boston to Washington, DC.
This large region includes geographic swaths of both wealth and economic suffering. Eight of the United States’ ten wealthiest counties are in this region, most of them in the Washington, DC, area, and a number of billionaires live in New York City. Meanwhile, cities such as Detroit and Cleveland have suffered from deindustrialization and have experienced a major population decline since the 1950s. Detroit, for instance, has lost 61 percent of its population since 1950, and the decline continues. The city decreased in population by 25 percent just between 2000 and 2010. While manufacturing is not dead in the Northeastern Core, heavy industry has been in long-term decline.
New England and the Canadian Maritimes
New England and the Canadian Maritimes overlap with the Northeastern Core because its major city—Boston—is considered the northern edge of the megalopolis. South of Boston, the low-lying states of New England were the center of colonial settlement in the region and were the birthplace of America’s Industrial Revolution. Southern New England began as an agricultural and fishing colony, and as industry developed in the nineteenth century, the region attracted European immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and elsewhere to work in its factories. The highly skilled workforce helped maintain a strong economy in southern New England, although there have been times of increased unemployment and economic hardship. Today the region has a more diverse economic base, including recreation and tourism, finance, telecommunications, and health care. The mountains of western New England have been particularly attractive for the development of ski resorts, and the coasts of New England are popular for summer vacationing.
As you move north from Boston, the terrain becomes more rugged and the soil less fertile. There are fewer economic reasons for people to live in northern New England, and the states of Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine have always been less densely populated than the southern New England states. Maine is the least densely populated state in this region; about 90 percent of its land is forested, making it the most forested of the fifty United States. The vast Empty Quarter in western Maine consists of five million acres of privately owned forest and no permanent human inhabitants. Maine’s leading economic activity is manufacturing, and the bulk of it is oriented around paper and other wood products.
Northern New England transitions to the even more rugged and remote uplands of the Canadian Maritimes: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. The soil quality is quite poor, as glaciers removed most of it during the various ice ages. The region has a harsh climate and is removed from the major population centers of Canada and the eastern United States. The Maritime Provinces have always been oriented to the sea. Fishing and other sea-oriented businesses have historically been strong here, but in recent decades overfishing of the North Atlantic has caused a decline in the fishing economy. Tourism has been increasing as a source of revenue, especially in places such as Prince Edward Island, in which tourism is the dominant economic activity. Newfoundland, including Labrador, is Canada’s poorest province.
French Canada
West of the Canadian Maritimes lies the province of Quebec, the heart of which is the St. Lawrence River valley, a lowland separating the Appalachian Mountains to the south from the inhospitable Canadian Shield to the north. As explained in Section 4.4.3 “British versus French Canada”, France was the first European country to colonize the coastal regions of what is now Canada, the St. Lawrence River Valley, most of the land surrounding the Great Lakes, and the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys, south to the Gulf of Mexico. Although Great Britain obtained all that land from France in 1763 following the French and Indian War, enough French inhabitants occupied part of that territory that the region did not automatically become English speaking. The core of French Canada today is the St. Lawrence Valley from Montreal to the Atlantic coast and west of Montreal to Ottawa and north to the Hudson Bay. These French speakers, the descendants of the early French settlers, created a vibrant French-Canadian culture. About 21 percent of Canadians speak French as their mother tongue, including about 80 percent of Canadians living in the province of Quebec.
Throughout most of its history, the people of Quebec have been rural farmers, eking out a living on less-than-ideal land in a place with a short growing season. One unique characteristic of the farms in French Canada is their size and shape. Early on, the farms were laid out as long lots, maximizing the number of farms that would have access to the transportation artery—usually a river, but sometimes a road. Each farm was about ten times longer than it was wide and had a small access point to the river, some fertile riverfront land, and a woodlot at the rear of the farm. This land-use pattern was common throughout French Canada and can even be seen today in the United States in former French colonies such as Tennessee and Louisiana.
Since then, Quebec’s economy has developed to include a manufacturing sector (fueled by abundant hydroelectricity), tourism, and a variety of tertiary and quaternary industries. Montreal, Canada’s second-largest metropolitan area with 3.9 million residents, is the largest French-speaking city in the Western hemisphere. It developed as the region’s most important city in the mid-nineteenth century, as it controlled access through the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. It became a diverse industrial center, with oil refineries, steel mills, flour and sugar refineries, and shop yards for railroad companies. Montreal attracted English speakers as well as the local Francophones, and at times in its history it has even had more English speakers than French speakers, despite being surrounded by a Francophone countryside. Most of northern Quebec is sparsely populated because of the lack of quality soil for agriculture, but a paper and pulp industry based on its forests has developed over the twentieth century, as well as hydroelectric power generation.
The American South
The South includes the entire southeastern portion of the United States from Kentucky south to Louisiana, east to Florida, and north to Virginia. The South consists of most of the Gulf-Atlantic Coastal Plain and the southern portion of the Appalachian Highlands.
Before the Civil War, the coastal plain was dedicated to plantation agriculture using African slave labor. Land not used for plantation crops such as tobacco, cotton, and rice was typically farmed by poor whites and later by poor blacks. Some were sharecroppers, while others farmed their own small plots, especially on the lesser-quality land in Appalachia. The South had little urbanization or industrialization at the time of the Civil War. Well into the twentieth century, the region remained rural and economically deprived.
Names often reflect the cultural region of their location. Business names with “Dixie” in them can be found throughout the South. The Dixie Grill restaurant is located in Morehead, Kentucky.
Coal mining was a major source of employment in places such as West Virginia and eastern Kentucky for the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, but increased mechanization of mining methods, as well as new mining techniques such as mountaintop removal mining, decreased the number of miners needed, even as coal production increased.
The Appalachian South is perennially plagued by high unemployment, poverty, and difficult social conditions. Other areas of the rural South are also among the poorest in the nation, including the Mississippi Delta and the lower Mississippi River valley. Despite the continued swaths of poverty in the South, parts of the region have prospered in the past generation as Sun Belt migrants have moved to southern places such as Atlanta, Charlotte, Tampa, Miami, and dozens of smaller cities. This has fueled a period of urbanization and economic growth, and the newfound prosperity has helped integrate the South into the nation’s economy.
The Midwest and Great Plains
The center of the continent contains a relatively level agricultural region: the Midwest and the Great Plains. This land includes some of the most fertile agricultural land in the entire world and has been dubbed America’s breadbasket. The climate gets progressively more arid as you move to the west within this region, and the type of agriculture changes with the decrease in precipitation. Closer to the Rocky Mountains, the land is typically used for raising cattle, but enormous grain farms are found where water is available (especially through irrigation). The water for irrigation comes from the continent’s largest aquifer, the Ogallala Aquifer. Water is often pumped to the surface using a system called center pivot irrigation. The heart of the spring wheat belt is North Dakota, and the crop is also common in eastern Montana and in Canada’s Prairie Provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Winter wheat is common in Kansas and surrounding states. Farther to the east, where precipitation is more abundant, is the Corn Belt, focused in Iowa and Illinois.
The dominant city in this region is Chicago, which developed as a market town for the livestock and grain produced in the surrounding states and was linked to its hinterland through a complex network of rail lines. In fact, nearly all the major cities of this region developed as places for the buying, selling, and processing agricultural products. Today the Midwest and the Great Plains remain the most important food-producing areas in North America, although as agriculture has become increasingly mechanized and farms have gotten larger, the number of farmers has decreased. This region, especially the Great Plains, is experiencing a period of long-term population decline and aging.
The American Southwest
The states of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona are considered the Southwest. The climate of the Southwest is more arid and receives a high amount of sunlight throughout the year. Desert conditions are integrated with higher elevations in the mountainous areas. Eastern Texas receives more rainfall from the Gulf of Mexico, and western Texas and the states of New Mexico and Arizona are quite arid and receive less rainfall. These conditions are more favorable to cattle ranching than to other agricultural activities. Large farming operations exist where water is available for irrigation. The warmer climate has been attractive for development and people emigrating from the colder regions of the north.
The Southwest has a strong Hispanic heritage and was part of Spain’s Mexican colony before England established colonies on the East Coast (the first Spanish settlers arrived in New Mexico in 1598). All three states have a large contingency of Hispanic residents, some of whom have descended from early pre–United States settlers, while others have come into the United States more recently across the long desert border between Mexico and the United States. According to the 2010 census, about 46 percent of New Mexico’s population was Hispanic or Latino, and in Texas and Arizona the figures were 37 percent and 30 percent, respectively (US Census Bureau).
In Arizona, strong centrifugal forces have been in play because of its tough legal measures against illegal immigration. This issue exposes the social rift between the more European population of the state and the Hispanic immigrants. In 2008, the US Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Immigration Statistics estimated that Arizona had one of the fastest-growing illegal immigrant populations in the country at 8.4 percent of the population (Hoefer, M., et. al., 2011). This was the second-highest percentage of undocumented residents in the country, after Nevada. In April 2010, the New York Times reported that Arizona’s governor signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration into law, designed to identify, prosecute, and deport illegal immigrants (Archibold, R. C., 2011). At the same time, Reuters reported that the when the bill was debated in the Arizona senate, the number of illegal immigrants was listed at 10 percent of the population (Reuters, 2011). Some opponents of the tough illegal immigration laws claimed that law enforcement officials would use racial profiling to target Hispanic residents, and the federal government took the state to court to halt its enforcement.
The Southwest also has a strong Native American presence, especially in New Mexico and Arizona. Twenty-one federally recognized tribes with more than 250,000 people (4.9 percent of the state’s population) live in Arizona, and their reservations and traditional communities make up more than one-fourth of the state’s land. The Navajo tribe is the largest in the United States, with more than 100,000 members in Arizona alone and others in surrounding states. The considerable Native American and Hispanic population in the Southwest means that non-Hispanic whites make up a minority of the population in New Mexico and Texas.
The three Southwestern states have been recipients of Sun Belt migrations over the past few decades, as people have moved to the Southwest for tertiary-sector jobs and for the region’s warm climate. The region is quite urbanized, and most of the new migrants are moving to cities. Three-fourths of Arizona’s population live in the Phoenix or Tucson metropolitan area. The most populous metropolitan area in the Southwest is Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, with 6.4 million residents in 2010, making it the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States. The Houston metropolitan area is not far behind with 6.1 million residents. The economy of Texas used to be based on oil and natural gas, but it has since become more diversified. Residents of these cities work in high-tech manufacturing, health care, business, and information. One of the most famous high-tech industries in Texas is space: Houston is home to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, where astronauts and thousands of others work in the space industry.
The Mountain West
From the Rocky Mountains to the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades and the Intermontane Basins and Plateaus in between, this part of North America has gone from the old Wild West to an area of rapid economic and population growth. The region encompasses western Colorado; western Wyoming; western Montana; Idaho; Nevada; Utah; the eastern portions of Washington, Oregon, and California; and the southern portion of the Canadian Rockies.
The population of the Mountain West is growing much faster than the population of the United States as a whole. For example, Nevada’s population grew 32.3 percent from 2000 to 2009, which is more than three times as much as the United States as a whole (9.1 percent). All US states in this region, except for Montana, grew at faster rates than the US average. Utah grew 24.7 percent, Idaho grew 19.5 percent, and Colorado grew 16.8 percent. What is fueling this growth? It is part of the larger pattern of Americans flocking to the Sun Belt, searching for an attractive climate and lifestyle. Jobs have been created in recreation (gambling, skiing), in high-tech firms, and in other tertiary sector industries. Many of the migrants come from southern California because the housing in the Mountain West is more affordable and the region is much less crowded. Nearly all the growth is occurring in urban and suburban areas.
However, the rapid growth of the West since 1990 has come at a cost. In some areas the large population is putting a strain on physical resources, such as water. Water is a hot-button political issue, particularly in the more arid states such as Nevada. Las Vegas, for example, is a desert city that gets 90 percent of its water from a Colorado River reservoir: Lake Mead. This water comes from snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains far to the east, and due to drought and high water demand, Lake Mead’s water level has been dropping. If current patterns persist, Las Vegas will have a water crisis soon. The water shortage is happening even though Las Vegas has managed to reduce per capita water usage by raising prices for water and creating incentives to remove grass lawns. Las Vegas recycles 94 percent of all sewage water, which is the highest rate in the United States.
As the West’s population increased rapidly, the region’s urban areas became part of the real estate bubble of the early 2000s. Real estate prices grew and the housing industry built one residential subdivision after another in the suburbs surrounding cities such as Las Vegas, Denver, and Salt Lake City. However, in the late 2000s the real estate market collapsed in many parts of the country, and Western cities were hard hit. As of early 2011, three of the five states with the highest foreclosure rates were in this region (Nevada, Utah, and Idaho), and the others were bordering states (Arizona and California).
The Pacific Coast
The Pacific Coast includes the coastal portions of California, Oregon, and Washington, plus the southwestern portion of British Columbia in Canada. This region is typically thought of as two subregions: California and the Pacific Northwest. The two areas are quite different from each other in terms of climate and economy. However, both areas are part of the so-called Ring of Fire that encircles the Pacific Ocean. The Ring of Fire is a zone of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that occur near where the Pacific tectonic plate meets the surrounding plates. In the United States, two areas of concern are the San Andreas Fault in California and Mount St. Helens in Washington. The 1906 earthquake that destroyed San Francisco was a result of activity on the San Andreas Fault, and scientists predict that strong earthquakes will reappear along the fault in the future. Thousands of small earthquakes occur along the fault every year. Mount St. Helen’s is a volcano in the Cascades that erupted in 1980, killing fifty-seven people and destroying hundreds of square miles of forest.
The Pacific Coast represents a large population center a continent away from what we consider the North American core. Most of the region’s population is urban, and Los Angeles and its metropolitan area is by far the largest area of settlement. Twelve percent of the US population lives in California (thirty-seven million people), and the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area has nearly eighteen million people. Los Angeles is the second-largest US city after New York. Los Angeles is the quintessential automobile city. It developed into a major city in the mid-twentieth century at the time that automobile ownership had become common, and people who lived in the area tended to move to suburbs that were connected to each other by an extensive highway system. Los Angeles is a highly decentralized city, unlike cities in other parts of North America that formed during other transportation regimes.
The Pacific Coast region is also famous for its agriculture. California’s Central Valley lies between the Coast Ranges to the west and the Sierra Nevada to the east and is among the most productive agricultural areas in the world. The irrigated farmland in the valley produces all types of nontropical crops and is the largest US producer of tomatoes, grapes, almonds, and other foods. When other parts of the country are still frozen in the winter months, the fields of the Central Valley are already producing bountiful harvests. California is also famous for its wine production, especially in Napa Valley near San Francisco.
Besides agriculture, the economic base of the Pacific Coast is quite diverse and rich. If it were an independent country, California would be the world’s sixth-largest economy. Los Angeles is considered the capital of the US entertainment industry, and other major industries include aerospace, manufacturing, and foreign trade. The port of Los Angeles is the busiest in North America, receiving shipments of goods from China and other Asian countries. Silicon Valley, near San Francisco, is a key area for high-tech research and Internet commerce. The Pacific Northwest is home to major corporations such as Boeing (whose headquarters recently moved to Chicago), Microsoft, and other famous companies such as Starbucks, Amazon.com, REI, T-Mobile, Costco, and Eddie Bauer. One of the richest Americans, Bill Gates, lives near Seattle.
Across the border to the north, Vancouver is Canada’s third-largest metropolitan area with over two million residents. Vancouver is unlike any other city in North America. Nearly one-third of its residents are of Chinese origin, and more than half its population speak a language other than English at home. Vancouver began as a logging town but developed into its position as the Asian gateway to Canada because of its port, the busiest in Canada. Vancouver is a popular location for the film industry and is sometimes dubbed as “Hollywood North.” It is also growing in the biotechnology and software industries.
The North
The North is the least densely populated of any region in North America due to its brutally cold winters, short growing season, and poor soils. It includes the boreal forests of the upper Great Lakes region and the Canadian Shield and the territory to the north of the tree line that extends beyond the Arctic Circle. Physically, this region is immense, including the state of Alaska plus most of Canada. The climate is similar to that of Russia: cold continental and arctic climates, arctic air masses swooping down from the north, and long winters. Most inhabitants of the northern portions of North America live in the forested areas rather than in the frozen Arctic.
Two groups of people live in this region. First are the native peoples who have always lived there. They are small in number and traditionally make a living by hunting and fishing. More recently, the native populations such as the Inuit and the First Nations in Canada subsist by combining wage employment with their traditional means of living off the land. American Indians or Alaskan natives make up about 15 percent of Alaska’s population, for a total of roughly 106,000 people. In Canada’s Northwest Territories, First Nations people make up just over half the population, but the total population is quite small—only about 41,000 in the entire territory. In Nunavut, the native population is about 85 percent of the total 30,000 residents, living in a territory the size of Western Europe.
The other residents are more recent immigrants who are there to exploit the land’s natural resources. The economy is dominated by the primary economic sector: forestry, oil and natural gas extraction, and mining. In the Canadian Shield, metallic ores such as copper, gold, nickel, silver, and uranium are found in the rocks and diamond mines are in operation, as are mines producing rare earth elements used in computer screens, electric car batteries, and computer hard drives. These elements include metals such as cerium, terbium, dysprosium, and neodymium. Alaska is an oil-producing state, and the decision of whether to open additional areas of Alaska’s Arctic to oil drilling remains controversial and uncertain.
Key Takeaways
• The economic core of North America has traditionally been in the US Northeast and its surrounding territory.
• As you move north from Boston into the rest of New England, the Canadian Maritimes, and Quebec, the economy is increasingly based on primary industries such as forestry and fishing.
• Agriculture and mining have been in decline in the South, while tertiary and quaternary industries have attracted new migrants to the region’s urban and suburban areas.
• The Midwest and the Great Plains make up North America’s breadbasket. The climate gets more arid as you move west, but through irrigation, agricultural productivity remains high.
• The Southwest is unique in its high proportion of Hispanic and Native American residents.
• The Mountain West is growing rapidly, especially in its urban and suburban areas. This is putting stress on the physical environment (particularly its water resources) and made the region susceptible to the real estate bubble collapse.
• The Pacific Coast region is prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity, yet it is home to the second-largest metropolitan area in the United States and is known for its rich, diverse economic base.
• The far northern stretches of North America are sparsely populated, with an economy based on primary industries such as forestry and extraction. The North, both Canada and Alaska, is also known for its large native populations.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Where is the largest US megalopolis located? What region is it part of?
2. What is the purpose of long lots? Where would they be most prominent?
3. What have been some of the traditional economic activities in the American South? How is this changing?
4. Why is there a difference between where spring wheat and winter wheat is grown?
5. Name the main ethnic groups that are prominent in the American Southwest.
6. Why does the population continue to increase in the American West?
7. What makes the Pacific Coast region an unstable place for human development?
8. Why does the Pacific Coast region have both high agricultural production and large high-tech urban cities?
9. Why does the desert region of the American Southwest continue to attract a growing population?
10. What have been the main economic activities in the far north?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Northwestern Core
• New England and the Canadian Maritimes
• French Canada
• The American South
• The Midwest and Great Plains
• The American Southwest
• The Mountain West
• The Pacific Coast
• The North
4.06: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
• The United States and Canada are two countries with a great deal in common: their large territories, their histories of European colonization, their immigrant populations, and their high standards of living.
• Both the United States and Canada are becoming less European as immigrants arrive from outside Europe. In the case of the United States, the largest group of immigrants is from Latin America. For Canada, the largest group of immigrants is from Asia.
• The United States and Canada are both countries with a small native population, although in Canada native people have achieved more self-representation than in the United States, especially since the creation of Nunavut.
• Quebec, the French-speaking heart of Canada, has struggled for years to maintain its cultural uniqueness without risking its economic well-being.
• Both countries are postindustrial, with service- and information-oriented economies. The United States is the world’s largest economy, and it has a history of spreading its culture, ideas, and military prowess around the globe.
• North America is made up of various regions with distinct cultural or physical features. Each region has majority and minority populations based on immigration or native heritage. Economic conditions vary from region to region. The Sun Belt is attracting an ever-growing number of information-based high-tech firms.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/04%3A_North_America/4.05%3A_Regions_of_the_United_States_and_Canada.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Define the differences between the rimland and the mainland.
2. Summarize the impact of European colonialism on Middle America.
3. Distinguish between the Mayan and Aztec Empires and identify which the Spanish defeated.
4. Describe how the Spanish influenced urban development.
Physical Geography
Middle America has various types of physical landscapes, including volcanic islands and mountain ranges. Tectonic action at the edge of the Caribbean Plate has brought about volcanic activity, creating many of the islands of the region as volcanoes rose above the ocean surface. The island of Montserrat is one such example. The volcano on this island has continued to erupt in recent years, showering the island with dust and ash and making habitation difficult. Many of the other low-lying islands, such as the Bahamas, were formed by coral reefs rising above the ocean surface. Tectonic plate activity not only has created volcanic islands but also is a constant source of earthquakes that continue to be a problem for the Caribbean community.
The republics of Central America extend from Mexico to Colombia and form the final connection between North America and South America. The Isthmus of Panama, the narrowest point between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, serves as a land bridge between the continents. The backbone of Central America is mountainous, with many volcanoes located within its ranges. Much of the Caribbean and all of Central America are located south of the Tropic of Cancer and are dominated by tropical type A climates. The mountainous areas have varied climates, with cooler climates located at higher elevations. Mexico has extensive mountainous areas with two main ranges in the north and highlands in the south. There are no landlocked countries in this realm, and coastal areas have been exploited for fishing and tourism development.
Rimland and Mainland
Using a regional approach to the geography of a realm helps us compare and contrast a place’s features and characteristics. Location and the physical differences explain the division of Middle America into two geographic areas according to occupational activities and colonial dynamics: the rimland, which includes the Caribbean islands and the Caribbean coastal areas of Central America, and the mainland, which includes the interior of Mexico and Central America.
Colonialism thrived in the rimland because it consists mainly of islands and coastal areas that were accessible to European ships. Ships could easily sail into a cove or bay to make port and claim the island for their home country. After an island or coastal area was claimed, there was unimpeded transformation of the area through plantation agriculture. On a plantation, local individuals were subjugated as servants or slaves. The land was planted with a single crop—usually sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, or fruit—grown for export profits. Most of these crops were not native to the Americas but were brought in during colonial times. European diseases killed vast numbers of local Amerindian laborers, so slaves were brought from Africa to do the work. Plantation agriculture in the rimland was successful because of the import of technology, slave labor, and raw materials, as well as the export of the harvest to Europe for profit.
Plantation agriculture changed the rimland. The local groups were diminished because of disease and colonial subjugation, and by the 1800s most of the population was of African descent. Native food crops for consumption gave way to cash crops for export. Marginal lands were plowed up and placed into the plantation system. The labor was usually seasonal: there was a high demand for labor at peak planting and harvest times. Plantations were generally owned by wealthy Europeans who may or may not have actually lived there.
The mainland, consisting of Mexico and the interior of Central America, diverged from the rimland in terms of both colonial dynamics and agricultural production. The interior lacked the easy access to the sea that the rimland enjoyed. As a result, the hacienda style of land use developed. This Spanish innovation was aimed at land acquisition for social prestige and a comfortable lifestyle. Export profits were not the driving force behind the operation, though they may have existed. The indigenous workers, who were poorly paid if at all, were allowed to live on the haciendas, working their own plots for subsistence. African slaves were not prominent in the mainland.
In the mainland, European colonialists would enter an area and stake claims to large portions of the land, often as much as thousands or even in the millions of acres. Haciendas would eventually become the main landholding structure in the mainland of Mexico and many other regions of Middle America. In the hacienda system, the Amerindian people lost ownership of the land to the European colonial masters. Land ownership or the control of land has been a common point of conflict throughout the Americas where land transferred from a local indigenous ownership to a colonial European ownership.
The rimland was more accessible to European ships, and the mainland was more isolated from European activity.
The plantation and hacienda eras are in the past. The abolition of slavery in the later 1800s and the cultural revolutions that occurred on the mainland challenged the plantation and hacienda systems and brought about land reform. Plantations were transformed into either multiple private plots or large corporate farms. The hacienda system was broken up, and most of the hacienda land was given back to the people, often in the form of an ejidos system, in which the community owns the land but individuals can profit from it by sharing its resources. The ejidos system has created its own set of problems, and many of the communally owned lands are being transferred to private owners.
The agricultural systems changed Middle America by altering both the systems of land use and the ethnicity of the population. The Caribbean Basin changed in ethnicity from being entirely Amerindian, to being dominated by European colonizers, to having an African majority population. The mainland experienced the mixing of European culture with the Amerindian culture to form various types of mestizo groups with Hispanic, Latino, or Chicano identities.
The European Invasion
Though the southern region of the Americas has commonly been referred to as “Latin America,” this is a misnomer because Latin has never been the lingua franca of any of the countries in the Americas. What, then, is the connection between the southern region of the Americas and Latin? To understand this connection, the reader needs to bring to mind the dominant languages as well as the origin of the colonizers of the region called “Latin America.” Keep in mind that the name of a given country does not always reflect its lingua franca. For example, people in Mexico do not speak a language called “Mexican”; they speak Spanish. Likewise, Brazilians do not speak “Brazilian”; they speak Portuguese.
European colonialism had an immense effect on the rest of the world. Among other things, colonialism diffused the European languages and the Christian religion. Latin Mass has been a tradition in the Roman Catholic Church. Consider the Latin-based Romance language group and how European colonialism altered language and religion in the Americas. The Romance languages of Spanish and Portuguese are now the most widely used languages in Middle and South America, respectively. This is precisely why the term Latin America is not technically an appropriate name for this region, even though the name is widely used. Middle America is a more accurate term for the region between the United States and South America, and South America is the appropriate name for the southern continent in spite of the connection to Latin-based languages.
European colonialism impacted Middle America in more ways than language and religion. Before Christopher Columbus arrived from Europe, the Americas did not have animals such as horses, donkeys, sheep, chickens, and domesticated cattle. This meant there were no large draft animals for plowing fields or carrying heavy burdens. The concept of the wheel, which was so prominent in Europe, was not found in use in the Americas. Food crops were also different: the potato was an American food crop, as were corn, squash, beans, chili peppers, and tobacco. Europeans brought other food crops—either from Europe itself or from its colonies—such as coffee, wheat, barley, rice, citrus fruits, and sugarcane. Besides food crops, building methods, agricultural practices, and even diseases were exchanged.
The Spanish invasion of Middle America following Columbus had devastating consequences for the indigenous populations. It has been estimated that fifteen to twenty million people lived in Middle America when the Europeans arrived, but after a century of European colonialism, only about 2.5 million remained. Few of the indigenous peoples—such as the Arawak and the Carib on the islands of the Caribbean and the Maya and Aztec on the mainland—had immunities to European diseases such as measles, mumps, smallpox, and influenza. Through warfare, disease, and enslavement, the local populations were decimated. Only a small number of people still claim Amerindian heritage in the Caribbean Basin, and some argue that these few are not indigenous to the Caribbean but are descendants of slaves brought from South America by European colonialists.
Columbus landed with his three ships on the island of Hispaniola in 1492. Hispaniola is now divided into the countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. With the advantage of metal armor, weapons, and other advanced technology, the Spanish invaders quickly dominated the local people. Since Europe was going through a period of competition, warfare, and technological advancements, the same mind-set carried forward to the New World. Indigenous people were most often made servants of the Europeans, and resistance resulted in conflict, war, and often death. The Spanish soldiers, explorers, or adventurers called conquistadors were looking for profits and quick gain and ardently sought gold, silver, and precious gems. This quest for gain pitted the European invaders against the local groups. The Roman Catholic religion was brought over from Europe and at times was zealously pushed on the local “heathens” with a “repent or perish” method of conversion.
Many of the Caribbean islands have declared independence, but some remain crown colonies of their European colonizers with varying degrees of autonomy. Mexico achieved independence from Spain by 1821, and most Central American republics also gained independence in the 1820s. In 1823, the United States implemented the Monroe Doctrine, designed to deter the former European colonial powers from engaging in continued political activity in the Americas. US intervention has continued in various places in spite of the reduction in European activity in the region. In 1898, the United States engaged Spain in the Spanish-American War, in which Spain lost its colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and others to the United States. Puerto Rico continues to be under US jurisdiction and is not an independent country.
The Maya and the Aztec
Though the region of Mexico has been inhabited for thousands of years, one of the earliest cultures to develop into a civilization with large cities was the Olmec, which was believed to be the precursor to the later Mayan Empire. The Olmec flourished in the south-central regions of Mexico from 1200 BCE to about 400 BCE. Anthropologists call this region of Mexico and northern Central America Mesoamerica. It is considered to be the region’s cultural hearth because it was home to early human civilizations. The Maya established a vast civilization after the Olmec, and Mayan stone structures remain as major tourist attractions. The classical era of the Mayan civilization lasted from 300 to 900 CE and was centered in the Yucatán Peninsula region of Mexico, Belize, and Central America. Guatemala was once a large part of this vast empire, and Mayan ruins are found as far south as Honduras. During the classical era, the Maya built some of the most magnificent cities and stone pyramids in the Western Hemisphere. The city-states of the empire functioned through a sophisticated religious hierarchy. The Mayan civilization made advancements in mathematics, astronomy, engineering, and architecture. They developed an accurate calendar based on the seasons and the solar system. The extent of their immense knowledge is still being discovered. The descendants of the Maya people still exist today, but their empire does not.
The Toltec, who controlled central Mexico briefly, came to power after the classical Mayan era. They also took control of portions of the old Mayan Empire from the north. The Aztec federation replaced the Toltec and Maya as the dominant civilization in southern Mexico. The Aztec, who expanded outward from their base in central Mexico, built the largest and greatest city in the Americas of the time, Tenochtitlán, with an estimated population of one hundred thousand. Tenochtitlán was located at the present site of Mexico City, and it was from there that the Aztec expanded into the south and east to create an expansive empire. The Aztec federation was a regional power that subjugated other groups and extracted taxes and tributes from them. Though they borrowed ideas and innovations from earlier groups such as the Maya, they made great strides in agriculture and urban development. The Aztec rose to dominance in the fourteenth century and were still in power when the Europeans arrived.
Spanish Conquest of 1519–21
After the voyages of Columbus, the Spanish conquistadors came to the New World in search of gold, riches, and profits, bringing their Roman Catholic religion with them. Zealous church members sought to convert the “heathens” to their religion. One such conquistador was Hernán Cortés, who, with his 508 soldiers, landed on the shores of the Yucatán in 1519. They made their way west toward the Aztec Empire. The wealth and power of the Aztecs attracted conquistadors such as Cortés, whose goal was to conquer. Even with metal armor, steel swords, sixteen horses, and a few cannons, Cortés and his men did not challenge the Aztecs directly. The Aztec leader Montezuma II originally thought Cortés and his men were legendary “White Gods” returning to recover the empire. Cortés defeated the Aztecs by uniting the people that the Aztecs had subjugated and joining with them to fight the Aztecs. The Spanish conquest of the Aztec federation was complete by 1521.
As mentioned, the Spanish invasion of Middle America had devastating consequences for the indigenous populations. It is estimated that there were between fifteen and twenty-five million Amerindians in Middle America before the Europeans arrived. After a century of European colonialism, there were only about 2.5 million left (Module 01). Cortés defeated the Amerindian people by killing off the learned classes of the religious clergy, priestly orders, and those in authority. The local peasants and workers survived. The Spanish destroyed the knowledge base of the Maya and Aztec people. Their knowledge of astronomy, their advanced calendar, and their engineering technology were lost. Only through anthropology, archaeology, and the relearning of the culture can we fully understand the expanse of these early empires. The local Amerindian descendants of the Maya and the Aztec still live in the region, and there are dozens of other Amerindian groups in Mexico with their own languages, histories, and cultures.
The Spanish Colonial City
As the Spanish established urban centers in the New World, they structured each town after the Spanish pattern, with a plaza in the center. Around the plaza on one side was the church (Roman Catholic, of course). On the other sides of the plaza were government offices and stores. Residential homes filled in around them. This pattern can still be seen in almost all the cities built by the Spanish in Middle and South America. The Catholic Church not only was located in the center of town but also was a supreme cultural force shaping and molding the Amerindian societies conquered by the Spanish.
In Spain, the cultural norm was to develop urban centers wherever administration or military support was needed. Spanish colonizers followed a similar pattern in laying out the new urban centers in their colonies. Extending out from the city center (where the town plaza, government buildings, and church were located) was a commercial district that was the backbone of this model. Expanding out on each side of the spine was a wealthy residential district for the upper social classes, complete with office complexes, shopping districts, and upper-scale markets.
Surrounding the central business district (CBD) and the spine of most cities in Middle and South America are concentric zones of residential districts for the lower, working, and middle classes and the poor. The first zone, the zone of maturity, has well-established middle-class residential neighborhoods with city services. The second concentric zone, the zone of transition (in situ accretion), has poorer working-class districts mixed with areas with makeshift housing and without city services. The outer zone, the zone of periphery, is where the expansion of the city occurs, with makeshift housing and squatter settlements. This zone has little or no city services and functions on an informal economy. This outer zone often branches into the city, with slums known as favelas or barrios that provide the working poor access to the city without its benefits. Impoverished immigrants that arrive in the city from the rural areas often end up in the city’s outer periphery to eke out a living in some of the worst living conditions in the world.
Cities in this Spanish model grow by having the outer ring progress to the point where eventually solid construction takes hold and city services are extended to accommodate the residents. When this ring reaches maturity, a new ring of squatter settlements emerges to form a new outer ring of the city. The development dynamic is repeated, and the city continues to expand outward. The urban centers of Middle and South America are expanding at rapid rates. It is difficult to provide public services to the outer limits of many of the cities. The barrios or favelas become isolated communities, often complete with crime bosses and gang activities that replace municipal security.
Key Takeaways
• Haciendas were located chiefly in the mainland and plantations were located mainly in the rimland.
• Both the hacienda and the plantation structures of agriculture altered the ethnic makeup of their respective regions. The rimland had an African labor base, and the mainland had an Amerindian labor base.
• In their quest for wealth, Spanish conquistadors destroyed the Aztec Empire and colonized the Middle American mainland. Much historical knowledge was lost with the demise of the learned class of the Aztec Empire.
• Europeans introduced many new food crops and domesticated animals to the Americas and in turn brought newly discovered agricultural products from America back to Europe.
• The Spanish introduced the same style of urban planning to the Americas that was common in Spain. Many cities in Middle and South America were patterned after Spanish models.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the three main regions of Middle America?
2. What are the main distinctions between the mainland and the rimland?
3. What are the differences between a hacienda and a plantation?
4. What happened to the plantations and haciendas established during the colonial era?
5. Why is Middle America often referred to as a part of “Latin America”?
6. Who were the Aztec and the Maya, and when did their empires flourish? What happened to these empires?
7. What are some ways that European colonialism affected this realm?
8. What features were found at the center of town in the Spanish urban model?
9. How did the Spanish organize the structure of their colonial cities?
10. How does the Ford-Griffin Model illustrate the development of the Spanish-American city?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Atlantic Ocean
• Bahamas
• Baja Peninsula
• Caribbean Sea
• Central America
• Greater Antilles
• Gulf of Mexico
• Isthmus of Panama
• Lesser Antilles
• Mainland
• Pacific Ocean
• Rimland
• Yucatán Peninsula
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/05%3A_Middle_America/5.01%3A_Introducing_the_Realm.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe the physical geography of Mexico, identifying the core and peripheral areas.
2. Outline the socioeconomic classes in Mexico and explain the ethnic differences of each.
3. Explain how the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and maquiladoras have influenced the economic and employment situations in Mexico.
4. Understand how the drug cartels have become an integrated part of the Mexican economy and political situation.
Physical Characteristics
Mexico is the eighth-largest country in the world and is about one-fifth the size of the United States. Bordered to the north by the United States, Mexico stretches south to Central America, where it is bordered by Guatemala and Belize. One of Mexico’s prominent geographical features is the world’s longest peninsula, the 775-mile-long Baja California Peninsula, which lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez). The Baja California Peninsula includes a series of mountain ranges called the Peninsular Ranges.
The Tropic of Cancer cuts across Mexico, dividing it into two different climatic zones: a temperate zone to the north and a tropical zone to the south. In the northern temperate zone, temperatures can be hot in the summer, often rising above 80 °F, but considerably cooler in the winter. By contrast, temperatures vary very little from season to season in the tropical zone, with average temperatures hovering very close to 80 °F year-round. Temperatures in the south tend to vary as a function of elevation.
Mexico is characterized by a great variety of climates, including areas with hot humid, temperate humid, and arid climates. There are mountainous regions, foothills, plateaus, deserts, and coastal plains, all with their own climatic conditions. For example, in the northern desert portions of the country, summer and winter temperatures are extreme. Temperatures in the Sonoran and Chihuahuan Deserts exceed 110 °F, while in the mountainous areas snow can be seen at higher elevations throughout the year.
Two major mountain ranges extend north and south along Mexico’s coastlines and are actually extensions of southwestern US ranges. The Sierra Madre Occidental and the Sierra Madre Oriental run roughly parallel to each other. The Sierra Madre Occidental, an extension of the Sierra Nevada range, runs about 3,107 miles along the west coast, with peaks higher than 9,843 feet. The Sierra Madre Oriental is an extension of the Rocky Mountains and runs 808 miles along the east coast. Between these two mountain ranges lies a group of broad plateaus, including the Mexican Plateau, or Mexican Altiplano (a wide valley between mountain ranges). The central portions, with their rolling hills and broad valleys, include fertile farms and productive ranch land. The Mexican Altiplano is divided into northern and southern sections, with the northern section dominated by Mexico’s most expansive desert, the Chihuahuan Desert.
Another prominent mountain range is the Cordillera Neovolcánica range, which as its name suggests, is a range of volcanoes that runs nearly 620 miles east to west across the central and southern portion of the country. Geologically speaking, this range represents the dividing line between North and Central America. The peaks of the Cordillera Neovolcánica can reach higher than 16,404 feet in height and are snow covered year-round.
Copper Canyon, in the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, is about seven times larger than the Grand Canyon. Copper Canyon was formed by six rivers flowing through a series of twenty different canyons. Besides covering a larger area than the Grand Canyon, at its deepest point, Copper Canyon is 1,462 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon.
Though sandy beaches often come to mind when thinking about Mexico, the mountainous regions are home to pine-oak forests. More than a quarter of Mexico’s landmass is covered in forests; as a result, timber is an important natural resource. Mexico ranks fourth in the world for biodiversity; it has the world’s largest number of reptile species, ranks second for mammals, and ranks fourth for the number of amphibian and plant species. It is estimated that more than 10 percent of the world’s species live here. Forest depletion is a key environmental concern, but timber remains an important natural resource. The loss of natural habitat coincides with depletion of natural resources and an increase in population.
Mexico is home to a range of volcanoes, some of which are active. Popocatépetl and Ixtaccíhuatl (“Smoking Warrior” and “White Lady,” respectively, in the Náhuatl language—a primary language of the indigenous peoples in central Mexico) occasionally send out puffs of smoke clearly visible in Mexico City, reminding the city’s inhabitants that eruption is a possibility. Popocatépetl is one of the most active volcanoes in Mexico, erupting fifteen times since the arrival of the Spanish in 1519 CE. This volcano is close enough to populations to threaten millions of people.
Three tectonic plates underlie Mexico, making it one of the most seismically active regions on earth. In 1985, an earthquake centered off Mexico’s Pacific coast killed more than ten thousand people in Mexico City and did significant damage to the city’s infrastructure.
Many of Mexico’s natural resources lie beneath the surface. Mexico is rich in natural resources and has robust mining industries that tap large deposits of silver, copper, gold, lead, and zinc. Mexico also has a sizable supply of salt, fluorite, iron, manganese, sulfur, phosphate, tungsten, molybdenum, and gypsum. Natural gas and petroleum also make the list of Mexico’s natural resources and are important export products to the United States. There has been some concern about declining petroleum resources; however, new reserves are being found offshore in the Gulf of Mexico.
Though only about 13 percent of Mexico’s land area is cultivated, favorable climatic conditions mean that food products are also an important natural resource both for export and for the feeding the country’s sizable population. Tomatoes, maize (corn), vanilla, avocado, beans, cotton, coffee, sugarcane, and fruit are harvested in sizable quantities. Of these, coffee, cotton, sugarcane, tomatoes, and fruit are primarily grown for export, with most products bound for the United States.
Mexico has very pronounced wet and dry seasons. Most of the country receives rain between June and mid-October, with July being the wettest month. Much less rain occurs during the other months: February is usually the driest month. More importantly, Mexico lies in the middle of the hurricane belt, and all regions of both coasts are at risk for these storms between June and November. Hurricanes along the Pacific coast are much less frequent and less violent than those along Mexico’s Gulf and Caribbean coasts. Hurricanes can cause extensive damage to infrastructure along the coasts where major tourist resorts are located. Mexico’s extensive and beautiful coastlines provide an important boon to the nation’s tourism industry.
The Core versus the Periphery
In the past few decades, the Mexican economy has slowly become less centralized and more focused on the private sector. The Mexican economy is a mix of modern industry, agriculture, and tourism. Current estimates indicate that the service sector makes up about 60 percent of the economy, followed by the industrial sector at 33 percent. Agriculture represents just above 4 percent. Per-capita income in Mexico is about one-third of what it is in the United States. The Mexican labor force is estimated at forty-six million individuals; 14 percent of the labor force work in agriculture, 23 percent in the industrial sector, and 62 percent in the service sector.
Mexico is an example of a country with a clear core-periphery spatial relationship. Mexico City and its surrounding metropolitan centers represent the county’s core: the center of activity, industry, wealth, and power. Industries and manufacturing have been traditionally located in this region. The core region has most of the country’s 110 million people (as of 2010). Mexico’s population is about 77 percent urban, with the largest urban areas found in the core region.
The periphery is the northern region, including the border area, and the southern region, including the Yucatán Peninsula.
Mexico City is one of the largest cities in the world and anchors the core region of Mexico. In 2010, the official population of Mexico City was about eighteen million, but unofficial population estimates can reach thirty million. The actual population of Mexico City is unknown because of the hundreds of slums that surround the city on the slopes of the central valley. Mexico City is growing at a rate of more than one thousand people per day through a combination of the number of births and the number migrants. The lure of opportunities and advantages still pulls migrants to the city in search of a better life. Higher populations tax the resources in rural areas, where jobs and opportunities are hard to find. This push-pull relationship creates a strong rural-to-urban shift in Mexico. This same trend is found throughout the developing world.
Mexico City is a historic and vibrant city, but is not without problems. At higher than seven thousand feet in elevation, it is located between two mountain ranges. Air pollution is severe and is augmented by frequent air inversions that trap pollution over the city. To reduce air pollution, people are only allowed to drive their vehicles on certain days according to odd or even license plate numbers. Older vehicles that do not pass emission standards are banned. Fresh water is in short supply, and wastewater from sewage is discharged into lakes down the valley. Amerindians who live by these lakes or on the islands have to deal with the pollution. Because about four to five million inhabitants of Mexico City have no utilities, human waste buildup has become a challenge. Fresh water is pumped into the city through pipelines from across the mountains. Leakage and inadequate maintenance cause a large percentage of the water to be lost before it can be used in the city. Water is also drawn from underground aquifers beneath the city, which has caused parts of the city to sink as much as two feet, causing serious structural damage to historic buildings.
One of Mexico’s largest peripheral regions lies to the south, along the country’s border with Guatemala. It includes the state of Chiapas and most of the Yucatán Peninsula and is primarily inhabited by Amerindians of Mayan ancestry. As is typical of peripheral regions, little political or economic power is held by the residents, who find themselves at the lowest end of the social and economic order. The highland region of Chiapas and the Yucatán Peninsula are primarily agricultural regions with few industries. However, tourism has changed the northern Yucatán: Cancún has developed into a major tourist destination, and Mayan ruins in the region attract thousands of tourists each season. Unless the local population can benefit from tourism, there are few other opportunities for employment in this part of Mexico.
Mexican Social Order
The early European control of the land, the economy, and the political system created conflict for the people of Mexico. The country has experienced domination followed by revolution at various times, starting with colonial domination, then economic domination, and lastly political domination. In each historic cycle, revolution and conflict were followed by change. The result was a mixing and acculturation of the Europeans and the Amerindians, which created the current mestizo mainstream society. Mestizos make up about 60 percent of the current population, Europeans make up about 9 percent, and Amerindians make up about 30 percent. More than sixty indigenous languages spoken by Amerindian groups are recognized in Mexico. At least seventeen indigenous languages are spoken by more than one hundred thousand people or more in Mexico, most of them living in the southern part of the country.
Mexican society is regionally and ethnically diverse, with sharp socioeconomic divisions. Many rural communities have strong ties with their regions and are often referred to as patrias chicas (“small homelands”), which helps to perpetuate the cultural diversity. The large number of indigenous languages and customs, especially in the southern parts of Mexico, further emphasize cultural diversity. Idigenismo (“pride in the indigenous heritage”) has been a unifying theme of Mexico since the 1930s. However, daily life in Mexico can be dramatically different according to socioeconomic class, gender, ethnicity, rural or urban settlements, and other cultural differences. A peasant farmer in the rainforests of the Yucatán will lead a very different life than a museum curator in Mexico City or a lower-middle-class auto factory worker in Monterrey.
The current social status of Mexican society can be illustrated by a pyramid shape (see Figure 5.10 “Socioeconomic Classes in Mexico and Most of Latin America”). Those of European descent are at the top of the pyramid and control a higher percentage of the wealth and power even though they are a minority of the population. The small middle class is largely mestizo, including managers, business people, and professionals. The working poor make up most of the population at the bottom of the pyramid. The lower class contains the highest percentage of people of Amerindian descent or, in the case of the Caribbean, African descent.
The most desirable type of social structure is illustrated by a diamond shape: in the middle is a large, employed middle class that can pay most of the taxes and purchase consumer goods that help bolster the economy. The narrow top is made up of the richest, and the narrow bottom is made up of the poorest (see Figure 5.11 “A More Ideal Socioeconomic Class Structure with a Large Middle-Class Tax Base”). Unfortunately, this optimal type of social structure does not always materialize in the manner hoped for. As an example, a goal of the economic planners of the United States has been to create a wide social profile. Unfortunately, in recent decades the US middle class has been declining, and the wealthy class and the working-class poor have increased. In Mexico, about 40 percent of the population lives in poverty.
Over the course of the past century, the people of Mexico have been working through a demographic transition. As the rural regions of Mexico continued to have a high fertility rate, death rates declined, and the country’s population grew exponentially. In 1970, the population of Mexico was about fifty million. By the year 2000, it had doubled to more than one hundred million. However, the population estimate for 2010 was just greater than 110 million. As Mexico urbanizes and industrializes, family size and fertility rates have been in decline, and population growth has slowed.
Rural-to-urban shift has increased the population of Mexico City, which is considered the primate city of the country. Rural Amerindian groups in the isolated and remote mountainous regions of Mexico have historically been self-sufficient for their daily needs and have relied on the land for their livelihoods. In the past few decades, however, large family sizes have forced many young people to look to the cities for employment. On a global scale, people in many countries are migrating from the periphery to the core.
NAFTA and Maquiladoras
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is a 1994 economic agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico that eliminated or reduced the tariffs, taxes, and quotas between the countries to create the world’s largest trading bloc to compete with the European Union and the global economy. This theoretically allows more corporate investments across borders and increases foreign ownership of business facilities. It stimulated a shift in the location of industrial activity and in the migration patterns of people in Mexico. Capitalizing on the old industrial locations of northern Mexico, such as Monterrey, corporations started to relocate manufacturing plants from the United States to the Mexican side of the border to take advantage of Mexico’s low-cost labor. The aspect of cheaper labor was a benefit understood to bolster corporate profits and reduce product costs. The United States is one of the world’s largest consumer markets, so these manufacturing plants, called maquiladoras (also known as maquilas), could benefit both countries.
Maquiladoras are foreign-owned factories that import most of the raw materials or components needed for the products they manufacture, assemble, or process with local cheap labor, and then they export the finished product for profit. US corporations own more than half the maquiladoras in Mexico, and about 80 percent of the finished goods are exported back to the United States. Although most maquiladoras are located near the US-Mexican border, additional factories are located around Monterrey and other cities with easy access to the United States. A major trade corridor is developing between Monterrey and Dallas/Ft. Worth, which acts as a doorway to the US markets.
Thousands of maquiladoras flourish along the US-Mexican border, although the Mexican government has also promoted maquiladoras in other parts of Mexico. Maquiladoras provide jobs for workers in Mexico and provide cheaper goods for US consumers. However, this system has inherent problems. Labor unions in the United States complain that the high-paying industrial jobs that support the US middle class are being lost to cheap Mexican labor. Labor laws in Mexico are less rigorous than US laws, allowing for longer work hours and fewer benefits for maquiladora employees. In addition, pollution standards in Mexico are not as restrictive as those in the United States, giving rise to environmental concerns. The central US-Mexican border region has dry or arid type B climates with fresh water in short supply, and water is in high demand in industrial processes. With the rapid increase in employment along the border, many of the people who work in the factories do not have adequate housing or utilities. Extensive slum areas have grown around maquiladora zones, which have little law enforcement, high crime, and few services.
The US-Mexican border region has become a strong pull factor, enticing poor people who seek greater opportunities and advantages to move from Mexico City and other southern regions of Mexico to the border region to look for work. When they do not find work, they are tempted to cross the US border illegally. The United States is considered a land of opportunity and attracts immigrants—both legal and illegal—from Mexico. For political and economic reasons, the main US political parties have been hesitant to seriously address the problem of the millions of illegal immigrants.
Opportunities and advantages drive the push-pull of migrants searching for improved economic conditions.
It is not only US corporations that have taken advantage of the explosion in the number of maquiladoras in Mexico. European and Japanese companies have also muscled in on a share of the market. Capitalism thrives on cheap labor and accessible raw materials. With much of this industrial activity located in the northern sector of Mexico, it becomes easier to understand the difficult issues that confront Mexico’s southernmost state of Chiapas, where there is little benefit from this growth of economic activity.
In 1995, Chile was considered a possible addition to the countries participating in NAFTA. US congressional differences, however, have prevented Chile from being accepted as a full member. As a result, Chile remains a “silent partner” and conducts business according to similar rules. Agreements with Chile block Asian goods from making their way into the United States through Chile and Mexico. The United States, Mexico, and Canada all have full-fledged independent free-trade agreements with Chile.
The Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) is a plan to integrate the entire Western Hemisphere into one giant trading bloc. The same concerns that the European Union faced regarding currency, language, and law confront this proposal. A new currency called the Eagle was proposed as early as the 1990s to replace the Canadian dollar, the US dollar, and the Mexican peso. In later years, a currency called the Amero was proposed for the same purpose, but its implementation is unlikely. Any change in the US dollar would affect a great number of countries: Puerto Rico (a territory of the United States) and the countries of Ecuador, Panama, and El Salvador already use the US dollar as their standard currency. A one-currency solution might become a more viable option if the US dollar were to crash or significantly lose its value in the world marketplace.
A goal of NAFTA is to exploit cheap labor until the Mexican economy rises to a level similar to that of the United States and Canada, equalizing migration patterns and eventually bringing about a situation in which the border checkpoints between the countries could be eliminated, as they have been within the European Union. Through the development of a larger middle class in Mexico, the three main countries of NAFTA would have similar standards of living. Mexico has a long way to go to arrive at this status but is making progress at the expense of the United States and Canada. Corruption, organized crime, and drug wars have made progress in Mexico more difficult.
Critics of NAFTA claim that the term free trade really means corporate trade. NAFTA is also viewed as a component of globalization in the form of corporate colonialism, which only benefits those wealthy enough to hold investments at the corporate level. The exploitation of cheap labor has caused undue immigration across the US-Mexican border, bringing millions of illegal workers into the United States. The Mexican government has not adequately addressed Mexico’s economic conditions to provide jobs and opportunities for the people or to use the wealth held or controlled by the elite minority to enhance economic opportunities for the middle- and lower-class majority.
Slave labor was prominent during European colonial era, whereas cheap labor is the target in neocolonial activity—that is, corporate colonialism.
Chiapas and NAFTA
The state of Chiapas in Mexico has an unequal distribution of wealth, a situation evident in most core-peripheral spatial relationships. Located in the rural highlands of Mexico and inhabited by a minority group that holds to the Mayan language and traditions, Chiapas has few economic opportunities for its people. Wealthy landowners and the ruling elite who have long held power have routinely taken advantage of peasant farmers. The aristocracy uses the best land and pays low wages to local workers. Medical care, education, and government assistance have been slow in coming to this region and its people.
In the past few decades, various Amerindian groups have organized in the rural areas of Mexico in an attempt to counter the power of the political elite. In Chiapas a group calling itself the Zapatista National Liberation Army (ZNLA) organized to coordinate an offensive against the Mexican government in various towns in the region. The ZNLA was organized to coincide with the implementation of NAFTA among the United States, Canada, and Mexico in January of 1994. As each country claimed benefits from this agreement, the peripheral region of Chiapas sought to receive their share of those benefits. The Mexican military was quick to react to the ZNLA offensive and rapidly drove them out of the towns they had occupied. The publicity and the international press coverage assisted the ZNLA in getting their message out to the rest of the world.
Since 1994, the ZNLA’s guerilla forces have used their familiarity with the mountains for sanctuary and have faced off against the Mexican military when negotiations with the federal government have broken down. The ZNLA want greater recognition of their rights and their heritage and more autonomy over their region and lands. This devolutionary process resembles that of various European regions desiring similar recognition of rights.
Similar conflicts are ongoing in other rural states of Mexico with majority Amerindian populations. There is a direct relationship between social status and wealth and skin color in most regions of Mexico. The skin tone is directly related to a person’s social status. On the one hand, Aztec and Mayan heritage is celebrated; on the other hand, their identity and darker skin relegates them to a lower socioeconomic status.
Illegal Drug Trafficking in Mexico
The illegal drug trade is a multibillion-dollar industry, and Mexico has traditionally been the transitional area or stop-off point between the South American drug producing areas and entrance into US markets. Cocaine, marijuana, and more recently heroin were produced in the Andes Mountains of South America and shipped north to the United States. Colombian cartels were once the main controllers of illegal drugs in the Western Hemisphere, but in recent decades, organized crime units in Mexico have muscled in on the control of drugs coming through Mexico, making deals with their South American counterparts to become the main traffickers of drugs into the United States, and the influence and power of Mexican drug cartels has increased immensely since the demise of the Colombian cartels in the 1990s. Enormous profits fuel the competition for control. Just as the United States has declared a war on drugs and has used its Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) as a main arm in combating the industry, Mexico has had to address its own issues in the illegal drug trade.
Illegal drug income flowing into Mexico has become a major part of the economy in specific areas. Drug kingpins have used their economic power to buy off local police forces and silence opposition. They have also been known to provide poor neighborhoods with funding for services that would normally be designated as government obligations. These actions have often provided a mixed reaction within the population in local areas. The drug cartels have become an integrated part of the fabric of Mexico.
In an attempt to combat the situation, the Mexican government has been engaged in its own internal war against the illegal drug trade. The battles between the drug cartels and the Mexican government have created a serious internal conflict in the country, killing thousands of innocent bystanders in the cross fire. Armed conflicts between rival cartels or local gangs have increased the violence that has been intensifying since 2000. Mexican cities near the US border have experienced increased incidences of major drug-related murders and gang violence. Higher volumes of firearms trafficking from the United States and abroad into Mexico have been fueling the armed conflicts. Military and police casualties have increased, and the number of drug-related shootings are on the rise.
Cartels have been known to use jet airliners, semitrucks, and even submarines in their attempts to ship illegal drugs into the United States. Large tunnels have been found beneath the US-Mexican border that were used to smuggle drugs. Intimidation and corruption have been standard practices used by drug traffickers to protect their interests. Bribes, payoffs, and corruption have been difficult to battle in a country with a high percentage of the population living in poor conditions.
Key Takeaways
• Mexico possesses extensive natural resources that provide for a wide range of biodiversity and economic activities.
• Mexico portrays a clear core-periphery spatial relationship. Mexico City and its urban neighbors anchor the core, while the northern border region and states such as Chiapas represent the rural periphery.
• People of European heritage continue to hold positions of power and privilege in Mexico’s socioeconomic class structure. Amerindian populations exist at the lowest level with the fewest economic opportunities.
• Economic reforms that coincide with NAFTA have greatly enhanced the industrial capacity of Mexico and helped integrate the country into the global economy.
• Mexican drug traffickers have become the major controllers of illegal drugs entering the United States from the south. Drug cartels in Mexico reap enormous profits and have become a major problem for the Mexican government and the country.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main physical features of Mexico?
2. How does the core-periphery spatial relationship apply to Mexico?
3. How can the socioeconomic pattern of Mexico be illustrated?
4. How are maquiladoras structured to make them attractive to corporations?
5. What are the current push-pull migration dynamics in Mexico?
6. What change would bring about an open border between the United States and Mexico similar to that of the European Union?
7. How are trade agreements and political unions reshaping our global community?
8. How is NAFTA similar to the European Union, and how is it different?
9. How is Chiapas caught in the politics between the core and the periphery?
10. How has the illegal drug trade affected Mexico?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Baja California Peninsula
• Chiapas
• Chihuahuan Desert
• Cordillera Neovolcánica
• Mexican Altiplano
• Mexico City
• Monterrey
• Sierra Madre Occidental
• Sierra Madre Oriental
• Yucatán Peninsula
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/05%3A_Middle_America/5.02%3A_Mexico.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe how the physical environment has affected human activity in Central America.
2. Outline the various ways in which the United States has affected the region.
3. Explain the similarities and the differences among the Central American republics.
4. Understand how the Panama Canal came to be constructed and what role the United States has played in Panama.
Physical Environment
Central America is a land bridge connecting the North and South American continents, with the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Caribbean Sea to its east. A central mountain chain dominates the interior from Mexico to Panama. The coastal plains of Central America have tropical and humid type A climates. In the highland interior, the climate changes with elevation. As one travels up the mountainsides, the temperature cools. Only Belize is located away from this interior mountain chain. Its rich soils and cooler climate have attracted more people to live in the mountainous regions than along the coast.
Hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, and volcanic activity produce recurring environmental problems for Central America. In 1998, Hurricane Mitch swept through the region, devastating Nicaragua and El Salvador, which had already been devastated by civil wars in previous years.
The volcanic activity along the central mountain chain over time has provided rich volcanic soils in the mountain region, which has attracted people to work the land for agriculture. Central America has traditionally been a rural peripheral economic area in which most of the people have worked the land. Family size has been larger than average, and rural-to-urban shift dominates the migration patterns as the region urbanizes and industrializes. Natural disasters, poverty, large families, and a lack of economic opportunities have made life difficult in much of Central America.
Altitudinal Zonation
High mountains ranges run the length of Central and South America. The Andes Mountains of South America are the longest mountain chain in the world, and a large section of this mountain range is in the tropics. Tropical regions usually have humid type A climates. What is significant in Latin America is that while the climate at the base of the Andes may be type A, the different zones of climate and corresponding human activity vary as one moves up the mountain in elevation. Mountains have different climates at the base than at the summit. Type H highland climates describe mountainous areas that exhibit different climate types at varying degrees of elevation.
Human activity varies with elevation, and the activities can be categorized into zones according to altitudinal zonation. Each zone has its own type of vegetation and agricultural activity suited to the climate found at that elevation. For every thousand-foot increase in elevation, temperature drops 3.5 ºF. In the tropical areas of Latin America, there are five established temperature-altitude zones. Elevation zones may vary depending on a particular location’s distance from the equator.
1. Tierra caliente (hot land): Sea level to 2,500 feet
2. Tierra templada (temperate land): 2,500 to 6,000 feet
3. Tierra fria (cold land): 6,000 to 12,000 feet
4. Tierra helada (frozen land): 12,000 to 15,000 feet
5. Tierra nevada (snowy land): Above 15,000 feet
Tierra Caliente (Hot Land): Sea Level to 2,500 Feet
From sea level to 2,500 feet are the humid tropical lowlands found on the coastal plains. The coastal plains on the west coast of Middle America are quite narrow, but they are wider along the Caribbean coast. Vegetation includes tropical rain forests and tropical commercial plantations. Food crops include bananas, manioc, sweet potatoes, yams, corn, beans, and rice. Livestock are raised at this level, and sugarcane is an important cash crop. Tropical diseases are most common, and large human populations are not commonly attracted to this zone.
Tierra Templada (Temperate Land): 2,501 to 6,000 Feet
From 2,500 to 6,000 feet is a zone with cooler temperatures than at sea level. This is the most populated zone of Latin America. Four of the seven capitals of the Central American republics are found in this zone. Just as temperate climates attract human activity, this zone provides a pleasant environment for habitation. The best coffee is grown at these elevations, and most other food crops can be grown here, including wheat and small grains.
Tierra Fria (Cold Land): 6,001 to 12,000 Feet
From 6,000 to 12,000 feet is the highest zone found in Middle America. This zone is usually the limit of the tree line; few trees grow north of this zone. The shorter growing season and cooler temperatures found at these elevations are still adequate for growing agricultural crops of wheat, barley, potatoes, or corn. Livestock can graze and be raised on the grasslands. The Inca Empire of the Andes Mountains in South America flourished in this zone.
Tierra Helada (Frozen Land): 12,001 to 15,000 Feet
Some classify this as the “Puna” zone. At this elevation, there are no trees. The only human activity is the raising of livestock such as sheep or llama on any short grasses available in the highland meadows. Snow and cold dominate the zone. Central America does not have a tierra helada zone, but it is found in the higher Andes Mountain Ranges of South America.
Tierra Nevada (Snowy Land): Above 15,000 Feet
There is little human activity above 15,000 feet. Permanent snow and ice is found here, and little vegetation is available. Many classification systems combine this zone with the tierra helada zone.
European Colonialism
Amerindian groups dominated Central America before the European colonial powers arrived. The Maya are still prominent in the north and make up about half the population of Guatemala. Other Amerindian groups are encountered farther south, and many still speak their indigenous languages and hold to traditional cultural customs. People of European stock or upper-class mestizos now control political and economic power in Central America. Indigenous Amerindian groups find themselves on the lower rung of the socioeconomic ladder.
During colonial times, the Spanish conquistadors dominated Central America with the exception of the area of Belize, which was a British colony called British Honduras until 1981. Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica were Spanish colonies and became independent of Spain in the 1820s. Panama was a part of Colombia and was not independent until the United States prompted an independence movement in 1903 to develop the Panama Canal. As is usually the case with colonialism, the main religion and the lingua franca of the Central American states are those of the European colonizers, in this case Roman Catholicism and Spanish. In some locations, the language and religion take on variant forms that mix the traditional with the European to create a unique local cultural environment.
People and Population
About 50 percent of the people of Central America live in rural areas, and because the economy is agriculturally based, family size has traditionally been large. Until the 1990s, family size averaged as high as six children. As the pressures of the postindustrial age have influenced Central America, average family size has been decreasing and is now about half that of the pre-1990s and is declining. For example, the World Bank reports that in Nicaragua the average woman has 2.68 children during her lifetime (The World Bank). Rural-to-urban shift is common, and as the region experiences more urbanization and industrialization, family size will decrease even more.
During the twentieth century, much of Central America experienced development similar to stage 2 of the index of economic development. An influx of light industry and manufacturing firms seeking cheap labor has pushed many areas into stage 3 development. The primate cities and main urban centers are feeling the impact of this shift.
Over the years, larger family sizes have created populations with a higher percentage of young people and a lower percentage of older people. Cities are often overwhelmed with young migrants from the countryside with few or no places to live. Rapid urbanization places a strain on urban areas because services, infrastructure, and housing cannot keep pace with population growth. Slums with self-constructed housing districts emerge around the existing urban infrastructure. The United States has also become a destination for people looking for opportunities or advantages not found in these cities.
CAFTA and Neocolonialism
Just as Canada, the United States, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) into law in 1994, the United States and five Central American states signed the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in 2006. The agreement was signed by trade representatives from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the United States. The CAFTA-DR agreement, which includes the Dominican Republic, was ratified in 2007. In 2010, Costa Rica’s legislature approved a measure to join the agreement. CAFTA is supported by the same forces that advocated neocolonialism in other regions of the world.
CAFTA’s purpose is to reduce trade barriers between the United States and Central America, thus affecting labor, human rights, and the flow of wealth. During negotiations for CAFTA, US political forces cited CAFTA as a top priority and argued that it would help move forward the possibility of the larger Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would create a single market for the Americas.
Countries gain national wealth in the three main ways: by growing it, extracting it, or manufacturing it. These methods, however, contribute to a nation’s wealth only if the wealth stays within the country. With free-trade agreements such as NAFTA and CAFTA, the wealth gained from manufacturing, which has the highest value-added profits, does not stay in the country of production. Instead, the profits are carted off to the foreign corporation that controls the industrial factory. Multinational corporations see Central American countries as profitable sites for industrial; they can exploit cheap labor sources and at the same time provide jobs for local people. These advantages should result in lower product costs for consumers.
There have been protest marches and anti-CAFTA activities in many Central American countries. Costa Rica, one of the most stable countries in the region, had problems passing the agreement because of voter opposition. One of the primary arguments opponents to CAFTA make is that the wealth generated by the exploitation of the available cheap labor will not stay in Central America; instead, it will be removed by the wealthy core nations, just as European colonialism removed the wealth generated by the conquistadors and shipped it back to Europe. Those who oppose CAFTA and corporate colonialism also cite the following arguments:
• A popular argument against CAFTA is that “free trade” is the same as corporate trade. Expanding corporate-controlled free trade makes the global south more dependent on the global north, and the corporations reap the profits.
• CAFTA promotes corporate colonialism or neocolonialism. The “have” countries dominate and take advantage of the “have-not” countries to an ever-greater extent. The small countries of Central America cannot compete with large US corporations, which pressure and influence political systems to provide advantages and opportunities to exploit the smaller, weaker nations of Central America.
• CAFTA diminishes the power of Central American countries to regulate their own economies and protect their own citizens; that is, concentration of power in the hands of corporations with strong ties to those in political power allows the elite to maintain control over a country’s economy.
• CAFTA forces small developing countries with no chance of competing successfully against the United States to open their markets to powerful US corporations.
• CAFTA leads to further privatization of social services, decreases public access to basic services, and gives corporations more money and control.
• CAFTA forces competition for the lowest wages and lowest production costs, which drives wages down in the United States and keeps them down throughout Central America while at the same time providing huge profits to multinational corporations.
Supporters of CAFTA claim that it provides jobs, infrastructure, and opportunities to the developing countries of Central America. In return, cheap consumer goods are available to the people. The globalized economy is a mixed game: on the one hand, consumer goods are inexpensive to purchase; on the other hand, the world’s wealth flows into the hands of a few people at the top and is not always shared with most of the people who contribute to it.
The Republics: Diverse Political Geography
Central American countries might share similar climate patterns, but they do not share similar political or economic dynamics. The political geography of the region is diverse and ranges from a history of total civil war to peace and stability. The growing pains of each country as it competes and engages in the global economy often cause turmoil and conflict. Each state has found a different path, but each has dealt with similar issues with varying degrees of success. Barriers to progress range from political corruption to gang violence. Stability has come to the communities that have found new avenues of gaining wealth and creating a higher standard of living.
Guatemala
In the late 1900s, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua experienced devastating civil wars that divided their people and destroyed their economies. In the Mayan state of Guatemala, the 1960–96 civil war was fought between the right-wing Ladinos (urbanized mestizos and Maya) and the left-wing rural Amerindian Mayan majority. The genesis of this war was democratically elected president Jacobo Arbenz’s social reforms, which conflicted with the interests of the US-based United Fruit Company. In 1954, US-backed forces, funded by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), overthrew Arbenz and laid the groundwork for civil unrest for the next four decades. Right-wing and left-wing death squads terrorized the country until the latter 1990s, when the Catholic Church brokered a peace accord. The poor and devastated country is now moving forward on its path to recovery.
El Salvador
In the coffee republic of El Salvador, the civil war of 1979–92 was fought between the government-backed wealthy land-owning elite and the peasants who worked the land and lived in poverty. A few powerful families owned almost the entire country. Coffee is a major export crop for El Salvador, a country with a mild climate at its higher elevations. Arabica coffee grows well at these elevations. To protect their economic interests, US coffee companies backed the wealthy elite in El Salvador and lobbied the support of the US government. US military advisors and CIA support aided El Salvador’s government forces. At the same time, the peasants of El Salvador were soliciting support from Nicaragua and Cuba, which were backed by the Soviet Union.
After the civil war devastated the country and killed an estimated seventy-five thousand people, a peace agreement that included land reform was finally reached in 1992. El Salvador is a small country about the size of the US state of New Jersey with a population of more than six million people. The war devastated this rural mountainous country and forced more than three hundred thousand people to become refugees in other countries. Many migrated north to the United States. Recovery from the war has been difficult and has been hampered by natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes.
Nicaragua
At the same time that civil wars were going on in Guatemala and El Salvador, there was conflict in Nicaragua. After US marines occupied the country from 1926 to 1933, the US-backed Somoza family took power and remained there for decades. By 1978, violent opposition to governmental manipulation and corruption engulfed the country. An estimated fifty thousand people died in a bitter civil war that ousted the Somoza regime and brought the Marxist Sandinista government to power in 1979.
Nicaraguan aid to leftist rebels in El Salvador caused the United States to sponsor anti-Sandinista contra (short for counterrevolutionary) guerrillas through much of the 1980s and to bring about a second Nicaraguan civil war. In 1982, the US Congress blocked direct US aid to the contra forces through the Boland Amendment. Covert activity by CIA operatives continued to fund the contra forces by selling surplus US arms to Iran, brokered through Israel. In spite of a US embargo against Iran and animosity between Israel and Iran, the deals went through with hopes of negotiating the release of US hostages in Lebanon. The profits from these illegal covert arms sales were funneled into support for the contra forces in Nicaragua, and the scandal, known as the Iran-Contra Affair, has become a standard reference for US intervention in Central America.
In 1990, at the end of the Sandinista-Contra War, democratic elections were carried out. Regardless of the Iran-Contra Affair, the US-backed candidate defeated the Sandinista incumbent. The civil war between the Sandinistas and the contras cost an estimated thirty thousand lives. The country’s infrastructure and economy were both in shambles after this era. Despite this history, the people of Nicaragua have worked hard to move forward. Increasing stability in the past decade has improved the country’s potential for economic opportunities and has prompted the country to promote tourism and work to increase employment opportunities for its people.
Honduras
Honduras has not experienced civil war, even though it is located in the midst of three troubled neighbors. It is considered a banana republic. American fruit companies have dominated the economy of this poor country and have supported the buildup of arms to ensure its stability. The term banana republic applies here only in the manner in which the region was dominated by foreign companies that grew bananas for export. Often the fruit companies would buy up large tracts of land and employ (for low wages) those displaced from the land to help grow the bananas. There have been incidences in history when US fruit companies involved themselves in the political affairs of Central American countries to gain an economic advantage. Foreign fruit companies have monopolized the market in Central America to extract higher profits and control economic regulations. At the present time, international corporations have started to invest in places such as Honduras to capitalize on the country’s cheap labor pool and relatively stable economic and political conditions.
All three have been dominated by US corporate interests.
Mike Mozart – Chiquita Bananas Minions Movie Stickers – CC BY 2.0.
Costa Rica
If there is a bright spot in Central America, it is the democratic and peaceful Costa Rica, which does not have an army. The stable, democratically elected government and growing economy has earned the country the nickname the Switzerland of Central America. Multinational companies have been moving here to take advantage of the stable economic conditions, low labor costs, and supportive environment for its employees. The California-based Intel Corporation has a large microchip-manufacturing site in Costa Rica, which contributes heavily to the country’s economy. The tropical climate and stable economy of Costa Rica also attract US tourists and people looking for a place to live after retirement. Costa Rica has borrowed heavily to finance social programs, education, and infrastructure and relies on tourism, outside forces, and economic development to help pay the bills.
Belize
Figure 5.23
Geographer Dr. David Meyer examines a sugarcane stalk in Belize. Belize portrays traits of a rimland state, complete with plantation agriculture and African influence.
At the northern end of Central America is the former British colony of Belize, which in gained independence in 1981. Belize borders the Caribbean Sea and has a hot, tropical type A climate. It is small in size—about the size of El Salvador—and in population, with only about three hundred thousand people. Belize’s lingua franca is English, but Spanish is increasing in usage because of immigration. It has the longest coral reef in the Western Hemisphere and has been promoting ecotourism as a means of economic development to capitalize on this aspect. After hurricanes ravaged the coastal Belize City, the country shifted its capital forty-five miles inland to Belmopan as a protective measure. Belmopan is a small, centrally located city with only about ten thousand people. It is called a forward capital, a term used to describe a capital city of a country that has been moved to better serve or protect the country’s interests.
Panama and the Panama Canal
During the 1880s, the region of Panama was part of South America and was controlled by colonial Colombia, which was formerly colonized by Spain. To travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, ships had to sail around the southern tip of South America, which was time consuming and difficult to negotiate in some places due to ocean currents.
France made an agreement with Colombia to purchase a strip of land in Panama ten miles wide and about fifty miles long to build a canal. The French had experience in building the Suez Canal between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean and applied their skills in Panama. The tropical climate and swampy terrain, however, quickly defeated the French workers with malaria, yellow fever, and other tropical diseases.
In the United States, there was an increasing need to shorten the shipping distance between California and New York. Before the United States took over the canal project after the French abandoned it, Panama was separated from Colombia in a brief civil war and declared independent in 1903.
Understanding the problems that the French had encountered, the United States first sent civil engineers and medical professionals to Panama to drain the swamps and apply tons of chemicals such as the insecticide DDT to eradicate the mosquito population. These chemicals were later found to be toxic to humans but worked well in eliminating the mosquito problem. The Panama Canal was finally completed by the United States and opened for business in 1914 after tremendous difficulties had been overcome.
Many workers were imported from the Caribbean to help build the canal, which changed the ethnic makeup of Panama’s population. About 14 percent of the population of Panama has West Indian ancestry, and many of the laborers were of African descent. The difference in ethnicity caused an early layering of society, with those from the Caribbean finding themselves at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale.
The Panama Canal is a marvel of engineering. An interior waterway was dammed up to create the artificial Lake Gatún at eighty-five feet above sea level. This large inland lake provides a freshwater channel extending most of the way across the Isthmus of Panama. Canal channels on each end of Lake Gatún connect it with the sea. Locks raise and lower ships from sea level to the eighty-five-foot water level of the canal and the lake. Gravity provides fresh water from Lake Gatún to fill the locks that raise and lower ships. As ships travel through the locks, the fresh water is eventually emptied into the sea. Rainfall is critical to resupply the water in Lake Gatún to keep the water channel constant and to keep the canal locks in operation. The canal channel has to be dredged periodically to keep it from silting in. In recent years, deforestation has reduced the number of trees around the lake, resulting in more silt entering the lake bed. A program to replant trees has been implemented to secure the lake and restore the natural conditions.
The water for the locks is from Lake Gatún, which is eighty-five feet above sea level.
Recently, the politics of the Panama Canal have become more of an issue than the operation of the canal itself. In 1977, US president Jimmy Carter entered into an agreement with Panamanian president Omar Torrijos to return the canal to the government of Panama. Under this agreement, both the Panama Canal Zone and the actual canal were to be returned to Panama by the end of 1999. Many Americans opposed the return of the canal to Panama. President Ronald Reagan campaigned on this position. The United States had military installations in the Canal Zone and had used this area as a training ground for the Vietnam War and other military missions. The United States operated the School of the Americas (SOA) in the Canal Zone, which was a place to train counterinsurgents and military personnel from other countries. The SOA was moved to Fort Benning, Georgia, in 1984 and was renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2001.
One of the early graduates of the SOA was a young Panamanian officer by the name of Manuel Noriega, who was placed on the CIA payroll in 1967. He was an important figure, helping with the US war against Nicaragua and generally serving US interests in the region in spite of the fact he was a known drug dealer. In May 1989, Noriega was elected president of Panama and became less supportive of US interests in the region. In December 1989, the United States invaded Panama and captured Noriega. He was sentenced to forty years in a US prison for drug trafficking and held as a political prisoner. Even after Noriega’s arrest, the United States was not allowed to retain use of the Canal Zone for military purposes, which was a major reason for the US presence in Panama. The Panama Canal Zone was an excellent geographical location for US military operations because it provided an excellent base to monitor military activity in South America. US military planes could fly from US bases to Panama without refueling, and the planes could then fly out of Panama to monitor activity in South America.
One of President Carter’s arguments for the return of the canal to Panama was that after the US military had supported the war with Colombia to make Panama independent in 1903, there had been no proper authorization from the Panamanian people to cede the Canal Zone to the United States. International law ruled that the Canal Zone was still sovereign Panamanian territory. The US military claimed the reason for remaining in the Canal Zone was to provide security for the canal.
The Canal Zone and the actual Panama Canal were returned to Panama in 2000. The question arises, does the small country of Panama, with only about three million people, have the resources to manage and maintain the canal operations? To assist in economic development, Panama has established a free-trade zone next to the canal to entice international commerce. Originally established in 1948, the free-trade zone has become one of the largest of its kind in the world. Panama City has also become a hub of international banking with the dubious claim of being a main money-laundering center for Colombian drug money. Panama is striving to be a main economic center for the region, which would advance economic globalization and trade for Panama.
Key Takeaways
• Central America shares a similar climate type and physical features. It has enormous potential for tourism development. The political history of the region is quite diverse, with each republic experiencing different political and economic conditions.
• High population growth and rapid rural-to-urban shift has created higher unemployment rates and fewer economic opportunities. CAFTA was implemented to help multinational corporations tap into the cheap labor pool.
• The United States has had a major impact on this region both politically and economically. The United States has intervened in civil wars and invaded Panama. US companies have dominated much of the region’s fruit and coffee production. Most recently, the United States has supported industrial activities and the implementation of CAFTA.
• The Panama Canal has been a vital transportation link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for the United States and the world. The Panama Canal Zone was a valuable strategic location for the operation of US military exercises. The United States was a major controller of the Panama Canal until the year 2000, when the canal and the Canal Zone was returned to Panama.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. How does altitudinal zonation influence human activity? What are the main altitudinal zones?
2. What geographic aspects do the Central American republics share?
3. How are the Central American republics different in their political histories?
4. How does one define a banana republic or a coffee republic? Where are they found in Central America?
5. What countries are included in CAFTA-DR? Why would anyone oppose this agreement?
6. What was the Iran-Contra Affair? How does this portray the politics of the region?
7. How does Costa Rica attract US business ventures?
8. Who started building the Panama Canal? Who completed it? Who controls it today?
9. How did the building of the Panama Canal change Panama’s ethnic makeup?
10. Why was the Panama Canal so important to the United States?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Forward capital of Belmopan
• Panama Canal
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/05%3A_Middle_America/5.03%3A_Central_America.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe how the physical environment has affected human activity in the region.
2. Outline the various ways in which colonialism has impacted the islands.
3. Explain why the United States has an economic embargo against the socialist country of Cuba.
4. Explain how tourism has become the main means of economic development for most of the Caribbean.
5. Identify the main music genres that have emerged from the Caribbean.
The regions of Middle America and South America, including the Caribbean, follow similar colonial patterns of invasion, dominance, and development by outside European powers. The Caribbean Basin is often divided into the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles (the bigger islands and the smaller islands, respectively). The Greater Antilles includes the four large islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico. The Lesser Antilles are in the eastern and southern region. The Bahamas are technically in the Atlantic Ocean, not in the Caribbean Sea, but they are usually associated with the Caribbean region and are often affiliated with the Lesser Antilles. Middle America can be divided into two geographic areas according to occupational activities and colonial dynamics. The rimland includes the Caribbean islands and the Caribbean coastal areas of Central America. The mainland includes the interior of Mexico and Central America.
Many of the Caribbean islands experience the rain shadow effect. Jamaica has as much as a twenty-inch difference in rainfall between the north side and south side of the island because most of the rain falls on the north side, where the prevailing winds hit the island. The Blue Mountains in the eastern part of the island provide a rain shadow effect. Puerto Rico has a tropical rain forest on the northeastern part of the island, which receives a large amount of rainfall. The rain shadow effect creates semidesert conditions on the southwestern side of Puerto Rico because the southwestern side receives little rainfall. Low elevation islands such as the Bahamas do not receive as much rain because they are not high enough to affect the precipitation patterns of rain clouds.
European Colonialism in the Caribbean
The Spanish were not the only Europeans to take advantage of colonial expansion in the Caribbean: the English, French, Dutch, and other Europeans followed. Most of the European colonial countries were located on the west coast of Europe, which had a seafaring heritage. This included smaller countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and Belgium. The Caribbean Basin became an active region for European ships to enter and vie for possession of each island.
Many of the Caribbean islands changed hands several times before finally being secured as established colonies (see Table 5.1 “Historical Caribbean Colonizers”). The cultural traits of each of the European colonizers were injected into the fabric of the islands they colonized; thus, the languages, religions, and economic activities of the colonized islands reflected those of the European colonizers rather than those of the native people who had inhabited the islands originally. The four main colonial powers in the Caribbean were the Spanish, English, Dutch, and French. Other countries that held possession of various islands at different times were Portugal, Sweden, and Denmark. The United States became a colonial power when they gained Cuba and Puerto Rico as a result of the Spanish-American War. The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1918. Sweden controlled the island of St. Barthelemy from 1784 to 1878 before trading it back to the French, who had been the original colonizer. Portugal originally colonized Barbados before abandoning it to the British.
Table 5.1 Historical Caribbean Colonizers
Colonizer European colonies
Spain Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico
British Bahamas, Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Antigua, Dominica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Grenada, Barbados, Virgin Islands, Trinidad and Tobago, Montserrat, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis
Dutch Curacao, Bonaire, Aruba, St. Eustatius, Saba and Sint Maarten (south half)
French Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin (north half), St. Barthelemy
United States Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, Cuba
Colonialism drastically altered the ethnic makeup of the Caribbean; Amerindians were virtually eliminated after the arrival of Africans, Europeans, and Asians. The current social hierarchy of the Caribbean can be illustrated by the pyramid-shaped graphic that was used to illustrate social hierarchy in Mexico (Figure 5.10 “Socioeconomic Classes in Mexico and Most of Latin America”). Those of European descent are at the top of the pyramid and control a higher percentage of the wealth and power even though they are a minority of the population. In the Caribbean, the middle class includes mulattos, or people with both African and European heritage, many of which include managers, businesspeople, and professionals. In some countries, such as Haiti, the minority mulatto segment of the population makes up the power base and holds political and economic advantage over the rest of the country while the working poor at the bottom of the pyramid make up most of the population. In the Caribbean, the lower economic class contains the highest percentage of people of African heritage.
Not only was colonialism the vehicle that brought many Africans to the Caribbean through the slave trade, but it brought many people from Asia to the Caribbean as well. Once slavery became illegal, the colonial powers brought indentured laborers to the Caribbean from their Asian colonies. Cuba was the destination for over one hundred thousand Chinese workers, so Havana can claim the first Chinatown in the Western Hemisphere. Laborers from the British colonies of India and other parts of South Asia arrived by ship in various British colonies in the Caribbean. At the present time, about 40 percent of the population of Trinidad can claim South Asian heritage and a large number follow the Hindu faith.
Cuba: A Rimland Experience
The largest island in the Greater Antilles is Cuba, which was transformed by the power of colonialism, the transition to plantation agriculture, and a socialist revolution. The island country of Cuba is slightly larger than the US state of Kentucky, but it has more than eleven million people, while Kentucky has just over 4.2 million. The elongated island has the Sierra Maestra mountains on its eastern end, the Escambray Mountains in the center, and the Western Karst region in the west, near Viñales. Low hills and fertile valleys cover more than half the island. The pristine waters of the Caribbean that surround the island make for some of the most attractive tourism locations in the Caribbean region.
It has been estimated that as many as one hundred thousand Amerindians inhabited Cuba when Christopher Columbus first landed on the island in 1492. Except for brief control by the British, the island was a Spanish colony until 1898. Plantation agriculture was established, and slaves provided the labor. History indicates that more than eight hundred thousand African slaves were brought to Cuba between 1800 and 1870. Slave labor was in high demand on the extensive sugar plantations that dominated the island’s economy. The African influence can still be witnessed today in the main religion of the island, Santeria, which is an overlay of African-based spirits on top of Catholic saints. At the present time, an estimated 70 percent of Cubans practice some aspect of Santeria.
With the defeat of Spain in the Spanish-American War, the United States gained possession of the Spanish possessions of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, and various other islands and thus became a colonial power. Cuba technically became independent in 1902 but remained under US influence for decades. Sugar plantations and the sugar industry came to be owned and operated by US interests, and wealthy Americans bought up large haciendas (large estates), farmland, and family estates, as well as industrial and business operations. Organized crime syndicates operated many of the nightclubs and casinos in Havana. As long as government leaders supported US interests, things went well with business as usual.
The Cuban Revolution
In January of 1934, with the encouragement of the US government, Fulgencio Batista led a coup that took control of the Cuban government. Fidel Castro, once a prisoner under Batista and having fled to Mexico in exile for a number of years, returned to Cuba to start a revolution. Joining him were his brother Raúl Castro and revolutionaries such as Che Guevara, an Argentinean doctor turned comrade-in-arms. Starting in the remote and rugged Sierra Maestras in the east, Castro rallied the support of the Cuban people. By the end of 1958, the Cuban Revolution brought down the US-backed Batista government. Castro gained power and had the support of most of the Cuban population.
Castro worked to recover Cuba for Cubans. The government cleared rampant gambling from the island, forcing organized crime operations to shut down or move back to the United States. Castro nationalized all foreign landholdings and the sugar plantations, as well as all the utilities, port facilities, and other industries. Foreign ownership of land and businesses in Cuba was forbidden. Large estates, once owned by rich US families, were taken over and recovered for Cuban purposes.
The US Embargo Era
Castro’s policy of seizing (nationalizing) businesses and property raised concerns in the United States. As a result, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower severed diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1960 and issued an executive order implementing a partial trade embargo to prohibit the importation of Cuban goods. Later presidents implemented a full-scale embargo, restricting travel and trade with Cuba. In March 1960, the Central Intelligence Agency trained Cuban exiles for an invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, on the south side of the island. This failed invasion attempt only resulted in consolidating the Cuban people’s support for Castro and his socialist government.
To deter any further US plans of invading or destabilizing Cuba, Castro sought economic and military assistance from the Soviet Union. Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev agreed to secretly send missiles armed with nuclear weapons capable of hitting targets within the United States. In September 1962, US spy planes identified the missile sites. On October 22, 1962, President John F. Kennedy announced a naval blockade of the island and informed Khrushchev that any Soviet ship crossing the blockade would be sunk. At the last second, the two leaders resolved this dispute (called the Cuban Missile Crisis) before it erupted into a potential nuclear war. Khrushchev recalled the ships and agreed to dismantle the Cuban missile sites. In return, the United States agreed not to invade Cuba and to remove US missiles from sites in Turkey that were aimed at the Soviet Union.
The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 caused a downturn in Cuba’s economy. With the loss of Soviet aid, the 1990s were a harsh time for Cubans, a period of transition. Castro turned to tourism and foreign investment to shore up his failing economy. Tensions between the United States and Cuba did not improve. In 1996, the United States strengthened the trade embargo with the Helms-Burton Act. At the turn of the twenty-first century, Cuba emerged as the lone Communist state in the Americas. Castro was the longest-governing leader of any country in the world. He never kept his promises of holding free elections; instead, he cracked down on dissent and suppressed free speech. He turned over power to his brother Raúl in 2006.
A Post-Castro Cuba
With Fidel Castro no longer in power, Cuba’s future looks more positive but difficult. The island has natural resources, a great climate, and an excellent location but is also struggling economically. Cuba has a high literacy rate and has standardized health care, though medical supplies are often in short supply. The Cubans who live in dire poverty look to the future for relief. Personal freedoms have been marginal, and reforms are slowly taking place in the post-Fidel era. As the largest island in the Caribbean, Cuba has the potential to become an economic power for the region. There is vast US interest in regaining US dominance of the Cuban economy, and corporate colonialists would like to exploit Cuba’s economic potential. Keeping corporate colonialism out is what Fidel’s socialist experiment worked so hard to achieve, even at the expense of depriving the Cuban people of civil rights and economic reforms.
Cuba today is in transition from a socialist to a more capitalist economy and relies on outside sources for energy and food. In 2008, the average wage in Cuba was about twenty dollars per month. There was almost total employment, and everyone was on an equal footing in regard to free health care, education, and housing. At the same time, the underground informal economy was thriving and was pushing the formal economy to make changes. That same year, Raúl Castro declared that workers with different skills and occupations could earn wages at varying levels. Cubans are now allowed to have cell phones and computers, though Internet access has been restricted by the Cuban government. More goods and money are being brought in from Cuban family members who live in the United States. The US government grants general licenses to allow a number of categories of people to travel to Cuba. It is only a matter of time before full travel restrictions are lifted.
Cuba is counting on tourism for an added economic boost. With some of the finest beaches and the clearest waters in the Caribbean, Cuba is a magnet for tourists and water sports enthusiasts. Its countryside is full of wonders and scenic areas. The beautiful Viñales Valley in western Cuba has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its outstanding karst landscape and traditional agriculture as well as for its architecture, crafts, and music. Karst topography is made up of soluble rock, such as limestone, which in the Viñales Valley results in unusual bread loaf–shaped hills that create a scenic landscape attractive for tourism. This region is also one of Cuba’s best tobacco-growing areas and has great potential for economic development. Cuba is gearing up for an increase in tourism when travel restrictions are lifted by the United States. There is already a focus on improving tourism services to people traveling there from China, Australia, Japan, and other countries. Millions more from the United States are expected to travel to Cuba once the travel restrictions are lifted. The Cuban economy is banking on tourism to forge a path to a more prosperous future.
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico
Populated for centuries by Amerindian peoples, the island of Puerto Rico was claimed by the Spanish Crown in 1493, following Columbus’s second voyage to the Americas. In 1898, after four hundred years of colonial rule, during which the indigenous population was nearly exterminated and African slave labor was introduced, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States as a result of the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans were granted US citizenship in 1917. Popularly elected governors have served since 1948. In 1952, a constitution was enacted providing for internal self-government. In elections held in 1967, 1993, and 1998, Puerto Rican voters chose to retain the commonwealth status, although they were almost evenly split between total independence and becoming a US state.
Puerto Rico is the smallest of the four islands of the Greater Antilles and is only slightly larger than the US state of Delaware. Puerto Rico’s population is about four million, similar to the population of Kentucky or Oregon. As US citizens, Puerto Ricans have no travel or employment restrictions anywhere in the United States, and about one million Puerto Ricans live in New York City alone. The commonwealth arrangement allows Puerto Ricans to be US citizens without paying federal income taxes, but they cannot vote in US presidential elections. The Puerto Rican Federal Relations Act governs the island and awards it considerable autonomy.
Puerto Rico has one of the most dynamic economies in the Caribbean Basin; still, about 60 percent of its population lives below the poverty line. A diverse industrial sector has far surpassed agriculture as the primary area of economic activity. Encouraged by duty-free access to the United States and by tax incentives, US firms have invested heavily in Puerto Rico since the 1950s, even though US minimum wage laws apply. Sugar production has lost out to dairy production and other livestock products as the main source of income in the agricultural sector. Tourism has traditionally been an important source of income, with estimated arrivals of more than five million tourists a year. San Juan is the number one port for cruise ships in the Caribbean outside Miami. The US government also subsidizes Puerto Rico’s economy with financial aid.
The future of Puerto Rico as a political unit remains unclear. Some in Puerto Rico want total independence, and others would like to become the fifty-first US state; the commonwealth status is a compromise. Puerto Rico is not an independent country as a result of colonialism. Many of the islands and colonies in the Caribbean Basin have experienced dynamics similar to Puerto Rico in that they are still under the political jurisdiction of a country that colonized it.
Hispaniola: The Dominican Republic and Haiti
Sharing the island of Hispaniola are the two countries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. The island became a possession of Spain under European colonialism after it was visited by Columbus in 1492 and 1493. The Tiano-Arawak people were nonviolent and welcomed the Europeans, who in turn pressed them into servitude and slavery. French buccaneers settled on the western portion of Hispaniola and started growing tobacco and agricultural crops. France and Spain finally agreed to divide the island into two colonies: the western side would be French, and the eastern side would be Spanish.
The Dominican Republic holds the largest share of Hispaniola. A former Spanish colony, the Dominican Republic has weathered the storms of history to become a relatively stable democratic country. It is not, of course, without its problems. The Dominican Republic has long been viewed primarily as an exporter of sugar, coffee, and tobacco, but in recent years the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy’s largest employer. The mountainous interior and the coastal beaches are attractive to the tourism market, and tourism remains the main source of economic income. The economy is highly dependent on the United States, which is the destination for nearly 60 percent of its exports. Remittances from workers in the United States sent back to their families on the island contribute much to the economy. The country suffers from marked income inequality; the poorest half of the population receives less than one-fifth of the gross domestic product (GDP), while the richest 10 percent enjoys nearly 40 percent of GDP. High unemployment and underemployment remains an important long-term challenge. The Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) came into play in March 2007, boosting investment and exports and reducing losses to the Asian garment industry. In addition, the global economic downturn has not helped the Dominican Republic.
Plantation agriculture thrived in Haiti during the colonial era, producing sugar, coffee, and other cash crops. The local labor pool was insufficient to expand plantation operations, so French colonists brought in thousands of African slaves to work the plantations, and people of African descent soon outnumbered Europeans. Haiti became one of the most profitable French colonies in the world with some of the highest sugar production of the time. A slave revolt that began in 1792 finally defeated the French forces, and Haiti became an independent country in 1804. It was the first country ever to be ruled by former slaves. However, the transition to a fully functional free state was difficult. Racked by corruption and political conflicts, few presidents in the first hundred years ever served a full term in office.
The United States occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 in an attempt to instill a US presence and bring some sense of stability. From 1957 to 1986, Dr. François “Papa Doc” Duvalier and then his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier controlled the government. They created a private army and terrorist death squads known as Tonton Macoutes. Many Haitians fled to the United States or Canada, especially to French-speaking Quebec. After the Duvalier era, a Catholic priest by the name of Jean-Bertrand Aristide won the presidency through democratic elections only to be deposed of by a military coup a few years later. Haiti has had a difficult time finding political and economic stability.
Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, and many Haitians live in dire poverty with few employment opportunities. An elite upper-class minority controls the bulk of the nation’s wealth. Many people in Haiti have sought comfort in Voodou (Vodoo), a religious practice steeped in African beliefs brought over with the slave trade. Often misunderstood by outsiders, Vodou’s its main objective is to bring good health and well-being.
Haiti’s January 12, 2010, earthquake was a major setback for such a poor country that was already in need of aid and support. The 7.0 magnitude earthquake, with many aftershocks, struck Haiti about fifteen miles from Port-Au-Prince, resulting in as many as two hundred thousand deaths. More than two million were immediately homeless, and about a million more were in need of aid. The lack of building standards in Haiti contributed to the collapse of structures and the devastation. Food and other aid were brought in by many international agencies and other countries to address the situation. Efforts continue to address the needs of the Haitian people to stabilize the situation and provide support and future opportunities.
UN peacekeeping troops patrol the streets of Port au Prince after Haiti’s 2010 earthquake.
Jamaica
The tropical island of Jamaica is physically smaller than the US state of Connecticut. In 2010, it had a population of about 2.8 million. Jamaica was settled by the Spanish early in the sixteenth century. The Taino Indians, who had inhabited Jamaica for centuries, were gradually eradicated and replaced by African slaves. When England seized the island from Spain in 1655, it established a plantation economy based on sugar, cocoa, and coffee. Two hundred years later (1834), the abolition of slavery freed a quarter million slaves, many of whom became small farmers. Jamaica gradually obtained independence from Britain, with full independence achieved in 1962. Sugar, cocoa, and coffee production continue on the island, of which more than half is mountainous. The Blue Mountains of eastern Jamaica are known for their Blue Mountain coffee production.
Deteriorating economic conditions during the 1970s led to recurrent violence as rival gangs affiliated with the major political parties evolved into powerful organized crime networks involved in international drug smuggling and money laundering. Violent crime, drug trafficking, and poverty pose significant challenges to the country. Nonetheless, many rural and resort compounds remain relatively safe and contribute substantially to the tourism sector. The beautiful beaches and lush interior make for an attractive destination for cruise ships and other tourists.
Tourism and Economic Activity in the Rimland
The physical geography of the Caribbean region makes it a prime location for tourism. Its beautiful coastal waters and warm tropical climate draw in tourists from all over North America and the world. Tourism is the number one means of economic income for many places in the Caribbean Basin, and the tourist industry has experienced enormous growth in the last few decades. Tourism is a major component of efforts by leaders of the islands of the Lesser Antilles to achieve economic development for their people. In the last decade, there has been strong growth in the number of cruise ships operating in the Caribbean. Cruise ships from the southern coasts of the United States ply their trade around the islands and coastal regions. San Juan receives the largest number of cruise ship travelers, but other areas well known to tourists include the Bahamas, St. Martin, and the Virgin Islands. Even the poorest country in the Caribbean, Haiti, has tried to attract cruise ships to its ports. The western Caribbean itinerary includes the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, and Mexico or Central American ports. The main restriction on cruise ship travel is the hurricane season, from June to November.
One might reasonably think that the economic benefits of tourism would be entirely positive. However, this is not necessarily the case. Even though tourism has become a vital economic component of the Caribbean Basin, in the long term, tourism creates many problems. Large cruise ships and pleasure crafts can overtax the environment; there have been occasions where there were actually more tourists than citizens on an island. An increase in tourist activity brings with it an increase in environmental pollution.
Most people in the Caribbean Basin live below the poverty line, and the investment in tourism infrastructure, such as exclusive hotels and five-star resorts, takes away resources that could be allocated to schools, roads, medical clinics, and housing. However, without the income from tourism, there would be no money for infrastructure. Tourism attracts people who can afford to travel. Most of the jobs in the hotels, ports, and restaurants where wealthy tourists visit employ people from poorer communities at low wages. The disparity between the rich tourist and the poor worker creates strong centrifugal cultural dynamics. The gap between the level of affluence and the level of poverty is wide in the Caribbean. In the model of how countries gain wealth, tourism is a mixed-profit situation. Local businesses in the Caribbean do gain income from tourists who spend their money there; however, the big money is in the cruise ship lines and the resort hotels, which are mainly owned by international corporations or the local wealthy elite.
There is little activity in the Caribbean Basin in the manufacturing sector. Although US firms have invested in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic has experienced growth in light industries and information technologies, the remaining islands have had little industrial growth. Unless an island state has natural resources such as oil or minerals, as is the case with Trinidad and Tobago, there are few opportunities other than tourism to bolster the economy.
Agricultural products have been traditionally a large part of the economic activity of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. Grenada, for example, is known for its nutmeg and other spices. Bananas, sugar, and other fruit and food crops have also been export products. The problem has been that the profit margins on the products are low and prices are subject to international markets, which fluctuate widely. With an increasing population and few opportunities or advantages, countries such as Haiti suffer from poverty and unemployment. Being an island, there are few methods of expanding the economy. People often try to migrate to another county in search of employment and a more hopeful future.
Offshore Banking
Other methods of gaining wealth in the Caribbean include offshore banking and financial services. Various islands have established themselves as banking centers where one can set up financial accounts that are outside the jurisdiction of other countries. These offshore accounts provide tax havens for individuals or corporations that wish to evade taxes in their home countries. Many of these island banking centers do not share account information with tax agencies or government offices of other countries. Places such as the Cayman Islands have a worldwide reputation for professional financial services for offshore banking. As a result, the people of the Cayman Islands have a high standard of living with much national wealth. The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos have also established offshore financial centers, and other Caribbean Islands are working to increase their visibility with similar services. All are hoping to gain income from this low-impact and high-income enterprise. The United States and other countries have made attempts to pressure these islands to share the financial account information of people evading taxes. If successful, there may be less of an incentive for individuals and businesses to use offshore accounts to shelter income from taxes or for those involved in illegal money-laundering schemes to hide money in the Caribbean.
The wide level of diversity in the Caribbean has not made it easy for outside entities to provide support and assistance for common economic goals. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an organization with fifteen Caribbean members established to promote economic integration and cooperation in the region. It hopes to coordinate foreign policy for the region and ensure that the benefits of integration are equitably shared. CARICOM is an attempt to compete with other trade organizations such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and CAFTA-DR.
Caribbean Music
The Caribbean culture includes many varieties of music that have developed on several islands. The region is a breeding ground for innovative music and rhythms that emulate the cultural traditions and attitudes of the people. Every island has its own traditional festivals that include parades, music, and dance. The music scene reveals the uniqueness of the Caribbean. Listening to the myriad of sounds generated from the different islands opens a window to the assortment of cultural backgrounds found in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean is full of local musical variations, and many types of music are found only on a single island or two. For example, the Dominican Republic has meringue music, Dominica has bouyon, and Haiti has its festive rara music.
The Cuban influence on music is vividly evident in the spicy salsa tunes that have emanated from the Caribbean over the years. African and Spanish cultural influences have helped shape the salsa music that has evolved from Cuba and neighboring islands of Puerto Rico and the Greater Antilles. With a strong percussion component, snappy brass additions, and rhythmic guitar sections, salsa has become popular throughout many parts of Latin America. Other genres of music coming out of Cuba include rumba, habanera, son, and timba, to name a few.
Calypso music comes from a mix of African influences on the island of Trinidad. Calypso began taking shape at the beginning of the twentieth century and gained popularity through Carnival and other Caribbean festivals. It has evolved to incorporate the steel pan and other musical instruments. A commercial version of calypso became popular with Harry Belafonte’s version of the Jamaican folk tune of “Day-O,” known as the “Banana Boat Song”; however, Belafonte’s 1956 album Calypso had more of a Jamaican mento musical style and he was not from Trinidad. Mento is a more folksy rural style of acoustical music that influenced other forms of music such as reggae in Jamaica.
The pan (steel pan) is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, where it was created. The pan was originally made from fifty-five-gallon oil drums. The bottom is cut off at various levels to provide different sounds. The top is then shaped into a chromatically pitched percussion instrument. It is struck with a pair of straight sticks. An entire family of pans has been developed and can be assembled into a steel pan orchestra. The instrument has become popular outside the Caribbean as well.
Figure 5.34 Steel Pans from Trinidad
Reggae music started coming out of Jamaica in the 1960s with the music of such artists as Bob Marley and the Wailers, which featured Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The rhythmic style with offbeat accents evolved from earlier genres to become a standard of Jamaican music. Musicians from the Beatles to Eric Clapton have used reggae rhythms. Outside Jamaica, reggae has hit the charts thanks to groups such as UB40. Reggae music has often been associated with the Rastafarian movement or Rasta, which is based on a religious ideology including the beliefs that former Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie was God incarnate and the biblical Zion was in Africa.
Key Takeaways
• Colonialism created a high level of ethnic, linguistic, and economic diversity in the Caribbean. The main shifts were the demise of indigenous groups and the introduction of African slaves. The African influence can be witnessed in the religions of Santeria in Cuba, Vodoo (Voodou) in Haiti, and Rasta in Jamaica.
• The Caribbean Basin faces many challenges, including natural elements such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic activity. Economic conditions are often hampered by environmental degradation, corruption, organized crime, or the lack of employment opportunities.
• The Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro created a socialist state that nationalized foreign-owned assets and brought about a trade embargo by the United States. Cuba lost its aid from the Soviet Union after the USSR’s collapse in 1991 and has been increasing its focus on tourism and capitalistic reforms.
• Tourism can bring added economic income for an island country, but it also shifts to the service sector resources that are needed for infrastructure and services. A high percentage of tourism income goes to external corporations.
• The diversity of the Caribbean is evident in the wide range of musical types generated from the islands. Individual islands are known for certain types of music; salsa, reggae, and calypso are examples.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Which islands make up the Greater Antilles? Where are the Lesser Antilles?
2. Which European countries were the main colonizers of the Caribbean?
3. How is Cuba a good example of a rimland country?
4. Why does the United States still have an economic embargo against Cuba?
5. How is the political system in Cuba different from that of the United States?
6. Why is Puerto Rico a commonwealth of the United States?
7. How is Haiti different from its neighbor, the Dominican Republic?
8. What are the positive and negative perspectives on the Caribbean tourism industry?
9. Besides tourism, what other methods do people in the Caribbean islands use to generate wealth?
10. How do differences in musical styles tell a story of Caribbean culture?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• The Bahamas
• Blue Mountains
• Greater Antilles
• Lesser Antilles
• Sierra Maestra
• Viñales Valley
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/05%3A_Middle_America/5.04%3A_The_Caribbean.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Describe how and why hurricanes form.
2. Outline why hurricanes have the potential to be so dangerous.
3. Explain why hurricanes mainly occur in the tropics.
Above the oceans just north and south of the equator, a weather phenomenon called a tropical cyclone can develop that can drastically alter the physical and cultural landscape if it reaches land. In the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, this weather pattern is called a hurricane. In the North Pacific Ocean, the same type of weather pattern is called a typhoon. In the Indian Ocean region and in the South Pacific Ocean, it is called a tropical cyclone or just a cyclone. All these storms are considered tropical because they almost always develop between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.
Hurricanes develop over water that is warmer than 80 ºF. As the air heats, it rises rapidly, drawing incoming air to replace the rising air and creating strong wind currents and storm conditions. The rapidly rising humid air then cools and condenses, resulting in heavy rains and a downdraft of cooler air. The rotation of the earth causes the storm to rotate in a cyclonic pattern. North of the equator, tropical storms rotate in a counterclockwise direction. South of the equator, tropical storms rotate in a clockwise direction.
Hurricanes start out as tropical depressions: storms with wind speeds between twenty-five and thirty-eight miles per hour. Cyclonic motion and warm temperatures feed the system. If a storm reaches sustained winds of thirty-nine to seventy-three miles per hour, it is upgraded to a tropical storm. Tropical depressions are numbered; tropical storms are named. When winds reach a sustained speed of seventy-four miles per hour, a storm is classified as a hurricane.
Hurricane Dynamics
Hot air rises. A water temperature of at least 80 ºF can sustain rising air in the development of a tropical depression. These storms continue to be driven by the release of the latent heat of condensation, which occurs when moist air is carried upward and its water vapor condenses. This heat is distributed within the storm to energize it. As the system gains strength, a full-scale hurricane can develop. Rising warm air creates a low-pressure area that draws in air from the surface. This action pushes water toward the center, creating what is called a storm surge. Storm surges can average five to twenty feet or more depending on the category of the hurricane. Cyclonic rotation is created by rotation of the earth in a process called the Coriolis effect. The Coriolis effect is less prominent along the equator, so tropical cyclones usually do not develop within five degrees north or south of the equator.
When a hurricane makes landfall (comes ashore), the storm surge causes extensive flooding. More people are killed by flooding because of the storm surge than by any other hurricane effect. At the center of the cyclonic system is the hurricane’s eye, where there is a downdraft of sinking air but the wind is calm and there are no clouds. The eye can extend from one to one hundred miles or more. Many people who have been in the eye of the hurricane believe the storm has passed, but in reality they are in the center of it.
Bordering the eye of a storm is the eye wall, where the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall are found. This is the most violent part of the hurricane. Beyond the eye wall are feeder bands, with thunderstorms and rain showers that spiral inward toward the eye wall. Feeder bands can extend out for many miles and increase as the heat engine feeds the storm. Hurricanes lose their energy when they move over land because of the lack of heat generation. Once on land, the storm system breaks down. Rainfall and winds can continue, but with decreased intensity.
Centuries ago, the Spanish used the term hurakan, an indigenous word for “evil spirits” or “devil wind,” to name the storms that sank their ships in the Caribbean. Hurricanes are rated according to sustained wind speed using the Saffir-Simpson Scale. This scale rates a hurricane according to five categories (see Figure 5.37 “Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale”). Category 1 hurricanes have sustained wind speeds of at least seventy-four miles per hour and can inflict heavy damage to buildings, roofs, windows, and the environment. Category 5 hurricanes have sustained winds of more than 155 miles per hour and destroy everything in their paths. Hurricanes can also spawn tornadoes, which increase their potential for destruction.
Annually, more than one hundred tropical disturbances develop in the North Atlantic, but only about ten make it to a tropical storm status and five to six become hurricanes. Only two or three hit the United States in a typical year. Hurricane season for the North Atlantic lasts from June 1 to November 30. Tropical cyclones develop during the warmest season of the year when the water temperature is the highest. Though these weather patterns can bring enormous devastation to the landscape, they also redistribute moisture in the form of rain and help regulate global temperatures.
The devastating nature of tropical cyclones is the main concern when forecasting a potential storm. In 1970, the Bholo cyclone hit the coast of Bangladesh, resulting in the death of between three hundred thousand and one million people. A number of cyclones that killed more than one hundred thousand people each have hit Bangladesh in the past century. Typhoon Tip in the Northwest Pacific in 1979 is the largest tropical cyclone on record, with wind speeds of more than 190 miles per hour and a total diameter of more than 1,350 miles—equal to the distance from the Mexican border to the Canadian border in the United States. Typhoons can be, on average, twice the size of hurricanes.
Hurricane Camille was the strongest US hurricane on record at landfall, with sustained winds of 190 miles per hour and wind gusts of up to 210 miles per hour. Camille hit the US Mississippi coast in 1969 as a category 5 hurricane. It devastated everything in its path, killing 259 people. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 was one of the most costly storms to impact the United States. Katrina started out as a tropical depression while in the Bahamas. The storm reached a category 5 hurricane as it passed through the Gulf of Mexico but diminished in strength when making landfall in Louisiana, with sustained winds of 125 miles per hour (a strong category 3 hurricane). Katrina caused widespread devastation along the central Gulf Coast and devastated the city of New Orleans. At least 1,836 people lost their lives, and the cleanup cost an estimated \$100 billion.
Since records were started in 1851 for hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin, there have been thirty-two hurricanes that reached category 5 in the region. A few of them have reached all the way to the Central American coast. Hurricane Mitch hit the coast of Central America in 1998 and dumped over seventy-five inches of rain across the countries of Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. Devastating winds and heavy rain caused the deaths of up to twenty thousand people. Destructive category 5 hurricanes Edith and Felix made landfall in Nicaragua in 1971 and 2007, respectively. The Yucatán Peninsula and the coast of Mexico have also witnessed a number of devastating category 5 hurricanes.
The Caribbean Basin is located in the path of many hurricanes developing out of the Cape Verde region of the North Atlantic. For example, 2008 was a particularly devastating hurricane season, with sixteen tropical storms and eight full-scale hurricanes, five of which caused massive devastation. Three category 4 hurricanes (Ike, Gustav, and Paloma) cut through the northern Caribbean to hit the Greater Antilles. The most devastating was Ike, which ripped through the Caribbean, across the entire length of Cuba, and then on to the Gulf Coast of Louisiana and Texas. Ike’s immense size contributed to the fact that it was the third most costly hurricane on record. Ike caused an estimated \$7.3 billion in damage to Cuba and more than \$29 billion in damage in the United States. Hurricane Gustav made landfall in Hispaniola and Jamaica before increasing in strength and causing about \$3.1 billion in damage to Cuba. In November of 2008, Hurricane Paloma made landfall in Cuba and caused an additional \$300 million in damage to the island. Many of the other Caribbean islands were also devastated by the hurricanes that hit the region in 2008.
Key Takeaways
• Tropical cyclones occur in the tropical regions over warm ocean water. In the North Atlantic, they are called hurricanes; in the North Pacific, they are called typhoons; and in the Indian Ocean, they are called cyclones.
• Hurricanes start as tropical depressions with wind speeds of at least twenty-five miles per hour. As wind speeds increase to thirty-nine miles per hour, the disturbances are called tropical storms and are named. When wind speeds reach seventy-four miles per hour, they become hurricanes.
• Rising air pulls water to the center of the storm, creating a storm surge, the most dangerous feature of the storm because of the immense flooding it can cause when reaching land.
• Hurricane season is between June 1 and November 30. Cruise ships do not usually operate in the Caribbean during this time.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why do tropical cyclones form near the equator?
2. What are the stages of weather patterns that build up to a tropical cyclone (hurricane)?
3. What are the main components of a hurricane?
4. What part of the hurricane usually causes the most damage or loss of life?
5. How are hurricanes classified? What are the main categories of a hurricane?
6. How many tropical disturbances develop in the North Atlantic each year? How many develop into full-scale hurricanes each year? How many hurricanes usually hit the United States each year?
7. Why is it often more difficult for the Caribbean islands to recover from a hurricane than the United States?
8. What path do hurricanes usually follow in the North Atlantic?
9. Where do cyclones and typhoons develop other than the North Atlantic?
10. When is the main hurricane season in the North Atlantic? How does the hurricane season impact tourism in the Caribbean?
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Chapter Summary
• The Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America make up the realm of Middle America. Two types of development patterns emerged with European colonialism. The rimland, with its plantation agriculture, dominated the Caribbean and coastal regions. The mainland, with its haciendas, dominated Mexico and interior regions of Central America.
• European colonialism decimated the Amerindian population of the Caribbean and conquered the Aztec Empire of the mainland. Colonialism altered the food production, building methods, urbanization, language, and religion of the realm.
• African slave labor became prominent in the Caribbean and altered the ethnic makeup of most islands. Amerindians make up most of the lower working class on the mainland. A minority of wealthy Europeans continue to be at the top of the socioeconomic class structure. Most of Mexico’s population is of mestizo heritage.
• Mexico has transitioned from a Spanish colony to a partner in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Trade relations have helped industrialize Mexico’s economy and provide employment, especially in maquiladoras that thrive in Mexico. Mexico has many natural resources but still struggles to provide economic opportunities for its entire population. Wealth and power is controlled by an elite minority with a European heritage.
• Various geographic concepts and principles can be applied to this realm: rural-to-urban shift, core-periphery spatial relationship, altitudinal zonation, and the impact of climate types on human habitation.
• Population growth and the lack of employment opportunities have contributed to the high poverty levels in many areas. There is a wide disparity between the income levels of the wealthy and the poor. Haiti, for example, is one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.
• The United States has had a major impact on this region, both politically and economically. The US military has intervened in many places to control its interests. US companies have dominated the region’s economies. Most recently, the United States has supported industrial activities and the implementation of free-trade agreements to take advantage of cheap labor.
• Earthquakes, volcanoes, and hurricanes continue to bring devastation and destruction to human activity in Middle America. Other environmental issues, such as deforestation and soil degradation, have also become serious problems.
• Central America is a diverse and fragmented realm with every country, island, or republic possessing a different geography. The varied styles of music that have emerged from the region provide a good example of cultural diversity.
• Tourism is an important economic sector that has mixed impacts on the local situation. Every part of the Middle American realm has sought to improve their tourism draw to help bolster their economy.
• The global economy has prompted the political entities of the region to work more closely together to advance their economic interests. Trade associations such as NAFTA, the Central American-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are attempts to develop a greater level of economic integration. Some argue that multinational corporations stand to benefit the most from free-trade agreements.
• Tropical cyclones are storms that occur in the tropical regions over warm ocean water. In the North Atlantic, when wind speeds reach seventy-four miles per hour, they are called hurricanes. Hurricane season is between June 1 and November 30, and cruise ships do not usually operate in the Caribbean during this time. High winds and storm surges have caused serious flooding and damage to the human landscape.
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the main physical features and characteristics of South America.
2. Explain how European colonialism dominated the realm and divided up the continent.
3. Describe the ethnic, economic, and political patterns in the Guianas.
4. Outline the main cultural realms of South America. Describe each realm’s main ethnic majority and explain how colonialism impacted each region.
5. Summarize how the South American countries are attempting to integrate their economies.
The continent of South America has a wide diversity of physical landscapes, from the high Andes Mountains to the tropical forests of the Amazon Basin. This assortment of physical features offers many resource bases, allowing people to engage in economic activity, gain wealth, and provide for their needs. The long range of the Andes holds mineral riches that have been being extracted since ancient times. Precious metals have been mined from the mountains to grant great opportunities for those fortunate enough to be recipients of its wealth. Fossil fuels have been found in abundance in the far northern regions of Venezuela and Colombia. The Amazon Basin has been a source of hardwood lumber and, more recently, extensive mineral wealth. Some of the largest iron-ore mines in the world are located here. The massive plains of Brazil and the rich soils of the Pampas allow for enormous agricultural operations that provide food products for the continent and for the world. Even the inhospitable Atacama region in northern Chile holds some of the world’s largest copper reserves. In addition, the wide variety of climate zones allows a diverse range of species to develop. The extremes in physical geography in South America have created both barriers and opportunities to those who live there.
Before the era of European colonialism, many local groups organized themselves into states or empires. The Inca Empire was the largest in existence at the time the Europeans arrived. The early empires developed massive structures that required huge cut stones weighing many tons to be moved into place without the benefit of modern tools or technology. European colonialism altered the continent in several ways. Not only did the Europeans defeat and conquer indigenous Amerindian groups such as the Inca, but cultural exchanges also took place that altered the way of life for countless South Americans. Colonialism created many of the current country borders and influenced trade relationships with the newly created colonies. The plantation system and the introduction of slaves from Africa drastically changed the ethnic makeup of the people living along the eastern coast. After slavery was abolished, indentured servitude brought workers from Asia to support the labor base.
Indentured servants were usually poor individuals who agreed to work for an agreed upon period of time, usually less than seven years, in return for the necessities of life such as lodging, food, and transportation or clothing. These individuals did not usually receive a salary but may have received a lump sum payment upon completion of the agreed upon service. Under favorable conditions indentured servants were treated like relatives and gained important experience and job skills to provide for their future. Many situations were much less favorable and resembled a form of slavery where individuals did not survive their servitude but succumbed to disease, harsh conditions, or death.
The physical environment and the influence of colonialism were both responsible for the cultural attributes of the regions of South America. The continent can be divided into regions by ethnic majorities influenced by early colonial development. The mixing of ethnic groups from Europe, Africa, and Asia with each other or with the indigenous population has created a diverse cultural mosaic. For example, most people in Guyana and Suriname are from Asia, most people in Argentina and Uruguay are from Europe, most people in Peru and Bolivia are Amerindian, and most people in many areas along the eastern coast of Brazil are of African descent. A large percentage of the population of South America is of a mixed ethnic background. Understanding the cultural geography of South American supports comprehension of the realm’s human development patterns.
South America’s modern economic development has helped integrated it with the global economy. The levels of economic development vary widely within the realm. There are clear indications of core-peripheral spatial patterns within various regions of the continent, and rural-to-urban shift has been strong in many areas. The rural regions in the Andes or the interior suffer from a lack of economic support needed to modernize their infrastructure. At the same time, metropolitan areas are expanding rapidly and are totally integrated with global markets and the latest technologies. Most of the large cities are located along the coastal regions. This pattern of urbanization is mainly a result of colonial activity and influence. The countries of South America are working among themselves to network trade and commerce activities. Trade agreements and economic unions have become standard methods of securing business partnerships to enhance the realm’s economic opportunities.
Physical Geography
The far-reaching Andes Mountains and the massive Amazon River system dominate South America’s physical geography. The five-thousand-mile-long Andes Mountain chain extends along the entire western region of the continent from Venezuela to southern Chile. The Andes are the longest mountain chain on Earth and the highest in the Americas. The Andes Mountain range has more than thirty peaks that reach at least twenty thousand feet in elevation, many of which are active volcanoes. The Andes has provided isolation to the Inca Empire, mineral wealth to those with the means for extraction, and a barrier to travelers crossing the continent. The Andes’ minerals include gold, silver, tin, and other precious metals. Mining became a major industry in the colonial era and continues to the present.
At the core of the continent is the mighty Amazon River, which is more than two thousand miles long and has an enormous drainage basin in the largest tropical rain forest in the world. The Amazon’s many tributaries are larger than many other world rivers. Flowing parallel to the equator, the Amazon is in contention with the Nile as the longest river in the world. In 2007, a dispute arose over the actual length of the Amazon River. Brazilian scientists using satellite imagery and teams on the ground using a global positioning system (GPS) calculated a new length for the Amazon. Using similar methods, the Nile River also had a new length calculated. Both were determined to be longer than originally measured. At this time, the actual length of each river is openly disputed. The most accurate statement is that the Amazon River has the greatest discharge of any river in the world, and it is potentially also the longest river in the world.
The Amazon carries about a fifth of all river water in the world. The Amazon and its many tributaries drain the entire interior region of the continent, covering 40 percent of South America. During the rainy season, the Amazon River can be more than one hundred miles wide. No bridges span the Amazon River. Its source is a glacial stream located high in the Peruvian Andes, about 150 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
The Amazon’s extended tributaries—such as the Rio Negro, the Madeira, and the Xingu—move massive amounts of water through the Amazon Basin and are major rivers in their own right. The Amazon has more than 1,100 tributaries; a dozen are more than one thousand miles long. Hydroelectric dams are located on the tributaries to produce electricity for the region’s fast-growing development. South America has additional large rivers that drain the continent, including the Orinoco, which flows through Venezuela; the Sao Francisco, which flows through southeast Brazil; and the Paraguay and the Paraná Rivers, which flow south from Brazil into the Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay.
Lake Titicaca rests in the middle of the Altiplano Region of the Central Andes on the border between Peru and Bolivia. The Altiplano Region is a wide basin between two main Andean mountain ranges. The word altiplano means “valley” in Spanish. There are a substantial number of altiplanos in South America. They provide for agricultural production and human habitation. The Altiplano Region has been home to ancient civilizations that date back to early human settlements. Lake Titicaca is a large freshwater lake about 120 miles long and 50 miles wide. The surface is at an elevation of about twelve thousand feet above sea level, and the lake is more than nine hundred feet deep in some areas. Usually at such high elevations, the temperature would dip below freezing and restrict agriculture. However, the large lake acts as a solar energy collector by absorbing energy from the sun during the day and giving off that energy in the form of heat during the night. The energy redistribution allows for a moderate temperature around the lake that is conducive to growing food crops. With abundant fresh water and the ability to grow food and catch fish, the Altiplano Region has supported human habitation for thousands of years. On the Bolivian side of the lake is the ancient stone site of Tiahuanaco, which has had some artifacts dated to 1500 BCE or earlier. People continue to live around and on Lake Titicaca and maintain a subsistence lifestyle.
Across the Andes Mountains from the Altiplano Region is the Atacama Desert. The Atacama is one of the driest places on Earth: in some parts, no rain has fallen in recorded history. In normal circumstances, the Atacama would be a desolate region without human activity, but that is not the case. Some of the world’s largest copper reserves are found here. Nitrates, which are used in fertilizers, are also found in large quantities. Mining the Atacama has brought enormous wealth to people fortunate enough to be on the receiving end of the profits. The rain shadow effect is responsible for the extraordinary dryness of the Atacama. The Andes are quite high at this latitude, and the winds blow in rain clouds from the east. When the clouds reach the mountains, they ascend in elevation, releasing their precipitation without ever reaching the western side of the Andes.
South America has large agricultural plateaus east of the Andes, such as the Mato Grosso Plateau, which includes a portion of the great cerrado agricultural region of central Brazil. The Cerrado is a vast plain that has been developed for agriculture and produces enormous harvests of soybeans and grain crops. Bordering the Cerrado to the southeast are the Brazilian Highlands, an extensive coffee-growing region. The Pampas in eastern Argentina, Uruguay, and southernmost Brazil is another excellent agricultural region with good soils and adequate rainfall. Farming, cattle ranching, and even vineyards can be found here, making the Pampas the breadbasket of the Southern Cone. To the south of the Pampas is the lengthy expanse of Patagonia, which covers the southern portion of Argentina east of the Andes. Patagonia is a prairie grassland region that does not receive a very much rainfall because of the rain shadow effect of the Andes to the west. The main activities in Patagonia are the raising of cattle and other livestock. The region is starting to attract attention for the extraction of natural resources such as oil, natural gas, and valuable minerals.
To the northern part of the continent in Venezuela and Colombia, sandwiched between the Andes Mountains and the Guiana Highlands, is a grassland region with scrub forests called the Llanos. The human population is small because of the remoteness of the region along the Orinoco River basin. The Guiana Highlands of southeast Venezuela and the Guianas are an isolated set of mountainous plateaus mixed with rugged landscapes and tropical climates. Angel Falls, the highest waterfall in the world, with a free fall of more than 2,647 feet and a total drop of about 3,212 feet (more than half a mile), is located here. To the northwest of the Llanos and the Guiana Highlands in Venezuela is Lake Maracaibo, a large inland lake open to the Caribbean Sea. A coastal lake, Maracaibo rests atop vast oil reserves that provide economic wealth for Venezuela.
European Colonialism
South America’s colonial legacy shaped its early cultural landscape. The indigenous people, with their empires and local groups, were no match for the Iberian invaders who brought European colonialism to the continent. South America was colonized exclusively by two main Iberian powers: Spain colonized the western part of the South America, and Portugal colonized the east coast of what is present-day Brazil. The only region that was not colonized by those two powers was the small region of the Guianas, which was colonized by Great Britain, the Netherlands, and France.
Everything changed with the invasion of the Iberian colonizers. The underlying tenets of culture, religion, and economics of the local indigenous people were disrupted and forced to change. It is no mystery why the two dominant languages of South America are Spanish and Portuguese and why Roman Catholicism is the realm’s dominant religion. Colonialism also was responsible for transporting food crops such as the potato, which originated in the Peruvian Andes, to the European dinner table. Today, coffee is a main export of Colombia, Brazil, and other countries in the tropics. Coffee was not native to South America but originated in Ethiopia and was transferred by colonial activity. The same is true of sugarcane, bananas, and citrus fruits; oranges were not native to South America, but today Brazil is the number one exporter of orange juice. Colonialism was driven by the desire for profit from the quick sale of products such as gold or silver, and there was a ready market for goods not found in Europe, such as tobacco, corn, exotic animals, and tropical woods.
Plantation agriculture introduced by the Europeans led to a high demand for manual laborers. When the local populations could not meet the labor demand, millions of African workers were brought through the slave trade. These African slaves introduced their own unique customs and traditions, altering the culture and demographics of the Western Hemisphere. The current indigenous Amerindian population, a fraction of what it was before the Europeans arrived, makes up only a small percentage of South America’s total population. Europeans colonizers generally took the best land and controlled the economic trade of the region. The acculturation in South America is directly related to the European colonial experience.
The Inca Empire and Francisco Pizarro
Not long after Hernán Cortés conquered the Aztec Empire of Mexico in 1521, a young Spanish conquistador named Francisco Pizarro, stationed in what is now Panama, heard rumors of silver and gold found among the South American people. He led several sailing excursions along the west coast of South America. In 1531 CE, he founded the port city of Lima, Peru. Since 1200 CE, the Inca had ruled a large empire extending out from central Peru, which included the high-elevation Altiplano Region around Lake Titicaca. The Inca Empire dominated an area from Ecuador to Northern Chile. The Inca were not the most populous people but were a ruling class who controlled other subjugated groups. Pizarro, with fewer than two hundred men and two dozen horses, met up with the Inca armies and managed to defeat them in a series of military maneuvers. The Inca leader was captured by the Spanish in 1533. Two years later, in 1535, the Inca Empire collapsed.
The two main colonizers in South America were Spain and Portugal. The Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro defeated the Inca Empire.
The Inca Empire was significant thanks to the high volume of gold and silver found in that region of the Andes. The story is told that Pizarro placed the captured Inca leader in a small room and told him that if the room was filled with gold to the top of the Inca leader’s head, Pizarro would let the Inca leader go free. Gold was summoned from the people and the countryside, and the room was filled. The conquistadors forced the Inca leader to convert to Catholicism and be baptized and then killed him. The gold was melted down and transported back to Spain. The mineral wealth of the Andes made the conquistadors rich. Lima was once one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Europeans continued to dominate and exploit the mining of minerals in Peru and Bolivia throughout the colonial era. European elites or a Mestizo ruling class has dominated or controlled the local Amerindian groups in the Andes since colonial times.
Many Amerindian groups inhabited this region before the Inca Empire, such as the people who built and lived in the ancient city of Tiahuanaco, which could have bordered Lake Titicaca during an earlier climate period, when the lake was much larger. Clearly, humans have lived in South America for thousands of years. There is speculation that travel between South America and the Mediterranean region occurred earlier than current historic records indicate. Many of the ruins in the western region of South America have not been thoroughly excavated or examined by archaeologists, and the size and scope of many of the stone structures stand as testimony to the advancements in engineering and technology employed in an era that, according to historical records, had only primitive tools.
The Iberian Division of the Continent
The Spanish conquistadors were not the only European invaders to colonize South America. Colonial influence—which forced a change in languages, religion, and economics—also came from the small European kingdom of Portugal. Portuguese ships sailed along the eastern coast of South America and laid claim to the region for the king. The Portuguese did not find large gold or silver reserves, but they coveted the land for the expansion of their empire. Soon the Spanish and the Portuguese were fighting over the same parts of South America. In 1494, the issue was brought before the Roman Catholic Church. The Tordesillas Line was drawn on a map to divide South America into the Spanish west and the Portuguese east. The region that is now Brazil became the largest Portuguese colonial possession in South America, a center for plantation agriculture similar to that in the Caribbean. For this reason, a large African population lives in Brazil, and most of the people in Brazil speak Portuguese and are Roman Catholics.
Independence did not come for the Spanish colonies until 1816 and 1818, when Chile and Argentina broke away in an independence movement in the south. Simón Bolívar led liberation movements in the north. By 1824, the Spanish were defeated in South America. Brazil did not gain independence from Portugal until 1822, when the prince of Portugal declared an independent Brazil and made himself Brazil’s first emperor. It was not until 1889 that a true republic was declared and empire was abolished.
Colonialism and the Guianas
The Guianas in the northeast were the only European colonies in South America that were not under Spanish or Portuguese control. The British, Dutch, and French all held claims to different parts of the Guianas. French Guiana remains a colony (department) of France to this day. The transition from colony to independent state has required persistence, time, and patience. Guyana and Suriname only just received their independence in the latter part of the twentieth century.
The coastal location of the Guianas provided European colonialists with an excellent site for plantation agriculture. Coastal cities had easy access to the Atlantic trade system. The active slave trade in the Atlantic brought African slaves to the Guianas to work the plantations. When slavery was abolished, indentured servants were brought in from other parts of the world that were colonized by the same European powers. Colonialism and plantation agriculture entirely changed the cultural dynamics of the Guianas. Port cities along the coast are the dominant urban centers. The Guianas follow a pattern similar to that of the rimland of the Caribbean and are included with the Caribbean in many studies. At the present time, bauxite (aluminum ore) mining and oil deposits along the coast provide modest income, and many people make their living in subsistence agriculture.
Guyana
Guyana and its neighbors have a tropical type A climate. The main interior regions are covered with dense forests. Some deforestation has taken place in Guyana; even so, forests cover more than 80 percent of Guyana’s land area with a diverse range of forests, ranging from dry evergreen forests to tropical rain forests, and with thousands of species of plants that are only found in this region. Guyana’s natural habitats and biodiversity are unparalleled, which is attributable to the climate, distinctive landforms, and largely well-preserved ecosystems. Its large rain forests play host to a myriad of species not found elsewhere. The interior regions remain more than 70 percent pristine, but this will change if logging, mining, and deforestation are not managed appropriately.
Guyana was called British Guiana before it became independent in 1966. The region was home to Carib and Arawak groups before the arrival of the Dutch, who established the first colony there in 1616. By 1831, the British had taken control and declared the colony British Guiana. African slaves were the main source of plantation labor until slavery was abolished in 1834. At that point, indentured servants from many countries were targeted for labor; most were East Indians from South Asia. There were also thousands of servants from China and other countries.
The ethnic background of Guyana’s population, which is less than one million, is a mix of African (36 percent), East Indian (50 percent), and Amerindian (7 percent). The remainder are mixed and European. The religious background of the East Indians includes both Hindus and Muslims. About 50 percent of the population has converted to Christianity. Ethnic divisions create difficulties in organizing politics and social activities. For example, one political concern is that minority groups with greater economic advantages will dominate the political arena without regard to the wishes of other ethnic groups.
Most of Guyana’s people live in the coastal regions. The almost impenetrable interior has large uninhabited areas with dense tropical forests. To protect its unique biodiversity, large areas have been placed in conservation areas and national parks. More than one million acres have been placed in the Konashen Community-Owned Conservation Area (COCA) to help preserve the natural environment and provide a sustainable economic relationship with local Waiwai people. In a similar effort, the government created the Kaieteur National Park, which features the spectacular Kaieteur Falls, which is about five times higher than Niagara Falls in North America. For its size, the falls has an enormous amount of water volume flowing over its crest. Other areas of the Guyana are also being considered for preservation.
Guyana’s economy is based on agricultural activities and the export of extracted natural resources. Sugarcane is a main cash crop, and timber sales are increasing. Fishing is common in the coastal areas. Bauxite mining has been the main mining activity, and mining of gold and other minerals has only advanced in recent years. Guyana’s economy is similar to that of many islands of the Caribbean, a relationship exemplified by its membership in CARICOM (the Caribbean Community). CARICOM’s headquarters is located in Georgetown, the capital of Guyana.
Suriname
Suriname’s colonial name was Dutch Guiana. The name was changed when independence was granted in 1975. The cultural background of the colony is as diverse as its history. Dutch Guiana was divided between British and Dutch colonists. Slavery and plantation agriculture were introduced in the colonial period, and the harsh conditions of slavery caused many slaves to escape the plantations and live in the forests. These runaway slaves, called Maroons, eventually organized into viable independent groups. Peace treaties were finally made with the Maroons to grant them legitimate rights. After slavery was abolished, indentured servants from South Asia and the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) were conscripted into the colony’s labor base.
Most of the half-million people who live in Suriname today reside along the coast. The ethnic background of the people includes East Indian (37 percent), Creole (31 percent), Indonesian (15 percent), African (10 percent), Amerindian (2 percent), Chinese (2 percent), and European (about 1 percent). All three of the Guianas are ethnically diverse, and in this setting, the diversity creates tensions related to social and economic stability. Guyana and Suriname are the least Latin regions of South America; the Creoles, for example, are mainly a mix of African and Dutch mixed with Asian or Amerindian. Establishing a stable government and conducting civil affairs are often complicated by the ethnic groups that vie for power and political control. The religious background in Suriname includes Hindu, Muslim, Christian, and a mix of African religions such as Winti.
Suriname depends on agriculture and natural resources as its two main economic activities. Suriname has the smallest physical area of all the independent South American states, and it has a limited ability to provide opportunities and advantages for its growing population. Bauxite is the country’s main export product. In 1941, during World War II, the United States occupied the country to secure the valuable bauxite mines that were critical to the war effort. Suriname has also been expanding its gold mining, oil extraction, logging, and fishing industries. To protect its natural environment and its extensive biodiversity, the country has established national parks and created the large Central Suriname Nature Reserve, which UNESCO has named a World Heritage Site. Suriname hopes to benefit from these measures to create an ecotourism market.
Both Guyana and Suriname have had border disputes with their neighbors. Guyana has been locked in a challenge with Venezuela over its western region, which Venezuela claimed during the colonial era. A 1905 treaty ruled in Guyana’s favor, but a small portion is still under dispute. The corner of Surname that borders Brazil and Guyana has been an issue of contention fueled by the potential for mining of gold and other minerals in the area. The maritime boundary between Suriname and Guyana is also a point of contention. Suriname’s border with French Guiana has a disputed area along the southern corner next to Brazil. These disputes emerged out of colonial agreements and poorly defined treaty boundaries.
French Guiana
French Guiana is still a colony (department) of France. With fewer than 250,000 people in an area slightly smaller than Kentucky, this is a sparsely inhabited area. Half the population lives in the capital city of Cayenne. Most of the population is Creole, mainly a combination of African and French with various Asian groups mixed in. The people work in subsistence agriculture or for the French government. A noted feature of the colony’s heritage is the former off-shore prison on Devil’s Island, which France used to secure its most undesirable prisoners. More than fifty thousand French prisoners were delivered to the Devil’s Island facility during the colonial era, but less than 10 percent survived. The prison was closed in 1951.
The European Space Agency maintains a launch center in French Guiana because of its favorable climate and launch conditions. France maintains the facility and has highly subsidized the department’s economy. This European support provides the population with a higher standard of living than in many other South American countries. Economic activities have included fishing, agriculture (bananas and sugar), and logging. Deforestation from the sale of hardwood lumber has become a problem throughout the Guianas as it leaves the soil open for erosion. Logging endangers the area’s fragile but extensive biodiversity. Roads, dams, and gold mining have also contributed to the erosive destruction of the environment.
Cultural Regions of South America
It is impossible to understand the current conditions in South America without first understanding what occurred to create those conditions. This is why studying European colonialism is so important. Colonialism changed the ethnicity, religion, language, and economic activities of the people in South America. The past five hundred years have tempered, stretched, and molded the current states and regions of the South American continent. To identify standards of living, ethnic majorities, and economic conditions, it is helpful to map out South America’s various cultural regions.
In South America, five main cultural regions indicate the majority ethnic groups and the main economic activities:
1. Tropical Plantation Region
2. Rural Amerindian Region
3. Amazon Basin
4. Mixed Mestizo Region
5. European Commercial Region (Southern Cone)
These are generalized regions that provide a basic understanding of the whole continent. Technological advancements and globalization have increased the integration of the continent to the point that these regions are not as delineated as they once were, but they still provide a context in which to comprehend the ethnic and cultural differences that exist within the realm.
Tropical Plantation Region
Located along the north and east coast of South America, the Tropical Plantation Region resembles the Caribbean rimland in its culture and economic activity. The region, which extends as far south as the Tropic of Capricorn, has a tropical climate and an agricultural economy. Europeans opened up this area for plantation agriculture because of coastal access for ships and trade. The local people were forced into slavery, but when the local people died off or escaped, millions of African slaves were brought in to replace them. After slavery was abolished, indentured servants from Asia were brought to the Guianas to work the plantations. The Tropical Plantation Region has a high percentage of people of African or Asian descent.
Rural Amerindian Region
The Rural Amerindian Region includes the countries of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. The ruling Mestizo class that inherited control from the European conquistadors mainly lives in urban areas. Most of the rural Amerindian population lives in mountainous areas with type H climates and ekes out a hard living in subsistence agriculture. This is one of the poorest regions of South America, and land and politics are controlled by powerful elites. The extraction of gold and silver has not benefited the local Amerindian majority, which holds to local customs and speaks local languages.
Amazon Basin
The Amazon Basin, which is characterized by a type A climate, is the least-densely populated region of South America and is home to isolated Amerindian groups. Development has encroached upon the region in the forms of deforestation, mining, and cattle ranching. Large deposits of iron ore, along with gold and other minerals, have been found in the Amazon Basin. Preservation of the tropical rain forest of this remote region has been hampered by the destructive pattern of development that has pushed into the region. The future of the basin is unclear because of development patterns that are expected to continue as Brazil seeks to exploit its interior peripheral region. Conflicts over land claims and the autonomy of Amerindian groups are on the rise.
Mixed Mestizo Region
The Mixed Mestizo Region includes the coastal area of the west and the interior highlands of the north and east. This region between the Tropical Plantation Region and the Rural Amerindian Region includes a majority of people who share a mixed European and Amerindian ethnicity. It is not as poor as the Rural Amerindian Region and yet not as wealthy as the European-dominated region to the south. Paraguay falls into the Mixed Mestizo Region, as do other portions of other South American countries such as parts of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Paraguay is mainly Mestizo, but its economic qualities resemble that of the Rural Amerindian Region to the north, even though Paraguay is not located in the mountains.
European Commercial Region (Southern Cone)
The southern part of South America, called the European Commercial Region or the Southern Cone, includes Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and parts of Brazil. European ethnic groups dominate this region and include not only Spanish and Portuguese but also German, Austrian, Italian, and other European ethnic heritages. Fertile soils and European trade provided early economic growth, and the region attracted industry and manufacturing in the later decades of the twentieth century. There are not many Amerindians or people of African descent here. More than 90 percent of all the people in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay are of European descent and live in urban areas. With a highly urbanized population and with trade connections to a globalized economy, it is no surprise that the Southern Cone is home to South America’s most developed economies.
Globalization and Trade
South America has been fragmented by European colonialism, which established colonies and economic dependence on its European masters. The colonial economic patterns did not encourage the South American countries to work together to create an integrated continental trade network. Countries outside the continent have promoted trade partnerships to benefit from South America’s natural resources and agricultural exports. The establishment of the European Union and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) created globalized trading blocs that challenged the South American countries to consider how to take advantage of trading opportunities within their realm to protect and support their own economic interests.
Since the 1990s, cooperation and business ventures have started to form within the realm to create a more integrated network of trade and commerce to benefit the countries of South America. Transportation and communication systems are being developed through joint ventures by internal investment groups. River and road systems continue to be managed and developed for improved transport of people and goods throughout the continent. Free-trade agreements have been implemented to support the integration of internal economic networks and competition in the global marketplace.
In 2008, the South American countries formed the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) to oversee the customs unions and trade agreements within the realm. One of the more established trade associations is Mercosur (the Southern Cone Common Market), created in 1995 by the southern countries. It has evolved to include most countries in South America and is the most dominant trade agreement in the realm. Full members of Mercosur include Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Brazil. Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia are associate members. As of 2011, Venezuela’s membership was under review. The Andean Community (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia) was established in 1969 but did not gain ground until 1995, when it established stronger trade measures. Multinational corporations have supported the creation of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) to include all of the Western Hemisphere in one unified trade association. It has not been approved and has received strong opposition from Mercosur and economic forces that support a more localized economy controlled by local people.
South America faced division and competition during the colonial era between the Spanish and the Portuguese. Today’s new era of corporate colonialism has created similar fragmentation and divisions. The level of trade between the countries of South America and the United States and Europe varies widely. Countries such as Colombia and Chile have well-established trade relationships with the United States and are unwilling to jeopardize those trade connections to strengthen ties with their neighbors that have less-supportive political relationships with the United States. External global trade arrangements often provide financial benefits to individual countries that might not be shared by the bordering countries in the same region. South America’s historical fragmentation has not made it easy to unify the continent under a singular trade agreement to complete against the European Union or NAFTA.
Key Takeaways
• The extensive Andes Mountain chain and the massive Amazon River dominate the realm’s physical geography.
• The Spanish and the Portuguese were the two main colonial powers that dominated South America. The Guianas were the only part of the continent not dominated by these two European powers.
• Britain, Holland, and France formed colonies in the Guianas. The slave trade brought many people of African descent to the Guiana colonies. After slavery was abolished, indentured servants from Asia were brought to the Guianas to support the labor base.
• Identifying the majority ethnic groups in South America can be helpful in classifying the various cultural regions of the realm. Colonial activities and ethnic backgrounds are consistent enough to formulate regions with similar characteristics.
• Globalization and the creation of economic or political units such as the European Union and NAFTA have prompted the South American countries to work together to implement cooperative trade agreements and create the Union of South American Nations.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the two main physical features of South America? Where are they located?
2. What two main European colonial powers dominated South America?
3. What are the majority ethnic groups in each of the Guianas?
4. How do most people in the Guianas make a living?
5. Where are the five main cultural regions of South America?
6. What are the majority ethnic groups in each of the cultural regions of the continent?
7. Why would the Southern Cone have a stronger economic position than other regions?
8. What environmental concerns are prominent in the Guianas?
9. What are the main economic trade agreements for the South American countries?
10. Why has it been so difficult to unify the countries in this realm into a single trade zone?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Altiplano
• Amazon Basin
• Amazon River
• Andes Mountains
• Atacama Desert
• Brazilian Highlands
• Cape Horn
• Cerrado
• Devil’s Island
• Easter Island
• European Commercial Region
• Falkland Islands
• Galapagos Islands
• Guiana Highlands
• Guianas
• Lake Maracaibo
• Lake Titicaca
• Llanos
• Madeira River
• Mato Grosso Plateau
• Mixed Mestizo Region
• Orinoco River
• Pampas
• Paraguay River
• Paraná River
• Patagonia
• Rio de la Plata
• Rio Negro
• Robinson Crusoe Island
• Rural Amerindian Region
• Sao Francisco River
• Southern Cone
• Tierra del Fuego
• Tordesillas Line
• Tropical Plantation Region
• Xingu River
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Learning Objectives
1. Understand the dynamics of Venezuela’s urban society and why Venezuela has not experienced a robust rural-to-urban shift to the extent that other countries have.
2. Summarize the production of the three main export products of Colombia and explain the US role in their export.
3. Compare the three main countries in the Andean West region of South America and understand how they gained their wealth and who has benefited the most over the years from that wealth.
4. Outline how Paraguay’s geographical setting has allowed it to gain wealth and provide opportunities for its people.
Venezuela: Oil, Politics, and Globalization
Bordering the Caribbean is the large urban country of Venezuela. The Andes Mountains reach into the northern part of the country and make up the terrain of the northern coastal region all the way to the capital city of Caracas. The large grassland plains of the Llanos extend farther south from the Colombian border to the Orinoco River delta. The Llanos is a large, sparsely populated region that makes up about one-third of the country. It is remote, susceptible to flooding, and used mainly for raising cattle. In the southeast of Venezuela are the Guiana Highlands, which make for a spectacular physical landscape of tropical forests and rugged mountainous terrain. The highlands include Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world. Angel Falls drops 2,647 feet and is Venezuela’s most popular tourist attraction. Lake Maracaibo, a large inland sea located in the western region of the country, is not a true lake in that it is open to the Caribbean Sea, but it is considered the largest inland body of water in South America. Lake Titicaca, located in the Andean region of the Altiplano on the border between Peru and Bolivia, is considered the continent’s largest freshwater lake.
Venezuela has an assortment of physical regions, but most of the population lives along the northern coast. About 90 percent live in urban areas, and the capital Caracas has the highest population. Less than 5 percent of the population lives south of the Orinoco River, and Amerindian groups live in the interior and along the river.
Included in the Mixed Mestizo Cultural Region, Venezuela has a heavy Spanish influence laid over an Amerindian base in a plantation region known for its African infusion. There is also a strong Caribbean cultural flavor, which is evident in the region’s music and lifestyle. The official language is Spanish, but more than thirty indigenous languages are still spoken in the country.
Venezuela gained its independence from Spain in 1821 and has developed into an urban country with an economy based on oil production. A large extent of the interior is undeveloped. Venezuela does not have extensively developed agricultural production, so most food goods are imported. Lake Maracaibo has vast oil reserves beneath it that have provided substantial wealth to the country.
As much as 90 percent of Venezuela’s export earnings are from the export of oil. Venezuela’s national oil company, CITGO, has made extensive inroads into the US gas station market. The country was one of the founding members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries), which is usually associated with the oil-rich states of the Persian Gulf. In the past decade, Venezuela has been one of the top five countries exporting oil to the United States. The other four are Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Nigeria.
As is the case with many countries, national wealth in Venezuela does not filter down to most of the population. The wealthy elite who have benefited the most from the nation’s wealth often find themselves on the opposite side of the political debate from the majority, who are likely to live in poor conditions. Caracas has many upscale neighborhoods, but it also has a large number of slums on the outskirts of the city. Slums in South America go by different names, such as barrios in Venezuela or favelas in Brazil. Many of Venezuela’s barrios are built on the mountainsides of the Andes.
Exporting oil to the United States does not inherently lead to a friendly political relationship between the United States and Venezuela. There has been some political unrest within the country related to the current president, Hugo Chavez, holding continuous terms in office without term limits. President Chavez has held close ties with socialist Cuba and with the Castro regime and has made somewhat antagonistic statements about the world’s core economic countries. From time to time, his rhetoric and his positions are not geared toward enhancing the country’s political relationship with the United States. This situation has caused concern within the US political establishment with regard to the position that the United States takes toward Venezuela. Nevertheless, the United States remains Venezuela’s number one trading partner in both imports and exports.
Politics in Venezuela often plays the wealthy elites against the poorer majority, and President Chavez has not been an exception. Chavez has supported socialist political leaders from other Latin American states and has pushed a globalization agenda along the same lines. The country’s enormous oil revenues and its current political climate have increased Venezuela’s visibility in the global arena, but how this will play out over the long term is unclear. In the past, Latin America has had a greater number of elected political leaders with more progressive or socialist views. These trends continue to shape the economic trade agreements between countries. Venezuela has been working to increase sales of oil to countries in Mercosur (the Southern Cone Common Market), which is the most significant trade association in South America.
Globalization is also evident in Venezuela’s cultural and social dynamics. In many Latin American countries, soccer (European football) is the most popular sport, but Venezuela’s biggest sport is baseball because of the influence of early US activity in the country’s oil industry. Soccer is gaining attention and support, however. Orchestras and classical music performances have also gained notoriety in recent years. Concert halls from the Americas to Europe have experienced the performances of the Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra. The Miss Venezuela pageant is a major production for the country, and Venezuela has won the top title at least five times in each of the following pageants: Miss World, Miss Universe, and Miss International.
Colombia: Drugs, Coffee, and Oil
Three ranges of the Andes Mountains run from north to south through Colombia, which is larger than the nine most southeastern US states. With a land area covering about 440,839 square miles, Colombia is more than ten times larger than the US state of Kentucky and close to twice the size of France. Colombia borders five countries, with the Caribbean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Orinoco River to the east, and a short segment of the Amazon River to the far south. Even though agriculture has been a mainstay of the country’s economic activities, because of the influence of the mountainous terrain, about 75 percent of the population lives in urban areas.
Colombia was a Spanish colony during the time that Spain controlled most of western South America. Colombia became independent in 1819. The region of Panama, which was first a part of Colombia, broke away in 1903 when the United States backed Panama’s independence movement. After Colombia became independent of Spain, the conservatives (wealthy elite) and the liberals (poor workers) struggled to gain control of the government. Since 1948, the conflict, known as La Violencia, has caused more than two hundred thousand casualties. During the twentieth century the government in Colombia has not always been peaceful or stable. By the beginning of the twenty-first century the government has become more unified and the country has even witnessed an increase in tourism.
Colombia and the Drug Trade
Colombia’s tropical climate and its many remote areas contributed to its development as a major coca-growing region. By the 1970s, extensive drug smuggling had developed, and powerful drug cartels became major political brokers within the country, competing against the government for control of Colombia. The largest and most organized cartels operated out of Medellin and Cali, the second- and third-largest cities in the country after the capital city of Bogotá.
The coca plant grows throughout the slopes of the Andes, from Colombia to Bolivia. Historically, locals have chewed it or brewed it into tea. Coca can alleviate elevation sickness and act as a mild stimulant. Using modern methods and strong chemicals, the coca leaves can be converted into coca paste and then into cocaine hydrochloride, a powerful narcotic. It often takes up to a ton of such chemicals as sulfuric acid, kerosene, methyl alcohol, and additional substitutes to produce a kilo of cocaine. Once the process is completed, most of the chemicals are discarded and frequently find their way into nearby rivers and streams, which are the same water supplies that local people drink, clean with, and bathe in. Birth defects have become a problem in coca-growing regions because of the high levels of chemical pollution in water supplies.
It must be noted that the short, leafy coca plant that cocaine comes from is not the same as the cacao tree that produces the beans that chocolate or cocoa comes from. They are two completely different plants with separate processes.
The United States is the largest cocaine market. Secret airfields and private boats transport the cocaine from Colombia to distribution centers in Mexico, Central America, or the Caribbean. From there, the drugs are smuggled into the United States. Colombian drugs are a multibillion-dollar industry that makes up a large portion of the Colombian economy. The effect of the drug industry on the people of Colombia is extensive—from the gunfire on the streets to the corruption of government officials. In recent years, the same drug cartels that have operated the cocaine industry have imported opium poppies, which grow well on the higher and more arid slopes of the Andes. Opium poppies are native to Asia but have been transported to South America. Opium is extracted from the seedpod and can be further refined into heroin. Colombian drug cartels, with a Mexican distribution network, have muscled into as much as 20 percent of the US heroin market. The US government has supported the Colombian government in the fight against the drug cartels and the trafficking of illegal drugs out of Colombia.
Colombian Coffee and Oil
Colombia’s two main legal exports to the United States are coffee and oil. Coffee is only grown in the tropics, since coffee trees must be grown in a frost-free environment. Coffee trees, which originally grew in Ethiopia, have since been grown throughout the world. Coffee trees can grow in elevations from sea level to six thousand feet, but most of the best specialty coffee is grown at elevations between three thousand to six thousand feet. Colombia has ideal conditions for growing coffee and was once the world’s largest coffee producer; now Brazil and Vietnam each produce more.
Early coffee production in Colombia was initially promoted by Catholic priests who were influential in supporting local parishioners to grow the crop. The industry was greatly enhanced in 1927 with the formation of the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia. Coffee production on the mountain ranges of the Andes in Colombia supports up to a half million small farms and local growers that make up a large portion of the coffee economy. Harvesting coffee is labor intensive and can employ large numbers of workers. The seasonal nature of the harvest also leaves workers to find employment during the rest of the growing season.
In recent years, there has been growing concern about how climate change will continue to affect the region’s coffee production. In the past century, parts of Colombia experienced up to a 1 ºC average temperature increase and up to a 25 percent increase in precipitation. These climate changes have negatively affected coffee output and reduced coffee production as much as 25 percent in some areas. New agricultural methods are being developed in an attempt to counter these effects.
Oil has now become Colombia’s number one legal export. Oil is found in fields in the northern and central regions of Colombia. Immense quantities of coal are also found in the same regions, but oil is more valued on the export market. Pipelines connect the interior oil fields of Colombia with the northern ports. The US market size and population make it the world’s largest oil consumer. US oil companies have been investing in the development of Colombian oil for many years. Colombia has been a developing oil source even though its total extractable resources are not as vast as in other countries. For example, in 2006 the United States imported more oil from Colombia than from Kuwait, Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar, and Yemen combined.
Since the United States is the largest consumer of Colombian oil, it is easy to understand why the United States has a vested interest in the stability of the Colombian government. A sizable portion of Colombia is controlled not by the government but by drug cartels or other insurgent groups. Dozens of guerilla organizations also control portions of Colombia. Some insurgent groups support the government and are against the drug lords, while others fight the government and work independently or with the cartels. Drug sales, kidnappings, and extortion of legitimate businesses provide income to these groups. Thousands of children serve in these groups, and about a third of them are female. The most powerful insurgent group is FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia), which controls entire regions the size of many US states. FARC is a recognized political entity by neighboring countries but is not given the same recognition by the United States and many external countries of the region.
The relationship between Colombia and the United States is often conflicting. The US consumer supports the Colombian drug cartels by being the largest consumer of illegal drugs. The US government, under the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), has declared a war on drugs and has supported the Colombian government with billions of dollars in foreign aid to fight that war. On another front, US oil corporations have paid insurgent groups to protect their oil assets. Oil is exported to the United States, bringing billions of dollars into the Colombian economy. The chaos in Colombia is directly related to the exploitation and marketing of their resources. It is the people of Colombia that suffer in the cross fire from this civil war of corruption, crime, death, and destruction. The United States is a counterforce partner in this situation but operates from the consumer end of the resource pipeline. The largest consumer market for Colombia’s export of oil, drugs, and coffee is the United States, which is also the largest contributor of foreign aid to Colombia.
Rural Amerindian States of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia
The Central Andes, which includes Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, were home to the Inca Empire. The empire had gone through some internal divisions and was working on unifying the region when Francisco Pizarro’s small army defeated the Incan warriors and brought about colonial rule beginning in the 1530s. Many cultures lived in the Central Andes before the Inca, and their legacy continues in the customs and the ways of the Amerindian people who still live there today. Spanish is the official language, or the lingua franca, but indigenous languages are widely spoken and dominate in the rural areas and remote villages. Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia make up the core of the Rural Amerindian Region of South America. There have been border disputes among the three countries, and also with their neighbors. Nevertheless, they all share the Andes and have many things in common.
Physical Geography
The physical geography of the Central Andes includes more than just the high Andes Mountains, although they dominate the landscape. The coastal region to the west of the Andes is generally warmer than the cooler climate of the mountains. The equatorial region is rather humid. The coastal region in southern Peru is dry and arid because of the ocean currents and the rain shadow effect of the Andes, which creates the Atacama Desert that extends up from northern Chile. Southwest Bolivia has some of the world’s largest salt flats in this dry and barren region. In the interior, on the eastern side of the mountain ranges, is the huge expanse of the Amazon Basin. Tropical and humid with heavy precipitation is generally the climate rule. Rain forests and jungle fauna can be found on the eastern slopes. The Altiplano region has the high-elevation Lake Titicaca. The variations in physical terrain provide extensive biodiversity in animal and plant species. It also supports a variety of economic activities to exploit the bountiful natural resources.
Even though the Altiplano region borders the Pacific Ocean, it also links directly to the Atlantic Ocean. The headwaters that create the Amazon River start in Peru, and by the time the water reaches the Peruvian city of Iquitos, the river is large enough to accommodate large shipping vessels. Iquitos is a port city for the Atlantic Ocean with access to Europe, Africa, or eastern North America. The port also links the region with Brazil’s free-trade zone in Manaus, which has access to large oceangoing shipping and an international market.
Economic Geography
The region’s main income comes from exports of minerals, fossil fuels, and agricultural products. Oil is the number one means of gaining national wealth in Ecuador and Peru; natural gas is the number one export of Bolivia. Gold, silver, tin, and other minerals are also abundant and are being exploited as conditions allow. The Spanish opened up a large silver-mining operation in Potosí, Bolivia, which continues to be exploited with modern mining methods. Potosí, one of the earth’s highest-elevation cities at 13,420 feet above sea level, was once the largest silver mine in the world.
The city of Lima, Peru, was built on wealth from gold and silver extracted from the Inca Empire and the Andes Mountains. As is the case in many peripheral regions, the economic state of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia is dependent on global prices for their export products. There has been considerable conflict and political wrangling about who controls the wealth from extractive economic activities. Originally, the Spanish conquistadors took the materials and the wealth. They were replaced by Mestizo land owners and wealthy elites who struck deals with international corporations. The corporations exploited the countries’ natural resources, with little profit actually ending up in the hands of most of the people. These issues remain at the top of the political agendas in all three countries.
Poverty and the exploitation of natural resources usually result in environmental degradation unless proper measures are taken to prevent it. The area’s heavy reliance on oil and gas extraction to gain national wealth has come at a great cost to their environment. Many oil spills have caused oil to enter the freshwater supplies of local residents and pollute the rivers and streams of the Amazon Basin. Mining has traditionally devastated the land because large portions of earth are removed to extract the ore or mineral. Pollution is causing a loss of habitats and destroying ecosystems, and few measures are being taken to prevent it. Deforestation is being caused by the timber industry and by clearing for agriculture. Overgrazing and the removal of the trees leave the soil open to erosion.
Tourism
Tourism is expanding to connect travelers with opportunities to explore Incan and pre-Incan sites, which are the main attractions. One of the main tourist attractions in Peru is the ancient city of Machu Picchu in the Andes not far from Cuzco. In 2010, Peru gained over two billion dollars from the tourist activities of about two million foreign tourists (Andina). Ecuador’s major tourist attraction is the Galapagos Islands, which aided Charles Darwin in understanding natural selection and the evolutionary process. Bolivia has a number of ancient sites that predate the Inca and have become major tourism destinations. The ancient city of Tiahuanaco and the enigmatic Lake Titicaca are good examples.
Tourism can be a great source of economic income but it can come at a cost to the environment. There is always concern that high-traffic tourism sites like Machu Picchu can be degraded by the sheer mass of people visiting the site. The environmental imprint may be extensive. The term ecotourism has been used to indicate the activity of people traveling to experience and enjoy the natural world with an aim not to damage the environment in the process. The main objective was to make the tourism activity sustainable, which promoted stewardship of the land and respect for its attractions. Jonathan Tourtellot, director of the National Geographic Society’s Center for Sustainable Destinations, coined and prefers the term geotourism, which can be translated as the stewardship of place and the preservation of its essential character (Miller-McCune). These concepts are becoming more integrated with the tourism industry to promote a sustainable model for high traffic sites like the Galapagos Islands with fragile ecosystems.
Political Issues
Economics usually drive politics. Accordingly, Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia have endured some serious ups and downs in their political environment. Corruption, authoritarianism, and human rights violations have been common accusations toward the political leadership of the countries. To address the economic condition of his country in 2000, Ecuador’s president announced that the country would adopt the US dollar as its main medium of exchange. This may have brought some economic stability, but it did not address the problems of a high national debt and a fluctuation in commodity prices. All three countries have undergone political turmoil. Large percentages of the populations live in poverty. Bolivia is considered one of the poorest countries in South America. In 2006, Bolivia elected a socialist president from the MAS (Movement for Socialism) party who was from a minority Amerindian group rather than a member of the wealthy elite. In Peru, a number of presidents have been forced to resign, and military coups have also produced leadership changes.
Population and Culture
Population growth is a major factor in the future of Peru, Ecuador, and Bolivia. In 2010, Bolivia had more than ten million people, Ecuador had more than fourteen million, and Peru had about twenty-nine million. More than 30 percent of the population of Ecuador and Bolivia resides in rural areas and make a living from subsistence agriculture. All three countries have large populations in relation to the production of adequate food. Peru and Bolivia are large countries in physical area but do not have a high percentage of arable land. Rural-to-urban shift is increasing and the major cities are continuing to expand, overtaxing public works and social services.
The culture of the Central Andes is heavily influenced by its rural Amerindian heritage. The foundation of the traditional agrarian society has been subsistence agriculture. One-third of the population in Ecuador and Bolivia and up to one-fourth of the population in Peru continue to live a traditional way of life. Local cuisine reflects the connection to the land. Potatoes, maize, guinea pigs, and fish are common fare in rural areas. The cities are encountering international influences that are changing the demands in local cuisine and culture. Traditional food, arts, and local crafts still thrive in the local districts and for the tourism market.
This region’s location on the Pacific Rim of South America has contributed to an Asian influence, which has integrated itself with the local culture. Former president of Peru Alberto Fujimori had Japanese ancestry and held dual citizenship in both Peru and Japan. Similar to Havana, Cuba, in Middle America, Lima, Peru, is also home to one of the earliest Chinatowns in the Americas, where the Chinese culture has mixed with the Latino culture to create a unique cultural blend. Bolivia is landlocked and does not have the advantage of a west-coast port city to interact with the Asian marketplace. However, its culture is still impacted by globalization and is evolving from within.
Paraguay
Paraguay is located in the Mixed Mestizo Cultural Region between Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. This landlocked country is not located in the Andes. The country’s poor economic characteristics and troublesome political dynamics are similar to those of its neighbors in the Central Andes. Like other Latin American countries, most of the population practices Catholicism. Spanish is one of the main languages along with Guarani, the local language of the people. The country’s name comes from the Paraguay River, which flows through the region and provides hydroelectric dams that provide all the electricity for the country. Paraguay suffers from a lack of infrastructure. The government has not been able to provide for the needs of a growing population with a fertility rate of more than three children per family.
As much as 40 percent of the population makes its living from agriculture. However, conditions in the rural areas are poor: less than 10 percent of the land is arable. There is not much agricultural growth that could boost the economy. Paraguay is the sixth-largest producer of soybeans in the world, and cattle ranching is its other strong commodity. A large portion of the marshlands have been transformed for agricultural purposes, but this has caused a loss of wetlands as a habitat.
The economy is afflicted by poverty and an absence of opportunities and advantages. Connections to global markets are hindered by the lack of an international port. Corruption and unstable governments are the political system’s legacy. There is a wide disparity between the social elites, who own a high percentage of the land, and most of the population, which remains in poverty with poor living conditions. Large family size and rural-to-urban shift has caused rapid growth of the urban areas. Sixty percent of the population lives in the cities, and they often suffer from insanitary conditions because of water pollution. The largest slums in the country are found in the expanse of the capital city of Asuncion, which has almost two million people. In the urban areas, there is a strong informal market economy that thrives on imported goods being redistributed to other countries, but there is no formal record-keeping system. An enormous number of black-market goods are brought in and resold to neighboring countries such as Brazil and Argentina, its two largest trading partners. In such conditions, crime and illegal activities thrive, and the rule of law is difficult to enforce.
Key Takeaways
• Most of the people in Venezuela live in cities along the Caribbean coast. The country has always been urban and has not developed its agricultural production. Venezuela depends on oil exports to gain most of its national wealth.
• The United States is the largest consumer of products exported from Colombia. Illegal drugs, oil, and coffee and are the three main export products of Colombia. The United States directly or indirectly supports the three main factions vying for power within Colombia.
• The Andean countries of Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia share similar developmental dynamics, including a large percentage of Amerindian people and reliance on the export of natural resources to gain national wealth. The wealth gained from exports is concentrated in the hands of elites rather than filtering down to most of the people.
• Paraguay is a landlocked country between the Andes and the Atlantic coast. It is a poor nation with few opportunities to advance its standard of living. The country has been a main staging ground for unregulated goods to be redistributed throughout the region.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. How intense is the current rural-to-urban shift in Venezuela? What accounts for this unique situation?
2. What are the three main export products of Colombia? How is the United States involved in each of them?
3. Why is coffee not grown in the continental United States? Where are the main types of coffee grown?
4. What three groups vie for control of the various regions of Colombia? How does the United States directly or indirectly support all three groups?
5. What environmental problems result from the cocaine production process?
6. How did colonial activity assist in determining which ethnic group or groups would be at the top or bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy in the Andean West region of South America?
7. What are some of the common difficulties with the political systems of the countries in the Andean West?
8. What does Paraguay have in common with Bolivia? How have the two countries each addressed this common situation?
9. Where has socialism been promoted or supported in the countries of South America?
10. What types of agriculture are found in the north and western regions of South America?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Angel Falls
• Machu Picchu
• Pacific Rim
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the ethnic composition of Brazil and learn why the population is so diverse.
2. Explain how the core-periphery spatial relationship applies to the country. Be able to clarify how the dynamics of the country shape the core and the periphery.
3. Describe the main activities that are involved in the development and exploitation of the Amazon Basin. Learn how deforestation affects the tropical rain forest and environmental conditions.
4. Outline the main characteristics and economic activities of the main regions of Brazil.
A Portuguese Colony
Brazil, the largest country in South America, is similar in physical area to the continental United States (i.e., the United States without Alaska or Hawaii). Catholicism is the dominant religion and Portuguese is the primary language. Once a Portuguese colony, the country’s culture was built on European immigration and African slave labor, making for a rich mixture of ethnic backgrounds.
In colonial times, Brazil was a part of the Atlantic Trade Triangle, which functioned as a transportation conveyor, moving goods and people around the regions bordering the Atlantic Ocean. Colonial merchant ships financed by Europe’s wealthy elite brought goods and trinkets to the African coast to trade for slaves, who were shipped to the Americas and the Caribbean to diminish the labor shortage for the colonies. The last leg of the Atlantic Trade Triangle moved food crops, sugar, tobacco, and rum from the colonies back to the European ports. The merchant ships never sailed with an empty hold, and their successful voyages provided enormous profits to the European financiers.
Figure 6.24 Atlantic Trade Triangle
Manufactured trinkets were sent to Africa from Europe, slaves were sent to the Americas, and plantation products and rum were sent to Europe. The Atlantic slave trade was responsible for bringing more than ten million African slaves to the Americas. Brazil received the largest number of slaves.
The total number of individuals taken as slaves from Africa is unclear and often debated. It is estimated that more than ten million African slaves survived the Middle Passage from Africa to the Western Hemisphere, which is more than the current population of Bolivia. Slavery supplied cheap labor for the plantations and agricultural operations in the New World. Brazil took in more African slaves than any other single country—at least three million. Colonial Brazil thrived on early plantation agriculture. When slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, the freed slaves found themselves on the lower end of the socioeconomic hierarchy. People of mixed African descent now make up more than one-third of Brazil’s population. The Afro-Brazilian heritage remains strong and dominates the country’s east coast. The African influence is evident in everything from the samba schools of the Brazilian carnival to the music and traditions of the people. In spite of Brazil being a culturally diverse country, Africans still have not found themselves on an even playing field in terms of economic or political opportunities in positions of power in the country.
Southeast Core: Urbanize and Industrialize
Brazil’s human development patterns are an example of the core-periphery spatial relationship. The main economic core area is located in the southeast region of Brazil, an area that is home to the largest cities of the realm and acts as the hub for industrial and economic activities. Political and economic power is held by elites residing in the urban core areas. The rural northern Amazon Basin is the heart of the periphery, providing raw materials and resources needed in the core. The periphery has a small population density, and most are Amerindian groups that make a living from subsistence agriculture, mining, and forestry. Rural-to-urban shift has prompted many of the rural poor to migrate to the large cities.
Founded in 1554 as a Catholic mission, the city of São Paulo rests at the heart of the core region. Its pattern of development is similar to that of Mexico City. Coffee production was the early basis of the local economy. São Paulo is located about thirty miles inland from the coast. It has grown to be the center of trade and industry for Brazil, but Rio de Janeiro receives greater attention for tourism. With more than twenty million people, São Paulo is the largest industrial metropolis south of the Equator, the largest city in South America, and among the largest cities on the planet.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil’s best-known city, is a travel and international business center with a population of more than ten million. The city is renowned for its carnival festivities and famous coastline. Tourists are attracted by its cultural attractions and coastal setting, with beautiful sandy beaches and the landmark Sugarloaf Mountain located in an open bay. Salvador, located on the coast, was Brazil’s first capital. Rio de Janeiro became the capital in 1763, but to further develop Brazil’s interior, in 1960 the capital was moved from Rio to the forward capital of Brasilia. Forward capitals are created to either shift development or to safeguard a geographical region. Brazil has an enormous interior region that it wishes to continue to develop for economic gain and the creation of the forward capital of Brasilia is in line with this objective.
The three cities of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia, along with their urban neighbors, anchor the core region in the south. Brazil’s internal migration to these cities follows a rural-to-urban or periphery-to-core pattern, so it is no mystery why these three cities continue to grow at an unprecedented rate. São Paulo is more than sixty miles across. As migrant workers from the countryside and from the rural northeast migrate to the cities looking for work, they expand the city through self-construction. Slums, called favelas, extend out from the central city for miles.
The cultural fabric of Brazil has been built by immigrants from many countries. Brazil’s diverse population has linked the country to the homelands of its immigrants and established trade and cultural connections that benefit the country in the global marketplace. The more than two hundred million people that make up Brazil’s population are diverse and yet integrated, even if many still hold to the traditions or cultural heritage of their country of origin. After World War II, a large number of Japanese migrated to São Paulo. Today, Brazil boasts the largest Japanese population outside Japan. Many people from both Western and Eastern Europe have made Brazil their home, and large numbers of people from Lebanon, Syria, and the Middle East have immigrated here.
In spite its cultural diversity, Brazil has two overarching cultural forces that have helped hold the country together: the Portuguese language and Catholicism. These two centripetal forces help establish a sense of nationalism and identity. The Portuguese language has been adapted to the Brazilian society to reflect a slightly different dialect than the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. The Portuguese language has more of a unifying effect than religion. Though about 70 percent of the population claims to be Roman Catholic, additional religious affiliations in Brazil range from the African influence of Umbanda to the Muslim minority. Protestant denominations are the second-largest religious affiliations in Brazil. Secularism is on the rise, and many do not actively practice their specified religion.
In both population and physical area, Brazil ranks fifth in the world. Brazil is as urban as the United States or countries in the European Union. The index of economic development can be applied to Brazil: as a region urbanizes and industrializes, the family size usually decreases and incomes usually increase. Family size has dropped significantly, from 4.4 children in 1980 to 2.4 children in 2000, and continues to decline. Religious traditions give way to the urban culture and secular attitudes of modernity when it comes to family size.
Brazil is an urban country. Approximately 87 percent of Brazil’s population lives in urban areas. Urbanization seldom eliminates poverty. Though the index of economic development indicates that urbanization will increase incomes for the population as a whole, poverty is a standard component of any large urban area in most places of the world, and the favelas of Brazil are similar to slums elsewhere.
The favelas of Brazil’s urban centers are dynamic places, where land ownership, law and order, and public services are questionable. Millions of people live in the favelas of Brazil’s large cities. Poverty and the search for opportunities and advantages are common elements of urban life. The core cities of Brazil suffer from the same problems as other developing megacities: overcrowding, pollution, congestion, traffic jams, crime, and increased social tensions. The energy generated by the sheer magnitude of people, industry, and commerce continues to fuel Brazil’s vibrant growth and its many large, dynamic cities.
The pattern of wealth developing in Brazil is quite common: wealth and the ability to obtain wealth are held in the hands of those at the higher end of the socioeconomic ladder. The pyramid-shaped graphic used to illustrate Mexico’s social layers in Chapter 5 “Middle America”, Section 5.2 “Mexico” can also be applied to Brazil (see Figure 6.28 “Socioeconomic Classes in Brazil, Also Common throughout Middle and South America”). The minority wealthy elite own most of the land and businesses and control more than half the wealth. Corporate colonialism is quite active in Brazil. Multinational corporations take advantage of the country’s development activities and muscle in on the profits, which seldom reach the hands of the majority at the lower end of society.
Brazil is an emerging power in the world marketplace. Brazil has the largest economy in South America and is a parallel force with the United States in the Northern Hemisphere. The country has urbanized and industrialized to compete with the global economic core areas in many ways. Brazil is among the ten largest economies in the world.
Brazil has favorable resources and labor to complete in the global marketplace. Its agricultural output has grown immensely over the past few decades. Brazil is a major exporter of soybeans, coffee, orange juice, beef, and other agricultural products. Brazil is the largest coffee producer in South America, but coffee only constitutes about 5 percent of its current annual exports. Coffee production is extensive in the Brazilian Highlands just inland from the coast. In addition, Brazil exports more orange juice than any other country and is second in the world in soybean production. The vast central interior regions such as the cerrado continue to be developed for industrial farming of massive food crops. However, exports of industrial manufactured products have surpassed agricultural exports in 2010. The availability of abundant minerals and iron ore has supported an expanding steel industry and automotive manufacturing, and its industrial activity continues to develop. Competitive high-tech companies continue to emerge, and production has increased in semiconductors, computers, petrochemicals, aircraft, and a host of other consumer-based products that provide economic growth.
Brazil economically dominates and anchors South America. The economic integration being developed throughout the South American continent has great potential because it combines the energy region of the north, the commercial centers in the south, and the agricultural sectors as complementary forces within Brazil’s industrial base. Brazil is at both the physical center and the economic center of the continent.
Brazil is not only emerging on the world’s stage on the economic front, but it also has a strong social and cultural presence in the world. The large metropolitan areas of the country are a Mecca for fashion and the arts. Carnival is the most well known of Brazil’s cultural festivals, but the country is host to a number of other international events. Brazil is active in world sports competition and hosted the 2007 Pan American Games. Rio de Janeiro has been scheduled to host the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (International Federation of Association Football) is commonly known by the acronym FIFA and is the international governing body of soccer (football). The 2010 FIFA World Cup was held in South Africa.
Northern Periphery: The Amazon Basin
Just as the megacities of southern Brazil anchor the core of the country, it is the rural expanse of the Amazon North that makes up the periphery. A region the size of the US Midwest, the Amazon River basin is a frontier development area that has been exploited for its natural resources. Rubber barons of early years traveled up the Amazon River and established the port city of Manaus to organize rubber plantations for automobile tires. The Amazon River is large enough for oceangoing vessels to travel to Manaus. Today, Manaus has a free-trade zone with an entire industrial complex for the production of electronic goods and an ultramodern airport facility. Smaller ships can continue up the Amazon River all the way to Iquitos in Peru, which makes Manaus an ideal core city for economic trade; smuggling; and transshipment of illegal goods, including exotic animals from the region, such as monkeys, beautifully colored parrots, and other birds.
The other regions of the Amazon Basin have not been as fortunate as Manaus. Deforestation from cattle ranching, logging, and mining have devastated parts of the tropical rain forests of the Amazon Basin. The Amerindian populations have also suffered from encroachment into their lands. Only about two hundred thousand Amerindians are estimated to remain in Brazil, and most reside in the Amazon interior. This region boasts one of the world’s leading reserves of iron ore; as much as one-third of Europe’s iron ore demands are met through extensive mining southwest of Belém. In this area, a development scheme known as the Grande Carajás Project was implemented to create the infrastructure to support the mining complex and aid in the exploitation of the iron ore and other minerals. A large dam was built to provide hydroelectric power, and a railroad line was laid down to transport the ore to the Atlantic coast. The availability of transportation and energy attract other economic activities. Deforestation for cattle ranching and farming has increased. Many poor settlers have arrived seeking employment opportunities or a chance to obtain land. The rapidly expanding development activities in the Amazon basin have boosted the region’s economic situation, but at the same time there is growing concern about the preservation of the natural environment.
Gold mining, an activity that has been widespread in the Amazon region for many decades, also presents environmental problems. Toxic substances such as cyanide and mercury used in the collection of gold from rivers and streams have entered the waters and tributaries of the Amazon River. The pollutants then enter the food chain and harm the ecosystem. The mining of ores and minerals has enticed people to immigrate to the area, creating frontier boomtowns with few public utilities or social services and poorly organized law and order. The exploitation of natural resources exacts a cost from the environment and the local indigenous Amerindian people. Amerindian groups have used the land as hunting grounds for centuries, but the rapid influx of gold miners and land speculators has caused conflicts with local groups who claim the land. Violence in the Amazon and battles for control over land and resources have been well documented.
Deforestation has reduced the habitat critical to the survival of native species. An estimated 50 percent of the earth’s species live in tropical rain forests, which only cover about 5 percent of the earth’s surface. Tropical rain forests in the Amazon Basin are being cut down at an unsustainable rate, creating serious environmental problems. Loggers cut down the large trees, and the rest are usually burned to allow the ash to provide nutrients for other plants. The cleared areas are most often used by cattle ranchers until the soil is no longer viable. Then more forest is cut down and the process continues. Speculation that land prices will increase as the region becomes more developed encourages this process.
The forest has many layers of habitat. Soils in the tropics are extremely low in nutrients, which have been leached out by the abundant rainfall. The nutrients are on the surface layer of the ground built up from falling leaves, branches, and debris decomposing on the forest floor. The removal of the forests removes these nutrients and results in serious soil erosion. Tropical forests usually expand along the edges where falling debris from the trees collects and provides nutrients for young plants.
There is much discussion among environmentalists, scientists, and other concerned people about deforestation in the Amazon region, usually with a focus on the devastation that results from the loss of forested areas. Forest studies have indicated that tropical rain forests are actually quite resilient and can recover with proper forest management. However, clear-cutting large, wide areas for timber leaves an area devastated for an extended period. Clear-cutting could be replaced by strip cutting, which would harvest trees in narrower strips, leaving rows of trees standing. Strip cutting allows for more edges to be available for young plants to get their start to replenish the forest.
This image illustrates that the nutrients of the tropical rain forest ecosystem rests on the forest floor because tropical soils are degraded. The forest canopy has many habitat layers providing homes to a diversity of organisms. Dense tropical rain forests also contribute to the process of transpiration, which cycles precipitation from the ground back into the atmospheres where it can collect and return in the form of rain.
Additional forest habitat is lost when rivers are dammed up for hydroelectric power and thousands of acres of tropical rain forests are flooded. Decomposing plant material in the reservoirs behind the dams increases the water’s acidity, causing erosion to the hydroelectric turbines. The turbines have a short life span, so the dams are a short-term energy solution that creates long-term problems. The immense flooded areas reduce the habitat for tropical organisms and restrict the use of the land for other purposes. Flooding can extend into traditional hunting grounds for indigenous groups, who have little political power to restrict this type of development.
The Amazon Basin is in the midst of a development pattern in which peripheral regions are exploited for natural resources or agricultural production. Much of the wealth generated ends up in the hands of investors who live in the core cities or in other countries rather than local people, a common and recurring pattern of economic exploitation of the periphery. The great frontier of the Amazon Basin continues to attract thousands of new immigrants seeking out opportunities or employment. As roads and highways are built to open up new paths through the region, even more of the forest gets cut down to accommodate the development pattern. This region will continue to be developed and altered, and the government of Brazil will have to continue to control its evolving dynamics in order to preserve the natural environment.
Regional Brazil
The core-peripheral spatial relationship can help us understand the power of Brazil’s southeast core and the natural resource base of the country’s peripheral north. This can explain the basic layout of Brazil’s economic geography, but the northeast, the west central, and the south are three additional regions to consider that contribute to the geographic understanding of the country. Each has specific qualities that make it unique in Brazil’s diversity of landscapes.
The northeast region is anchored along the coast, where plantation agriculture thrived during the colonial era. African slaves became the main labor base, and once freed, they made up most of the population. This agricultural region still grows sugarcane along the coast and other crops inland where the rainfall is reduced. The inland region includes parts of the Brazilian Highland, which runs parallel to the coast. Agriculture has traditionally required a large labor base, and family sizes in rural areas have been larger than their urban counterparts. This trend has given rise to a regional population of more than fifty million. However, the agriculture-based economy has not been able to supply the number of jobs and opportunities required for this large population. Poverty and unemployment in the northeast are high and have a devastating effect on the people. Some farms are not large enough for families to make a living on. Individuals in the northeast have developed a pattern of migration to the larger cities of the core area, looking for opportunities and employment—a pattern that fuels the self-constructed housing in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
The west central region has been opening up for development since the last part of the twentieth century and has experienced enormous advancements in industrial agriculture. In this region, vast cerrado grasslands are being plowed and converted into colossal fields of soybeans, grains, and cotton. The northwest portion of the cerrado is the huge Motto Grosso Plateau, which almost covers the largest state of the region. The landscape of this plateau is mainly scrub forest and savanna. Traditionally, the savanna portions have been used for grazing livestock, but in recent years more of the land is being plowed for growing agricultural crops. The entire west central region of Brazil is a giant breadbasket for the country. Its full agricultural potential has not been reached. Industrial agriculture requires infrastructure and transportation networks to transport the harvests to market, but the government has not kept up with the development of infrastructure at the same rate as the private sector has been developing industrial agricultural production. This region has enormous potential for agricultural expansion in the future.
Located on the eastern edge of the west central region is the forward capital of Brasilia. Its creation was prompted by the need to further develop the country’s interior. Built in 1960 and now a metropolitan center with more than 3.8 million people, the city was planned and designed to be a capital city. Because of its rapid growth and development, the city faces issues similar to those found in Rio de Janeiro or São Paulo. Rural-to-urban shift has brought many rural people to Brasilia in search of opportunities and employment. Just as Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo have favelas, Brasilia has slums and self-constructed districts, too. Moving the capital to Brasilia moved the focus from the coastal region of the south to the interior. However, a large percentage of the interior lies beyond the city of Brasilia. Highways that reach the Amazon can be accessed from the capital, but large areas of Brazil’s interior remain a frontier unexploited by development. Developing these areas may bring great opportunities and benefits to the country; however, recent development activities have also brought devastation to the tropical rain forests in many parts of the frontier.
The three states of the south region are located well south of the Tropic of Capricorn and extend south to the border with Uruguay. This extrusion is often called South Brazil. Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese, but many of the immigrants to the south were from other parts of Europe, including Germany and Italy. The Italian immigrants developed a growing wine industry, and the German immigrants raised cattle and grew other crops. The region’s good soils and moderate climate support many types of agriculture, which have dominated the early development of the region. Success in growing rice and tobacco and raising livestock has brought prosperity to the people who live here. Brazil has been one of the world’s main producers of tobacco for many years, and the tobacco from the south is highly regarded for its nicotine content.
The south is one of Brazil’s most affluent regions, and it has gained much wealth from agricultural activities. Farming is only one of the region’s highly developed economic activities. The area is also blessed with natural resources such as coal that is shipped north to the main cities where steel is produced. The wealth of the region has provided support for high-tech industries, which are attracted to the region because of the supply of skilled labor, access to quality transportation, and communication links. Computer companies have established software firms that have in turn attracted other new companies. A technology center similar to California’s Silicon Valley has combined with the manufacturing complex that has sprouted up along the coast of the south. The government and the business community have both provided economic incentives for these and other emerging enterprises.
The attractiveness of the region in terms of both physical geography and economic stability has prompted some who live there to suggest that the region should separate from Brazil and become an independent country. Along the same vein, residents of the region have discouraged immigrants from poorer regions of other Brazilian states from moving here. Poor migrants seeking opportunities or employment are often rejected and provided transportation back to where they came from just to keep them from becoming residents. Nevertheless, many people have migrated to the south. The region is host to immigrants from Japan and the Middle East. The progressive cities and striking environmental conditions will continue to attract people to live here.
The Brazilian City of Curitiba in the South
Brazil’s “green city” of Curitiba in the south region has been a model of urban planning that has been used in the development of cities around the world. Curitiba is an attractive city in its urban design, environmental friendly attitudes and its green spaces. The city even served as Brazil’s capital for a few days in 1969 during a transition period before the forward capital of Brasilia was built.
The city is an industrial hub for southern Brazil and has diverse commercial activities—from manufacturing to financial services and tourism. Automobile manufacturing is a major part of the industrial sector and is the second largest car maker in the country. The modern airport, bus system, and planned green spaces create a favorable environment for commercial ventures, which are promoted via business incubators to attract new enterprises.
In 2010, Curitiba had an overall metropolitan population of about 2.3 million but has used mass transit and environmental planning with great efficiency. Urban planning has helped develop a combination of streets and districts that encourage walking, bicycling, and mass transit as the main means of access. Pedestrian malls with shopping, restaurants, and services are common. More than sixty miles of bike routes allow commuters to bicycle to work. The rapid transit system, regularly used by approximately 85 percent of the people in the city, is rated as one of the best in the world. As much as 70 percent of the city’s trash is recycled, providing additional employment opportunities. At the same time that the population doubled, the use of automobiles declined by 30 percent. However, the city still has the highest rate of automobile ownership per person in Brazil. The decline in automobile use has had a positive effect on air quality by reducing the amount of harmful exhaust emissions. Serious urban planning has gone into creating Curitiba as an efficient and yet progressive city. In 2010 Curitiba was awarded the Globe Sustainable City Award, which was set up to recognize cities and municipalities that excel in sustainable urban development around the world (EkonomiNyheter).
Key Takeaways
• Brazil was a Portuguese colony during the colonial era. This is why the Portuguese language and the Catholic religion are dominant components of the Brazilian culture. The strong African heritage comes from the many African slaves brought in during the colonial era to work the plantations. Immigrants from many other countries have settled in Brazil as well.
• The urban southeast, with its large cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, represents the core economic area of the country. The large cities of Brazil continue to expand to accommodate the influx of new immigrants. The outer edges of the cities expand through self-construction in slums called favelas.
• The northern regions of the Amazon Basin represent the periphery of the country. The north is being exploited for its natural resources. Development patterns have caused extensive deforestation of the tropical rain forest of the region. The main causes are agriculture, logging, and mining.
• Other regions of Brazil include the west central, with extensive agricultural activities; the northeast, heavily populated with serious poverty; and the south in the protruded area bordering Uruguay, which is an affluent region with high standards of living.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Explain the Atlantic Trade Triangle. How did it operate? How was Brazil involved?
2. Where is Brazil’s core region? Where is its peripheral region? What are its core cities?
3. What three cities make up Brazil’s political capital, cultural capital, and largest city, respectively?
4. What is a forward capital and why does Brazil have one? Are favelas located in the forward capital?
5. Why is Manaus such a core city for its region? What makes it so attractive to economic development?
6. What are the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon Basin? How can deforestation be reduced?
7. What is the economic situation in the northeast? How are people attempting to remedy the economic situation?
8. What is promising about the west central region of Brazil? What is needed to develop the area?
9. Why is the south region so affluent? What is this region doing to attract economic development?
10. How has rural-to-urban shift been evident in the population of Brazil? Where has it been occurring?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
Cities of Brazil
• Belém
• Brasilia
• Curitiba
• Manaus
• Rio de Janeiro
• Salvador
• São Paulo
Regions of Brazil
• North
• Northeast
• South
• Southeast
• West central
Physical Regions
• Amazon Basin
• Brazilian Highlands
• Cerrado
• Mato Grosso Plateau
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/06%3A_South_America/6.03%3A_Brazil.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the main physical features and regions of the Southern Cone.
2. Identify and locate the urban centers and understand the pattern of population distribution in the three countries of the region.
3. Describe the ethnic consistency of each country. Explain the pattern of immigration that created the region’s heritage.
4. Explain why Argentina has great potential for economic growth.
5. Outline how Chile has emerged as a strong and stable country and discuss its human and natural resources.
The Southern Cone region of South America includes the countries of Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. The name is an indication of the physical shape of the southern portion of the continent. The region is located south of the tropics. The Tropic of Capricorn runs just north of Uruguay and cuts across the northern regions of Argentina and Chile. The Southern Cone has more moderate temperatures than the tropics. Type C climates dominate in Uruguay, the Pampas region of Argentina, and central Chile. The region has extremes in weather and climate. The Atacama Desert and Patagonia both have type B climates because of a lack of precipitation, which stems from the rain shadow effect of the Andes Mountains. Highland type H climates follow the Andes chain through the region and exhibit their typical pattern of warmer temperatures at lower elevations and colder temperatures at higher elevations.
The countries of the Southern Cone share similar economic and ethnic patterns. Agriculture has been a major focus of the region’s early development pattern, but today a large percentage of the population is urbanized. The European heritage of most of the population ties this region to Europe as an early trading partner. The global economy has given cause for these countries to form trade relationships with many countries. The physical geography has provided many opportunities for human activities. The mountains, plains, and coastal areas provide a diversity of natural resources that have been exploited for national wealth. All three countries have primate cities that hold a high percent of the country’s population. Primate cities are usually twice as large as the next largest city and usually are exceptionally expressive of the national feeling and culture. In this case, all three primate cities are also the capital cities of each country. The Southern Cone is an urban region with higher incomes and higher standards of living than many other parts of South America.
Uruguay
Uruguay is located along the South Atlantic coast bordering Argentina and Brazil. The only South American country smaller in physical area is Suriname. French Guiana is also smaller than Uruguay but remains a department of France. Uruguay has the location, natural resources, and global trade connections to provide ample opportunities and advantages for its people. The agricultural lands of the Pampas extend into Uruguay and provide for an extensive agricultural industry with livestock, small grains, vegetables, and dairy. This agricultural base has been the foundation of Uruguay’s growing economy.
Uruguay has been able to integrate itself into the global trade arena and has entered into a postindustrial development status. Postindustrial activities have included computer software development and advancements in information technologies. Uruguay is a modern and well-developed country. About 88 percent of the population is of European descent, and more than 92 percent of the population is urban. The capital city of Montevideo, a cosmopolitan city with a population of about 3.5 million, is home to about 40 percent of the population. The coastal region is an attractive place for tourists and locals who enjoy the beautiful beaches along the shores of the Atlantic.
Montevideo is also the location of the headquarters for Mercosur (the Southern Cone Common Market). Mercosur was created in 1991 to open trade of goods and services among South American countries and promote development within the realm. Current members of Mercosur include Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. Venezuela’s application for full membership is pending. Additional associate members of Mercosur include Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, and Bolivia. Mercosur is on a parallel path to compete with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the European Union, and other global trade associations.
Argentina
South America’s second-largest country is Argentina. In physical area, Argentina is ranked eighth in the world. The Andes Mountains span its entire western border with Chile. At the southern end of the continent is Tierra del Fuego. Argentina is a land of extremes. Mt. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere at 22,841 feet in elevation, and Laguna del Carbon is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere at −344 feet below sea level. Parts of the northern region have a tropical climate; the southern region extends into tundra-like conditions with treeless plains. Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands, which are now controlled by Great Britain. In 1982, Argentina’s ruling military junta attempted to retake control of the Falklands, but the British navy halted the action in what became known as the Falklands War.
Physical Regions
Argentina can be categorized into a number of regions that correlate roughly with the varied physical and cultural landscapes of the country. The main regions include Chaco, Northern, Mesopotamia, Cuyo, Pampas, and Patagonia. The Northern region of Argentina has one of the highest average elevations because of the Andes Mountain Ranges. The Andes ranges widen as they proceed northward to the west of Chaco and are home to fertile river valleys. The northern ends of the ranges extend into Bolivia and enter the Altiplano of the Central Andes.
The Chaco region, which is formally called the Gran Chaco, extends from northern Argentina into western Paraguay. Scrublands and subtropical forests dominate the landscape. There is a wet season as well as a dry season suitable for raising livestock and some farming. Western Chaco, which is closer to the Andes, is drier with less vegetation and is known for its high temperatures during the summer months. To the east, the Chaco region receives more rainfall and has better soils for agriculture. The agrarian lifestyle dominates the cultural heritage of this region. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Chaco region attracted a large number of Mennonite immigrants from Canada and Russia who established successful farming operations mainly on the Paraguay side of the border and also extending into Argentina.
To the east of the northern region—on the other side of the Paraná River and reaching to the banks of the Uruguay River—is the region called Mesopotamia, whose name means “between rivers.” This unique region has a variety of features, from flatlands for grazing livestock to subtropical rain forests. The most noteworthy feature is the expansive Iguazú Falls on the Iguazú River, located on the border of Brazil and Argentina. It is a series of 275 parallel waterfalls that are just short of two miles across. It has the greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world. Most of the falls are more than 210 feet high; the tallest is 269 feet. The spectacular Iguazú Falls is a major tourist attraction, drawing people from all over the world.
The Cuyo region is located along the Andes Mountains in the west central part of the country. Mt. Aconcagua is located here, along with other high mountain peaks. This arid region gets most of its moisture from melting snow off the mountains, which irrigate the rich agricultural lands that produce fruits and vegetables. The Cuyo is a major wine-producing region; it accounts for up to three-quarters of the country’s wine production. Picturesque vineyards and farms make the Cuyo a favorite tourist destination in Argentina. Mendoza is the country’s fourth-largest city. Low mountain ranges form the eastern border between the Cuyo and the Pampas.
The Pampas is a large agricultural region that extends beyond Argentina and includes a large portion of Uruguay and the southern tip of Brazil. With adequate precipitation and a mild type C climate, the Pampas is well suited for both agriculture and human habitation. The rich agricultural lands of the Pampas include the largest city and the country’s capital, Buenos Aires, which is home to up to a third of the nation’s population. The Pampas provides some of the most abundant agricultural production on the planet. The western grasslands host large haciendas (prestigious agricultural units) with cattle ranching and livestock production. This area has elevated Argentina to its status as a major exporter of beef around the world. Agricultural production has been a major part of the nation’s economy. One hundred years ago, the export of food products made Argentina one of the wealthiest countries in the world. In today’s global economy, the profit margins in agricultural products are not as lucrative, and industrialized countries have turned to manufacturing for national wealth. Argentina continues to have a strong agricultural sector but has been increasing its industrial production in order to secure a strong economy.
Patagonia is a large expanse of the south that is semiarid because of the rain shadow effect. This area possesses enormous natural resources, including large amounts of oil and natural gas. Deposits of gold, silver, copper, and coal can be found here. Raising livestock has been the main livelihood in Patagonia, which is otherwise sparsely populated. Patagonia includes the southern region of Tierra del Fuego and the rugged Southern Andes, which have some of the largest ice sheets outside Antarctica and many large glaciers that provide fresh water that feeds the region’s streams and rivers. Patagonia also has a number of scenic lakes. Abundant wildlife can be found along the Atlantic coast, including elephant seals, penguins, albatrosses, and a host of other species. This region demonstrates that Argentina is blessed with a variety of physical landscapes and natural resources that can help support its economy and its people.
Population and Culture
Argentina, with a population of about forty million, is a country of immigrants and a product of the colonial transfer of European culture to the Western Hemisphere. During the colonial era, millions of people immigrated to Argentina from Western European countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Greece, the British Isles, and Scandinavia. Additional immigrants came from Eastern Europe and Russia. Eighty-five percent of the population is of European descent; the largest ethnic groups are Spanish and Italian. The Mestizo population is only at about 8 percent. A small number of people from the Middle East or East Asia have immigrated and make up about 4 percent of the population. Less than 2 percent of Argentines declare themselves to be Amerindians.
Old World European customs mix with New World Latin American traditions to form a cultural heritage unique to Argentina. This cultural heritage can be experienced in the metropolitan city of Buenos Aires, where all facets of society and culture can be found. With a population of about thirteen million—one-third of Argentina’s total population—Buenos Aires is a world-class city. Argentina is an urban country: more than 90 percent of the population lives in cities. The rural side of the culture has often been characterized as the traditional gaucho (cowboy) image of the self-reliant rancher who herds cattle and lives off the land. Beef is a mainstay of the cuisine in much of the country. The urban culture includes the traditional Argentine tango with music and camaraderie in upscale night clubs. These traditional images may be stereotypes, but the cultural scene in Argentina is heavily invested in the international trends of the modern world. The cultural landscape has become integrated with fashions and trends from across the globe.
People and Politics
The people of Argentina have a good standard of living, and the country is up-and-coming on a world scale. The main problem has been the instability of the government during the twentieth century. The Argentine constitution provides for a balance of powers between the judicial, legislative, and executive divisions, similar to that of the United States. For many decades in the twentieth century, the state vacillated between a democratically elected government and military rule. The swings back and forth have been consistent and regular, which has wreaked havoc on the economy, resulting in everything from hyperinflation to brutal authoritarian rule.
An example of the national swings in Argentina occurred between 1946 and 1955, when General Juan Perón was elected president. His wife, Eva (popularly known as Evita), became a public sensation. “Peronism” started out with populous support and a shift toward improving working conditions and increasing government spending. At the same time, censorship, isolationism, and repression of civil rights were elevated to a point of social unrest. Opposition members were imprisoned or killed. Eva Perón died of cancer in 1952, and Juan Perón was eventually ousted from office and fled to Spain. He later returned from exile to gain prominence in politics once again but died in office in 1974. Other presidents came to power only to be deposed or ousted by military coups. The instability in the political arena created problems for the economic sector, which had to deal with inflated currency and an unattractive environment for foreign investments. More recently, there has been some progress in stabilizing both the government and the economy, but political instability remains a factor. Argentina has abundant natural resources, adequate infrastructure, and an educated work force. The country has all the necessary means to launch into the future with a strong economy—as long as it is able to establish a stable government and a sound economic agenda.
Chile
Chile is a long, narrow country on the western edge of southern South America. Chile is 2,500 miles long and only 90 miles wide on average. This country borders the Pacific Ocean on one side and the Andes Mountains on the other. Chile has a variety of environmental zones, administrative districts, and climate patterns. Temperatures are cooler as one moves south toward Tierra del Fuego, which is split between Chile and Argentina. Rain has never fallen in select areas of northern Chile, which includes the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth and home to one of the world’s greatest copper and nitrate reserves. The sodium nitrates found in the Atacama Desert are used in plant fertilizers, pottery enamels, and solid rocket fuel.
The Rain Shadow Effect
The climate is due to the rain shadow effect. In northern Chile and the Atacama region, prevailing winds reach northern Chile from the east and hit the Andes Mountain chain, which are some of the highest mountains on the continent. The height of the Andes causes any moisture from rain clouds to precipitate on the eastern slopes. The western side of the Andes Mountains at that latitude receives little or absolutely no precipitation, causing extreme desert conditions in the Atacama region of Chile. Southern Chile receives a large amount of rainfall because the prevailing winds at that latitude come from the west. Here the winds, which have picked up moisture over the South Pacific Ocean, hit the western side of the Andes. The air then precipitates out its moisture as it rises up the mountainsides of the western slopes of the Andes. Less moisture reaches the eastern side of the mountains, creating a rain shadow with arid and dry conditions for the region called Patagonia in southern Argentina. The Andes are not as high in elevation in the south, which allows some precipitation to fall on the rain shadow side.
Chile can be divided into three regions:
1. Northern Chile, with the dry Atacama Desert
2. Central Chile, with a mild type C climate, adequate rainfall, and good farmland
3. Southern Chile, with lots of rainfall, rural, isolated islands, and mountains
Central Chile is the core region because it has a valuable port in Valparaiso and the country’s capital city, Santiago, which is also Chile’s most populous city. Central Chile is also home to more than 90 percent of the country’s population.
Socioeconomic Conditions
The people of Chile are 95 percent European and Mestizo. They have worked to establish a good education system and an increasing standard of living. The country had a relatively stable government until the 1970s when a short revolution brought a military dictatorship to power until 1989. The 1990s brought about a surge in economic development that has continued into the twenty-first century. The political situation has stabilized, and the first female president, Michelle Bachelet, was elected in 2006. The political system is faced with the unequal distribution of wealth that is common in Latin America and many other countries of the world. Half the country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of about 10 percent of the population. About 50 percent of the population is on the lower end of socioeconomic scale. Dire poverty exists in Chile, but it is not as prevalent here as it is in the Central Andes, Paraguay, or Northeast Brazil. Chile has a thriving middle class that has made good use of the opportunities and education that Chile has offered them.
Chile is blessed with natural resources that include the minerals of the Atacama Desert, extensive fishing along the coast, timber products from the south, and agricultural products from central Chile. All these factors have brought about an emerging development boom and have attracted international trading partners. The stable government and the growing economy have successfully kept inflation low, kept employment high, reduced poverty, and brought in foreign investment. In the globalized economy, Chile has managed to work with various trading partners to increase its advantages and opportunities in the international marketplace.
Chile and NAFTA
Chile has been increasing its trading activities with its counterparts in the Pacific Rim in Europe and North America. Chile has an abundance of fish in its coastal waters and copper and minerals in the Atacama Desert and has been exporting timber products from its southern region. The United States is one of Chile’s main trading partners. Chile’s main commodity exports to the United States include paper, minerals, metals, and copper. Major agricultural products that are shipped to the United States include processed fruits, tomatoes, grapes, vegetables, and wines. There are several good reasons why the United States trades with Chile even though it is the farthest country from the United States in South America. International trade and the seasonal patterns of agriculture have much to do with the benefits. The seasonal variations between the northern and southern hemisphere create a balance between the two. When it is winter in the north, it is summer in the south. Each has an opposing growing season for fruits and vegetables that can complement the other. Chile is an excellent counter to the opposite growing season in the Northern Hemisphere.
If you recall Section 5.2 “Mexico” on Mexico and NAFTA, you will remember that after NAFTA was implemented, Chile was considered a “silent” partner. In 1994 during a summit meeting, the president of Mexico, Canada’s prime minister, and the US president agreed to allow Chile to join the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Chile’s president declared his support for his country to join NAFTA. The agreement could not be completed because of negotiation approval by the US Congress. At this time Chile entered into independent free trade agreements with both Canada and Mexico. A free trade agreement was later signed between the US and Chile in 2003. Thus, Chile has free trade agreements with all three North American countries and can benefit by the mutual agreements that parallel NAFTA. In this situation, Chile is an associate trading partner and enjoys the privileges of NAFTA membership without technically being listed as a member. The United States was really looking to counter Chile’s trade with Japan and Europe. Increased trade with North America diminished Chile’s trade with the European Union or the East Asian community.
As copper and natural resource prices fluctuate, creating unstable economic conditions, Chile has been expanding into the manufacturing sector. To retain the highest value-added profits and expand its economy, Chile will have to enlarge its manufacturing sector. Today Chile produces modest quantities of basic chemicals and electronic goods. Chile’s expansion of business and commerce has been endorsed as a model of successful economic development to be emulated by other Latin American countries.
Chile has strong ties to the economies of North America, but in spite of close ties with the north, Chile has retained its unique status in the Southern Cone. Chile still has its own currency even though countries with smaller economies, such as Ecuador and El Salvador, have adopted the US dollar as their medium of exchange. As of 2010, the NAFTA members of Canada, the United States, and Mexico, along with their trading partner of Chile, all used different currencies. The US dollar is the most widely used currency in the world and is also used in other Latin American countries. There has been talk of creating a similar currency within NAFTA called the Amero that would replicate the European Union’s solution, which was to create a single currency, the euro. World currencies fluctuate in value, and a stable currency would increase the capacity for creating larger trading blocs that could do business on a more even economic playing field. Chile has individual free-trade agreements with all three members of NAFTA, so any change in currency with the NAFTA countries would also affect Chile.
Key Takeaways
• The Southern Cone possesses large, diverse physical landscapes. Variations in terrain include tall Andean mountain peaks, desert conditions, prairie grasslands, and semitropical regions to the north.
• The Southern Cone is an urban realm with high percentages of the population living in large cities. Primate cities dominate each country. Large sections of each country’s interior make up the extensive rural periphery with activities based on natural resources.
• The Southern Cone is a European commercial area, and more than 85 percent of the population is of European ancestry. There are few Amerindian minorities or immigrants from Africa or Asia in the Southern Cone.
• Argentina is a large country in physical area and has a number of important regions that provide opportunities for economic prosperity. The country, however, has lacked a stable government and a consistent business climate to take advantage of Argentina’s favorable geographic situation.
• Chile has emerged on the global stage as a model for economic growth and stability. Its people have a higher standard of living, and the country has abundant natural resources. Chile has been a trading partner with NAFTA countries.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main physical regions of Argentina and Chile?
2. What role does agriculture play in the human activities of Uruguay?
3. How did Uruguay manage to build up its high standard of living?
4. How does the core-periphery spatial relationship apply to Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile?
5. Why is there a desert in Chile that is partially located in the tropics? Why is this desert so important?
6. How does the rain shadow effect apply to both Argentina and Chile?
7. What are the main attributes and contributions of the Pampas and Patagonia?
8. What are the three regions of Chile and how do they complement each other?
9. How is Chile associated with NAFTA? Why does Chile have free-trade agreements with every NAFTA member?
10. How does Chile complement the agricultural production of the United States and Canada?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Atacama Desert
• Cape Horn
• Chaco
• Cuyo
• Falkland Islands
• Iguazú Falls
• Iguazú River
• Mendoza
• Mesopotamia
• Pampas
• Paraná River
• Patagonia
• Tierra del Fuego
• Uruguay River
• Valparaiso
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Chapter Summary
• The equator runs through the center of South America at its widest point and parallels the Amazon River. The two main physical features are the mighty Amazon River and the extensive Andes Mountains. The Andes, the longest mountain chain in the world, run from Venezuela to southern Chile. The Amazon River has the largest flow of water of any river on Earth, and the Amazon Basin is home to the world’s largest tropical rain forest. Rain forests cover less than 5 percent of the earth’s surface but have the richest biodiversity of any biome (environmental region), holding up to 50 percent of the world’s organisms.
• All of South America except for the Guianas was colonized by Spain and Portugal. The Guianas were located along the coast, where plantation agriculture was prominent. African slaves were the main labor base on the plantations. When slavery was abolished, slaves were replaced by indentured servants from the Asian colonies. Most of the population in Guyana and Suriname is from Asia. The cultural geography of South American can be understood by identifying the cultural regions formed by the majority ethnic groups the human activity in which they are engaged.
• Venezuela and Colombia dominate the countries of northern South America. Venezuela is an urban country, and much of its wealth is generated from the export of oil. Colombia is mountainous with vast tropical forests bordering the Amazon. Illegal drugs, oil, and coffee are Colombia’s three main export products. The United States is the main buyer of these products. The control of the physical territory of Colombia is divided between the government, drug cartels, and insurgent groups.
• South America’s Andean West region was the home to the ancient Inca Empire, which was conquered by Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1533. Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia have regions with high elevations in the Andes, including the Altiplano region with Lake Titicaca. Most of the population is Amerindian and holds to the customs and traditions of their heritage. Oil and mineral resources have been a main source of wealth for the region, but the profits have not always reached the majority population; instead, they the wealth is often are held by a minority at the top of the socioeconomic layer.
• Brazil was colonized by Portugal, which gave the country the Portuguese language and the Catholic faith. During the colonial era, a large number of African slaves were introduced to the country, which added to the country’s multicultural society. Many other Europeans and Japanese also immigrated to Brazil. The country’s large size allows for diverse human activities. The core urban area is located along the southeast coast, where the large cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro are located. The forward capital of Brasilia is positioned inland on the edge of the core area.
• The rural periphery of Brazil includes the large Amazon Basin, with tropical rain forests and large undeveloped regions. Originally inhabited by Amerindian groups, the Amazon Basin is being developed for agriculture, mining, and the timber industry. This type of development is devastating large tracts of rain forest and placing increasing pressure on the few remaining indigenous groups. Large mining operations have fueled development, causing serious environmental concerns over habitat loss and the destruction of the tropical rain forest.
• The Southern Cone region of South America has a wide range of physical landscapes, from the semitropical areas of the north to the arid grasslands of the south in Patagonia. The Atacama Desert on the west coast is a product of the rain shadow effect from the high Andes. The rich agricultural lands of the Pampas are the breadbasket of the region, producing large amounts of grain and livestock. Coastal areas are good for fishing and allow access to foreign markets.
• The southern regions of South America also have heavily European populations. There are few Amerindians or people of African heritage. Most people live in urban areas, and one-third of Argentineans live in Buenos Aires. Chile has been a major trading partner with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) nations and has a stable and growing economy. Argentina is a large country in physical area and has great potential for economic development.
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the basic geography of Subsaharan Africa. Identify the African Transition Zone, including the transitions that are occurring in the zone. Locate the main features on a map.
2. Understand how early kingdoms flourished in Subsaharan Africa before the colonial era. Identify how selective groups in these kingdoms participated in the supply operations for the slave trade.
3. Explain how European colonialism divided up Africa and the role the Berlin Conference played in the colonization process in Africa.
4. Outline how countries have transitioned from colonies to independent nations, including the many issues involved in this transition.
There is considerable variation with respect to how the regions of Subsaharan Africa are delineated or identified on maps. The debate is not about what regions are in Subsaharan Africa but rather about which countries are to be included within each region. The regions have both similarities and differences. The cultural geography varies widely from country to country and from one ethnic group to another, but at the same time, there are shared cultural patterns across all Subsaharan African regions. For example, colonialism has been a major historical factor in the shaping of the countries. Families are large, and rapid rural-to-urban shift is occurring in all regions. Every region has large urban centers—often port cities that act as central core locations supported by a large peripheral rural hinterland.
Globalization has entered into the dynamics connecting these once-remote regions with the rest of the world. Advancements in communication and transportation technology have created networks connecting Africa with global markets. Subsaharan Africa has a young population that is on the move, seeking to gain from any opportunities or advantages it can find. The political arena is dynamic: changes in political leadership through coups or military takeovers are common, as is authoritarian rule. Subsaharan Africa is home to some of the poorest countries in the world. Poverty is evident in the countryside and in the urban slums of the largest cities. Bitter civil wars are a part of every region’s history. Violence and conflicts continue in some areas, while other areas exhibit political stability and thriving economies. The diversity in human geography is the most noteworthy dynamic in Subsaharan Africa. The variety of ethnic groups along with the multiplicity of languages and religious affiliations create strong centripetal and centrifugal forces that interact in a thriving sea of cultural diversity.
Most of the population lives an agrarian lifestyle, but there are people who are developing the skills necessary to adapt to the rapid globalization wave that is importing new technology and new ideas to the continent. The urban core areas of the continent are the main focus of the global trends in technology and communication. These urban core areas exhibit the typical dynamics of the core-periphery spatial relationship. Subsaharan Africa has many core areas and many peripheral areas. The core urban centers have political power thanks to the social elites who have connections to the global economy and often dominate political activities.
These core urban areas are often magnets for people from large families in rural peripheral areas seeking employment. Millions of people in Africa who seek employment are willing to migrate to the cities or even other countries to find work. The rural immigrants are often not of the same ethnic group as those in power, which sets up the basis for discriminatory policies that disadvantage the many minority groups that are not affiliated with the government. These dynamics can fuel protest activities with a goal of overthrowing the powerful elite. Various ideas have been proposed to help level the socioeconomic playing field. One of the more prominent options is the implementation of a democratic government, where most of the people have a stake in electing those that hold positions of leadership and power.
Broad patterns and dynamics of people and places are replicated throughout the Subsaharan realm. The regions share common demographic trends of large family sizes, agrarian lifestyles, and low income levels. The patterns of an economy based on agricultural production and mineral extractive activities as well as disruptive changes in political leadership are common throughout the continent. Each region has diverse ethnic groups and an array of different languages. South of the African Transition Zone, the most prevalent belief systems are Christian based and animist, while north of the zone, Islam is widespread. Division and civil unrest can occur where the different religions meet and compete for political control. These concepts will bear repeating throughout the chapter. The cultural mosaic of Subsaharan Africa is vast and complex, and this chapter will outline the basic trends and patterns with specific examples that will help place it all in perspective.
Physical Geography of Subsaharan Africa
The African Transition Zone divides North Africa from the rest of Africa because of climatic and cultural dynamics. Cultural conflicts and desertification are common in the zone. Dry, arid type B climates, common in the Sahara Desert, are dominant north of the zone. Tropical type A climates prevail south of the zone. Global climate changes continue to shape the continent. The shifting sands of the Sahara are slowly moving southward toward the tropics. Desertification in the zone continues as natural conditions and human activity place pressure on the region through overgrazing and the lack of precipitation. Type B climates resurface again south of the tropics in the southern latitudes. The Kalahari and Namib Deserts are located in Southern Africa, mainly in the countries of Botswana and Namibia.
For a continent as large as Africa, Subsaharan Africa does not have extended mountain ranges comparable to the ranges in North or South America, Europe, Asia, or Antarctica. There are, however, on the Ethiopian Highlands the Ethiopian Plateau that reach as high as 15,000 feet in elevation. East Africa has a number of well-known volcanic peaks that are high in elevation. The tallest point in Africa—Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania near the border with Kenya—is 19,340 feet high. Nearby in Kenya, Mt. Kenya is 17,058 feet high. The Rwenzori Mountains on The Congo/Uganda border reach more than 16,000 feet in elevation and create a rain shadow effect for the region. Permanent glaciers exist on these ranges even though they are near the equator. On the western side of the continent, Mt. Cameroon in Central Africa is more than 13,000 feet in elevation. The South Africa’s Cape Ranges are low-lying mountains no higher than about 6,000 feet. The continent of Africa consists of basins and plateaus without long mountain chains. The plateaus can range more than 1,000–2,500 feet in elevation. The only continuous feature is the eastern rift valleys that run along the tectonic plate boundaries from the Red Sea through to South Africa.
The main rivers of Africa include the Nile, Niger, Congo, and Zambezi. The Nile River competes with the Amazon for the status as the longest river in the world; the White Nile branch begins in Lake Victoria in East Africa, and the Blue Nile branch starts in Lake Tana in Ethiopia. The Niger flows through West Africa; its mouth is in Nigeria. The Congo River crosses the equator with a large tropical drainage basin that creates a flow of water second only to the Amazon in volume. The Zambezi River in the south is famous for the extensive Victoria Falls on the Zambia and Zimbabwe border. Victoria Falls is considered the largest waterfall in the world. Other significant rivers exist such as the Orange River, which makes up part of the border between South Africa and Namibia.
There are a number of large lakes in Subsaharan Africa. The largest is Lake Victoria, which borders several East African countries and is considered to be the second-largest lake in the world in surface area. Only Lake Superior in North America has a greater surface area. A number of large lakes are located in the rift valleys of the east. Three of the largest lakes along the western rift are Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Albert. To the northeast of these in Kenya is Lake Turkana, which reaches to the Ethiopian border. Lake Chad is located in the African Transition Zone on the border between Chad, Mali, and Nigeria. Lake Chad has been severely reduced in size in recent years.
The equator runs through the center of Subsaharan Africa, providing tropical type A climates. These regions usually have more rainfall, resulting in lighter, leached-out soils that may not be as productive as regions with richer volcanic soils, such as those found in the rift valleys. Root crops are common in Africa, as are millet and corn (maize). The savanna regions of the east and south have seasonal rains that affect the growing season. Soils in savanna areas are usually not as productive and cannot be depended on to fulfill the agricultural needs of growing populations. Savannas are usually grasslands or scrub forests with a seasonal precipitation pattern. Cattle and livestock grazing are common in savannas, and migrations are frequent to follow seasonal grazing conditions. In specific areas of Southern Africa, larger farming operations exist in type C climates. However, Subsaharan Africa is not blessed with the large regions of rich alluvial soils found in the Northern Hemisphere. The ever-growing agrarian population has always depended on the land for food and sustenance, but these conditions are not favorable for Africa’s future. Populations are growing faster than any increase in agricultural production.
Increasing populations in Subsaharan Africa are taxing the natural environment. Where the carrying capacity has been exceeded, the natural capital is being depleted at an unsustainable rate. Deforestation is occurring in areas where firewood is in high demand, and trees are cut down faster than they can grow back. Expanding human populations are also encroaching on the natural biodiversity for which the African continent is renowned. Large game animals such as rhinoceroses, elephants, and lions have been hunted or poached with devastating consequences. The creation of game preserves and national parks has stemmed this tide, but poaching remains a serious problem even in these protected areas. Gorilla and chimpanzee populations have also been stressed by human population growth. These animals are being killed by humans for bush meat, and their habitats are being reduced by human activities.
Subsaharan Africa does not have long mountain chains such as those found in the other continents. The Nile, Congo, and Niger Rivers are the main waterways. The Namib and Kalahari are the main deserts south of the African Transition Zone. The Great Rift Valleys are the longest physical features in East Africa.
Kingdoms, Empires, and the Slave Trade
West Africa was home to a number of large empires that shaped the culture and people of present-day Africa. Gold, salt, copper, and ivory were important early trading commodities. Mining and acquiring these items brought enormous wealth to the region. Slavery became a component in the warfare between groups, as the winner usually took the captives to serve as servants or slaves. The Ghana Empire (790–1076 CE) was responsible for one of the early consolidations of power in West Africa. Though its power and wealth were vast, it was only the first of a number of empires to arise in the region.
After the Ghana Empire came the Mali Empire (1230–1600 CE), which was known for its wealth and size. The empire held major mining operations including gold, copper, and salt. Expanding along the Niger River and to the Atlantic coast, the Mali Empire extended over an area the size of Western Europe. Originally a federation of local groups, the empire incorporated many smaller provinces or kingdoms and had a major influence on the region’s laws and cultural heritage.
One of the indigenous states that evolved out of the Mali Empire was that of the Songhai people, who were located to the east of the main Mali Empire. The Songhai had been based around the city of Gao for centuries, and in fifteenth century, they established the Songhai Empire, one of the largest empires in African history. The city of Timbuktu became prominent during this period as an urban center, and its educational institutions became well known. In the end, the Songhai Empire was defeated by Moroccan Berber forces that splintered the empire into many smaller kingdoms and ethnic clans.
South of the empires of the Niger River were coastal kingdoms, including the Ashanti and the Dahomey, which flourished during the colonial era. The local African groups had to contend with the colonial European traders and invaders, which had superior weapons and different technology. Besides the mining resources of gold copper, salt, and ivory, the slave trade was a driving force that attracted trade ships from various European countries.
The Ashanti Empire was located along the Atlantic coast in an inland region of what is now Ghana and Ivory Coast; this area served as a trading corridor where goods from the northern regions crossed to make their way to the coastal trading towns. The Ashanti Empire took advantage of the trade opportunities and became wealthy. By the time the Europeans arrived, Ashanti trade relationships were well established and capable of supplying the colonial ships with slaves, ivory, and gold. The coastal area of Ghana was known as the Gold Coast during colonial times. Similarly, the country of Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire) got its name from its participation in the elephant ivory trade. The Ashanti were known for their involvement in the slave trade and today must live with that legacy.
This region of West Africa bordering the Atlantic was called the Slave Coast because of the high number of local people from this area who were sold into the European slave trade and shipped to the Americas. The once powerful Kingdom of Dahomey, east of the Ashanti Empire, was heavily involved in the slave trade. Slave trading with Europeans brought them rifles and other firearms that were useful in conflicts with their regional adversaries. A major slave state along the Slave Coast, the kingdom attracted the spite of its neighbors as a pariah state for selling its war captives into transatlantic slavery rather than killing them, as was the custom in warfare. The Kingdom of Dahomey became the country of Benin after the colonial era.
The slave trade brought wealth to many of the slave-trading kingdoms on the African coast. The demand for slaves pushed many of the African kingdoms to expand their slave-trading activities, capturing more individuals whom they could sell to European slave traders. Millions of Africans were captured by other Africans only to be sold into slavery, placed on ships, and sent to slave owners in the Americas. The total number sold into the Atlantic slave trade will never be known, but estimates range somewhere between ten and twelve million.
States and kingdoms existed throughout Subsaharan Africa. Early kingdoms flourished in the region that is now Ethiopia. East Africa’s Axum Empire was an example of the powers of the early African savanna kingdoms located in the east. The struggles between Islam and Christianity divided the region and gave way to the African Transition Zone, which serves as the dividing line between the two religions. Ethiopia has retained its Christian heritage, while to the north and east Islam has prevailed. South of the equator, the ruins of Great Zimbabwe give testimony to the regional base of power that existed there in centuries past. The Zulu Empire thrived in the nineteenth century in the region that is now South Africa.
Colonialism in Subsaharan Africa
Wherever you go in the world, you cannot escape the impact of European colonialism. Subsaharan Africa was broadly affected by colonial activities, the legacy of which can be recognized to this day. Colonial powers of Europe ventured into Africa to claim colonies. In the discussion on Brazil in Chapter 6 “South America”, Section 6.3 “Brazil”, there is segment on slavery and the Trade Triangle of the North Atlantic. Slavery impacted Africa in other ways. Many African groups were instrumental in capturing and holding slaves to trade with the European merchants. These groups still exist and have had to live with the fallout of their role in the supply side of the slave trade.
By 1900, European colonial powers claimed most of Africa. Only the Kingdom of Ethiopia and the area of Liberia, which was established as a home for freed slaves, remained independent. In 1884, Otto von Bismarck of Germany hosted the Berlin Conference, which to a great degree determined how Africa was colonized. This conference included fourteen colonial European countries and the United States, and its purpose was to divide Africa and agree on colonial boundary lines. Germany had few claims in Africa; Bismarck was hoping to benefit by playing the other countries against each other. At the time, more than 80 percent of Africa remained free of colonial control. On a large map of Africa, claims were argued over and boundary lines were drawn according to European agreements.
There was little regard for the concerns of local ethnic groups. Colonial boundaries divided close-knit communities into separate colonies. Ethnic boundaries were disregarded. Often-warring groups were placed together in the same colony. The Europeans, seeking profits from cheap labor and resources, did not consider the local people or culture and often employed brutal measures to subdue the local people. Most of the current borders in Africa are a result of the Berlin Conference, and many of the geopolitical issues that confront Africa today can be traced back to this event specifically and to colonialism in general.
European colonialism remained strong in Africa until the end of World War II, which left many European countries economically exhausted. In 1945, the United Nations (UN) was established. One of the primary UN objectives was to oversee the decolonization of European colonies. Still, colonialism in Subsaharan Africa lingered on. It was not until the 1990s that the last colony was finally freed. The transition from colony to independent nation itself caused conflict. Civil wars were fought over who would control the country after the Europeans were pushed out. The transition to full independence has exacted a heavy toll from African countries but has resulted in stronger political structures and greater democratic liberties in many cases. The first country to gain independence in Subsaharan Africa was Ghana in 1957.
During the era of independence after World War II, the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union enticed many of the African countries to support one or the other of the superpowers. The political pressure that divided African countries during the Cold War has persisted and is the basis of some of the current political problems. The European countries extracted raw materials and minerals from their African colonies, as well as slave labor. Varying degrees of attention were given to education, medical care, or infrastructure development. The dependency that a colony had had on a European country for economic income in some cases continued long after independence and may still continue today. On the other hand, major technology transfers from Europe to Africa infused greater efficiencies into Africa’s economic activities. The imperial nature of colonialism and the divisive Cold War did bring about, in an unfortunate manner, the benefits of structured governments and greater democratic processes for many of the local areas of the realm.
From Colonialism to Independence
The transition from European colony to independent state has not necessarily been a civil transition for African countries; likewise, independent African countries have struggled to create stable governments or peaceful conditions—though stable governments and peaceful conditions have been established in some cases. In nearly all cases, removing the colonial powers from Africa was only half the battle toward independence. The other half was establishing a functional, effective government.
Though each country has taken a slightly different path, most former colonies have endured civil unrest, conflict, or warfare in their push for stable governments. Coups, fraudulent elections, military regimes, and corruption have plagued the leadership in a number of African countries. Civil unrest usually precedes a change in leadership: political power regularly changes hands by a military coup or an overthrow of the current leader.
The realm has had difficulty developing and maintaining effective political systems with democratic leadership. Political leaders have come and gone, many have been replaced before their terms were over, and a few have stayed long after their terms ended. When a leader is elected democratically, it is common to have widespread accusations of corruption, voter fraud, or ballot box scandals. Such government mismanagement and corruption have been common problems.
The vacuum left by retreating colonial powers at times has been filled by authoritarian dictators or by leaders who assumed control of the government and then proceeded to pillage and plunder the state for personal gain or for the enrichment of their clan or political cronies. After the colonial era, it was not uncommon for new leaders to be connected to the old colonial power and to adopt the language and business arrangements of the European colonizer. This gave them an advantage over their competitors and provided a means of income gained by the support of their former European colonial business partners, which often wanted to keep ties with their colonies to continue to exploit their resources for economic profits. Many of these leaders stayed in power because of military backing or authoritarian rule funded by the profits from selling minerals or resources to their former colonial masters.
A few countries are still struggling to bring about some type of order and unity, and in spite of all the negative issues, there have been democratic and relatively stable progressive governments in Africa that have emerged from the transition in recent years, which is a hopeful trend for the long term.
It is important to note that the objective of colonialism was to connect a colony with the mother country, not to connect African countries to each other. As a result, little cooperation occurs between African countries. Each individual country interacts more with its European colonial counterpart with regard to trade, economics, and cultural dynamics. European colonialism has isolated African countries from their neighboring countries and does not contribute to unity within or among African regions. Colonial powers often built new port cities to extract goods and resources from their colonies and transportation systems from the new ports to the interior to collect the resources and bring them to the port. However, the colonial powers did not build a network of transportation systems that connected the region as a whole. Colonial powers were intent on continuing dependence on the mother country so their colonies could be controlled and dominated.
The current wave of globalization based on corporate colonialism continues to encourage the same pattern of discouraging interaction between counties and instead encouraging trade with more economically powerful non-African countries. Most of the interaction between countries is a result of crisis or warfare, in which case large numbers of refugees cross the border into neighboring countries for personal survival or security. To begin to work together and promote trade, common transportation, security, and industry, fifteen West African states came together in 1975 to create the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Since then, additional political and economic agreements have been signed by various African countries. In 2001, the more expansive African Union was created to help African states compete in the international marketplace.
Key Takeaways
• Subsaharan Africa includes the African Transition Zone and the regions south of the Sahara. The African Transition Zone is a transitional zone between type A and type B climates and between the religions of Islam and Christianity.
• Subsaharan Africa is a realm of plateaus and basins with four main river systems. Mountain ranges, volcanic peaks, and large lakes are found in or along the rift valleys of eastern Africa. The rift valleys were created by tectonic activity.
• Before the colonial era, many African kingdoms dominated regions of Subsaharan Africa. West Africa had a number of great kingdoms. Kingdoms along the coast contributed to the slave trade.
• European countries colonized almost the entire realm of Subsaharan Africa. European powers made agreements during the 1884 Berlin Conference to divide the realm and create boundary lines between their African colonies. Many of the lines remain as the current borders today.
• Colonies were designed to provide labor and resources to the mother country. Port cities, transportation systems, and other infrastructure were implemented to benefit the imperial power without regard for development of the colony.
• African colonies received independence after World War II. The transition from colonies to independent countries has been plagued by civil war, political chaos, or economic devastation.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main boundaries that define Subsaharan Africa?
2. Where is the African Transition Zone? What are the main transitions that this zone represents?
3. What geological phenomenon has created the rift valleys of the east? What physical geographic features are found here?
4. What are some of the general environmental issues that can be found throughout the realm of Subsaharan Africa?
5. Name the African kingdoms that were involved in the supply of humans for the European slave trade.
6. How did imperial powers in Africa cultivate their colonies’ dependence on the mother countries?
7. When did the colonies in Subsaharan Africa gain their independence?
8. What has been the usual pattern of transition from colonies to independent countries?
9. What country was the first in Subsaharan Africa to gain its independence? In what year did it gain independence?
10. How are the Subsaharan African countries continually isolated from their neighbors in the global economy?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• African Transition Zone
• Blue Nile
• Cape of Good Hope
• Cape Ranges
• Central Africa
• Congo River
• East Africa
• Ethiopian Plateau
• Kalahari Desert
• Lake Albert
• Lake Chad
• Lake Malawi
• Lake Tana
• Lake Tanganyika
• Lake Turkana
• Lake Victoria
• Madagascar
• Mt. Cameroon
• Mt. Kilimanjaro
• Namib Desert
• Niger River
• Rwenzori Mountains
• Southern Africa
• Timbuktu
• Victoria Falls
• West Africa
• White Nile
• Zambezi River
Activities
1. Determine which of the countries in Subsaharan Africa are now experiencing civil war or national unrest over political leadership.
2. Determine which countries of the realm have the most stable governments.
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize how the core-periphery spatial relationship applies to Subsaharan Africa. Analyze how the concept of rural-to-urban shift applies to the development pattern.
2. Distinguish between the formal and informal sectors of the economy and understand how each would apply to the various core and peripheral regions of the realm.
3. Explain how countries fit into the index of economic development model and the relationship between family size, urbanization rates and income levels.
4. Understand the diversity of languages and religions in the realm. Develop a theory about why, with the increasing population, the number of languages spoken decreases. Explain why many former European colonies still retain the language of their colonizer as their lingua franca, or official language.
5. Identify the various areas in Subsaharan Africa that have experienced devastating civil wars or political conflict in recent years.
6. Outline the general pattern of HIV infections in the realm. Understand why it is difficult to contain and prevent the spread of AIDS.
7. Explain why Subsaharan Africa has such great potential for economic development through tourism. Articulate the difficulties in creating a tourism market.
Economic Geography
The demographic data for each country in each region of Subsaharan Africa indicate the region’s human geography. Urban percentages, family size, income levels, and the other data that can indicate the lifestyle or development level are acutely helpful in understanding the trends in Subsaharan Africa. The index of economic development illustrates the dynamics and conditions that exist in the realm. The data indicate the consistency of economic and development trends across Africa. The data does not, however, indicate differences in cultural dynamics and uniqueness in the ways that local people live. The interesting part of studying Subsaharan Africa is the many ethnic and cultural groups in each country that bring to the surface a wide array of global diversity in our human community. Within each and every country are microcosms of human societies that hold particular customs that may be thousands of years old. Globalization and technological advancements challenge every cultural group to adapt and innovate to make a living yet provide continuity in their heritage. The remote cultural groups of Subsaharan Africa are most susceptible to the volatile nature of globalization, which threatens their current way of life.
Subsaharan Africa is a peripheral world region with neocolonial economic patterns. Peripheral regions usually supply raw materials, food, and cheap labor to the core industrial countries. Most of the population in Subsaharan Africa works in subsistence agriculture to make a living and feed their families. Families are large. In recent decades, there has been enormous rural-to-urban migration to the major cities, which are extremely overcrowded. Subsaharan Africa has more than 750 million people, and most earn the US equivalent of only \$1–3 per day.
There is no single major core economic area in Subsaharan Africa. This realm has many core cities and the rest is periphery. Many of the core cities are improving their technology and infrastructure and entering into the globalized economy. Even so, as much as 70 percent of the people still work in agriculture, leaving little time to develop a large educated group of professionals to assist with social services and administrative responsibilities. The realm depends heavily on outside support for technical and financial assistance. Computers, medical equipment, and other high-tech goods are all imported. African states have formed trade agreements and have joined the African Union to assist each other in economic development and trade.
Subsaharan Africa has nearly forty urban areas of more than one million people. At the center of the central business districts (CBDs) are modern high-rise business offices well connected to the global economy. Outside the CBD are slums with no services and miserable, unsanitary conditions. The informal sector of the economy—that which is not regulated, controlled, or taxed—has become the primary system of doing business in most of the cities. The informal sector comprises trading, street markets, and any other business without financial records for cash transactions.
The lack of government regulation and control prevents taxes from being assessed or collected, which in turn diminishes support for public services or infrastructure. The formal sector of the economy—that which the government can regulate, control, and tax—is forced to foot the bill to operate the government and support public services such as education, security, and transportation. In spite of the misery and unhealthy conditions of the slums where millions of people already live, more migrants from the countryside continue to shift to the city in search of jobs and opportunities. African cities are growing rapidly, many without organized planning.
If the index of economic development were applied to Subsaharan Africa, a clear pattern would emerge. Rural areas would be in the lower stages of development, and only a few developing areas would be higher than stage 3. A large percentage of this realm would be in stage 1 or 2 of this model. Countries with higher standards of living, such as South Africa or Botswana, would be working through stage 3 or 4. This region has one of the fastest-growing populations of the world and economically lags behind countries in the Northern Hemisphere, which have transitioned into the higher stages of the index of economic development.
Incomes, Urbanization, and Family Size
The socioeconomic data illustrate well the conditions for people in Africa in comparison to the rest of the world. African countries are at the lowest end of the statistics for development prospects. The larger cities are showing promise for advancement into the higher stages of development. Family sizes in the rural countries are some of the largest in the world. The average fertility rate for much of Africa is about 5; in Mali and Niger, the rate is higher than 7. One-third to half of the populations of these countries are under the age of fifteen. Children make up most of the population in many areas—an indication that heavier burdens are placed on women, meaning that women are not easily able to get an education or work outside the home.
The populations of West African countries are increasing rapidly and will double in about thirty years at the current rate. This trend places an extra burden on the economy and on the environment. It is fueling one of the fastest rural-to-urban shifts in the world. West Africa is now only about 32 percent urban, and Burkina Faso and Niger are less than 20 percent urban—clear indications that agriculture is the largest sector of their economies and that most of the people live in rural areas or small villages. Personal income levels in West African countries are among the lowest in the world; as far as standard of living is concerned, these are poor countries. Few economic opportunities exist for the millions of young people entering the employment market.
The United Nations (UN) human development index lists all but two of West African countries in the lowest category of development. Sierra Leone is the lowest of the world. Ghana and Senegal were the two countries listed in the medium range. Senegal is the lowest country in the medium category, just barely rising about the lowest tier. A country listed in the lowest tier of the medium category translates into a region with low availability of opportunities and advantages for its people. As a peripheral world region, the economic base is structured around agriculture with supportive extractive activities. Agricultural activities are renewable, but agricultural profit margins are slim. These countries are in a subsistence mode with a rapidly expanding population and few industrial or postindustrial activities to gain income.
No Subsaharan African nation is in stage 5 of the index of economic development. Nevertheless, the fact that they are not consumer societies does not negate the rich cultural values and heritage of the realm. The energy of the people does not revolve around consumerism but is instead focused on the people themselves. High levels of social interaction and community involvement bring about different cultural standards than those of a consumer society, which focuses more on the individual and less on community. Unless there is social unrest or open warfare, which does exist in various places, the people work hard to bring about a civil society based on family and tradition.
Languages in Subsaharan Africa
Subsaharan Africa covers a large land area more than 2.3 times the size of the United States. Thousands of ethnic groups are scattered throughout the realm. There is immense diversity within the 750 million people in Subsaharan Africa, and within each country are cultural and ethnic groups with their own history, language, and religion. More than two thousand separate and distinct languages are spoken in all of Africa. Forty are spoken by more than a million people. Many local languages are not written down and have no historical record or dictionary. Local languages without a written history are usually the first to be lost as globalization affects the realm. Nigeria, with more than 130 million people, is the most populous country in Africa. It is about the size of Texas and Oklahoma combined, and the African Transition Zone cuts through the country’s northern portion. More than five hundred separate languages are spoken in Nigeria alone. Three of the six dominant languages in Subsaharan Africa—spoken by at least ten million people or more—are spoken in Nigeria: Hausa, Yoruba, and Ibo. The three remaining major languages of Subsaharan Africa are Swahili, Lingala, and Zulu.
Colonial activity changed much of how the African countries operated economically, socially, and politically. Language is one aspect of culture that indicates a colonial relationship. Many African countries today speak a European language as the official language. Mauritania is the only country that has Arabic as its official language. Nigeria has English plus other local languages. The official languages of most of West Africa are either French or English, and Guinea-Bissau’s official language is Portuguese.
This vestige of colonial power would seem inconsistent with the desire to be free of foreign domination. However, because often dozens to hundreds of local languages are spoken within the country, choosing the colonial language as the official language produces less of an advantage for one group wishing to dominate the political arena with its own local language and heritage.
For example, a language problem arises when a government needs to print material for the country. What language do they use? In Nigeria, there would be more than five hundred possible languages. What if the leadership used a language only spoken by a few people? The language of those in power would provide an advantage over those that could not understand it. What if there were more than five hundred separate languages in Texas and Oklahoma? How would they function? This is why many African countries have chosen a colonial language as their country’s lingua franca, or national language. Ghana, which is the size of Minnesota, has more than eighty spoken languages. Ghana and Nigeria have both chosen English as their national language to provide a cohesive and inclusive method of addressing the language dilemma.
A portion of the two thousand languages spoken on the African continent will not survive. A large number of the languages are spoken by a small number of local groups that may or may not have a written text or alphabet. The influence of globalization causes the country’s lingua franca to overshadow local languages, which are relegated to the older generations that may not be fluent in the languages of global business and commerce. Young people often learn the lingua franca and may or may not pass their local language on to the next generation. This is how languages become extinct. Similar dynamics can be applied to local religious beliefs. Outside influence can often erode local beliefs and cause an evolution of religious tenets that eventually transform indigenous beliefs into patterns similar to the larger, more mainstream religions.
Religion in Subsaharan Africa
Before the monotheistic religions from the Middle East were even in existence, the people of Africa followed traditional animist beliefs. The diffusion of Christianity and Islam to the African continent convinced many African people to abandon their animist beliefs. African religions spread with the slave trade and became a part of the African Diaspora. Examples can be found in the Santeria religion in Cuba, Umbanda followers in Brazil, and Vodou (Voodoo) practitioners in Haiti. Many of these examples indicate a high rate of mixing between traditional religions and Christianity, something that is not as well accepted within Islam.
The current religious trends in Africa follow the pattern of the African Transition Zone. Most of the population north of the zone follows Islam, and most of the population living south of the zone follows Christianity. Large percentages of people in the region follow a wide array of traditional or animist beliefs. For example, as of 2010, more than 50 percent of the people of Togo still followed local religions not affiliated with Christianity or Islam. Only about 29 percent of the population claimed to be Christian, and even fewer claimed to follow Islam (Central Intelligence Agency).
Along the African Transition Zone, followers of one religion will clash with followers of the other. Countries such as Nigeria have a history of this type of social division, and Nigeria’s government allows Islamic Sharia law to take precedence over civil law in the country’s northern regions. For example, in 2002, the Miss World beauty pageant was to be held in Nigeria’s capital. At the same time, Nigerian news reported a case of a young woman charged with adultery in Muslim-dominated northern Nigeria. The woman was to be stoned to death for her crime. Northern Nigeria is north of the transition zone and is staunchly Islamic. Southern Nigeria is mainly Christian or animist. The northern Muslims were protesting the “decadent” Miss World beauty pageant, and riots spilled over into the streets. Buildings were burned, cars were overturned, and more than one hundred people were killed. Meanwhile, people in the south were protesting the death sentence of the woman charged with adultery. Contestants for the Miss World contest began to pull out of the competition, some in protest and some for personal safety reasons. In the end, the woman sentenced to death was smuggled out of northern Nigeria to the safety of the south. The Miss World contest was moved to London.
Both Islam and Christianity have been on the rise in Africa. As the local beliefs are replaced with monotheistic religions, there is more integration with either the West (Europe and America) or the Middle East. Religious activity through Christian missionaries or the advancement of Islam sometimes coincides with economic support being brought in through the same channels, which is often welcome and enhances the global relationships that occur.
However, Africa is still full of traditional religions with rich spiritual histories. Spiritual forces are found in the environment. Deities of all kinds are worshipped throughout Africa. Christianity and Islam are latecomers to the region but have made deep inroads into the African culture. Both compete for the souls of the African people.
Ethnic Divisions and Civil Wars
Subsaharan Africa is home to thousands of ethnic or traditional groups. Each has a separate identity and history, and often one group is in conflict with another. The slave trade and the establishment of colonial political boundaries or policies exacerbated historical ethnic hostilities. Major civil wars have been fought throughout the history of throughout Subsaharan Africa and continue at the present time. Central Africa has endured ongoing brutal conflict in the past decade, with no solution in sight. More than five million people have died as a result of the civil war in The Congo (Zaire). Fighting continues between various factions over political control or control over natural resources, such as diamonds or gold. Civil wars are devastating some African countries. Many other countries, such as Zimbabwe, Chad, and the Central African Republic, have also suffered economic disintegration as a result of severe political unrest.
Rwanda’s Tutsi-Hutu conflict has been historic in its violence and in the senseless killing of innocent people. In 1994, the centuries-old conflict erupted into violence of unprecedented proportions. Hutu militias took revenge on the Tutsis for years of suppression and massacred anyone who did not support the Hutu cause. Tutsi rebels finally gained strength, fought back, and defeated the Hutu militias. More than a million people were killed, and more than a million defeated Hutus fled as refugees to neighboring countries, where many died of cholera and dysentery in refugee camps.
The civil war in Rwanda and the many refugees it created destabilized the entire Central African region. The shift in population and the increase in military arms along the Zairian border resulted in an extensive civil war in The Congo (Zaire) that has resulted in the deaths of more than five million people, many by disease or starvation. Over three million deaths are estimated to have been related directly to the war and another two million by the harsh conditions in the region (AmericanRenaissance.com). The civil wars in The Congo from 1996 to 2003 changed the cultural and political landscapes and destroyed valuable infrastructure. One of the driving forces in these wars is the control of valuable mineral resources found in the Great Rift Valley along the eastern boundary of The Congo. Diamonds, gold, copper, zinc, and other minerals are abundant in this region, and wealth that can be gained from the mining of these products attracts political forces to compete for their control.
Civil wars have wreaked havoc on the countries of Angola, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Somalia. All have experienced some amount of serious conflicts in the past decade. Many of the civil wars are not reported by the news media worldwide, even though the number of people affected, injured, and killed is deplorable. In places such as Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, the streets have become a battleground.
Creating stability in parts of Africa has been challenging, as civil unrest and political corruption continue in many African countries. The core industrialized countries have been hesitant to step in or invest in the peace and stability of Africa. Governments of more than a few African countries have been unable to bring stability or to provide for their people. For example, Somalia has no central government; rather, it is ruled by warlords and village chiefs. Corruption, dictatorial rule, and military force have been major components of government rule in these cases.
HIV and AIDS in Subsaharan Africa
As if Subsaharan Africa did not have enough to work through to achieve stability, it must also cope with high numbers of people infected with HIV and AIDS. From South Africa to Kenya, there is a line of countries with some of the highest percentages of HIV-infected people in the world. The HIV virus has infected more than 24 percent of adults in Botswana, and some villages have lost an entire generation of adults to AIDS. The AIDS pandemic has become a major health crisis for Subsaharan Africa. According to the World Health Organization, as many as thirty million people in this realm are HIV-infected.
It’s possible to live with HIV for years before dying of AIDS. HIV-infected individuals can pass the virus to others without knowing they have it, and millions of people die of AIDS in Subsaharan Africa without ever knowing they were infected. The lack of education, HIV testing, and medical services hinder progress toward stopping this deadly disease. Prevention is an ideal that has not materialized yet. Many people do not want to be tested out of fear of rejection by their families and friends if they are infected. AIDS will surely kill millions more in Africa before a solution is found.
Many other diseases are common in Subsaharan Africa. Some are spread by vectors in the environment. Mosquitoes spread illnesses such as malaria and yellow fever, which are common throughout the realm. Sleeping sickness is spread by the tsetse fly, which can also infect cattle and livestock. Hepatitis is widespread. Schistosomiasis, tuberculosis, and typhoid are also common. Unsanitary conditions and polluted water are breeding grounds for microbes that cause diseases. People living in less-than-sanitary conditions are more likely to come in contact with and become infected with these diseases and are also less likely to obtain medical attention at an early stage of the disease.
Tourism Potential
Subsaharan Africa has great potential for the development of tourism. Tourism is considered a postindustrial activity with mixed income opportunities. If Africa can manage its resources and provide a safe environment for travelers, tourism will have a strong impact on Africa’s economic growth and will play a significant role in its future.
Tourism is a growing sector of the global economy. Travel and tourism jobs are increasing worldwide. Africa as a whole attracts less than 5 percent of total world tourists and accounts for only a small percentage of international tourism income. Given the region’s slim share of the tourism market and the expected dynamic growth of the sector worldwide, Africa can expect to substantially increase its share of global tourism activity.
Subsaharan Africa has a strong supply-side potential to attract tourists. Beach resorts alone create a large draw for tourists. The coastal waters of the Indian Ocean boast some of the finest beaches in the world, with plenty of opportunities for sailing, diving, or other water sports. South Africa is proud of its secluded beaches and beautiful coastline. Other well-known coastal tourist destinations include Zanzibar-Tanzania, Benguerra Island in Mozambique, and the Seychelles. Other areas with tourism potential are the wildlife parks and game preserves. Cultural locations with a rich heritage of historical significance are growing in their attractiveness to and accessibility for world travelers.
Tourist Destinations in Subsaharan Africa
Africa excels in attracting tourists to its wildlife and game reserves. Safari tourism highlights exotic creatures, including elephants, lions, rhinos, hippos, and big game. Africa is full of extensive game reserves and national parks. The following are some of the most visited animal safari destinations (* indicates a UNESCO World Heritage Site):
• Kruger National Park, South Africa
• Selous Game Reserve, Tanzania*
• Amboseli Reserve, Kenya
• Serengeti National Park, Tanzania*
• Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana
• Berenty Nature Reserve, Madagascar
• Virunga (Gorilla) National Park, Congo (Zaire)*
Subsaharan Africa is replete with natural features or attractions that tourists gravitate toward, particularly tourists who are in search of outstanding scenic sites or desire an environmental adventure. There are dozens of awe-inspiring national parks throughout Africa. The following are some of the more interesting physical geography locations in Subsaharan Africa (* indicates a UNESCO World Heritage Site):
• Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania*
• Mt. Kenya National Park, Kenya*
• Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
• Victoria Falls, Zambia/Zimbabwe
• Kamale Pinnacle, Cameroon Mountains
• Zuma Rock, Nigeria
• Table Mt. National Park, South Africa
Cultural and heritage tourism has grown immensely in recent years. Cultural assets and heritage landscapes have always provided for excellent tourist attractions. Subsaharan Africa has a great wealth of culture and heritage to attract tourists. The following are a few of the most well-known cultural destinations in the realm (* indicates a UNESCO World Heritage Site):
• Timbuktu (Tombouctou), Mali*
• St. Peter’s Basilica, Ivory Coast
• Ashanti-National Cultural Center, Ghana*
• Great Zimbabwe Ruins, Zimbabwe*
• Robben Island, South Africa*
• Soweto City Tour, South Africa
• Rock City of Lalibela, Ethiopia*
• Ancient City of Abomey, Benin*
Every African country, urban center, or rural village is its own unique tourism magnet. The tourism business, however, is broader than just the sites themselves. Considerations need to be made for transportation to and from the country and final destination. Hotels and guest accommodations, such as food services, restaurants, and the availability of other types of consumer goods, need to be considered. Services need to be available that link the various components of a trip, such as guide services in national parks or city bus tours. The attractiveness and competitiveness of each tourism destination will depend on the site’s quality and accessibility.
A serious financial investment is needed to bring Subsaharan Africa up to par with the global marketplace. Africa has huge potential for growth in its tourism market. Unfortunately, the same problems with tourism that were discussed in the lesson on tourism in the Caribbean (Chapter 5 “Middle America”, Section 5.4 “The Caribbean”) can be applied to Africa. There are many positive and negative aspects to tourism, and a trade-off is usually needed. Heavy tourism traffic might have a negative impact on the environment, cultural stereotypes tend to be exploited, and the disparity between wealthy tourists and service workers earning a modest wage may lend itself to divisions and social friction.
Tourism demands higher levels of security and public health at all levels. Money spent on tourism development is money not spent on schools or clinics. On the other hand, without the tourism income, there are no jobs. Tourism brings to the surface both centrifugal and centripetal cultural forces. To be successful, Africa will need to balance out the economic need for tourism with its willingness to comply with the requirements of the tourism industry.
Key Takeaways
• Subsaharan Africa’s many core cities and peripheral regions create a high rural-to-urban shift. Much of the realm’s economic activity is conducted in the informal sector.
• Most countries in this realm are in the earlier stages of the index of economic development. The integration into global markets has brought urbanization and development to many of the major core cities.
• The informal sector dominates many of the economic activities in Subsaharan Africa. The emergence of stable governments and economic structures usually results in a stronger formal sector of the economy, which in turn provides improved national infrastructure.
• Subsaharan Africa is realm with a high diversity of languages and religions. In an attempt to provide an equal footing for all languages, many countries have chosen their colonial language as their official language to avoid giving speakers of one language any political advantage over another.
• Parts of Subsaharan Africa continue to experience social unrest and civil war. Armed conflicts in Rwanda and The Congo (Zaire) have either killed or affected millions of people.
• A high percentage of people in Subsaharan Africa are infected with HIV—up to one-fourth of the population of some countries. Health care, education, and cultural forces are important factors in combating AIDS and the tropical diseases common in the realm.
• Subsaharan Africa has enormous potential to exploit their physical features and cultural heritage to expand their tourism market. It is often difficult to balance the investments for adequate infrastructure and services required for tourism with other needs, such as education and health care.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. How does the core-peripheral spatial relationship apply to Subsaharan Africa?
2. What is the difference between the formal and informal sectors of the economy?
3. How do the countries of Subsaharan Africa fit into the index of economic development model?
4. What roles do women play in the realm’s socioeconomic environment?
5. Approximately how many languages are spoken in Africa? How many are spoken in Nigeria alone?
6. Why would a former colony under European imperialism agree to use the language of its colonizer as its national language when dozens or hundreds of languages are already spoken in the country?
7. How are Christianity and Islam distributed across Subsaharan Africa?
8. How are the armed conflicts in Rwanda, The Congo (Zaire), and Somalia different from each other?
9. Why is the HIV/AIDS situation so difficult to combat or address?
10. What are some of the obstacles in increasing tourism development in Subsaharan Africa?
Activities
1. Determine the ten largest cities of Subsaharan Africa and locate them on a map.
2. Select a country in this realm that is indicated to have a higher percentage of people who do not follow Christianity or Islam. Research and then outline the variance in the indigenous religions that are adhered to by the people who live there.
3. On a map of Africa, locate the tourist attractions mentioned in this section.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/07%3A_Subsaharan_Africa/7.02%3A_Human_Geography_of_Subsaharan_Africa.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the main geographic aspects of each country in West Africa.
2. Understand each country’s development pattern and their current political situation.
3. Explain how family size and economic activities are related to population growth.
4. Outline the main economic activities of each country and how they are related to natural resources.
The region of West Africa includes the southern portion of the bulge of the continent, which extends westward to the Atlantic Ocean. This region is bisected by the African Transition Zone, which borders the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The main physical features include the Sahara Desert and the Niger River. The Cameroon Highlands are located on the eastern border between Nigeria and Cameroon. At 4,100 miles long, the Nile River is the longest, while the Congo River is Africa’s second longest at 2,922 miles in length. The Niger River is Africa’s third-longest river and extends more than 2,600 miles from the Guinea Highlands through Mali, Niger, and Nigeria before reaching the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea.
Some geographers include the country of Chad or portions of it within the region of West Africa. In this textbook, Chad is listed with Central Africa. The portions of Chad located north of the African Transition Zone share similar characteristics with North Africa. Off the coast of Mauritania are the Cape Verde Islands, which are united as an independent country associated with Africa. Cape Verde was once a Portuguese colony but received its independence in 1975. Western Sahara has been in conflict with Morocco over independence and is most often associated with the region of North Africa because of the influence of Islam and because of its connection to Morocco.
The African Transition Zone cuts across the region of West Africa, indicating a division between Islam and Christianity and between the Sahara Desert and the tropics. This diversity in religion and climate is usually exhibited with a north/south division. Islam is the dominant religion on the north side of the African Transition Zone; Christianity is more dominant to the south. The two religions often clash in the areas where they meet. Traditional beliefs and animist religions are also practiced in the African Transition Zone.
The terms “state” and “country” are often used interchangeably by the world community outside of the United States. Both are meant to refer to a physical unit with a sovereign and independent government. In Sub-Saharan Africa the term “state” is commonly used to refer to a country in any one of the various regions.
Niger
The former French colony of Niger is landlocked, with the Sahara Desert making up its largest portion. Niger is a land of subsistence farmers, and most of the population lives in the southern regions. The country is less than 20 percent urban. Other economic activities include uranium mining, which is the country’s main export. The world demand for uranium has not been strong in recent years. Oil exploration has begun and international oil corporations have garnered contracts for drilling.
The Sahara Desert is moving southward, and the agrarian culture at the base of Niger’s society is often plagued by drought and famine. The Niger River flows through the southwestern region and provides fresh water, but the northern region is mainly the Sahara Desert, and large portions are covered with sand dunes.
The country has extreme demographics. Niger has the highest fertility rate (7.6) in the world, and half the population is under the age of fifteen, causing a population explosion that taxes the sparse natural resources and brings even more poverty to a country at the bottom end of the index of economic development. Infant mortality rates in Niger have been the highest in the world.
The mainly Sunni Muslim country has a rich cultural base but suffers from economic problems that appear to increase with the increase in population and desertification. Heavy national debt has hindered social services and has required a considerable amount of foreign aid from a number of sources. As a former colony, Niger, France has been a main contributor to providing economic aid along with the United Nations (UN).
The political conditions in Niger are typical of the region. For the first thirty years after independence from France, the country was ruled by a single political party and military rule. There have been several coups and various political leaders have been in power. A dispute remains with Libya over its northern border. Ethnic infighting with a minority Taureg group has emerged in recent years, bringing conflict and discord. The Taureg, found throughout northwest Africa in the interior Saharan region, have many ethnic clans and have been masters of camel caravans, often with a nomadic heritage. Their clothing is often made of cloth colored with an indigo dye that distinguishes them from other ethnic groups. The Taureg fought historic battles for an independent homeland against the French during the colonial era.
Mali
To the west of Niger is Mali, another landlocked Muslim country dominated by the Sahara Desert. Mali was home to various ancient empires. Wealth was historically gained from the mining of gold, salt, and copper. The Niger River flows through the entire southern region, providing a means of transportation and fishing as well as fresh water. The ancient city of Timbuktu, once a port on the Niger River, was a center of commerce and trade for the region and was used by the Taureg as early as the tenth century. Timbuktu has played an important role as an educational focal point for many of the peoples of the region. The University of Timbuktu is noted for its educational activities and comprises various colleges and madrasas (Islamic schools of learning). At one point in its history, it claimed to hold the largest collection of books in Africa. The capital city of Mali is not Timbuktu but Bamako, which is located in the southwest. Timbuktu remains a main tourist destination for the country and the region.
International Culture and the Power of the Soap Opera
Timbuktu (Tombouctou) is a key city for the country of Mali in the middle of the Sahel. The city has been stereotyped by people in Western culture as the farthest place from civilization on Earth. In reality, it is a thriving city that is well connected to the globalization activities of the rest of the planet. It was once one of the wealthiest cities in the world. Gold was plentiful, and the city was home to one of the largest universities in the ancient world. Today the city exhibits traits similar to North Africa but is in the African Transition Zone. Modern technology has found its way into the lives of the people of Timbuktu. International exchanges are providing interesting insights into the globalization process. Even in the rural areas, the people have found innovative ways to share in the international dynamics of global cultures.
Dr. Ibrahim N’diaye, originally from Mali and as of 2011 a history instructor at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, tells a story about his experience while visiting the rural Mali village of Koriyome as a member of the planning committee for the “Tombouctou 2000” millennium commemoration festival the Mali Ministry of Culture was sponsoring at the time. He noticed that in the evening at a certain time, the people of the village started up gas-powered electric generators and then gathered around television sets connected to a satellite feed throughout the village. The evening feature was a Brazilian soap opera called Mari Mar. It was broadcast in Portuguese, a language no one spoke in the village. The seminomadic villagers were totally immersed in the soap opera and had even altered the names of the key characters to match local names. For example, they referred to the main character Mari Mar as “Mariyama” (which is the same as Mari/Mary); Mari Mar’s husband, Sergio, as “Saajo”; the cruel stepmother Angelika as “Jelika”; and so on. Everyone in the village seemed to understand the plot and reveled in the drama of the characters and their exploits. The production became a centripetal force that brought the villagers together in a way that would not have been expected by anyone in Brazil or the United States. Who would have believed that soap operas would have become a method of diffusing global culture to the planet? This story also indicates that human nature is similar in societies throughout the world.
Mali shares similar political dynamics and demographics with Niger and the rest of the region; however, Mali now has a stable democratic government with little political conflict. There are issues with the Taureg in the north and refugees from Ivory Coast in the south, but the country is quite stable politically in spite of the low standard of living and high population growth.
Mauritania
Mauritania is also dominated by Islam and the Sahara Desert. Niger, Mali, and Mauritania are the largest of the West African states and together would cover the area of the United States east of the Mississippi River. The term “state” refers to countries with independent governments. Mauritania’s access to the Atlantic coast provided a shipping connection to the rest of the world. For years the country fought over control of portions of Western Sahara but relinquished those areas in 1975.
Unfortunately, the political and economic problems that are common in the region are evident in Mauritania. In 1960, the country gained its independence from the French, and a number of political coups and changes in government occurred as a result. Interethnic conflicts exist between the African groups of the south and the Arab-Berber groups of the north.
Political unrest and economic hardships continue to add to the challenge of a growing population. Poverty, health care, and education have been major issues that require government support. Foreign aid has been critical to the operation of the country.
Large amounts of iron ore make up about 40 percent of the country’s exports. Fishing off the coast has great potential but has been exploited by international fishing vessels; thus Mauritania is in danger of losing revenues and a declining resource base if protection is not secured. Even though the country is largely desert, most of the population works in subsistence agriculture.
Within certain communities in Mauritania, especially within the Arab Moor group, the concept of female beauty and prosperity was often associated with ample body size. Young girls were encouraged to eat high-fat foods in high quantities and at times were force-fed to put on weight. Being fat was an indication of wealth, and being thin was a sign of poverty and low esteem. This custom resulted in many women being considered overweight and obese by today’s health standards. This trend is not as common today, though it still exists. Many Mauritanian women consider this old-fashioned, and natural eating habits are more the standard. Global views regarding women might be contributing to the country’s current concept of beauty and health.
Senegal and the Gambia
The country of Senegal on the Atlantic coast totally surrounds the independent country of the Gambia. Senegal was a French colony, while the Gambia was a British colony. The Gambia is an enclave of Senegal and extends on both sides of the Gambia River for about 186 miles. It is the smallest country on the mainland of Africa and is about the size of the US state of Connecticut. The two countries of Senegal and the Gambia were united into the confederation of Senegambia from 1982 to 1989 when it was dissolved. They have kept separate political identities ever since.
The capital of Senegal, Dakar, is located on the Cap Vert Peninsula, which is most extreme western extension of the African continent. Dakar was a main colonial port for French West Africa during colonial times. The French influence remains: the common currency in what were former French colonies is the West African CFA franc (Central African franc), which has a fixed rate in relation to the euro.
Guinea and Guinea-Bissau
Freeing itself from the grip of Portuguese colonial rule was a hard-fought battle for Guinea-Bissau, which became independent in 1974. The political upheaval that followed up to the present has resulted in various coups, military rule, changes in leadership, and the assassination of their president in 2009. Without political stability, it is difficult to develop a growing economy. Graft, corruption, and civil war have devastated the country’s infrastructure and hindered its economic development, making it among the poorest nations in the world. The country has to depend on outside aid to supply its basic needs.
The French colony of Guinea, which is larger than Guinea-Bissau, holds more promise due to its generous natural resource base, but Guinea has suffered the same types of political and economic disasters as its smaller neighbor. Though mineral resources are abundant, there is potential for increased agricultural production, where most of the people make their living. Guinea has a large amount of bauxite and other minerals, including diamonds and gold. The lack of infrastructure and political stability has discouraged investors from helping to develop these natural resources and converting them into national wealth.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has been devastated in the past decades due to brutal civil war and political turmoil; as a result, the country was the lowest in the world on the human development index in 2010. There has been little political stability. Military factions have wreaked havoc on the country since it gained independence from Britain in the early 1960s. After independence, the country’s contested elections and multiple coups resulted in a ban on all but one political party and established military rule. At the core of the conflicts was competition for the control of the diamond industry, which was also a primary factor in the civil war.
The abuses of power escalated to a breaking point in the late 1980s, which set the stage for a decade-long civil war in the 1990s. A group calling themselves the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) pushed to take control of the eastern diamond mining sector through terrorist tactics and brute force. Thousands of people died and thousands more were mutilated by having their arms, legs, or other body parts cut off by machetes. Whole villages were destroyed and the residents killed, tortured, or maimed.
The government fell under various military coups and eventually resorted to hiring mercenaries to help push back the RUF forces. By 1998 the whole country resembled a military camp with arms and ammunition being trafficked to all sides. There was a total breakdown in state structures and institutions. At various times, there were agreements between the sides in hopes that a stable government could emerge, but the agreements broke down and the country continued to scramble for civility. Nigerian forces were actively fighting in the conflict. In 2000, British troops were employed to help evacuate foreign nationals and establish order. Military forces from neighboring Guinea also entered the country to attack RUF bases.
UN forces with US support eventually established a sense of control of the country. By 2003, major fighting was over and attempts were made to establish a civilian government. Approximately fifty thousand people were killed in this civil war and as many as two million people were displaced, many of them refugees. Sierra Leone set up a special court to address crimes against humanity, and the country has been working to establish a stable government and maintain a sense of order.
The diamond trade still dominates and political factions still vie for control. Much of the diamond mining is uncontrolled, allowing considerable smuggling operations to operate. After the civil war, revenues from diamond mining increased from less than \$10 million in 2000 to an estimated \$130 million in 2004. The civil war destroyed the infrastructure of the country, and most of the resources were looted by forces on one side or another. The economy has had a difficult time recovering. Most of the people make their living in subsistence agriculture. Medicine, food, and goods have been in a short supply. Many people have died due to the lack of these items during and after the civil war. Today the country struggles to recover and work toward stabilization.
Liberia
To fully understand where Liberia is today as a country and as a people, one has to understand its background and its geopolitical history. Liberia has a unique background in that it was not a European colony and was not included in the Berlin Conference of 1884 as a country up for grabs in the scramble for African territory. The conference of colonial European powers who divided up Africa did establish borders for the majority of African countries. Liberia, which means “Land of the Free,” was a destination for freed slaves from the United States. In 1847, Liberia became an independent country patterned after the US government, even naming its capital Monrovia after President James Monroe, the fifth US president. Many of the freed slaves from the United States returned to Africa and relocated to Liberia. The slavery experience in the United States gave returning Africans a different culture and history from those indigenous to the African continent. Assimilation between the two groups was difficult. The division between the Americanized settler communities along the coast and the indigenous Africans of the interior continued to widen over the years.
Centrifugal forces within the country surfaced in 1980 when a military-backed coup overthrew the government. This event became a turning point that escalated into social division and political unrest. Elections were held in 1985, which resulted in accusations of election fraud. Successive coups by various factions continued to plague the political arena. By 1989, civil war had commenced. Military forces from the neighboring countries of Ghana, Guinea, Senegal, and Nigeria entered the conflict. Whoever was in charge of the government at any one time had plenty of opposition from the various factions. A warlord by the name of Charles Taylor became a major player and eventually took control of the government in 1997 following a bloody insurgency in the capital.
US marines were deployed to protect the US embassy and personnel. Nigerian military troops pushed into the conflict. By 2003, more than fifteen thousand UN peacekeeping soldiers were active in Liberia. The power of the government was reduced to a minimum, and the warlord president Taylor was allowed asylum in Nigeria and later brought before the UN court in The Hague for war crimes against humanity. In the end, more than two hundred thousand people were killed and the country was devastated. With UN troops bringing stability, the 2005 presidential election brought Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, an economist with a Harvard degree. She became the first elected female head of state in Africa.
Poverty and the lack of goods and services have been a persistent problem for the people of Liberia. An agrarian society, few global corporations have made investments because of the long-standing civil war. As was true for Sierra Leone and other African countries such as Angola, the diamond trade helped fund the civil war. Diamonds from Sierra Leone had an estimated export value of more than \$300 million annually in 2010. Diamonds from these countries are often called blood diamonds because of their use as currency to fund death and destruction. The concept of blood diamonds originated in the civil war in Angola years earlier. The UN banned the export of blood diamonds from Liberia during the war and finally lifted the ban in 2007. Looting and corruption by warlords and military forces pillaged the country’s other resources, leaving most of the population with few opportunities and advantages for the future.
Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire)
The former French colony of Ivory Coast is often referred to by its French name: Côte d’Ivoire. Before independence in 1960, Ivory Coast was one of France’s most prosperous West African colonies. During the 1960s and 1970s, the economy grew, and its production of cocoa beans became the largest in the world. Its coffee production became the third highest in the world after Brazil and Colombia. Ivory Coast is the leading exporter of palm oil and pineapples in Africa. The potential for economic prosperity remains but has been diminished over the past two decades because of the economic downturn in commodity prices and political instability that resulted in a devastating civil war.
From 1960 to 1993, the country only had one political leader. Though this brought continuity to the government and the economy grew in the early years, authoritarian rule resulted in civil unrest and dissatisfaction with the conditions in the country. Coups in 1999 and 2001 triggered the beginning of political division. Rebel leaders from the northern part of the country challenged the government’s legitimacy and pushed for land reform and a change in citizenship qualifications. Rebel groups took over the northern regions and vied for control over the prime cocoa-growing lands. Fighters under warlords and militias from Sierra Leone and Liberia encroached on the western sectors to gain a foothold. By 2003, French troops patrolled the western border region to provide security and stability. The country experimented with a unity government, but this broke down when the rebel groups failed to disarm. By 2007 the government and rebel leaders from the north worked out an agreement to reunite the country and dismantle the dividing zone between the north and south. French and UN troops remain to help implement the peace process.
The people of Ivory Coast are highly diverse. Religious affiliations are evenly split between Muslim, Christian, and animist. The economic success in agricultural production and recent oil exploration have attracted people from neighboring countries seeking opportunities and advantages. After the 2007 political agreements, approximately 20 percent of the population was made up of immigrant workers from neighboring countries, which are predominantly Muslim. The small percentage of non-Africans are from France, Lebanon, Vietnam, and Spain. There are also a high number of missionaries from North American Protestant churches. Attacks against non-native-born citizens have occurred; qualification for citizenship is a major concern, and natural-born citizens often support stronger restrictions on nonnatives becoming citizens or holding political offices.
Ghana
Named after the former Ghana Empire, the region of the Gold Coast was home to the Ashanti kingdom, which thrived on the slave trade. Many of the European colonial powers had sought to build fortified beachheads on the coast and profit from the lucrative trade in slaves, gold, and ivory. In the end it was the British that dominated the region and established the Gold Coast colony. The push for independence came in 1957. Ghana was the first European colony to gain independence in Subsaharan Africa.
Ghana remains a poor country, but it is endowed with natural resources. Even with half the population employed in agriculture, the country is experiencing positive economic growth. Gold and other mining operations contribute to the economy. Individual remittances and foreign aid remain a necessary component of the country’s economic well being.
Kwame Nkrumah was the first prime minister and the first president. He advocated for a Pan-African concept that would pull the African countries together, oppose neocolonial activity, and increase trade and interaction within the African community. His ideas were welcome and are still celebrated, but his authoritarian rule brought about his downfall. In 1966, he was ousted in a military coup and exiled to Guinea. The political dynamics that followed were typical of the region: a pattern of corruption, coups, and authoritarian rule. It was not until 1981, when Jerry Rawlings came to power, that all political parties were banned and a new constitution was introduced. By 1992, the political parties were reinstated and the country began to experience political stability and democratic rule, which has endured to the present, making Ghana one of the most stable democracies in Subsaharan Africa.
Ghana is diverse in its people and in its physical geography. The physical terrain ranges from coastal plains and interior hills to the large Volta basin in the center. The Volta River was dammed up to produce hydroelectric power, resulting in the world’s largest artificial lake, Lake Volta, which covers a large portion of eastern Ghana. The cultural diversity is exemplified by many ethnic groups, more than eighty languages, and at least double that in the number of dialects spoken within the country. English is the official language and is used in all public education. Funding for education has been available, and the people have access to quality educational services and an increasing agenda of social services. Ghana is showing promise in providing its people with a stable and thriving prospect for growth and opportunities.
Burkina Faso (Formerly Upper Volta)
Upstream on the Volta River is the former French colony of Upper Volta. In 1960, the former French colony attained full independence, and its name was changed in 1984 to Burkina Faso, meaning “the country of honorable people.” Burkina Faso is a landlocked nation without a port city. The country lacks natural resources and has few industries. Subsistence agriculture is the main economic activity for about 90 percent of the population. Droughts and desertification continue because of overgrazing of the land and the natural southward shift of the Sahara Desert. Rainfall varies from forty inches in the south to only ten inches in the north. This is one of the poorest nations on Earth.
Political unrest and a series of military coups after independence have not provided stability. The current president has been in power since 1987 and continues to win in presidential elections. New limits may restrict his term in office past 2015. Many people seek employment in the neighboring countries of Ivory Coast and Ghana. This extremely poor nation occupies the second-to-last place on the UN’s human development index. At less than 25 percent, Burkina Faso has the lowest literacy rate in the world. The poor economy offers few resources to increase educational services.
Togo and Benin
Both Togo and Benin were French colonies at the time of independence. The Berlin Conference in 1884 accepted Germany’s control over the coastal region that became Togoland in 1905. After World War I, Germany lost this colony and the territory was administered between the British and the French. The French colony of Dahomey eventually became independent in 1960 and changed its name to the People’s Republic of Benin in 1975.
Togo and Benin are both elongated countries with major port cities on the Gulf of Guinea along the Atlantic coast. Benin is about the same size in area as Liberia or the US state of Kentucky. Benin is twice the size in physical area as Togo. The south is a few degrees cooler than the north, where the scrub forests and grasslands of the savanna-type landscape can be more arid, as it is closer to the African Transition Zone. A nature reserve and a national park in Benin’s northern portion attract tourists to see big game animals such as elephants, lions, and hippos in their natural environment. Both countries have a poor economy with most of the people working in agriculture. The political dynamics are similar to other West African states.
Nigeria
Africa’s most populous country is Nigeria. The exact population has been difficult to determine, but 2010 estimates report the population to be just short of 150 million. This is a country of more than 250 different ethnic groups with twice that many separate languages or dialects. English is the official language, along with Hausa, Yoruba, and Igbo (Ibo), all of which are spoken by ten million people or more. The distribution of the major ethnic groups is illustrated by the different regions of the country. Hausa groups are found mainly in the northern region, Kanuri groups in the northeast, Yoruba in the southwest, and Igbo (Ibo) in the southeast. Ethnic division has also caused serious confrontations and violence. In 1967, a separatist movement in the eastern Igbo region created the independent nation of Biafra. This sparked an all-out civil war that lasted more than two years and resulted in more than a million deaths. Political divisions did not end even after the two sides reconciled and the country was united under the same government in 1970. Political instability in Nigeria has resulted in an almost endless number of military coups and government leaders being removed from office.
The size and diversity of this country create a host of centrifugal forces that can bring about divisions along any number of cultural lines. Religious issues add to the political instability. The north is mainly Muslim, as it is located in the African Transition Zone. The south is mainly Christian. A large percentage of the population follows animist religions with many different traditional beliefs. Clashes have erupted in the streets that pit Muslims and Christians against each other. Several northern provinces have pushed to have the Sharia criminal code made into the area’s civil law. There are regions where it is not uncommon for people to have a mix Christian and animist beliefs.
Family size has been large in Nigeria, which has caused an exploding population. Statistically, Nigeria has more people of African heritage than any other country in the world. The population density is equivalent to having half the population of the United States pushed into an area the size of Texas and Oklahoma. Most of the population makes their living on subsistence agriculture, but millions are employed in the growing urban service sector. Nigeria’s main economic engine is the oil industry, which accounts for up to 80 percent of government revenues and is the number one export product. Nigeria is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and is one of the world’s top ten oil-exporting countries.
The lucrative oil business has attracted many seeking to share in the profits. The government’s distribution of oil revenues has brought about even more infighting, corruption, and mismanagement within the political leadership. Rebels and militant groups along the Niger Delta, where most of the oil activity is located, have attacked the oil industry’s infrastructure and taken workers hostage. They want a larger share of the revenues to remain in Nigeria and to go to their people rather than the government or CEOs of international corporations.
Poverty, a low standard of living, the lack of opportunities and advantages, a poor educational system, or the lack of social services does not diminish the human spirit. Confronting all these issues and more, the people of West Africa and Nigeria are vibrant, energetic, and hard working and value the institutions of family and religion. Just because they have not transitioned to a consumer society does not mean they cannot find fulfillment and happiness in their lives. A survey conducted by social scientists in 2001 and reported by BBC News in 2003, indicated that Nigeria had the highest percentage of happy people of any country in the world at that time. The status of each country may change from year to year, but the interesting part is that the survey confirmed that money or income level does not always equate to happiness. Countries such as Nigeria, with a low level of per-capita income, can still highly value their heritage and the traditions that revolve around their family and community and transcend the global push for economic gain and the possession of consumer items. Much can be said for the vibrant cultural attributes of the people of West Africa and its developing countries.
Key Takeaways
• Most of West Africa lies in the African Transition Zone, with portions north and south of the transitional region. Dry, desert conditions exist to the north and tropical conditions exist to the south.
• The main economic activity in the region is subsistence agriculture. Minerals, diamonds, or oil are also extracted in varying amounts in West Africa.
• West Africa has a large number of independent states that share similar economic qualities of poverty with rapidly expanding populations. Foreign aid and international assistance have been extensive.
• The transition from colony to independent nation has not been without serious political conflicts. Bloody civil wars, military coups, and political unrest have plagued the region.
• In spite of the political difficulties, poverty and the lack of resources, the people of West Africa hold vibrant cultural values that revolve around family and religion. The diversity of languages, religious beliefs, and rich cultural traditions provide an African heritage that is celebrated and valued by its people.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What has been the general political pattern after independence in West Africa?
2. Which country has the highest number of ethnic groups? What are the four main ethnic groups there?
3. Why are Senegal and the Gambia two separate countries? What river flows through this area?
4. How do most of the people in West Africa make a living?
5. What are blood diamonds? What two countries in West Africa have had civil wars based on them?
6. How did Liberia become a country? Why was Liberia never colonized by Europeans?
7. With more than eighty indigenous languages, why is English the official language of Ghana?
8. What was the Pan-African concept, and how did it affect West Africa?
9. How have natural resources contributed to the wealth of the region?
10. How will these countries address their high population growth in the future?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Cameroon Highlands
• Gambia River
• Lake Volta
• Niger Delta
• Timbuktu
• Volta River
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/07%3A_Subsaharan_Africa/7.03%3A_West_Africa.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the attributes of the Central African countries.
2. Outline the major armed conflicts in the region and why they are occurring.
3. Explain how local culture and tradition remain evident in the daily lives of Central African people.
4. Understand the role of women in Central Africa.
Central African Republics
Central Africa covers a large physical area that can range from desert conditions to the north in Chad to tropical rain forests and mountains in the equatorial region of The Congo. The entire region is roughly the same size as the United States west of the Mississippi River. The countries included in the region vary with different organizations or geographic perspectives; in this textbook, the countries include Cameroon, Congo, Chad, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Congo (Zaire), Rwanda, and Burundi. Located off the west coast of Central Africa is the small twin island country of São Tomé and Príncipe. Burundi and Rwanda are often included in the region of East Africa, but their connection to the Congo makes them more relevant to the Central African region for the purposes of this textbook.
The equator runs through the middle of Central Africa. Type A climates are dominant in the region, complete with tropical rain forests and jungle environments. In the north is the African Transition Zone, which runs through Chad. In Chad, the arid region of the Sahara Desert transitions into the humid tropics. Central Africa usually only includes portions of Subsaharan Africa south of the African Transition Zone. Southern Chad exhibits qualities similar to Central Africa, and the northern areas exhibit qualities similar to North Africa or the northern regions of Niger, Mali, or Mauritania.
The physical geography varies with each country in Central Africa. The most prominent physical landscape is the tropical rain forests of the equatorial region. Highlands can be found in both the western and eastern regions of Central Africa. The Cameroon Highlands are a product of a geologic rift in tectonic plates that created São Tomé and Príncipe, the island portion of Equatorial Guinea, and the mountainous portions of the mainland on the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. There are a number of volcanoes in Cameroon. The only currently active volcano and the highest in elevation is Mt. Cameroon, at more than thirteen thousand feet. Mt. Cameroon emitted a cloud of carbon dioxide in 1986, killing more than 1,700 people. The volcano last erupted in 2000. In the crater of one of the volcanic peaks is Lake Nyos (Mount Cameroon).
Lake Chad in the north is a large, shallow body of water that lies on the border of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon. The size of Lake Chad varies widely because it expands and contracts with the seasonal variations in precipitation. Lake Chad provides water for local livestock and fishing for millions of people. Its location on the border of four countries has caused political infighting over local water rights, which are valuable commodities in such an arid climate. The average depth of Lake Chad ranges from five to thirty five feet. Climatic conditions and diversion of the lake for human purposes have caused the water to recede. If these conditions continue, the lake might virtually disappear by the end of the twenty-first century, which would have disastrous effects on both the human population around the lake and the biodiversity. Waterfowl, crocodiles, fish, and a host of other creatures depend on Lake Chad for their survival, and its loss would create an environmental catastrophe.
On the eastern border of the Congo is a portion of the Great Rift Valley, which extends from Southern Africa in Mozambique to Lebanon in the Middle East. Lake Tanganyika and Lake Albert are two of the larger lakes in Central Africa along the western section of the Great Rift Valley. Lake Tanganyika is more than 418 miles long and runs the entire length of the boundary between the Congo and Tanzania. These are deepwater lakes. Lake Tanganyika is the world’s second-deepest lake, with a depth of 4,800 feet. Because of its depth, it is also the world’s second-largest lake by volume after Lake Baikal in Russia, which has the record for both volume and depth.
Fish and fresh water from Lake Tanganyika support millions of people who make their living directly from the lake’s resources or who live in the surrounding area. The Great Rift Valley is bordered by high mountains such as the Rwenzori Range and its highlands, which include active volcanoes. A number of volcanoes are located in the Congo, not far from the border with Rwanda. In 2002, Mt. Nyiragongo, a volcano with an elevation of 11,358 feet in the eastern highlands of the Congo, experienced a series of eruptions that killed a few dozen people, destroyed thousands of buildings, and caused the evacuation of as many as four hundred thousand people. Various volcanoes in this range have active lava lakes in their craters at their peaks.
At the heart of Central Africa are the massive Congo River and all its tributaries. It is the deepest river system in the world and has some stretches that run more than seven hundred feet deep, providing habitats for a wide range of organisms and fish species. The Congo River basin is second only to the size of the Amazon basin in South America. Home to Africa’s largest tropical rain forest, this region is host to a massive variety of plant and animal species, which create an extensive environmental resource base. Human activity has been encroaching on this valuable environmental region filled with extensive biodiversity. Logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, and civil war have devastated large areas of the Congo basin, resulting in the loss of habitat for many tropical species.
Deforestation activities have been on the rise in Central Africa and the Congo basin. Endangered primates such as chimpanzees and gorillas, along with monkeys and game animals, have struggled to adjust to the shrinkage of their habitat and the decline of their population. The endangered mountain gorillas in the northern region of the highlands have gained attention through the efforts of professional scientists such as Dian Fossey who have attempted to understand and preserve their ecosystems. Mountain gorillas have been dwindling in numbers because of poaching, civil war, and hunting. It will take concerted preservation activities for gorillas to survive in their native habitat.
Conflicts and Unrest in Central Africa
The two landlocked countries of Chad and the Central African Republic have endured unstable conditions in their transitions to independent, stable democratic states. Chad had been in dispute with Libya over the Aozou Strip bordering their two countries, an area deemed rich in minerals and uranium, but in 1994, Chad was awarded sovereignty over the Aozou Strip by the United Nations (UN) International Court of Justice. Chad is a temporary home of more than 250,000 refugees from the ethnic cleansing campaign in the Darfur region of the Sudan. Thousands more from the Central African Republic have sought refuge in Chad. Meanwhile, Chad’s government has been plagued with corruption and mismanagement, a state of affairs that has hampered its efforts to offer humanitarian aid to its refugees. Similarly, the Central African Republic is troubled by a history of unstable and short-lived democratic governments. Military coups and transitional governments are frequent. Civil unrest erupts into chaos. Rebel groups control large parts of the countryside. It is difficult for the people to access reliable public services such as health care, education, and transportation systems when the government is not functioning adequately.
Cameroon and Gabon have more stable governments than Chad or the Central African Republic. Still, they are not without political issues. Cameroon was a German colony as a result of the Berlin Conference of 1884 where the colonial European countries divided up Africa. It remained so until after World War I, when it was divided between the British and the French. Finally, in 1961, the two sides were merged into one country under one government. The two hundred or so different ethnic groups place pressure on the government to address social concerns. Even though the government has become stable more recently, social pressures between traditional groups and groups with a European colonial background have erupted into social unrest. The European Anglo factions have gone so far as to threaten to separate the once-British portion and secede from Cameroon.
Formerly a French colony, Gabon has transitioned to independence successfully. The country’s small population of about 1.5 million people, along with adequate natural resources, has facilitated Gabon’s development into a country with a relatively stable democratic government and a higher standard of living. Gabon is geared toward attracting more foreign investments and continues to progress forward in the index of economic development. As of 2010, Gabon was edging toward stage 3, the highest level in Central Africa for a country as a whole.
Equatorial Guinea and the island nation of São Tomé and Príncipe are small countries on the west coast of Central Africa. Serious violence erupted in the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea after it gained independence in 1968. The first elected president governed through authoritarian rule, and after a few years in office, he unleashed a reign of terror that resulted in the death of more than one-third of the population and totally neglected the country’s public service sector and infrastructure. He was overthrown and executed by his successor, who then implemented authoritarian measures to make sure he would remain in power and continue to control all the revenues from the extensive oil activity in the offshore waters around his country. The billions in oil revenues have remained in the hands of the president and his family-controlled cabinet. Equatorial Guinea is Subsaharan Africa’s third-largest oil exporter; however, most of the country’s citizens have benefited little from the vast wealth of the lucrative oil industry.
The former Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Príncipe consists of two small islands off the coast of Gabon. The islands received their independence in 1975, but that’s when their problems in establishing a stable government began. Political turmoil delayed the arrival of democratic reforms for a decade. Elections for leadership were not held until 1991, and after the elections, leadership changed repeatedly because of political infighting. In 1995 and 2003, two coups were attempted without success. The democratic process has been complicated by offshore oil discovery, which has brought an influx of outside workers and media attention to the country. Multinational oil companies have begun to invest heavily in the development of oil production in the region.
Rwanda has been severely affected by the difficulties typically associated with the transition between colony and independent nation. Ethnic divisions manipulated by the colonial masters erupted to challenge the country’s stability and future. The division between the Tutsis and the Hutus has deep historic roots. In 1994, the centuries-old conflict between the two ethnic groups erupted into violence of unprecedented proportions and resulted in the senseless killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. The Hutus amassed large militias and took revenge on the Tutsis for years of oppression. Hutu militias rounded up and killed all Tutsis, moderates, and anyone not supporting the Hutu cause. The killing of hundreds of thousands of people continued from city to city throughout the countryside. Within a few months, the genocide is estimated to have caused the death of as many as a million people.
The atrocities of the Rwandan genocide extended across the population. Men, women, and children were encouraged to kill their neighbors by hacking them to death with machetes. If they refused to comply, they themselves were threatened with death. Victims were herded into schools and churches, where they were massacred and the buildings would be burned to the ground. As people fled the region, the number of Tutsi refugees entering neighboring countries ballooned to more than a million.
Tutsi rebels finally gained strength, defeated the Hutu militias, and ended the slaughter. Fearing retribution for the more than one million Tutsis who had been massacred, more than a million defeated Hutus fled as refugees across the borders into Uganda, Burundi, the Congo, Uganda, and Tanzania. Refugee camps housing thousands of people each were hastily constructed without proper sanitation or supplies of drinking water. Diseases such as cholera and dysentery swept through the camps and killed thousands of refugees. The country of Rwanda was left divided and devastated.
The aftermath of the genocide and conflict continues to incite civil unrest and political division in Rwanda. The search for common ground between the different ethnic groups is divisive and conflict ridden. Now Tutsi leaders dominate the Rwandan government.
The entire Central African region was devastated by the massive shifts of refugees and the brutal killing of so many people. The competition for the control of resources and the increase in military arms along the Zairian border became a major component of the civil war that plagued the Congo (Zaire) during the same period. Up to five million people died in the Congo because of warfare, disease, and starvation. The wars in the Congo involved military actions by the Tutsis from the Rwandan and Ugandan governments and Hutu militias.
The small country of Burundi also has been caught up in the conflicts in Rwanda and the Congo. Germany claimed the region of Burundi as a colony in the European scramble for Africa’s resources. After World War I, they handed Burundi over to Belgium. Burundi and Rwanda were both part of Belgium’s African colonial empire and were together called Ruanda-Urundi. The two countries were later separated. Burundi achieved independence in 1962. Unfortunately, the ethnic conflict between the Hutus and the Tutsis that tore apart Rwanda in the genocidal war in 1994 had also plagued Burundi. In 1965, the military was controlled by Tutsi leadership. When the Hutus revolted, they were repressed. The entire government came under Tutsi control. Hutu attacks in 1972 resulted in a systematic retaliation by the Tutsis that killed approximately 200,000 Hutus and forced another 150,000 to flee the country. Civil unrest between these two groups continues to plague the political and social structures of Burundi.
The names of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (a former Belgian colony) and the Republic of the Congo (a former French colony) are confusing. At one point after they had become independent, both countries chose the name Republic of Congo. To keep them straight, they were commonly referred to by their respective capital cities—that is, Congo-Leopoldville (the larger eastern country, also known as Zaire) and Congo-Brazzaville (the smaller western country). The larger former Belgian colony has since become simply The Congo or is referred to unofficially as the Belgian Congo, and the smaller former French colony has become Congo. In 1966, Joseph Mobutu, the political leader of the Congo, officially changed the nation’s name to Democratic Republic of the Congo. In 1971, the name was changed to the Republic of Zaire. In 1997, after a bitter civil war and the overthrow of Mobutu, the new president, Laurent Kabila, changed Zaire back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, often referred to as the Congo. To keep the two names separate, many refer to the Congo as Congo-Zaire.
The confusing name situation exemplifies the difficulties and changes in government leadership that have transpired since colonial times in the two countries. The former French colony to the west side of the Congo River has survived with fewer conflicts than its eastern neighbor but has not escaped civil war. From 1997 to 1999, Congo had a harsh civil war, and the end result was the overthrow of a democratically elected president and the installation of a former president. Tens of thousands are reported to have been killed. Related conflicts erupted in various regions that extended into 2003 before they were finally resolved.
The former Belgian colony of The Congo is nearly as large as the United States east of the Mississippi River and is a challenge to govern. The population—distributed between about 250 different ethnic groups and about as many languages—was estimated at about seventy million in 2010. Authoritarian rule from political leaders such as Mobutu from 1965 to 1997 polarized the country’s many factions and played world leaders against each other. The Congo acted as a swing state in the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. As mentioned, Mobutu changed the name of the country and pillaged the country’s finances for personal gain. He stashed away for himself billions of dollars in public funds in foreign bank accounts that should have been spent on the people of the country.
The two wars in The Congo has resulted in the highest number of deaths since World War II. The First Congo War (1996 to 1997) occurred when President Mobutu was overthrown by militant forces led by rebel leader Kabila, who was a long-standing political opponent of Mobutu and was backed by Ugandan and Rwandan militant groups. Mobutu was eventually forced from office and fled the country. Kabila declared himself president and changed the official title of the country from Zaire back to Democratic Republic of the Congo. This transition in political power caused a shift in the militant rebel groups, which created the conditions for the Second Congo War (1998 to 2003), which was even more brutal than the first. The assassination of President Kabila in 2001 permitted his adopted son Joseph Kabila to take power and run the country up to the present.
The Second Congo War raged through the Congo, bringing destruction to the country and the deaths of millions of people. Besides political control of the country, a main objective of the combatants was to dominate the resource-rich eastern sector of the country, where valuable reserves of zinc, diamonds, copper, and gold can be found in the eastern region. Before the war ended, the surrounding countries of Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Uganda, and Rwanda had troops fighting on one side or the other. The civil war formally ended in 2003 when rebel groups and the government worked out a shared political arrangement. Many rebel groups remained engaged in the eastern region of the Congo long after the agreement was reached. The total number of deaths resulting from the civil wars in the Congo was estimated in 2008 at about 5.4 million—the majority by the war and the remaining by disease or starvation (AmericanRenaissance.com).
Armed military conflicts in the Congo did not end with the Second Congo War. Conflicts continue in the eastern region. These armed confrontations are often referred to as the Kivu conflict because they are taking place in the provinces of North and South Kivu in the Congo’s eastern region along the borders with Rwanda and Burundi. Rebels are fighting against forces from the Congo and Rwanda. As recently as 2009, fighting continued deep in the interior of Central Africa near the Rwandan border between various militias. Such conflicts are not widely reported by news outlets in core areas such as the United States.
People in the Congo are still dying because of the devastation of the war. Those not killed in actual warfare are dying of hunger and disease where food, medicine, and health care are not available. The death rate in 2008 was estimated to be as high as forty-five thousand people per month in the eastern and central regions—many of them children. Survivors of the bloody civil war report horrendous terrorist campaigns conducted by various militias that used mass rape, mutilation, and torture as a means of control and social pressure. The UN had more than eighteen thousand troops in the Congo as of 2007 to help curb the civil unrest and militant activities.
Understanding that most wars are fought over the control of resources is a major step in comprehending the conflicts in Central Africa. The conflicts in the Congo are likely to continue because of vast caches of mineral wealth in the country that have yet to be extracted. Economic pressure to control the extraction activities of saleable raw materials is often the driving force behind rebel groups in places such as the Congo. Local factions usually sell the raw materials for prices well below market value.
The sale of precious minerals such as cobalt, coltan, gold, and diamonds has helped fund the wars in the Congo. The country produces more cobalt ore than any other country in the world. Cobalt is a valued metal used in aircraft engines, medical implants, and high-performance batteries. The major mining operations for cobalt ore are located in the southeastern Katanga state, where there are also large reserves of copper.
Coltan is a mineral that tantalum comes from, which is highly prized for its use in capacitors for electronic circuits. Tantalum is found in most modern electronic devices in high demand worldwide, from video game systems to cell phones. Most of the coltan in the world comes from mines in the Congo in the eastern Kiva regions. The eastern region is also home to a high percentage of the world’s industrial diamond reserves. Other minerals and ores are also found in abundance in the region. The sale of precious gems and rare minerals can bring huge profits, but the wealth seldom reaches the hands of those that labor in the mines in the extraction process.
Learning about the geopolitics of Central Africa is critical to developing an understanding of how colonial activity gave shape to Central African countries and why multinational corporations are now highly involved in creating the demand and markets for the resources found there. The core economic regions of the world require the raw materials and resources that are extracted from peripheral places such as the Congo to fuel their economic activities and to bring profits to their shareholders. The core economic players in the global markets are also some of the largest arms manufacturers that sell weapons to the local factions involved in the battle for control of the valuable resources. Globalization connects the core to the periphery. In resource-rich places such as the Congo, this relationship is only going become more interactive.
The Other Side of Life in Central Africa
Sports and entertainment seem to be a universal human activity. Football (American soccer) is the dominant sport in the Central African states. Football can be found in even the poorest areas. The low-cost sport is accessible to most citizens of each country. Other traditional sports include wrestling, archery, and track-and-field events. In Chad, for example, a type of freestyle wrestling in which the wrestlers wear animal hides and cover themselves with dust to prepare for the match is widely practiced. Canoe racing can be seen in Cameroon. Board games such as mancala, a count-and-capture African stone game, are also common. Western-style sports such as basketball, baseball, and cricket are played in many of the urban areas. Olympic sports are practiced in countries as skill, ability, and funding provides.
A great variety of cultural traditions spring from the thousands of ethnic groups, distinct languages, and different religious beliefs found in Africa. Cuisine and drink vary as widely as the people’s traditions and are important elements of any celebration or festivity. Every country has its own unique way of promoting and celebrating its cultural diversity. Even poor countries such as Chad possess a rich cultural heritage. Chad has opened its own Chad National Museum and the Chad Cultural Center. Rwanda, with its civil wars and ethnic divisions, still honors its holidays with ceremonies and celebrations. The people of Central Africa find time and energy to celebrate life.
Food and drink differ with location, but most African countries brew some type of beer or alcoholic beverage. Ginger and honey beers are commonly brewed. Local resources, customs, and tastes determine the types of beer brewed in a particular region. In Cameroon, palm wine or millet beers are the traditional mealtime drinks. In Burundi, when close friends gather, they may drink beer from a large container, each with his or her own straw, as a symbol of unity. Popular in the Subsaharan side of Chad is a red millet beer called billi-billi. Beer brewed from white millet in Chad is called coshate. The Muslim populations in most countries do not traditionally consume alcohol, but alcoholic beverages are more common south of the African Transition Zone, where there is a mainly Christian population.
Many rural and urban women in the Central African Republic transform food crops into beverages for sale in the informal economy. Hard liquor and beer are common products that can be brewed or distilled from grains, sorghum, or other local crops. For religious reasons, some people do not drink alcoholic beverages. Juices and soft drinks are available as well as coffee and tea, which are the more traditional beverages of the region. Coffee is grown in the tropics, a climate prevalent in many of the countries in Subsaharan Africa. Coffee or tea is a major export product of almost all the Central African countries. In many areas, tea was introduced through colonial diffusion and has become not only a preferred beverage but an export product. Coffee has been the number one export product of Rwanda and Burundi for many years. Neighboring Uganda is the third-largest coffee producer in Africa after Ethiopia and Ivory Coast; all three are among the top dozen coffee producers in the world.
The cuisines of Central Africa can be as diverse as each local population, but they have retained much of their local tastes and flavors based on available ingredients. The slave trade introduced items that are now quite common, such as chili peppers, peanuts, and cassavas. Nevertheless, food preparation is based mainly on traditional methods. Plantains and cassavas are mainstays often served with spicy sauces and grilled meat. Tomatoes, onions, and spinach are common ingredients. Root crops of yams, sweet potatoes, and maniocs are widely served. Fruits and vegetables are popular. Specialty stews are choice entrees that may contain ginger, okra, chicken, and various spices. Bambara is a favorite sugary porridge with peanuts and rice that is common in Central Africa. Traditional meats of chicken, goat, or beef are universal, but wild game such as antelope, monkey, crocodile, or whatever is available is widespread. Fish is a main protein source served with other spicy dishes or dried to be eaten later.
The Role of Women
Women’s issues remain a concern in Central Africa regarding social equality, economic development, and population growth. The treatment of women reflects the attitudes and traditions of a society. Attitudes and traditions vary with location and with the cultural heritage of an ethnic group indigenous to a given area. Most of the Central African countries in are male dominated, a trend that can be witnessed in local activities or sports, in the construction of the government, or in the sex ratio of the business sector. With an average family size of five or more, few opportunities exist for women to break out of their traditional roles within their culture and receive a secondary education or enter a professional field of employment.
The Central African region has different types of marriages that vary from country to country. Some traditional societies still arrange their children’s marriages, but this practice is becoming less common as tradition confronts more contemporary views. Marriages between two people with different ethnic backgrounds are becoming more widespread in the urban areas. Cities are places where people with diverse backgrounds come together to live and work, which can lead to an increase in mixed marriages. Cosmopolitan areas are also more likely to have connections with outside cultures through media and communication technology and might be more tolerant of diverse traditions.
One of the marriage traditions that exists in regions of Central Africa is polygamy, which is the practice of a man or a woman having more than one spouse. In Africa, as in most places in the world, it is far more likely for a man to have more than one spouse than for a woman to have more than one spouse. Polygamy is practiced in areas where traditional beliefs allow it. Approximately 30 to 40 percent of women in the Central African Republic are in polygamous unions. The law sanctions polygamy as long as spouses are aware of the arrangement and agree to it before they marry. In Cameroon, both monogamous and polygamous marriages are practiced. The average family is large and extended. Monogamous relationships are the standard in Christian areas such as Burundi and in more contemporary urban societies.
Women caring for large families do not always have the opportunity to earn an education or obtain the training required for employment opportunities or professional positions. Circumstances shaped by culture, tradition, or economic necessity are not necessarily supportive of women advancing in the private or public sectors. Even if the legal code of the country does not discriminate against women, traditional practices and the social status of men often keep women from making socioeconomic strides. Many societies are male dominated, and violence against women is still common and even accepted in Central Africa.
Figure 7.37 Congo Woman Weaving
One of the worst cases of violence and discrimination against women exists in the eastern regions of the Congo, where abuse against women, including sexual violence and rape, is listed by UN humanitarian officials as the worst in the world. The civil wars in the Congo have created a difficult climate for women, often with tragic results. Violence against women has become an accepted practice in some areas. During the Congo wars, women were often raped and taken as slaves to serve the soldiers. If and when the women were released from captivity, it was not uncommon for them to commit suicide. Improvements in health care, education, and child care are needed to improve living circumstances for women and may in turn positively affect population growth in the region.
Key Takeaways
• Central Africa covers a large physical area about the size of the United States west of the Mississippi River. Most of the region is in the tropics and has a type A climate.
• Central Africa is a relatively poor region economically. National wealth has been garnered traditionally from the export of food crops such as coffee or tea but more recently from mineral and oil extraction.
• The civil war in Rwanda in 1994 was the result of conflict between the Tutsi and Hutu ethnic groups. The historic division was manipulated by colonial powers and erupted into brutal violence that led to the death of as many as a million innocent people; nearly as many refugees took shelter in neighboring countries.
• The civil wars in the Congo are based on political control as well as control over valuable resources in the eastern states. The two main Congo wars resulted in an estimated 5.4 million deaths from either direct military conflict or the devastation that resulted through starvation and disease.
• Central Africa resonates with cultural and ethnic diversity. Hundreds of ethnic groups live and work together with a high degree of interaction. Traditional cuisine and beverages such as coffee, tea, or beer can be found throughout the region.
• Women’s issues range from cosmopolitan in the urban areas, where mixed marriages are common, to harsh conditions in which violence and abuse is commonplace. Large family sizes and male-dominated traditions make it difficult for women to transition to positions of equality.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main physical geographic features in Central Africa?
2. What is unique about Lake Chad and Lake Tanganyika? How are they different?
3. What caused the Rwandan civil war? Which two groups were in conflict?
4. What caused the First and Second Congo Wars? Why does the Kivu conflict exist?
5. What is the relationship between the poor, remote peripheral regions of the Congo and the core economic areas of the world with high standards of living and urban lifestyles?
6. What are some of the food and beverage choices for people in Central Africa?
7. Are there any differences between marriage traditions in the Central African Republic and where you live?
8. What are some of the main women’s issues in Central Africa?
9. What is the relationship between family size and women’s issues?
10. Which country in Central Africa has the highest standard of living and a stable government?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Aozou Strip
• Cameroon Highlands
• Congo River
• Great Rift Valley
• Lake Albert
• Lake Chad
• Lake Tanganyika
• Rwenzori Range
Activities
1. Find out what is occurring at the present time in the countries of Rwanda and the Congo in regard to armed conflicts and civil war.
2. Search to see if any news is available where you live about current affairs in Central Africa.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/07%3A_Subsaharan_Africa/7.04%3A_Central_Africa.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the physical layout and features of East Africa, including the Great Rift Valley.
2. Outline the significance that the wildlife and natural beauty of vast regions such as the Serengeti have for the economic activities of the region.
3. Explain how each country in East Africa is different from the others and what geographic attributes they have in common.
4. Analyze the affect the African Transition Zone has had on the Horn of Africa.
5. Learn how and why the country of Somalia is divided into several political regions and what difficulties Somalia has to contend with.
Physical Geography
East Africa is a region that begins in Tanzania in the south and extends north through the great grasslands and scrub forest of the savannas of Kenya and Uganda and then across the highlands of Ethiopia, including the Great Rift Valley. The region also comprises the countries of Somalia, Djibouti, and Eritrea, which are located in the African Transition Zone between North Africa and Subsahran Africa. Rwanda and Burundi are physically in East Africa but are covered in the lesson about Central Africa because of their border activities with the Congo. The world’s second-largest lake by surface area is Lake Victoria, which borders Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. (Lake Superior, on the border between the United States and Canada, is considered the lake with the largest surface area.) Lake Victoria provides fish and fresh water for millions of people in the surrounding region. The White Nile starts at Lake Victoria and flows north to the city of Khartoum in Sudan, where it converges with the Blue Nile to become the Nile River. The source of the Blue Nile is Lake Tana in the highlands of Ethiopia.
The highest mountain in Africa, Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,340 feet), is located in Tanzania near the border with Kenya. The second highest peak, Mt. Kenya (17,058 feet), located just north of the country’s capital of Nairobi, near the equator, is the source of Kenya’s name. Both mountains are inactive volcanoes and have permanent snow at their peaks. They provide fresh water, which flows down their mountainsides, to the surrounding areas. Mountain ranges in the Western Highlands of the Congo have a greater effect on climate than these two massive peaks. For example, the Rwenzori Mountains on the Congo–Uganda border have permanent snow and glaciers and reach elevations of more than sixteen thousand feet. These ranges create a rain shadow effect that cuts off moisture for the region from the westerly equatorial winds.
This same effect is created by the highlands of Ethiopia, which reach as high as fifteen thousand feet in elevation and restrict precipitation in areas to the east. The lower level of rainfall transforms much of the region from a tropical rain forest into a savanna-type landscape with few forests, more open grasslands, and sporadic trees. Dry desert-like conditions can be found in a number of places along the Great Rift Valley.
The Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley provides evidence of a split in the African Plate, dividing it into two smaller tectonic plates: the Somalian Plate and the Nubian Plate. The Great Rift Valley in East Africa is divided into the Western Rift and the Eastern Rift. The Western Rift runs along the border with the Congo. A series of deepwater lakes run along its valley. On the western edge of the Western Rift are the highlands, which have a series of high-elevation mountain ranges, including the Rwenzori Mountains, the highest in the series. The Virunga Mountains on the Congo–Uganda border are home to endangered mountain gorillas. The Western Rift includes a series of deepwater lakes, such as Lake Tanganyika, Lake Edward, and Lake Albert. Lake Victoria is located between the Western Rift and the Eastern Rift.
The Eastern Rift does not have deepwater lakes; rather, it is a wide valley or basin with shallow lakes that do not have outlets. The lakes have higher levels of sodium carbonate and mineral buildup because of a high rate of evaporation. The differences in water composition of the lakes along the Eastern Rift vary from freshwater to extremely alkaline. Alkaline water creates an ideal breeding ground for algae and other species of fish, such as tilapia, which thrive in this environment. Millions of birds feed off the abundant supply of algae and fish. Birds attract other wildlife, which in turn creates a unique set of environmental ecosystems. The eastern edge of the Eastern Rift is home to the inactive volcanic peaks of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya. A number of other volcanic peaks are present in the Eastern Rift, such as Ol Doinyo Lengai, an active volcano.
The erosion patterns of the highlands have caused a buildup of sediments on the rift valley floor, creating a favorable environment for the preservation of biological remains, including both human and animal remains. Important fossils and bones of several hominid species have been found in the Great Rift Valley. One of the most famous finds came in 1974 when the nearly complete skeleton of an australopithecine nicknamed “Lucy.” Lucy was discovered by anthropologist Donald Johanson. Noted anthropologists Richard and Mary Leakey have also done significant work in this region. Since the 1970s, remains of hominids from about ten million years ago were discovered in the northern region of the Great Rift Valley. Discoveries at the thirty-mile-long Olduvai Gorge indicate that early hominid species might have lived in the region for millions of years.
Serengeti and Game Reserves
The Great Rift Valley and the surrounding savannas in Kenya and Tanzania are home to some of the largest game reserves in Africa, with a broad variety of big game animals. One of these large regions is the vast Serengeti Plain, located in northern Tanzania and southern Kenya. The governments of Tanzania and Kenya maintain national parks, national game reserves, and wildlife sanctuaries in their countries, most notably in the Serengeti Plain. Legal protection for as much as 80 percent of the Serengeti has been provided. The protections restrict hunting and commercial agriculture and provide protection status for the wildlife. The word Serengeti means “Endless Plains.”
The Serengeti Plain is host to an extraordinary diversity of large mammals and fauna. The largest migration of land animals in the world occurs in the Serengeti. Every fall and spring, as many as two million wildebeests, antelope, and other grazing animals migrate from the northern hills to the southern plains in search of grass and food. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Ngorongoro Crater are located on the Tanzanian side of the border. The enormous crater is the basin of an extinct volcano that has been transformed into a protected national park for the animals that graze on the grassy plains. This is a dry region because the Ngorongoro Highlands create a rain shadow for the area.
Dozens of other protected areas throughout Eastern Africa have been established in an effort to protect and sustain the valuable ecosystems for the large animals that have found their habitat encroached upon elsewhere by the ever-expanding human population. Kenya has more than fifty-five nationally protected areas that serve as parks, reserves, or sanctuaries for wildlife. The Amboseli National Reserve and Mt. Kenya National Park are two of the more well-known protected areas. The “big five” game animals—elephants, rhinoceroses, lions, leopards, and buffalo—and all the other unique animals found in the same ecosystems, translate into economic income from tourists from around the world that wish to experience this type of environment. The national park systems in Uganda and Ethiopia have made provisions to provide more sanctuaries for wildlife in areas where the human population is growing and the political situation has not always been stable.
Tanzania
Germany gained control of the region of what is now Tanzania in their scramble for African territory in the late 1800s. Germany relinquished the colony to Britain after World War I. Off the coast of East Africa is the island of Zanzibar, which has been an island trading post for centuries and drew in shipping trade from the Middle East, India, and other parts of Africa. The spice trade attracted European ships throughout colonial times. During British occupation, the mainland region was called Tanganyika, named after the large lake on the eastern edge. In 1960, the colony gained independence from Great Britain, and four years later Zanzibar and Tanganyika came together to form the country of Tanzania. Zanzibar remains an important travel destination; major tourism infrastructure has been developed there. The coastal city of Dar es Salaam is the primate city of the country and acts as the capital. In 1996, Dodoma was declared the official capital. Dodoma is a type of forward capital, because the declaration of Dodoma as the official capital was intended to move the political power inland, toward the country’s center. The parliament meets in Dodoma, but major government offices remain in Dar es Salaam, making Dar es Salaam the de facto capital of the country.
Tanzania is an agricultural country; as much as 80 percent of the people make their living off the land. The rural nature of the population signifies that the country is at the lower end of the index of economic development with larger families and lower incomes. An emphasis on tourism is a growing trend in Tanzania. The government has stepped up efforts to expand the tourism sector of the economy. Oil and natural gas exploration has also been emphasized in hopes of raising the level of national wealth.
There are more than one hundred ethnic groups in Tanzania. Swahili, an indigenous language, is the lingua franca, and English is used in the higher legal courts and in the universities for higher education. Swahili is used as a second language throughout much of East Africa and serves as a major cultural connection between the many ethnic groups. Tanzania is unique in this aspect; an indigenous language—that is, Swahili—was chosen as the lingua franca rather than the colonial language. Most people learn at least two or three languages, depending on their circumstances. The religious balance of Tanzania’s population of more than forty million people is almost evenly split three ways between Christianity, Islam, and traditional religions.
Kenya
During colonial times, the British considered the land area now called Kenya to be a Crown protectorate area. The coastal city of Mombassa has been an international shipping port for centuries and is now the busiest port in the region. Persian, Arab, Indian, and even Chinese ships made port in Mombassa during its earliest years to take part in the lucrative trade of slaves, ivory, and spices. Portugal sought early control of the trade center but eventually lost out to Britain. Arab and Middle Eastern shippers brought Islam to the region; Europeans brought Christianity. Hinduism and Sikhism from India found their way into the country with workers brought over by the British to help build a railroad to Uganda. Kenya gained independence in 1963 and has worked throughout the latter part of the twentieth century to establish a stable democratic government.
Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, has become a central core urban area that serves the greater East African region as an economic hub for development and globalization. The largest city in the region, Nairobi is an ever-expanding city that draws in people from rural areas seeking opportunities and advantages. It also has become a destination for international corporations planning to expand business ventures into Africa. Kenya has experienced economic growth and decline as market prices and agricultural production have fluctuated. The Kenyan government has been working with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to support its economic reform initiatives and reduce waste and corruption in its fiscal processes. The countries of Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya developed the East African Community (EAC) as a trading bloc to support mutual development and economic partnerships.
Kenya has no one culture that identifies it. There are more than forty different ethnic groups in Kenya, each with its own unique cultural history and traditions. Of the many ethnic groups in Kenya, the Maasai have gained international attention and are often given wide exposure in tourism information. The Maasai are a small minority of Kenya’s population but are known for wearing vivid attire and unique jewelry. Their historical lands have been the border region between Kenya and Tanzania. Cattle, a sign of wealth, have been at the center of Maasai traditions and culture and provide for their subsistence and livelihood. Tourism brings to the surface the diversity of cultures that coexist within Kenya’s environmental attractions, and the country is working to enhance its international draw in the tourism marketplace.
Uganda
Uganda is a small, landlocked country on the northern shores of Lake Victoria. The Western Rift borders it on the west, forming both high mountains and deep lakes. Lakes Albert, Edward, and George are three of the larger bodies of water. The Nile River flows out of Lake Victoria through Lake Kyoga and Lake Albert on its way north, providing an abundant fresh water supply and a transportation route. The Rwenzori Mountains and the Virunga Mountains shadow the country from the west. Mountain gorillas, an eastern gorilla subspecies, inhabit this region. They are extremely endangered: only about seven hundred mountain gorillas live in Africa. One of the two main populations of gorillas lives in the national parks of the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Congo. The second population is found only in a national park in Uganda. The lowland eastern gorilla population is also threatened; their population continues to decline. Poaching, habitat loss, disease, and warfare have devastated their populations in the past century.
Uganda is a poor country and has experienced serious political and ethnic conflicts in recent decades. In 1971, the brutal dictator Idi Amin sought to rid the country of his opponents and many foreigners. He killed many of Uganda’s own people and destroyed the economy in the process. He was ousted in 1979 and lived in exile in Saudi Arabia until his death. Uganda was in conflict with Sudan in the 1990s, during the bloody civil war in neighboring Rwanda. Uganda sided with the Tutsi groups in the region and has had to deal with ethnic division within its own borders. Uganda has many troops engaged in the conflict along the unstable border region of The Congo.
Uganda is an agrarian state with natural mineral wealth. The potential for added national wealth through mineral extraction exists, but there is no way to fund the extraction operations. Agriculture is the principal employment of Uganda’s labor force, and most workers earn fewer than two dollars per day US equivalent. Coffee has been and continues to be a main export crop. Uganda is about the same size in terms of land area as the US state of Wyoming, but whereas Uganda has an estimated population of more than thirty-two million people, Wyoming has fewer than half a million. Population growth without economic growth places a heavy strain on Uganda’s natural resources.
Ethiopia
With more than eighty-five million inhabitants, Ethiopia has the second-largest population in Africa; Nigeria has the largest population. Ethiopia was never colonized by the Europeans in the scramble for Africa, but during World War II, it suffered a brief occupation by Italy (1936–41). From 1930 to 1974, Emperor Haile Selassie ruled the country until he was deposed in a military coup. Many Rastafarians in Jamaica consider Selassie to be the second coming of Christ and a messiah for the African people. According to Rastafarian traditions, Ethiopia was the biblical Zion. After Selassie was deposed, the government shifted to a one-party Communist state. Successive years in Ethiopia were filled with massive uprisings, bloody coups, and devastating droughts, which brought about massive refugee problems and civil unrest. Famine in the 1980s caused the deaths of more than a million people. The Communist element in Ethiopia diminished when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The country’s first multiparty elections were held in 1995.
The region of Eritrea had been a part of a federation with Ethiopia. In 1993, Eritrea declared independence, sparking a boundary war with Ethiopia that eventually concluded in a peace treaty and independence in 2000. The final boundary is still disputed. The breaking off of Eritrea left Ethiopia a landlocked country with no port city.
The capital and largest city in Ethiopia is Addis Ababa, which is the center for various international organizations serving East Africa and Africa in general, such as the African Union and the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa. This city is the hub of activity for the country and for international aid for the region.
The Great Rift Valley bisects Ethiopia. Highlands dominate the northwest, and minor highlands exist southwest of the rift. The Ethiopian Plateau encompasses the Northwest Highlands and is home to Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. Elevations on the Ethiopian Plateau average more than 5,000 feet, and the highest peak, Ras Dashan, reaches up to 14,928 feet. The climate includes sporadic rain in early spring. The typical rainy season extends from June to September, but the rest of the year is usually dry. The high elevations of the highlands cause a rain shadow effect in the deep valleys or basins on the dry side of the region. Eastern Ethiopia is arid, with desert-like conditions. The impact of overpopulation on the natural environment has been deforestation and higher rates of soil erosion; thus continued loss of animal species is inevitable. Fortunately, Ethiopia has established natural parks and game reserves to protect wildlife and big game.
Ethiopia has been inhabited by divergent kingdoms and civilizations, giving rise to a rich heritage and many cultural traditions—so much so that Ethiopia is home to eight UNESCO World Heritage Sites. More than 60 percent of the population claims Christianity as its belief system; about 30 percent of the population is Muslim. Many traditional religions prevail in rural areas. In contrast to other African countries, Christianity came to Ethiopia directly from the Middle East rather than from European colonizers or missionaries from Western countries. In Ethiopia, Christianity was structured into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, a church that has endured through centuries. Religious tradition claims that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is in possession of the lost Ark of the Covenant, which once rested in the holy of holies in the great temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. However, no direct evidence supports this claim. Ethiopia does not use the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used in the most of the Western world; rather, Ethiopia uses a calendar based upon the calendar of the Coptic Christian Church, which is about eight years behind the Gregorian calendar because of differences in how the year is calculated and in differences in the dating of the life of Jesus.
The large and growing population of Ethiopia is made up of an array of ethnic groups. The three largest ethnic groups are Oromo (35 percent), Amhara (27 percent), and Tigray (6 percent). A number of minority ethnic groups make up the remaining 32 percent. The dominance of the Oromo, Amhara, and Tigray groups provides advantages when it comes to determining which language to use for primary education or in community politics in a region. At least eighty-four separate local languages are spoken in Ethiopia. The lingua franca for higher education and for common use is English. The tradition in many elementary schools is to use Amharic as the primary language for instruction, but this is breaking down as other languages increase in usage because of population increases.
Eritrea
Eritrea was an Italian colony before joining with Ethiopia in a federation in 1952. Since declaring independence in 1993, Eritrea has had a difficult time balancing positive economic growth with its border dispute with Ethiopia. The border war with Ethiopia drained this small, poor country of economic resources and destroyed valuable infrastructure. The agrarian culture and economic activities common in Africa also exist in Eritrea. Farming and raising livestock are the main activities of as much as 80 percent of its citizens. The government has controlled almost every aspect of business and industry within its command economy structure. In 2008, in an attempt to attract business and connect with global markets, the port city of Massawa opened a free-trade zone and has been attracting business connections. Mineral extraction is being explored by multinational corporations, and various foreign governments have been working to establish stronger ties.
Eritrea is located north of the African Transition Zone. Most countries north of the African Transition Zone have an Islamic majority, but that is not necessarily the case in Eritrea. Statistical data are difficult to confirm, but Christianity is believed to be as prominent as Islam in Eritrea. The main Christian denomination is the Eritrean Orthodox Church, with smaller percentages of Roman Catholics and Protestants. Most Muslims are Sunni. The government highly regulates religious activities and requires all churches to register with the state and provide personal information regarding its members. Members of religious groups not registered with the state may be subject to arrest or imprisonment for violation of this requirement. Examples of groups not approved by the government of Eritrea as of 2010 include Baha’is and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Djibouti
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait, between the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, separates Africa from Asia on the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula. The strait is a narrow strategic choke point for international shipping tranferring cargo from Europe to Asia through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. On the African side of the strait is the small former French colony of the Republic of Djibouti. Natural resources within the country are sparse, and the republic depends on its relationship with countries such as the United States or its former colonizer to augment its financial status, keep the region stable, and protect valuable shipping in the nearby waterways. The United States has an important military base in Djibouti, which is the only major US military base in Subsaharan Africa. The French also have a major military base located in Djibouti. The significance of the Djibouti’s location means it is a critical place for monitoring both the war on terrorism and incidences of piracy off the Horn of Africa. A main objective of having European and US military bases in Djibouti is to insure safe passage of oil tankers through the strait providing European countries and the United States with petroleum from the Persian Gulf states.
Like many other African countries transitioning from colonies to independent countries, Djibouti has experienced political infighting that has been detrimental to the country’s economic situation. The government struggles with foreign debt and a lack of economic development opportunities. Most of the population lives in the capital city of Djibouti, where the unemployment rate is extremely high. Its vital location is the country’s main asset, and foreign aid has been a major part of the country’s economic equation.
Somalia
The country presently called Somalia resisted the forces of European colonizers scrambling for African land in the 1800s. The various kingdoms and their powerful leaders kept the colonial forces out well beyond World War I. Somalia’s close vicinity to the Arabian Peninsula and the prevalence of Arab trade provided a direct connection through which Islam was quickly diffused from Arabia to Africa. Political alliances were fused between the Somalian kingdoms and the Ottoman Empire. The leaders of the Horn of Africa used Islam as a centripetal force in uniting the people against outside forces.
It was not until 1920, as a direct result of the use of airplanes in warfare, that the northern region of Somaliland buckled under to the British colonial forces. The eastern and southern regions were soon dominated by Italy. Britain finally withdrew from British Somaliland in 1960. The country then joined with the Italian portions of the region to form a new nation, Somalia. An authoritarian socialist regime established power in 1969 and lasted until 1991. The socialist regime in Somalia initiated a territorial war in 1978 in an attempt to gain back territory in the eastern parts of Ethiopia’s Ogaden region, which was once part of the various Somalian kingdoms. The war only intensified the divisions in the region. After 1991, the country descended into political chaos, economic turmoil, and factional fighting.
Northern clans who opposed the central government broke away in a move toward independence, and the old British Somaliland became the Republic of Somaliland in 1991. Somaliland operates independently from the rest of Somalia and prints its own currency. The northeast region of the country referred to as Puntland also broke away from the central government. Somaliland sought total independence, while Puntland was in favor of belonging to a national union but wanted to maintain autonomy. Both autonomous regions have their own governments and are relatively stable, but they have had conflicts regarding the territory between them. Neither is recognized by outside entities as independent countries. Puntland’s port of Bosaso has developed into a rapidly growing economic city and has expanded from fifty thousand to five hundred thousand people since 2000. Plans are in the works for a new airport and an economic free-trade zone, which should attract additional business and an influx of additional immigrants from other parts of Somalia and the region.
Southern Somalia has been broken down into regions ruled by warlords who have pillaged the country and control vital transportation links. A total government breakdown occurred in 1991, leading to a meltdown in all areas of society. Food distribution was hampered through pillaging and a lack of fuel and structured transportation. Electrical power was lost and clan warfare became the rule of law. A famine subsequently caused an estimated three hundred thousand deaths. The UN stepped in with food and peacekeeping troops, and in 1992, the United States dispatched marines in Operation Restore Hope, which stabilized the distribution of food but was unsuccessful in stabilizing the political situation and establishing a legitimate government. In 1993, nineteen US soldiers were killed in a battle in the capital, Mogadishu, after of which the US withdrew its troops. The UN withdrew its peacekeeping troops in 1995.
Despite a lack of effective national governance, the informal economy in Somalia continues to thrive. Trading through personal transactions and the private marketplace continues to provide for the needs of the people. The main sources of revenue are agricultural goods and livestock, as well as money sent by people from outside the country to their families in Somalia. Banking and businesses have struggled to adapt to the continual conflicts, yet various hotels and service agencies continue to operate under the protection of private security militias. Telecommunication firms continue to offer service with low calling rates for urban areas. The educational system is heavily supported by the private sector because of the collapse of the central government. Secondary education at the university level is struggling in the south but is more established in Puntland and Somaliland, where they are funded by central authorities. Income from piracy on the high seas has brought in millions to the private warlords that manage the operations. Stabilizing the country and showing economic progress will remain a difficult task for whoever leads Somalia.
Rural-to-Urban Shift
The average family size in East Africa is about 5.5, which is typical of the entire continent of Africa and translates into exploding population growth. In many areas of Africa in general and East Africa in particular, most of the population (as much as 80 percent) makes its living off the land in agricultural pursuits. Large families in rural areas create the conditions for the highest levels of rural-to-urban shift of any continent in the world. The large cities—with expanding business operations complete with communication and transportations systems that link up with global activities—are an attractive draw for people seeking greater employment opportunities. In East Africa, each of the three largest cities—Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, and Addis Ababa—is more populous than Chicago, the third-largest US city. In West Africa, the city of Lagos, Nigeria, is more populous than New York City and Chicago combined. These cities are all riding the worldwide wave of globalization and are core centers of economic activity for the business sector and corporate enterprises.
The other regions of Africa all have central cities that act as economic core areas and attract the multitudes from rural areas looking for employment and opportunities. International connections are indicative of local economic development, which is causing the urban areas to grow at exponential rates. Cities heavily affected by a high level of rural-to-urban shift often cannot build infrastructure fast enough to keep up with demand. Self-constructed slums and squatter settlements, which lack basic public services such as electricity, sewage disposal, running water, or transportation systems, circle the cities. All the large cities of Africa are expanding at unsustainable rates. Traffic congestion, trash buildup, higher crime rates, health problems, and air pollution are some of the common results.
As of 2010, the US population was about 80 percent urban. This is the opposite of places such as East Africa, where about 80 percent of the population remains rural. In the next few decades, Africa could witness the growth of megacities that might continue to expand and grow for another century. For example, if the current rates continue, Ethiopia’s population of eighty-five million people in 2010 will double to more than 160 million by 2040. Urban areas will continue to be target destinations for employment opportunities, whether they exist or not, and rural-to-urban shift will drive the populations of cities such as Addis Ababa to double, triple, or quadruple in size by 2020.
Key Takeaways
• The physical geography of East Africa is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, which extends through the middle of the region from north to south. Associated with the rift valleys are vast savannas such as the Serengeti Plain, large lakes, high mountains, and the highlands of Ethiopia.
• East Africa has extensive habitat for large herds of big game animals, mountains for great apes, and enough prey for the big cats such as lions and cheetahs. Countries are establishing game preserves, national parks, and conservation areas to protect these animals and their natural habitats and to provide economic opportunities to gain wealth through tourism.
• Most of the populations of countries in East Africa earn their livelihood through agricultural activities because the region has a high percentage of people living in rural areas. Large families fuel an ever-increasing rural-to-urban shift in the population, causing the cities to grow at an unprecedented rate.
• Areas along the African Transition Zone have experienced a higher degree of political conflict and civil unrest. Somalia has the highest level of political division and fragmentation based on religion and ethnic backgrounds, which contributed to the secession of the two autonomous regions of Somaliland and Puntland. The central government is neither stable nor strong enough to govern the fragmented country.
• Diversity in the region is remarkably high; there are hundreds of different indigenous ethnic groups, each with its own language and culture. Religious activity is split between Christianity, Islam, and traditional beliefs. Islam is more favored in the African Transition Zone and to the north, while Christianity and animism are more prominent to the south of the zone.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Where do the White Nile and the Blue Nile begin? Where do they converge?
2. What is the Great Rift Valley? How is the Western Rift different from the Eastern Rift?
3. What has been found at Olduvai Gorge? Why is this significant?
4. How have Kenya and Tanzania attempted to preserve and protect the environment?
5. Where is the Serengeti Plain? How does it bring national wealth to its home countries?
6. What are the main religions in Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia? How did belief systems diffuse to Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia? What regions did they diffuse from?
7. What is Tanzania’s lingua franca? How is this different from other African countries?
8. What are the main political regions of Somalia? How does Somalia’s central government function?
9. What is Djibouti’s main asset? Why would the United States or France want to control Djibouti?
10. What two main factors cause a high level of rural-to-urban shift?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Bab el-Mandeb Strait
• Blue Nile
• Bosaso
• Dar es Salaam
• Eastern Rift Valley
• Ethiopian Plateau
• Great Rift Valley
• Lake Albert
• Lake Edward
• Lake Tana
• Lake Turkana
• Lake Victoria
• Mombassa
• Mt. Kenya
• Mt. Kilimanjaro
• Nile River
• Ol Doinyo Lengai
• Olduvai Gorge
• Puntland
• Rwenzori Mountains
• Serengeti Plain
• Somaliland
• Virunga Mountains
• Western Rift Valley
• White Nile
• Zanzibar
Activities
1. Find out what the news media are reporting regarding current events and political stability in Somalia.
2. Research the level of endangerment of mountain gorillas in East Africa.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/07%3A_Subsaharan_Africa/7.05%3A_East_Africa.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the major physical features of the region and explain the role that natural resources play in the economic activities of the people.
2. Outline the differences between the mainland of Africa and Madagascar.
3. Explain how each country in the region is different from each other with its own unique circumstances.
4. Determine how ethnicity has played a role in the political situation of each country.
5. Understand apartheid’s effect on South Africa.
The region of the African continent south of the Congo and Tanzania is named Southern Africa. The physical location is the large part of Africa to the south of the extensive Congo River basin. Southern Africa is home to a number of river systems; the Zambezi River is the most prominent. The Zambezi flows from the northwest corner of Zambia and western Angola all the way to the Indian Ocean on the coast of Mozambique. Along the way, the Zambezi River flows over the mighty Victoria Falls on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Victoria Falls is the largest waterfall in the world based on selected criteria and is a major tourist attraction for the region.
Southern Africa includes both type B and type C climates. The Tropic of Capricorn runs straight through the middle of the region, indicating that the southern portion is outside the tropics. The Kalahari Desert, which lies mainly in Botswana, is an extensive desert region with an arid mixture of grasslands and sand. When there is adequate rainfall, the grasslands provide excellent grazing for wildlife. Precipitation varies from three to ten inches per year. The Kalahari is home to game reserves and national parks. Large areas of dry salt pans stretch over ancient lake beds. The salt pans fill with water after heavy rainfall but are dry the remainder of the year. The Namib Desert, found along the west coast of Namibia, receives little rainfall. Moderate type C climates are found south of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, where conditions are suitable for a variety of agricultural activities, including fruit orchards and an expanding wine industry.
Madagascar is located to the east of the continent, in the Indian Ocean. Madagascar is the world’s fourth-largest island and is similar in area to France. Surrounding Madagascar are the independent island states of the Seychelles, Comoros, and Mauritius. Madagascar is included in this lesson on Southern Africa but does not share its cultural geography or biodiversity. Madagascar broke away from the mainland more than 160 million years ago and developed its own environmental conditions and cultural heritage. The early human inhabitants of Madagascar can trace their ancestry to the regions of Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia. People from the African mainland also joined the population. The whole island later came under the colonial domination of France but won its independence in 1960.
Madagascar’s unique physical environment is home to many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. At least thirty-three varieties of lemurs and many tropical bird species and other organisms are found only on Madagascar. It is an area of high biodiversity and is home to about 5 percent of all the animals and plants in the world. Tropical rain forests can be found on the eastern edge on the windward side of the island. The western side of the island experiences a rain shadow effect because of the height of the central highlands, which reach as high as 9,435 feet. The western side of the island has a smaller population and receives less precipitation.
Figure 7.50 Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur from Madagascar at the Dudley Zoo in England
Since 1990, the eastern tropical rain forest has experienced a sharp decline because of extensive logging, slash-and-burn agriculture, mining operations, and drought. Population growth has placed a heavier demand on the environment, which in turn puts stress on the habitats of many of the unusual organisms that are unique to the island. Typical of many African nations, agriculture is Madagascar’s main economic activity. About 80 percent of the twenty million people who live on the island earn their living off the land. Deforestation is occurring on all parts of the island and is more severe in areas where human habitation leads to a high demand for firewood used in cooking. In other parts of Africa, important environmental areas have been protected or transformed into national parks and wildlife preserves. Though protected areas do exist on Madagascar, efforts to protect the environment and the wildlife have been hampered by the lack of available funding and the population’s high demand for natural resources.
The countries on the Southern African mainland share many of the demographic qualities of the rest of Africa: large family size, agrarian economies, multiple ethnic groups, rural populations, political instability, and a high rate of rural-to-urban shift. Southern Africa is set apart from other Subsaharan African regions because of its mineral resources, including copper, diamonds, gold, zinc, chromium, platinum, manganese, iron ore, and coal. Countries in Southern Africa are quite large in physical area, except three smaller landlocked states: Lesotho, Swaziland, and Malawi. The larger countries—South Africa, Botswana, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, and Angola—all have extensive mineral deposits.
The vast mineral resources make this one of the wealthiest regions of Africa with the greatest potential for economic growth. A physical band of mineral resources in Southern Africa stretches from the rich oil fields off the northwest coast of Angola, east through the diamond-mining region, and into the northern Copper Belt of Zambia. A region of rich mineral deposits continues from the unique geological formation called the Great Dyke in central Zimbabwe through the Bushveld basin into South Africa. From here, it extends southwest through the central gold- and diamond-mining regions of South Africa toward the southern coast. Mining activity exists on both sides of the belt of mineral resources. Diamond mining is found in parts of Botswana and along the coast of Namibia. Coal can be found in central Mozambique. The counties that are able to conduct the necessary extractive processes are creating national wealth and increasing the standard of living for their people.
Angola
The largest country in Southern Africa is Angola. Located on the west coast of the continent, the country includes the small exclave of Cabinda to the north, which borders the Congo River and is separated from the main body of Angola. Cabinda is a major oil producer and remains a foothold for rebel groups seeking greater control over oil resources. Offshore oil activity has increased in the northern region of Angola and has attracted international oil companies from many countries. In 2007, Angola was the largest oil exporter to China, which has become one of Angola’s largest financial supporters. Oil revenues have helped Angola rebuild after a bitter civil war (1975–2002) devastated the country and its infrastructure. Nevertheless, the country remains one of the world’s poorest; life expectancies were a mere thirty-eight years in 2010. Angola is also burdened with thousands of refugees seeking safety from the civil wars in the Congo.
Angola was a Portuguese colony and fought hard for independence, which it received in 1975. After independence, strong factions clashed to obtain political power. At the same time, the Cold War was at a zenith. The United States and the Soviet Union both used their influence to support political leadership in Angola and other parts of Africa to reflect their respective ideologies. Even Cuba had a large number of military troops in Angola in support of a socialist agenda. As the factions within Angola vied for power, the country was deeply divided. Thus began a twenty-seven-year civil war that finally ended in 2002. The country has been working to recover from this turmoil ever since. Foreign aid and charitable organizations have helped feed the people, and oil revenues are beginning to support recovery. The government of Angola has suffered from serious corruption. Much of the wealth is centralized in the hands of an elite few and does not filter down to the general population.
Natural resources were a major factor in the long, drawn-out civil war. Angola was one of the original countries in which the term blood diamonds was used. Resistant groups would mine the diamonds, sell them on the world market, and use that income to fund their military pursuits. Revenue from the clandestine diamond trade was fueled the death and destruction of the newly independent country. Diamonds are still being mined in Angola and bringing in considerable national income. The industry is not always controlled or managed to lessen the number of diamonds reaching the market from unsubstantiated sources. Natural resources have helped the country look to a future in which a more stable government can work to rebuild the country’s infrastructure and improve the standard of living for its people.
Namibia
Namibia is a dry, arid land with few people. Its population density of about 6.5 people per square mile in 2009 was the second-lowest in the world after Mongolia. The physical geography of this large country is dominated by arid plateaus and desert regions with changes in elevation between them. The Namib Desert, characterized by enormous sand dunes, runs along the entire west coast. It meets up with the Great Escarpment, which is a sharp rise in elevation of as much as a mile high toward the interior. A central plateau dominates the north-south interior, and the Kalahari Desert is to the east. Natural resources are abundant: uranium and diamonds are the major export products, and lead, zinc, tin, silver, copper, and tungsten are also mined. The coastal waters support a substantial fishing industry. Namibia’s constitution contains language that addresses environmental conservation and the protection of wildlife habitat. The country has created nature conservancies, which have advanced the activities of ecotourism, a source of national wealth promoted by the government.
The Berlin Conference of 1884, when the colonial European powers met to divide up Africa, resulted in the German colonization of the region of Namibia. The German influence remains evident in the dominant religion: most of the Christians in Namibia, which now make up about 80 percent of the population, are Lutherans.
By 1920, the region known as South West Africa had been transferred to South Africa by the League of Nations. South West Africa had to endure the political policies of apartheid while under the jurisdiction of South Africa. By 1966, local uprisings and a push for sovereignty resulted in a socialist independence movement that created the South West Africa People’s Organization (SWAPO). This organization was entrenched in a guerilla war with South Africa, which led to the return of Namibia to United Nations (UN) supervision. The name Namibia was adopted during this era. Socialist countries such as Cuba provided supported SWAPO’s movement for autonomy.
The 1980s brought about a transition in the governing process in the Namibian War of Independence. In 1985, South Africa installed an interim government in Namibia. A UN peace plan was reached that included Namibia in 1988, and Namibia finally gained its independence in 1990 following South Africa’s withdrawal from Angola in their civil war. SWAPO has become the dominant Namibian political affiliation. As a recently independent country, Namibia has had to work through a natural transition process to create a stable government to sustain itself as an independent country.
Zambia
The landlocked country of Zambia was known as Northern Rhodesia during colonial times. From 1891 to 1923, it was administered by Britain’s South Africa Company. Then it became a colony of Great Britain. The name was changed to Zambia when the country was granted independence in 1964. Lusaka is its primate city and capital.
Mining in the Copper Belt to the north provides both economic activity and employment opportunities for the people, but long distances from major seaports and the fluctuation in world commodity prices do not provide a stable economic situation for the mining industry. Though most of the population makes their living by subsistence agriculture, the country has a large urbanized population that heavily depends on the mining industry for employment and economic support.
The country is expected to double in population in about thirty-five years if current rates continue. The average family size is more than five members. The larger towns and cities along the major transportation routes are the main population centers. Unemployment remains high in these urban areas; there are few opportunities for economic development. More than seventy ethnic groups can be found in Zambia, including a small but growing Chinese population. English is the official language, but many other languages are spoken. Most of the people are Christians with a wide variety of denominations. Animist and traditional beliefs are also common.
Malawi
Malawi is a landlocked nation that became independent in 1964. The British controlled the region in 1891 and named their colony Nyasaland after Lake Nyasa, a large lake in Malawi; the lake is also called Lake Malawi. The lake serves as the eastern border of the country. Another name for Lake Malawi is Calendar Lake, named so because of its physical dimensions, which are 52 miles wide and 365 miles long. Lake Malawi is a deepwater lake with depths reaching 2,300 feet. The great depths of the lake are caused by the Great Rift Valley, which created the depression the lake rests in. The lake provides for the livelihoods for millions of people who live along its shores and depend on it resources of fish and fresh water.
Malawi is not a technologically developed country. Only about 15 percent of the population lives in urban areas. About 90 percent of the country’s exports are agricultural products of tea, sugar, coffee, and tobacco. Malawi’s government requires substantial assistance from the international community, such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Complicating the situation are instances of government corruption that have led to the withholding of international aid. Another major problem for Malawi is the significant number of HIV-infected people. Also, family size is commonly large, and rapid population growth places an ever-increasing demand on natural resources.
Mozambique
Before colonial Europeans arrived in the region of Mozambique along Africa’s east coast, the Bantu people of a number of ethnic subgroups were the dominant people, and they still make up more than 99 percent of the population. Portugal had claimed the region as a colony as early as the sixteenth century. Portugal strongly resisted releasing its claims to Mozambique but did so after much opposition; the country became independent in 1975. The transition from colony to independent nation was a struggle for Mozambique. The rebel groups that had been instrumental in fighting a guerilla war for independence against Portugal remained active after 1975 and fighting continued after independence. The country fell into a violent civil war from 1977 to 1992. Central elements in this war were involvement or influence by Zimbabwe and South Africa on one side and Marxist support from the Soviet Union on the other. More than a million people died in this brutal war, which also devastated the country, destroyed valuable infrastructure, and created more than a million refugees who sought sanctuary in neighboring countries. At the same time, most people of Portuguese descent left because of safety concerns. A peace agreement was finally reached in 1992. Since then, the country has had to struggle to create a stable government and provide a safe environment for its people.
Foreign aid has remained a necessity to provide economic stability for Mozambique. The agrarian society includes a high percentage of the population that lives below the poverty line. Selective mining operations and the introduction of garment manufacturing augments the main agricultural activities. Since 2000, the government has worked to implement economic reforms and to curb excess spending. Both have had a positive effect on economic growth. It is not unusual for foreign debt to plague developing countries, and Mozambique has suffered from a high level of national debt that has threatened to bankrupt the country. Debt relief for Mozambique came through the IMF’s debt forgiveness program; both debt forgiveness and loan rescheduling agreements were implemented. The positive growth pattern indicates that even desperately poor countries can work to improve the standard of living for their people if there are adequate resources and opportunities for employment. Still, rapid population growth potentially cancels out economic gains and threatens to deplete valuable resources, thereby creating an even more difficult path for future stability.
Zimbabwe
There is no better way to understand Zimbabwe than to become familiar with the history and heritage of the people who live there. The Great Zimbabwe Kingdom flourished from about 1250 to 1450, when it was eclipsed by succeeding kingdoms. Ruins from the extensive stone architecture of that era remain and are a major tourist attraction. These kingdoms were major trading centers for the region but later clashed with the colonial powers that desired to dominate regional trade for themselves. The Bantu civilization of Southern Africa established a number of kingdoms that existed in Zimbabwe up to the colonial era.
Zimbabwe experienced similar colonial activity to that which befell Zambia, its neighbor to the north. Britain arrived in the late 1800s, and by 1923 they called their newly controlled colony Southern Rhodesia, after Cecil Rhodes, who headed the British South Africa Company, a mercantile company that broke new ground in the region. The British were able to quell any resistance to their activity and consolidated their holdings. After Zambia become independent, Southern Rhodesia was renamed Rhodesia. In 1965, the white-dominated leadership of the Rhodesian government unilaterally declared its independence, but Britain did not recognize this action. The UN issued sanctions against the white leadership; the response was an internal guerilla uprising to fight for free elections that would include black Africans. Independence was finally granted in 1980, and the country’s name was officially changed from Rhodesia to Zimbabwe.
In 1980, Robert Mugabe came to power as the first president and extended his authoritarian rule over the next three decades. During this time, the country experienced more than its fair share of civil unrest and political turmoil. Mugabe has been accused of corruption, election rigging, and pillaging of public funds for personal gain. Under his leadership, there have been accusations of government mismanagement, human rights abuses, and hyperinflation of the country’s currency. In 2008, inflation led to serious devaluation of the currency. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe printed banknotes in the denomination of one hundred trillion dollars that were only worth a few US dollars in the international exchange. The people continue to work through these difficult economic conditions.
Mugabe initiated a land reform policy that would take land owned by people of white European ancestry and redistribute it to people of black African ancestry. During the colonial era, white Europeans, who only made up a small percentage of the population, moved in and took control of most of the agricultural lands. Land reform was a progressive policy and was meant to provide a greater level of equality within the country. However, the disorganized methods used to carry out the plan resulted in violence and the confiscation of farmland with little regard for the rule of law.
Thousands of white farmers and their families left the country. Some were killed when their farms were taken over by force. Mugabe was accused of corruption in making sure his cronies benefited from the land reform without being concerned about the general population. The disruption in the agricultural sector resulted in a drastic reduction in agricultural output. The country shifted from a once sustainable, prosperous agricultural sector with extensive exports to an agricultural system that was in disarray. The result was food shortages and the loss of enormous agricultural export profits.
Shaping a stable post-Mugabe government will be a challenge for Zimbabwe. Solving the problems resulting from the transition from exploitive colonial rule to personal authoritarian rule will be an arduous undertaking. The country has serious economic problems that have lowered the amount of opportunities and advantages for its people. Life expectancies have dropped from about sixty years in 1990 to fewer than forty years two decades later. Health care, education, and social services have not reached the level needed to sustain a healthy society by world standards. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has hit Zimbabwe hard, affecting a higher percentage of its population than most of the other African countries. Political turmoil, civil unrest, and violence have reduced the level of law and order within the country. These issues are indicators that within the globalization process, countries such as Zimbabwe will be losing out on the opportunity to attract foreign investments, manufacturing expansions, or employment opportunities being developed elsewhere to meet the demands of the marketplace.
Botswana
The country of Botswana is relatively flat, and the Kalahari Desert covers as much as 70 percent of its land area. By the time it established independence from Britain in 1966, the lack of agricultural lands had reduced the country’s economic level to the lowest in the world. At that time, the country was called Bechuanaland.
Botswana has transitioned more smoothly than other African countries into a stable political system with a fast-growing economy. It has an emerging service sector, extensive diamond mining, and expanding industrial ambitions. Personal incomes are rising, and the standard of living is reaching upward to the second highest in the region after South Africa.
Botswana is fortunate to have had uninterrupted civilian political leadership for the decades following independence. This stable government has implemented progressive social policies and attracted significant capital investments to create one of the most dynamic economies in Africa. Diamond mining has been the principle extraction activity dominating the country’s export income. The stability of the country has enhanced the tourism market and created a growing ecotourism industry. The vast Kalahari Desert and the well-protected game reserves provide attractive tourist destinations.
Far from the fast-growing urban development of the big cities in Botswana, there exists a dispute between the government of Botswana and the indigenous San people who live in the middle of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. The government has established programs to move the San from the reserve to other locations where they would become less nomadic and settle into a more agrarian lifestyle. According to the government position, this is to keep the natural habitat and wildlife from being affected by human activity, thereby promoting tourism. The courts, however, ruled against the forced move of the San out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Critics of the government program claim the real reason for the move is to clear the land of human habitation so the area can be developed for mining purposes. Estimates indicate that fewer than one hundred thousand San presently live in Southern Africa; about fifty-five thousand San live in Botswana.
Botswana’s government has advanced one of Africa’s most progressive and comprehensive programs for dealing with HIV/AIDS. Medical care, education, and social services are being strengthened. Botswana ranks at the top end in terms of the percentage of people who are infected with HIV/AIDS. This epidemic cuts across all levels of society and culture. The social stigma attached to being infected with HIV discourages individuals from being tested for the disease or seeking medical care. Addressing this epidemic is a challenge throughout Southern Africa.
Figure 7.55 Baobab Tree in Southern Africa
These trees are so large that people have actually lived inside them.
South Africa
Anchoring Subsaharan Africa to the south is the dominant country of South Africa. Its large land area and vast mineral resources support a population of about fifty million people. The Cape of Good Hope on the southern tip of the continent is a transition point from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Its strategic location was important for the control of shipping during the early colonial era before the Suez Canal provided a shortcut between Europe and Asia, bypassing most of Africa. The European colonial era first brought Dutch explorers to the Cape of Good Hope, where they established the city of Cape Town as a stopover and resupply outpost on their way to rest of Asia.
South Africa is home to many indigenous ethnic groups and is demonstrative of the diverse pattern of human geography. The country has a history of both ethnic diversity and ethnic division. Two of the largest African groups are the Xhosa and the Zulu. The European component of the ethnic mosaic was enhanced by colonial and neocolonial activities. After the arrival of the first Dutch ships, other Europeans followed and competed with the African groups for land and control. The discovery of first diamonds and then gold prompted Britain’s involvement in South Africa. The Boer Wars (1880–81 and 1899–1902) were fought between the Dutch-based Boers and Britain for control of South Africa’s mineral resources. South Africa became a British colony dominated by a white power structure. The Boers (later known as Afrikaners) spoke Afrikaans and were prominent in the South African political system.
Segregation first developed as an informal separation of the racial groups but evolved into the legally institutionalized policy of apartheid, which separated people into black, white, and coloured (mixed race) racial categories. A fourth category was developed for people from Indian or Asian backgrounds. Apartheid eventually found its way into every aspect of South African culture. In the larger scale of society, access and separation was based on race. Each racial group had its own beaches, buses, hospitals, schools, universities, and so on. The legal system divided the population according to race, with the white minority receiving every advantage. There were extensive and detailed rules for every aspect of daily activity, including which public restroom or drinking fountain could be used, which color an individual’s telephone could be, and which park bench a person could sit on. The government also sanctioned separate homelands for people from different ethnic groups. People were physically removed from their homes and transported to their respective new homelands based on their racial or ethnic background. The policy of apartheid not only divided the country at that time but set up racial barriers that will take generations to overcome.
The controversial policy of apartheid in South Africa achieved international attention. Many countries condemned it and implemented economic sanctions and trade restrictions against South Africa. Opposition grew within the country and erupted into violence and social unrest. As a result, the white-dominated government of South Africa began to dismantle the apartheid system in the 1990s. The ban on political opposition parties, such as the African National Congress, was lifted, and after twenty-seven years in prison, Nelson Mandela was released from prison, where he had held for his resistance activities. The apartheid legislation was repealed, and a new era began. Mandela was the first African to be elected president of South Africa in the new multiracial elections of 1994. His presidency, which ended in 1999, set the stage for a multiracial society. The country is still working through the ramifications of all those years of racial separation. As can be expected, the transition has not been without difficulty.
South Africa has large, modern cities such as Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban, each about the size of the US city of Chicago or larger. The cities of Pretoria, East Rand, and Port Elizabeth are also major metropolitan areas and have more than one million people each. These urban centers all contribute to and support the extensive mining and agricultural activities that provide national wealth. As the country that exports more diamonds than any other in the world, South Africa has gained much national income from the extraction of mineral resources, which are being tapped by some of the largest mining operations on Earth.
Large parts of South Africa have a moderate climate and good soils, which combine to produce enormous quantities of agricultural products, both for domestic consumption and for export profits. Mining and agriculture have provided extensive opportunities for employment—opportunities that draw in migrants from neighboring countries that have experienced either political unrest or poor economic conditions. These immigrants add to the cultural dynamics of an already ethnically diverse country.
South Africa’s manufacturing sector is not well developed. The country depends on Europe, East Asia, and the United States, the three main core economic areas of the world, to provide postindustrial goods. There are few well-paying manufacturing jobs to provide for a growing or stable South African middle class.
The structure and dynamics of the current economic activities have brought about a two-tiered socioeconomic system. Most of the population may work in the mines, in agricultural activities, or in the service sector, but they are not directly benefiting from the profits of their labor, other than earning a wage. These people find themselves in the poorer working-class majority of the population. The landowners, mining corporation executives, and social elite that control the service sector or are employed in activities such as banking or the commodity markets are receiving higher incomes and have created a wealthier upper class. Apartheid supported this class division. The current free and open legal system has yet to bring about a change in the socioeconomic structure of the population. Millions of poor ethnic minorities find themselves in living conditions similar to their economically depressed neighbors in other parts of Africa, while the wealthier upper class has established a good standard of living similar to that of the core economic areas of the world.
South Africa redesigned its internal provincial boundaries in 1994. The two large former provinces of Cape in the south and Transvaal in the north were divided up into seven smaller units. The province of Orange Free State was changed to Free State and the province of Natal was changed to Kwazulu-Natal; both kept their main boundaries intact.
South Africa redrew its internal provincial boundaries in 1994. The large former Cape Province in the south, which had been a former British center of power, was divided into three smaller provinces. The large Transvaal Province in the north, which had been a center for Afrikaners, was divided into four smaller provinces. Orange Free State changed its name to Free State and Natal Province changed its name to Kwazulu-Natal. The changes were made based on the size and political management of the country that had come with the transfer of power when Mandela became president. The European colonial pattern of settlement was adjusted to represent a more South African pattern of political administration.
The 2010 World Cup Soccer Games
In 2010, South Africa surpassed Morocco and Egypt in the political arena and were chosen to host the World Cup soccer games. The African teams in included Algeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. The World Cup is held once every four years. The cost to host the games was enormous and also a testimony to the people and government of South Africa. The country had to build five new stadiums and upgrade five existing stadiums for the games; the largest stadium was Soccer City in Johannesburg, with a capacity of about 84,490. Overall construction costs were estimated to be more than one billion dollars. Transportation infrastructure and road networks were also improved.
The preparations and costs that South Africa undertook to hold the games were not without controversy. Sections of shack dwellers in Durban and in other places were relocated to be out of the sight of international visitors attending the games. This move was made to improve the country’s image for tourism. There were also reports of strikes by the construction workers building the stadiums, many of them temporary workers making about three hundred dollars per month, who argued that their wages were too low. South Africa’s unemployment rate at the time was about 25 percent, and the country continues to struggle with unemployment. The hope was that the infrastructure improvements would benefit the country for the long term and that tourism would increase if the individuals who came for the games encouraged others to visit. South Africa was banking on this event to boost its economic conditions and strengthen its standing in the global marketplace.
The impact of sports on a society—both positive and negative—can be enormous. Hosting the World Cup necessitated the strengthening of South Africa’s security operations to meet FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) standards to handle the high influx of participants and visitors. It has been estimated that South Africa invested about \$4.3 billion to host the games. These are billions that are not going toward providing water, medical clinics, and educational support to the poorest neighborhoods and communities. The financial investments indicate the power and attraction that the World Cup holds on a global basis. No African team was in the final match (Spain defeated the Netherlands), but soccer is a widely supported sport throughout Africa. The 2014 World Cup will be hosted by Brazil.
Figure 7.58 Cape Town Stadium, Taken from Signal Hill, South Africa; Seating Capacity of 64,100
Swaziland and Lesotho
The two small landlocked enclaves of Lesotho and Swaziland are independent countries surrounded by South Africa. Mozambique borders Swaziland to the north. Under British occupation, the area of Lesotho was called Basutoland. Upon achieving independence in 1966, the area was renamed the Kingdom of Lesotho. The country is rather mountainous, and most of the land area is more than a mile in elevation. The Sotho people have a Bantu background and speak a Bantu language. More than 80 percent are Christian. Lesotho is the size of the US state of Maryland and has a population of more than two million people. The main economic activity has been based on agriculture, but a large percentage of income comes from remittances from Lesotho citizens who work in South Africa. Light manufacturing is beginning to emerge to enhance the economy. Diamonds and other minerals have been found here.
Lesotho is a constitutional monarchy: the government is led by a prime minister, but the king retains his ceremonial position. Reforming the country from a kingdom to a democratic-style government has not been without obstacles. The country has been subjected to political unrest, resulting in many years of military rule and violent internal conflicts. Lesotho is trying to stabilize its political situation and economy.
The Swazi Kingdom functioned under relative autonomy during colonial times, and Britain granted independence to Swaziland in 1968. The Swazi are a Bantu people who migrated into Southern Africa centuries ago with the Xhosas and Zulus. Swaziland has low mountains to the north with the grasslands and scrub forests of the savannas in the east and rain forests in the west. It is ruled by an absolute monarch, one of the last in the world. Political unrest has led to challenges to his rule. Reformers are pushing for modification of the government and for some element of democratic reform, but reforms are slow in materializing. The small country of Swaziland is about the size of the US state of New Jersey. There are more than one million people, and one-third of the population is infected with HIV/AIDS.
Key Takeaways
• Southern Africa is located along the Tropic of Capricorn and is host to various climate zones, including tropical, desert, and moderate type C climates. Extensive agricultural activity can be found south of the Tropic of Capricorn, where moderate climates prevail.
• Madagascar is a separated from the mainland of Africa and provides a habitat for animals not found on the mainland. The mainland region is large with many different physical landscapes.
• The mainland region of Southern Africa has extensive mineral deposits that provide resources for its countries to gain national wealth. Approaches to translating mineral deposits into wealth have varied among the countries.
• Many ethnic groups can be found in Southern Africa, ranging from the San in the Kalahari to the Zulu groups to the south. Colonialism made its footprint on the region by creating borders and providing colonial names. The transition from colony to independent nation has caused political and economic difficulties.
• South Africa had an apartheid system in place stemming from the colonial era. The apartheid system was dismantled after the 1994 election of President Nelson Mandela. South Africa went so far as to change its provincial system from four to nine provinces to more appropriately politically administer the country.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What is threatening Madagascar’s biodiversity?
2. What do the Great Dyke and the Bushveld basin offer for economic development?
3. What did Namibia do to address environmental conservation and protect its wildlife?
4. Name the country that provided support for SWAPO. Why do you think they did so?
5. Why is Lake Malawi called the Calendar Lake? What process created Lake Malawi?
6. How did the Cold War influence Southern African countries?
7. What economic condition plagues most developing countries that seek aid from the IMF and the World Bank?
8. Why has Botswana reached a higher standard of living for its people than other countries in Southern Africa?
9. How has the policy of apartheid affected South Africa? When did apartheid officially end?
10. How do the people of Swaziland or Lesotho fit into the two-tiered system of social stratification in South Africa?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Bushveld basin
• Cabinda
• Cape of Good Hope
• Copper Belt
• Great Dyke
• Great Escarpment
• Kalahari Desert
• Lake Malawi
• Namib Desert
• Victoria Falls
• Zambezi River
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Chapter Summary
• Subsaharan Africa has many rapidly expanding core cities and large rural peripheral regions that are experiencing high rural-to-urban shift. Most countries are former European colonies that are growing their own economies as developing countries. The hundreds of tribal groups that live there with their own languages and cultures often clash with each other or their government.
• The informal sector is strong in this realm as people seek opportunities amid civil unrest and conflict. The weak formal sector in many countries does not always receive enough revenue from taxes or fees to operate the public sector and provide services to the people. The realm has a high potential for economic development in the extraction of minerals as well as tourism.
• West Africa has many countries with hundreds of separate ethnic groups with their own languages. The high diversity makes it difficult for social unity and political cohesiveness. Located on the African Transition Zone, there is often conflict between the Muslim north and the Christian south. Civil wars in recent years have devastated various countries. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with a growing diverse population. In spite of its diversity and issues, Subsaharan Africa retains a sense of vibrancy in the celebration of family and community.
• Central Africa covers a large region of tropical Africa, including the vast Congo River basin. Poor economic conditions have been partly a result of the many civil wars and conflicts in the region where the controlling party or military power has received most of the wealth, leaving the majority in need of infrastructure improvements and public services.
• The transition from colony to independent country has often resulted in short-lived unstable governments that were often replaced with leaders who took advantage of their power to place large amounts of public funds in their own foreign bank accounts. Such fraud and corruption have often left most of the people with fewer opportunities and little money left for public services.
• The civil war in Rwanda, which was based on ethnicity, led to as many as a million deaths. The civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo over the control of land and resources resulted in more than five million deaths, the most of any war since World War II. Hundreds of ethnic groups exist in an area that is being exploited for valuable mineral deposits.
• Large deposits of gold, diamonds, and rare minerals such as coltan are located in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and surrounding areas. The wealth that they can generate has fueled many armed conflicts by various groups that vie for control of these resources. Women have suffered serious setbacks in their rights and status in Central Africa because of these conflicts.
• East Africa is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, with its large lakes, high mountains, and vast savanna plains. The Serengeti and other game preserves are home to immense numbers of big game that are attractive for tourism. Most of the people work in agriculture. Diverse ethnic and religious groups exist here, and there is a high rural-to-urban shift in the population. Somalia is divided, with various major factions controlling parts of the country.
• Southern Africa, located on the Tropic of Capricorn, has moderate climates and extensive mineral deposits. The countries have a positive means to gain wealth from agriculture and minerals. There is a high diversity of tribal groups that have been impacted by colonial activity. South Africa had an apartheid system for years that finally broke down in the past few decades. Zimbabwe is an example of a country that has been devastated by dictatorial rule by one man for many years without democratic reforms.
• Madagascar is a large island off the east coast and has different flora and fauna from the mainland because of isolation by tectonic activity. The island of Madagascar was once connected to the African continent but drifted away with the activity of the tectonic plates in that area. The biodiversity on Madagascar is jeopardized by the high level of deforestation that is destroying the habitat for rare animal species.
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Learning Objectives
1. Understand three basic traits the countries of the realm shares in common.
2. Outline the two cultural hearths and explain why they developed where they did.
3. Describe how the people of this realm gain access to fresh water.
4. Understand how the events of the 2011 Arab Spring have affected the realm.
The countries of the realm share three key dominant traits that influence all other human activities. The first key common trait relates to the climate of the region. Though various climate types can be found in this realm, it is the dry or arid type B climate that dominates and covers most of the physical area. Other climate types include the type H highland climate (cold temperatures at the high elevations with moderate temperatures at the bases) of the mountains of the Maghreb, Iran, or Central Asia and the more moderate type C climate in the coastal regions bordering the sea. The type C climate along the coastal Mediterranean area attracts human development and is home to many large port cities. The overall fact is that vast areas of each region are uninhabited desert. North Africa has the largest desert in the world—the Sahara—which borders the Libyan Desert and the Nubian Desert. About one third of the Arabian Peninsula is part of the Empty Quarter of the Rub’ al Khali (Arabian Desert). Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan have vast regions of desert with few if any inhabitants. This aspect of the realm reveals the importance of water as a valuable natural resource. Most people in the realm are more dependent on the availability of water than on the availability of oil.
The second trait is Islam: most of the people in the realm are Muslims. The practice of Islam in day-to-day life takes different forms in the various divisions of the religion. The differences between the divisions have contributed to conflict or open warfare. Islam acts as more than just a religion. It also serves as a strong cultural force that has historically unified or divided people. The divisive nature of the religion has often resulted in serious political confrontations within the realm between groups of different Islamic ideologies. Concurrently, the religion of Islam is also a unifying force that brings Muslims with similar beliefs together with common bonds. Islam provides structure and consistency in daily life. The faith can provide comfort and a way of living. The holy cities of Mecca and Medina are located in Saudi Arabia. Other holy cities for other divisions of Islam include Jerusalem and the two cities holy to Shia Muslims: Karbala and Najaf in Iraq. Islam dominates the realm, but other religions are significant in various regions. Israel is a Jewish state, and Christianity is common in places from Lebanon to Egypt. There are also followers of the Baha’i faith, Zoroastrianism, and groups such as the Druze, just to name a few.
The third factor that all three regions of the realm share is the availability of significant natural resources. North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Turkestan all have significant reserves of oil, natural gas, and important minerals. It stands to reason that not every country has the same reserves and that some of the countries have very few or none at all. However, in terms of how the countries gain national wealth, it is the export of oil that has dominated the economic activity as it relates to the global community. This realm is a peripheral realm. The resource that the realm can offer to the core economic regions of the world is the energy to fuel their economies and maintain their high standard of living. Enormous economic profits from the sale of these resources have traditionally been held in the hands of the elite ruling leader or his clan and do not always filter down to most of the population. The control of and profits from natural resources have become the primary objectives of the countries; this fuels conflicts and armed military interventions in areas such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cultural Hearths
Availability and control of fresh water have typically resulted in the ability of humans to grow food crops and expand their cultural activities. Hunter-gatherer groups did not settle down in one area but were more nomadic because of their seasonal search for food. As humans developed the ability to grow crops and provide enough food in one place, they no longer needed to move. The earliest human settlements sprang up in what is the present-day Middle East. Early human settlements provide some indication of early urbanization patterns based on the availability or surplus of food. The shift to permanent settlements included the domestication of livestock and the production of grain crops. Fruits and vegetables were grown and harvested domestically. The activities of this era created humanity’s earliest version of the rural-to-urban shift associated with the Industrial Revolution or present development. It is theorized that the ability to grow excess food provided the time and resources for urbanization and the establishment of organized communities, which often progressed into political entities or regional empires.
It has been estimated that some of the earliest cities in the world—Jericho, for example—were first inhabited around 10,000 BCE in the Middle East. In the same region, two cultural hearths provide significant historical value to the concept of human development: Mesopotamia and the Nile Valley in Egypt. Both areas were settings for the growth of human civilization and are still being examined and studied today. In Mesopotamia, a remarkable human civilization emerged along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is present-day Iraq, Syria, and southern Turkey. The climate, soils, and availability of fresh water provided the ingredients for the growth of a human civilization that is held in high esteem because of its significant contributions to our human history.
Figure 8.2 Head of Gudea, Sumerian Ruler from Mesopotamia, Circa 2121 BCE
Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia, meaning “land between rivers,” is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Neolithic pottery found there has been dated to before 7000 BCE. Humans in this area urbanized as early as 5000 BCE. People were settling in the Mesopotamia region, building magnificent cities, and developing their sense of human culture. Mesopotamia gave rise to a historical cradle of civilization that included the Assyrian, Babylonian, Sumerian, and Akkadian Empires, all established during the Bronze Age (about 3000 BCE or later). Famous cities such as Ur, Babylon, and Nineveh were located in the Mesopotamia region. The control of water and the ability to grow excess food contributed to their success. They developed extensive irrigation systems. Large grain storage units were necessary to provide the civic structure and to develop a military to protect and serve the city or empire. The human activity in this area extended around the region all the way to the Mediterranean Sea, which is where the term Fertile Crescent comes from.
Various ancient groups were well established on the eastern side of the Fertile Crescent along the Mediterranean coast. The cities of Tyre and Sidon were ports and access points for trade and commerce for groups like the Phoenicians who traded throughout the Mediterranean. Ancient cities such as Damascus and Jericho became established in the same region and were good examples of early human urbanization during the Bronze Age. These cities are two of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world.
Nile River Civilization
Human civilization also emerged along the Nile River valley of what is now Egypt. The pyramids and the Sphinx in the Giza Plateau just outside Cairo stand testimony to the human endeavors that took place here. Spring flooding of the Nile River brought nutrients and water to the land along the Nile Valley. The land could produce excess food, which subsequently led to the ability to support a structured, urbanized civilization. The Nile River is the lifeblood of the region. In the fifth century BCE, the ancient Greek historian Herodotus suggested that Egypt was “the gift of the Nile.” The dating for the beginning of the civilization along the Nile River is often in question, but Egyptologists estimate the first dynasty ruled both Upper and Lower Egypt around 3100 BCE. Upper Egypt is in the south and Lower Egypt is in the north because the Nile River flows north. The terms “Upper” and “Lower” refer to elevation. Geologists, using the erosion patterns of the Sphinx, estimate that it was constructed about 10,000 BCE. The ability of humans to harness the potential of the environment set the stage for technological advancements that continue to this day. The Egyptian civilization flourished for thousands of years and spawned a legacy that influenced their neighbors in the region, who benefited from their advancements.
Figure 8.4 Egyptian Pyramids of the Giza Plateau
All Giza Pyramids
The human activities that created the civilizations in Mesopotamia and along Egypt’s Nile River gave humanity a rich heritage to help us understand our history. Many of our legends, stories, and myths have their origins in these cultures. Their cultural developments provided the basis for much of the Western world’s religious beliefs and early philosophical ideas. The engineering feats needed to create the magnificent temples and pyramids have by themselves been studied and analyzed over the centuries to give modern scientists and scholars a reason to pause and recognize the high level of organization and structure that must have gone into developing and managing these civilizations. Various aspects of science and the arts were being developed by these ancient people. Writing, mathematics, engineering, and astronomy were becoming highly advanced. Artifacts such as clay tablets and hieroglyphs are still being discovered and interpreted and shed additional light on the advancements of these civilizations and their contribution to our collective human civilization.
Access to Fresh Water
Water is one of the necessities for human existence, and human settlements have long been based on the availability of water for human consumption and agriculture, navigation, and the production of energy. In North Africa and Southwest Asia, the availability of water has an even greater relevance because of the dominant type B climate. Methods used to address the shortage of water or to access fresh water have been nearly as diverse as the people who live here. Large populations of people can be found wherever there is fresh water. Water has historically been transferred from source to destination through canals, aqueducts, or special channels. Many ruins of extensive aqueducts from Roman times and earlier remain throughout the realm. The issues associated with water use continue to affect the lives of the people of this realm. Rapid population growth and industrialization have intensified the demand for fresh water.
Water can be found in the desert regions in a range of forms. For example, there are oases, springs, or noted wells from which people can draw underground water that is close to the surface. Mountainous regions such as the Atlas Mountains in North Africa or the Elburz Mountains in Iran trap moisture, which produces higher quantities of precipitation. The precipitation is then available in the valleys to irrigate crops. Discovering or developing other methods of acquiring fresh water is a requirement in areas without mountains.
Underground Water in Libya
In the Sahara region, Libya draws water from deep underground wells that tap into the vast aquifers beneath the desert that were charged with water when the region was tropical thousands of years ago. The water is referred to as fossil water. Extensive systems of canals and pipelines have been developed in Libya to extract fossil water and use it for agricultural production or for urban purposes. The man-made river project, one of the largest of its kind, has drawn fresh water from the desert to large cities such Tripoli and Benghazi. The local drinking water in Benghazi is contaminated by saltwater intrusion from the Mediterranean. Underground aquifers are underneath political boundaries, so the allocation and control of water are matters of political debate with the potential to lead to military conflict. The project’s potential duration will be a function of how quickly the water is used and how many people use the aquifer system. The main problem with this system is that underground aquifers are not considered a renewable resource; as more countries tap into the aquifers, the available water will be depleted more quickly. As water is drawn from the aquifers for industrial irrigation, the water table goes down. Local settlements that rely on well water may in time have to dig deeper wells or move to locations where water resources are still available.
Nile Water in Egypt
Egypt draws water from the Nile to irrigate fields for extensive food production. For thousands of years, floods of the Nile annually covered the land with fresh silt and water. This made the land productive, but the flooding often caused serious damage to human infrastructure. The building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1970s helped control the flooding of the Nile Valley. The river no longer flooded annually, and water had to be pumped onto the land. Over time, the constant and extensive use of this type of irrigation causes the small quantities of salt in the water to build up in the soil to serious levels, thereby reducing the land’s productivity. This process, called salinization, is a common problem in arid climates. To rid the soil of the salts, fresh water is needed to flood the fields, dissolving the salt and then moving the salty water back off the fields. High salinization in the soil and the reduction in agricultural productivity is a growing concern for Egypt. Egypt’s growing population places a high demand on the availability of food. More than half of the eighty million people in Egypt live in rural areas, and many of them make their living in agriculture, growing food that plays a critical role in the country’s economic stability
Water from the Tigris and Euphrates
The major source of water in the Fertile Crescent region comes from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Both have their origins in Turkey and converge at the Shatt al-Arab waterway that flows into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is the longest river in Southwest Asia and flows through Syria from Turkey before entering into Iraq. Turkey had developed large dams on both the Tigris and Euphrates for agricultural purposes and to generate hydroelectric power. As water is diverted for agriculture in Turkey there is less water flowing downstream for Syria or Iraq. Disputes over water resources continue to be a major concern in the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. The Atatürk Dam in Turkey is largest dam on the Euphrates, and it has a reservoir behind the dam that is large enough to hold the total annual discharge of the river. All three countries have dams on the Euphrates and both Turkey and Iraq have dams on the Tigris. The three countries signed a memorandum of understanding in 2009 to strengthen cooperation within the Tigris-Euphrates Basin. All three countries need the water for agriculture to produce food for a growing population. Agreements to share water have been difficult as a result of the Iraq War and the recent protests and demonstrations in Syria that have contributed to further political tension between the three countries.
Water Conservation in Israel
Israel has taken innovative steps to conserve water and use it efficiently. Drip irrigation mixed with fertilizers is called fertigation. Fertigation is used extensively in the area. Israel grows plantation crops such as bananas, which require large quantities of water. Banana groves are covered with material that allows sunlight to penetrate but reduces the amount of transpiration, which conserves water. Israel has worked to recycle water whenever possible. Gray water is water extracted from sewage that has been treated to be used in agriculture. Underground wells in the West Bank region provide water for a high percentage of people in both the Palestinian areas and Israel. The issue of control over the water is contentious at times. Just as the control of water may have been an important factor in the early Mesopotamian civilizations, it remains a point of political conflict in places such as Israel and the West Bank. The lack of fresh water and the heavier demand placed on water resources have caused countries that can afford it to desalinize seawater. This process is used extensively in the oil-rich states of the Arabian Peninsula. Israel is implementing a similar plan to accommodate their increasing population and fresh water requirements.
Mountain Water in Iran
Iran is largely a desert climate; thus most of the country does not receive copious amounts of precipitation. In an effort to redistribute the water available from the high mountains, Iranians have developed a system of qanats to collect water where it is available and channel it to the cities or urban areas for use. A qanat might include a system of shafts or wells along a mountain slope that allows water to collect into a common underground channel, which is then diverted to wherever it is needed. This system has been in use since ancient times in many arid regions of the realm and around the world. More than 2,700 years ago, a qanat was developed in what is present-day Iran. The qanat has a system of hundreds of wells and channels water for more than twenty-eight miles; it still provides drinking water to more than forty thousand people in the city of Gonabad. Thousands of qanats were developed over the centuries in this area. Persians used cold qanat water from the mountains to keep ice cool during the summer months. Agricultural production relies heavily on water from qanats, which in turn are dependent on climate conditions and local weather patterns.
Water Shortages in Arabia
The Arabian Peninsula almost always conjures up images of desert conditions; contrary to that image, there is water in the peninsula. Underground aquifers of fossil water are located beneath the sands similar to that in the Sahara Desert. Saudi Arabia taps into these water resources to irrigate agricultural land to grow food. This area faces the same issue as Libya and other areas of the world that rely on underground aquifers: eventually the water supply will be used up. The majority of the Arabian Peninsula is desert and water is always in short supply. Many coastal desert countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Qatar have resorted to the desalinization of seawater for their needs, but this is viable only as long as the country can afford the energy cost required to operate the desalinization plants.
Yemen is a state on the Arabian Peninsula that is mountainous and has used terracing to more effectively benefit from what little precipitation they receive. Water from precipitation is trapped in terraces, and as it flows down the mountainside, each terrace uses what it needs and then passes the water to the next lower terrace. More land can be farmed to produce higher yields of agricultural crops such as sorghum and cereals. One of the main problems with Yemen’s terrace system is that most of its trees are being cut down for firewood. Tree roots are essential for holding the soil together on the fragile mountain slopes. Another problem is heavy rains that cause serious erosion and damage to the terrace system. Additionally, the extremely rapid growth rate of Yemen’s population is outstripping its agricultural production.
Diversion of Water in Turkestan
Fresh water is in short supply in many of the desert regions of Turkestan in Central Asia. Agricultural production has traditionally been dependent on water flowing in rivers and streams that originated with the precipitation from the mountains, but as humans have developed canals and irrigation systems, water from rivers has been diverted for agricultural use. Vast fields of cash crops such as cotton were developed during the Soviet era for economic reasons, and as discussed in more detail in Section 8.7 “Central Asia and Afghanistan”, the result had devastating consequences for the Aral Sea, which depended on the water from these rivers for its survival. More than half the population of Central Asia depends on agriculture for their livelihood. The other half, of course, requires water and food for their existence.
Arab Spring of 2011
The year 2011 brought about important changes for the human geography of parts of this realm. The year ushered in a wave of human activity that awakened the power of the citizens to speak out against conditions in their country and actively protest against their governments. North Africa, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula experienced the highest levels of protests and insurgency. Political leaders that had been in power for extended periods were challenged and removed from office. Democratic reforms were requested or demanded by citizens seeking more individual freedom and greater access to political power. Uprisings in some of the countries were internal; other countries received external support or intervention. Overall, demonstrations, protests, and outright revolution involved millions of people desiring improved living conditions and a better future for themselves and their families.
Protests emerged in North Africa in the beginning of 2011. Tunisia was the first country in which leadership felt the heat of civil resistance and open revolution. In January, the Tunisian president of more than twenty-three years was forced to flee to Saudi Arabia. In Egypt, millions of protesters demonstrated in the streets against political corruption and the lack of reforms. The revolution of Egypt’s citizens was not an armed conflict, but it was an effective protest, because it eventually brought about the ouster of President Hosni Mubarak, who had been in office for almost thirty years. Demonstrations and protests continued against governments in Morocco and Algeria; the people voiced their concerns regarding issues such as high unemployment, poor living conditions, and government corruption. Libya’s protests erupted into a full-scale armed revolution as antigovernment rebels took control of the city of Benghazi in an attempt to topple Muammar Gadhafi’s forty-two years of authoritarian control of the government, oil revenues, and the people. The armed Libyan revolution was eventually successful in taking control of Tripoli and in removing Gadhafi and his family from power. The revolution in Libya was aided by North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) air strikes and the implementation of a no-fly zone over the country.
The ripple effect that the Tunisian revolution had on North Africa was felt on the Arabian Peninsula in places such as Yemen and Bahrain. Mass public demonstrations in Yemen over government corruption, economic conditions, and high unemployment escalated into serious armed conflicts between government troops and opposition factions that wanted the president removed from office. In Bahrain, the protests and demonstrations were centered on the request for more personal freedoms and a greater role in leadership for the Shia population, who experienced discrimination by the Sunni-dominated government. Protests also occurred in Oman for greater reforms.
The Middle East did not escape the Arab Spring of 2011. Protests in Jordan forced King ‘Abdullah II to reorganize his government. Israel and Lebanon were not as affected, as they have been addressing many of these issues on an ongoing basis. The country experiencing the greatest impact was Syria. Major mass demonstrations and serious protests against the government were staged in a number of cities across the country. In Syria, the long-term leadership of an Alawite minority continues to run the government and control the military. The al-Assad family—a father and then his son—has ruled Syria since 1971. The Syrian government has cracked down on the revolution with hard-line measures aimed at subduing the protests and demonstrations. By September 2011, more than two thousand protesters had been killed in Syria, and many more were detained or tortured. Countless others have tried to flee to neighboring countries for their safety. The protesters in Syria want democratic reforms as well as the end of the al-Assad family reign.
Other parts of the realm also felt the effects of the Arab Spring of 2011 with mixed results. Iran has had similar protests and demonstrations in past years, but there was not a major revolution or uprising as a direct result of the Arab Spring. Iran is not an Arab country but has experienced ongoing political friction between citizen factions and the government. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have tempered or isolated internal protests or revolutionary activities in those countries even though armed conflicts continue. Various Central Asian states have been working through similar issues but either have not had mass demonstrations or have not received the attention of news media regarding their situations. The wave of change that swept over the realm in the Arab Spring of 2011 is an example of how centripetal and centrifugal cultural forces act on a state or region. The political landscape was altered or drastically changed in many countries. The impact of these changes will be realized in the years and decades to come.
Key Takeaways
• The realm of North Africa and Southwest Asia extends from the Atlantic Ocean along the Moroccan coast to the western border of China. It includes the regions of North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia (often referred to as Turkestan).
• Three basic features that dominate this realm include the arid type B climates, Islam as the predominant religion, and the export of petroleum and minerals to gain wealth. There are exceptions to all three features, but these three are found within most countries of the realm.
• The two main cultural hearths in this realm are located along the rivers in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. Control of and access to water resources to grow excess food were the basis for the success of the empires that flourished in these two areas.
• Fresh water is a valuable resource that is not always available in North Africa and Southwest Asia because of the climate and physical geography. Each region within the realm has developed its own methods to draw from or extract the valuable resource of fresh water.
• The Arab Spring of 2011 was a massive wave of protests and demonstrations by citizens of the realm against their governments over such issues as poor living conditions, high unemployment, government corruption, and the lack of democratic reforms. Various leaders were removed from office and governments were pressed to reform their power structures to allow for more shared governance and reduced political corruption.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why does this realm include parts of three continents?
2. Which countries have territory on more than one continent?
3. What common traits are shared by most people in this realm?
4. What might have prompted the first rural-to-urban shift for human settlements?
5. Why is the Middle East called by that term? What is it in the “middle” of?
6. What did the two cultural hearths contribute to the advancement of human culture?
7. Why did the cultural hearths develop where they did?
8. What are some of the methods Israel has used to address their fresh water requirements?
9. What prompted the Arab Spring of 2011? Which country was the first to see change?
10. What were some of the common issues that people protested across the realm?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arabian Peninsula
• Asia Minor
• Atlas Mountains
• Elburz Mountains
• Empty Quarter
• Euphrates River
• Fertile Crescent
• Giza Plateau
• Levant
• Libyan Desert
• Mesopotamia
• Middle East
• Nile River
• Nubian Desert
• Tigris River
• Turkestan
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.01%3A_Introducing_the_Realm.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the early life of Muhammad and the origins of Islam.
2. Analyze the differences and similarities among the three main monotheistic religions.
3. Explain the process of spatial diffusion and the various forms it may represent.
4. Outline the main divisions of Islam and the approximate percentages of the followers of each division.
5. Explain how Islamic fundamentalism influences the debate between a religious state and a secular state
Located in the mountains of western Saudi Arabia, the city of Mecca (also spelled Makkah) began as an early trade center for the region and a hub for camel caravans trading throughout Southwest Asia and North Africa. Mecca is about forty-five miles from the Red Sea coast at an elevation of 531 feet. South of Mecca, the mountains reach more than 7,200 feet in elevation. According to Islamic tradition, the patriarch Abraham came to Mecca with his Egyptian wife Hagar and their son Ishmael more than two thousand years before the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (born 571 CE). When Hagar died, Abraham and Ishmael built the Kaaba (or Ka‘ba), a rectangular shrine that included a special stone, in Mecca. The shrine was destined to become one of the holiest sites for nomadic groups in Arabia. Abraham later died in Palestine in what is now the country of Israel. Centuries after Abraham’s death, the Kaaba and the rituals associated with it deteriorated and mixed with other local traditions.
The Prophet Muhammad
The traditional groups in the region of Arabia were polytheistic and worshiped their own gods. By the time of Muhammad, Mecca is said to have been a center of worship to more than 360 deities or gods; the greatest of these was Allah (meaning “the god”). Allah was known as the chief of the Meccan pantheon of gods and was worshiped from southern Syria to Arabia. Mecca was full of idols, temples, and worship sites. Tradition states that the god Allah was the only god without an idol; he would become the sole entity of Muhammad’s new Islamic religion.
Muhammad, born in Mecca 571 years after the birth of Christ and about 100 years after the fall of the Roman Empire, was orphaned at an early age, and was employed in a camel caravan when he reached his teens. His life and what has been reported about it changed the Middle East forever. Muhammad traveled throughout the region with the camel caravans. He was fortunate to have been able to live as he did, because most orphans in the region did not have many opportunities in life. His travels introduced him to many people, places, and issues. His situation changed when Muhammad and a widow many years his senior were married. Muhammad became a merchant, the leader of a camel caravan, and a respected member of his community. He was reported to have been intelligent and a wise businessman.
The traditional groups that traded in Mecca held many different religious beliefs. The city was a forum for the many vices and activities associated with trade, travel, and metropolitan business. To escape the activities of Mecca, Muhammad would often seek the solitude of the mountains, where he would contemplate and think. Tradition states that the angel Gabriel appeared to him while he was meditating in a mountain cave in 610 CE, when Muhammad was about forty. Muhammad was given words from Allah, which he recited from memory to his followers. According to tradition, Muhammad was illiterate; his supporters wrote down his words, compiled them into the Koran (Qur’an), the holiest book of Islam. Muhammad was the founder of the new religion, which he called Islam (meaning “submission to Allah”). The term Muslim (meaning “one who submits”) refers to a follower of Islam.
After Muhammad returned to Mecca and related his visions and Allah’s words from the angel Gabriel, he began to speak out against the city’s vices and many gods. He stated that there was only one god: Allah, the same creator god of Abraham. He spoke out against gambling and drinking alcohol. He advocated the caretaking of widows and orphans. He also preached regarding family and community. His message was not well received: in 622 CE the people of Mecca forced Muhammad out. He fled to the safety of the nearby city of Medina in a journey known as the hejira (hijra). This historic journey became the start of the Islamic calendar, which is based on the lunar cycles. Muhammad found refuge in Medina and became a respected citizen.
Launching out from Medina, Muhammad and those loyal to him defeated the army of Mecca and converted the city into Islam’s holiest place. They destroyed all Mecca’s idols and temples except the Kaaba. Muhammad’s teaching united the many Arabian groups under one religion. Since the Koran was written in Arabic, Arabic became the official language of Islam. The Kaaba and the mosque built at Mecca became the center of the Islamic world and a destination for Muslim pilgrims. Islam brought a new identity, a faith in one god, and a set of values to the Arab world. Islam made sense in a world with many traditional beliefs and few unifying principles.
Figure 8.9 Traditional Succession of the Three Main Monotheistic Religions of the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
It’s important to keep in mind that monotheist belief was not new: Christianity had been around for more than six hundred years. Judaism and Zoroastrianism in Persia had been around for centuries before Christianity. The principles of Islam and Muhammad’s teachings are a continuation of Judaism and Christianity. All three traditions assert a faith in a divine creator, with important messages coming through prophets or holy messengers. All three religions acknowledge Abraham as a founding patriarch. Muslims believe that Moses and Jesus were major prophets and that Muhammad was the greatest and final prophet. All three religions have stories about creation, Adam and Eve, the flood, and other similar stories that have been adapted to the traditions and characters of each religion.
Religion is a part of culture. The religions that emerged out of the Middle East absorbed many of the existing cultural traits, traditions, or habits of the people into their religious practices. Early Islam adapted many Arab cultural traits, styles of dress, foods, and the pilgrimage and folded them into its principles. Early Christianity and Judaism also adopted cultural traits, holidays, styles of dress, and cultural traditions.
Spatial Diffusion
The spread of Islam was accomplished through trade and conquest. Mecca was a center of trade. When camel caravans left Mecca, they carried Muhammad’s teachings with them. Islam diffused from Mecca and spread throughout the Middle East and into Central Asia and North Africa. The geographic principle of spatial diffusion can be applied to any phenomenon, idea, disease, or concept that spreads through a population across space and through time. The spatial diffusion of Islam outward from Mecca was significant and predictable.
There are two main types of spatial diffusion: expansion diffusion and relocation diffusion. Expansion diffusion has two main subtypes: contagious diffusion and hierarchical diffusion. A religion can spread from individual to individual through contagious diffusion when a religion starts at one point and propagates or expands outward from person to person or place to place in a pattern similar to the spreading of a disease. Another way a religion can spread through expansion diffusion is hierarchically, when rulers of a region convert to the religion and decree it as the official religion of their realm; the religion filters down the political chain of command and eventually reaches the masses. The second type of diffusion, relocation diffusion, takes place when the religion relocates to a new place from a central point. When Islam jumped from the Middle East to Indonesia, it diffused through relocation. Relocation diffusion also occurred when Islam spread to the United States.
Early on, the unifying principles of Islam found their way into the regional groups of Arabia and into the minds of their leaders. By 700 CE, Islam had spread to the east, to the Mogul Empire of Pakistan and northern India. In India, the Emperor Shah Jehan, who built the famous architectural marvel of the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife, was a Muslim. The expansion of Islam fueled the Arab Empire of the Middle East. The capital city of the Arab Empire was first established at Medina and then moved to Damascus and later to Baghdad. While Europe was enduring the Dark Ages, Islam was experiencing a renaissance, expanding its knowledge of mathematics, architecture, and the sciences. The Arab institutions of higher learning kept the Greek classics alive and established universities in Toledo (Spain), Cairo, and Baghdad. As of 2010, Islam has attracted as many as 1.5 billion followers, second only to Christianity, which has about 2 billion followers. Hinduism is third, with about 900 million followers. Buddhism is considered the world’s fourth-largest religion.
The Five Pillars of Islam
The basic tenets of the Five Pillars of Islam create the foundational structure of Islam. Prayer is an important part of the religion. A Muslim must offer prayers five times a day: before sunrise, at midday, at midafternoon, after sunset, and in the early evening. During prayer, Muslims face toward the compass direction of Mecca. Before clocks and time were well established, a mosque leader would climb a minaret (a tall tower next to the mosque, their place of public worship) and call the faithful to prayer at the required times of day. Muslims gather together for common prayer on Friday, which is a time to unite the community of believers. Mosques sprang up after Muhammad died, and they became the center of community activities in the Islamic world.
The Five Pillars of Islam can be translated as follows:
1. Express the basic creed (Shahadah). Profess that there is no god but Allah and his messenger and prophet is Muhammad.
2. Perform the prayers (Salat). Pray five times a day.
3. Pay alms or give to charity (Zakat). Share what you have with people who are less fortunate.
4. Fast (Sawm). During the month of Ramadan, abstain from personal needs, drinking, and eating from dawn to dusk (as one’s health permits).
5. Make the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Conduct at least one pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca (if within one’s capacity).
The Death of Muhammad
Muhammad died at the age of sixty-two. He never claimed to be a god or anything other than a mere mortal. His tomb is located in Medina, the City of the Prophet. No provision was made to continue Muhammad’s work after he died. One division thought his successor should be a blood relative. This division led to the Shia (or Shi’ite) branch of Islam, which makes up about 15 percent of Muslims. Others felt that the successor should be a worthy follower and did not need to be a blood relative. This branch became known as Sunni, which makes up about 84 percent of Muslims. Various smaller branches of Islam also exist, including Sufi, which approaches the Islamic faith from a more mystical and spiritual perspective.
Sunni Muslims look to the family and community for direction; Sunni leaders are elected by the whole community. Shia Muslims look to their imams for the official source of direction. Imams hold the religious and political leadership in the Shia faith. Through the right of divine appointment, Imams are considered by many in the Shia division to hold absolute spiritual authority. Imams often have the final word regarding religious doctrine. Shia Muslims consider Muhammad’s son-in-law and cousin Ali to be the origin of the direct line of succession for Imams. Ali is considered in Islam to have been the first person to accept and follow the words of Muhammad. There are many subgroups or branches in each of the Islamic divisions.
In understanding the Middle East, it is most critical to understand the Sunni and Shia divisions of Islam. The Shia and Sunni divisions of Islam have sometimes had divergent beliefs, resulting in conflicts. In the early sixteenth century, the Persian Empire, which is now Iran, declared the Shia branch its official religion. Its surrounding neighbors were predominantly Sunni. This divergence is part of the basis for the current civil unrest in Iraq. The two divisions of Islam currently vie for political power and control in Iraq. The majority of the Arab population in Iraq, about 60 percent in 2010, follows the Shia division of Islam, but the leadership under Saddam Hussein until 2003 was Sunni. Tradition states that Ali is buried in the Iraqi city of Najaf, which is considered by Shia Muslims to be one of the holiest sites in Islam. Just north of Najaf is the city of Karbala, which is also considered to be a holy place for Shia Muslims because it is the burial place of the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Husayn. The Shia majority in Iraq who are Arab share their faith with the Shia majority in Iran who are ethnically Persian.
Secular State versus Religious State
Islam has a code of law called the Sharia criminal code, which is similar to Old Testament law. The Sharia dictates capital punishment for certain crimes. For example, if a person is caught stealing, his or her arm would be severed. For more serious offenses, he or she would be beheaded or stoned to death. Some countries use the Sharia as the law of their country. Countries are called religious states (Islamic states in this case) when religious codes take precedence over civil law. States in which people democratically vote on civil law based on common agreement are called secular states. Whereas secular states attempt to separate religious issues and civil law, religious states attempt to combine the two. Iran is a good example of an Islamic religious state, and Turkey is a good example of a secular state. When the United States invaded Iraq in 2003 and Saddam Hussein was removed from leadership, the country entered a transitional period in which they had to decide if the country would develop into an Islamic state with the Sharia or move to a democratically elected government with civil law. The debate on these issues continually surfaces in many of the countries in North Africa and Southwest Asia whenever transition occurs.
The cultural forces of democratic reforms and Islamic fundamentalism have been pushing and pulling on the Islamic world. Democratic reformers push for a more open society with equality for women, social freedoms for the people, and democratically elected leaders in government. Islamic fundamentalists pull back toward a stricter following of Islamic teachings; they oppose what they consider the decadent and vulgar ways of Western society and wish to restrict the influence of liberal, nonreligious teaching. A rift between militant Islamic fundamentalists and moderate Islamic reformers is evident throughout the Muslim world. Militant leaders strive to uphold the Sharia criminal code as law. Moderate reformers work toward a civil law based on democratic consensus. This rift adds to the conflicts that have been occurring in this realm. Islamic fundamentalists push for a more traditional and conservative society and express opposition to the United States’ intervention in the realm. The Muslim world will continue to confront such arguments over the future direction of Islam in a globalized economy.
Key Takeaways
• Islam has its origins with Muhammad, who was born 571 years after the birth of Jesus, when Christianity was well established. Muhammad received his revelations through the angel Gabriel and passed them to his followers, who wrote down his words into what became the Koran.
• Islam is the youngest of the three major monotheistic religions of the realm: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. All three trace their origins back to the patriarch Abraham. Other monotheistic religions, such as the Baha’i faith and Zoroastrianism, are also evident in the Southwest Asia.
• Spatial diffusion can be applied to any phenomenon, idea, disease, or concept that spreads through a population across space and through time. Islam has diffused through both expansion diffusion and relocation diffusion to become the second most followed religion in the world.
• Since the death of Muhammad, Islam has divided into a number of different factions. The two most prevalent divisions of Islam are Sunni (followed by about 84 percent of Muslims) and Shia (followed by about 15 percent of Muslims). Other minor divisions of Islam, such as Sufi, also exist.
• Religious states are structured around laws based on religious regulations that are usually determined by religious leaders. Secular states are structured around civil law, which is decided on by democratic consensus.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What was Muhammad’s early life like? Do you think his background influenced his teachings?
2. Who were Sarah and Hagar? How were their sons influential to the people of the Middle East?
3. Name the individual who is considered a patriarch to the three major monotheistic religions of the Middle East.
4. What event triggered the start of the Islamic calendar? What is this calendar based on?
5. List the Five Pillars of Islam. On which day of the week does the Islamic community gather for prayer?
6. Name the two main divisions of Islam. What percentage of Islam’s disciples follow each of the divisions?
7. What are the differences between the two main divisions of Islam?
8. What are the two main types of spatial diffusion? Provide an example of each.
9. What is the difference between a religious state and a secular state? Which of these types of state does the United States fit into?
10. How has the conflict between Islamic fundamentalists and Islamic reformers manifested itself in the North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Turkestan realm in recent years?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Baghdad
• Cairo
• Damascus
• Jerusalem
• Karbala
• Mecca
• Medina
• Najaf
• Toledo
Activity
1. On a map of this realm, indicate the type of government for each country. Determine which countries are religious states and which are secular states.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.02%3A_Muhammad_and_Islam.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the historical geography of North Africa, identify the major physical features and the main cities, and understand who the people are and where most of the population lives in the region.
2. Understand the unique geographic qualities of the Maghreb and explain how this region is connected to Europe.
3. Outline the political issues in North Africa and understand the transitions and conflicts occurring in the governments of the region.
4. Describe the main qualities of the African Transition Zone and explain how the dynamics of this zone are affecting the country of Sudan.
North Africa’s primary connection with the Middle East and Central Asia is that Islam diffused to North Africa from the Middle East and Central Asia. Today, it is a Muslim-dominated realm with Arabic as its primary language. Historically, the ethnicity of North Africa was predominantly Berber with the nomadic Tuareg and other local groups interspersed. When Islam diffused into North Africa, the Arab influence and culture were infused with it. Modern Egypt has become the cornerstone of the Arab world; more Arabs live in Cairo than in any other city on Earth. The three main areas of interest are the Maghreb of the northwest; the Nile River valley in the east; and the African Transition Zone, where the Sahara Desert transitions into the tropical type A climates of Central Africa’s equatorial region.
Islam diffused through North Africa to the Berber people of the Maghreb and entered Europe across the Strait of Gibraltar to the Iberian Peninsula. The Arab-Berber alliance, called the Moors, invaded Spain in 711 CE. The Islamic influence thrived in Iberia and would have continued into mainland Europe if not stopped by Christian forces such as Charles Martel’s army in the famous Battle of Tours. Islam was eventually pushed out of the Iberian Peninsula and held south of the Strait of Gibraltar. Islamic architecture and influence remain part of the heritage of Iberia.
The historical geography of North Africa is not complete without an understanding of the European influences that have dominated or controlled this region for centuries. The Roman Empire controlled much of the coastal area of the Mediterranean during its zenith. The Romans built ports, aqueducts, roads, and valuable infrastructure. After the fall of the Roman Empire, common bonds of religion and language were created for the people through the invasion of the Arabs, who introduced the Islamic faith. North Africa was later dominated by European colonialism. France controlled and colonized the region of the Barbary Coast along North Africa’s western waterfront, including Algeria, Tunisia, and parts of Morocco. Italians colonized the region that is now Libya. The Barbary Coast of the Mediterranean was once a haven for pirates and a danger to shipping during the colonial era. Even the United States involved itself with wars against the pirates off the coast of the Berber states of North Africa during the early 1800s. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain controlled Egypt and parts of the Sudan. The Spanish colonized parts of Morocco and Western Sahara. In due time, resistance movements were successful in defeating the colonial powers and declaring independence for all the countries of North Africa. However, the European influence remains through the region’s dependence on trade and economic partnerships with Europe.
North Africa is separated from Subsaharan Africa by the African Transition Zone, a transitional area between Islamic-dominated North Africa and animist- and Christian-dominated Subsaharan Africa. It is also a transition between the Sahara Desert and the tropical type A climates of Africa’s equatorial region. This is a zone subject to shifting boundaries. The region was once a major trade route between the Mali Empire of the west and the trade centers of Ethiopia in the east. Camel caravans have crossed this sector of Africa for centuries, and camel caravans from Mecca might have traveled across this zone. Many nomadic groups continue to herd their livestock across the region in search of grazing.
The Maghreb: “Isle of the West”
The Maghreb is a region extending from Morocco to Libya that is distinguished by the main ranges of the Atlas Mountains, which reach elevations of near thirteen thousand feet. The main Atlas range is often snow-covered at higher elevations. The name Maghreb, which in Arabic means “Isle of the West,” receives between ten and thirty inches of rainfall per year. This is substantially more rainfall than what is received in the Sahara Desert to the south. The Atlas Mountains extract precipitation from the air in the form of rain or snow, which allows fruits and vegetables to be grown in the fertile mountain valleys of the Maghreb. To the south of this region is the vast Sahara Desert with lower precipitation and warmer temperatures. Libya is actually outside the range of the Atlas Mountains but is associated with the Maghreb by most local inhabitants.
Aided by a moderate type C climate, the northern coastal region of the Maghreb and the mountain valleys are a center for agricultural production, including grapes, dates, oranges, olives, and other food products. Think about how geography affects population: Which climate type do most human groups gravitate toward? What conditions will you find when you combine this climate type and generous quantities of water and food? As you fit the pieces of the geographic puzzle together, you can understand why populations centralize in some places and not in others. The Maghreb is an attractive place for human habitation, but it borders on the inhospitable vastness of the Sahara Desert. Most of the Maghreb’s residents live in cities along the Mediterranean coast. There are few people in the vast desert interior of these countries. The exceptions are groups such as the Tuareg that are found in the Sahara.
The Maghreb is an expansive region with countries of size. Algeria, Libya, and Morocco are large countries in terms of physical area. Algeria is Africa’s largest country as of 2011. Algeria is similar in area to the entire United States east of the Mississippi River, Libya is larger than the state of Alaska, and Morocco is the size of the state of California. A large percentage of Algeria south of the Maghreb and a large percentage of the area south of the Mediterranean coastline in Libya fit the classification of desert conditions. The largest cities of Libya are along the coast, but other Libyan cities are positioned in the desert region. Tunisia, the smallest of the countries on the Mediterranean, is about the same size as the US state of Wisconsin and has mountains in its north and desert areas to the southwest.
All the countries of the Maghreb have former connections to Europe. These ties have strengthened in recent years because of an increase in trade and the economic dependencies that have been created between Europe and the Mediterranean. North Africa can grow fruit and vegetable crops that are not as plentiful in the colder northern latitudes. In the last half of the twentieth century, an enormous amount of oil was discovered in the Maghreb, and Europe has a growing need for energy. The discovery of oil changed the trade equation: oil and natural gas revenues subsequently advanced past agricultural goods as the main export products. Oil and natural gas exports now make up 95 percent of the export income for Algeria and Libya.
Economic Geography of the Maghreb
Europe, which is in the higher stages of the index of economic development, has small families with fewer young people to fill entry-level service jobs, and North Africa has a burgeoning population of young people seeking employment. Many people from North Africa speak the languages of their former colonial masters, and when they leave North Africa seeking employment, they find the transition to a European lifestyle relatively straightforward. Migration from the shores of North Africa to Europe is not difficult; the Strait of Gibraltar, for example, is only about nine miles across from Morocco to Spain.
European countries have attempted to implement measures to halt the tide of illegal immigration into their continent from North Africa but have not been successful. The need for cheap labor in European countries is a major economic factor in this equation. The core-periphery spatial relationship creates the push-pull forces of migration based on opportunities and advantages. Europe needs cheap labor and more energy, provides employment opportunities, and has an advantage in its higher standards of living: these forces attract immigration and pull people toward Europe. North Africa can supply labor and oil, has high levels of unemployment, and suffers from poor economic conditions: these factors push people to emigrate from North Africa to places where conditions are more attractive. Europe is the core economic region, and North Africa is the peripheral economic region. People usually shift from periphery to core in their migration patterns, and this is the case across the Mediterranean.
European and American influences have been strong in North Africa. Western culture continues to compete with fundamental Islamic tendencies in the region, especially in urban centers. In Morocco, which is the farthest country from Mecca, democratic reforms have opened the country to more opportunities for women and have led to exposure to Western fashions, ideas, and products. Tunisia has a supportive Westernized society. In Libya, birth control or family planning products have not always been supported by the government, so family size remained relatively high until about 1985 when it began to decline. Women are allowed to go to college in Libya, but a smaller percentage are enrolled compared to men. More than 90 percent of Libyans live in urban areas. Exposure to Western concepts, along with urbanizing and industrializing of the economy, has caused a drop in family size in Libya—from 7.5 children in 1975, to about 4.0 children in 1990, and down to 3.0 children in 2010 (Central Intelligence Agency). More women are trading traditional dress for Western-style clothing and are entering the workforce to the extent they are allowed.
Political Geography of the Maghreb
Economic and political pressures are building across North Africa. Toward the end of 2010 and the spring of 2011, activists called for the governments in North Africa to implement change and address the push of North Africans for stronger democratic openness, less government corruption, and the sharing of wealth accumulated by those in power. Leaders have been reluctant to relinquish power and are being challenged by protests and revolution. The driving forces for the people have been high unemployment rates, high food prices, and the lack of adequate housing.
Western Sahara and Morocco
Western Sahara is the region south of Morocco. In the latter half of the 1970s, Morocco annexed and took control of this region following the withdrawal of Mauritanian control. A local resistance group called the Polisario Front challenged Morocco’s claim to Western Sahara and staged a guerilla war to fight for the independence of Western Sahara. By 1991, the United Nations (UN) had stepped in, brokered a halt to the fighting, and worked to resolve the matter. Both sides have offered proposals to the UN; Morocco’s plan advocates for annexation, and Polisario’s plan is for independence. Western Sahara is mainly desert terrain and only has about three hundred thousand people. The UN delegation has indicated that independence is not realistic. However, talks continue between the factions to work out a solution.
Algeria
Algeria has also experienced its share of violent clashes; in this case, the clashes are between Islamic fundamentalist groups and the democratically elected government. In the 1990s, the Islamic Salvation Front, which advocates for a fundamentalist Islamic state in Algeria, challenged the secular political mainstream. The electoral process was interrupted, and the government found itself fighting an Islamic insurgency within the country. By 1998, more than one hundred thousand people had been killed. The horror of the violence received international attention. Islamic extremists widened their attacks and massacred entire villages to send a message to support their cause. By the end of the decade, government forces gained control of the country, and the Islamic Salvation Front officially disbanded. Smaller extremist groups continued to operate. They joined forces with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda group to create an insurgent group called al-Qaeda in the Lands of the Islamic Maghreb, which has continued a campaign of terror and violence against the Algerian government and people in the region with Western interests. Coinciding with similar protests across North Africa, during 2010 and 2011, there was an insurgence of protests and demonstrations against the government of Algeria by its people, who were asking for better living conditions. The government made some concessions to address the issues, but the political climate in Algeria continues to be tense as the government struggles to find ways to satisfy the needs of the people.
Tunisia
Tunisia was once an outpost of the Roman Empire, and well-preserved Roman ruins can be found throughout North Africa. In 1956, at the end of the colonial era, France recognized Tunisia’s independence, and the country established its own government. The political problems in Tunisia today stem from the fact that little has changed in the government since the time of independence. Since independence Tunisia has had few changes in government leaders. The country’s second president, Ben Ali, dominated the country for twenty-four years (1987–2011). Ben Ali worked to stem the tide of Islamic fundamentalism, opened the country to establishing rights for women, and allowed more tolerance of religious diversity; however, under his leadership the government struggled to find a balance between democratic openness and authoritarian measures to keep the country moving forward with economic development and social services for a growing population.
Beginning in 2010, corruption, unemployment, and a lack of personal freedoms prompted Tunisians to take to the streets in massive protests, which grew into a revolution for change. By the end of the year, President Ben Ali was removed from power and an interim government was formed. Protests continued as the government shifted to adapt to the conditions. In 2011, a new constitutional assembly was formed to address changes in the government. Economic conditions have remained thorny during the transition.
Libya
Muammar Gadhafi came to power in Libya in 1969 by overthrowing the king and never held an election for political control. He used Libya’s oil revenues to build up the country’s infrastructure, enhance his military, and create an anti-Western terrorist network with weapons production. Personal freedoms have been limited in Libya, and there has been no free speech, freedom of the press, or freedom of assembly. Gadhafi supported various Islamic terrorist groups and nationalized all the oil assets of international corporations in Libya in the early 1980s. This action of nationalism directly opposed and angered many corporate colonialists. His policies caused the international oil companies, which operated much of the oil industry there, to pressure the US government to conduct a series of devastating military bombing raids on Libya in 1986 in an attempt to kill Gadhafi.
Gadhafi deployed his military along Libya’s southern border with Chad in a zone called the Aozou Strip. This border territory was the site of a boundary dispute over land that was reported to hold uranium reserves. Libyan forces controlled the Aozou Strip for a number of years before Chad forced them out. In 1994, the UN ruled that the zone belonged to Chad, and the dispute was finally resolved. In other activities, Libyan agents were accused of planting bombs on passenger airlines, such as the 1988 explosion on Pan Am flight over Scotland that killed 270 people and the 1989 explosion of UTA flight 772 over Niger that killed 170 people. After the 9-11 tragedy in New York, Gadhafi backed down on his aggressive anti-Western activities and agreed to dismantle some of his weapons production facilities and comply with international trade agreements. Libya then denounced terrorism, and the United States lifted economic sanctions against Libya and exchanged ambassadors.
Unrest in Libya surfaced again in 2011, coinciding with protests under way in neighboring Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt. Factions in Libya that opposed Gadhafi’s regime advocated for his removal from office and for more democratic freedoms. Based in Libya’s second-largest city of Benghazi, in the eastern sector of the country, the resistance movement gained momentum and pushed for an all-out civil war that split the country in half. Forces loyal to Gadhafi in the capital city of Tripoli in the western part of the country faced off against the separatists under the structure of the National Transitional Council (NTC). In 2011, Gadhafi had been in power for more than forty-two years. His family and clan controlled much of the country’s wealth from the export of oil. Gadhafi’s control of Libya did not allow for the establishment of strong administrative divisions within the government to share power.
The UN, through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), implemented a no-fly zone over Libya and allowed military strikes against Gadhafi’s forces to stop the massacre of civilians in the civil war. By the end of the summer of 2011, the resistance forces headquartered in Benghazi had pushed across to the western part of Libya and took control of Tripoli. Gadhafi was no longer in control of the country, as the NTC became the transitional power base. Muammar Gadhafi was killed in October 2011. Post-Gadhafi Libya will most likely be quite different from the status quo of the past four decades. Nation building will become a major focus for North Africa, which may be more difficult for Libya than its neighbors because of the lack of an administrative structure.
The Nile River and Egypt
The Nile River originates in East Africa in Lake Victoria and in Ethiopia in Lake Tana. The White Nile flows north from Lake Victoria through Uganda and into Sudan, where it converges with the Blue Nile at the city of Khartoum, Sudan’s capital. The Blue Nile originates in Lake Tana in Ethiopia. From Khartoum, the Nile River flows north through the Nubian Desert into Egypt, where it eventually reaches the Mediterranean Sea. The fresh water of the Nile is a lifeline that enables agriculture and transportation and supports a growing human population in the region.
The White Nile originates in Lake Victoria, and the Blue Nile originates in Lake Tana. They converge at Khartoum.
Until the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1968, the river flooded its banks yearly, depositing silt and nutrients onto the soil and causing enormous damage to infrastructure. As far back as when the pharaohs ruled Egypt, the people used flood irrigation to grow their crops. Today, water is pumped from the controlled Nile River onto the fields to water crops. This change has increased the number of crops that can be grown per year. However, it has also caused a buildup of salt in the soil, resulting in declining soil quality. Without annual flooding, the salts cannot be dissolved away but remain in the soil, reducing yields. Almost a third of Egypt’s population works in agriculture; about half the population is rural.
Population Dynamics
Cairo, Egypt’s capital, lies at the northern end of the Nile River. With a population of more than ten million, it is the largest North African city and home to more Arabs than any other city in the world. It is considered the cornerstone city of Arab culture. Cairo is so crowded that more than a million people live in its old cemetery, the City of the Dead. Cairo’s residents, and the millions of people in Egypt, depend on the Nile River for their survival. About 95 percent of Egypt’s population lives within fifteen miles of the Nile River. As the population has grown, urban expansion has encroached on the farmland of the Nile Valley. Egypt can no longer produce enough food for its people; about 15 percent of its food comes from other countries, mainly the United States.
Conflicts between democratic reforms and Islamic fundamentalism are evident in Egypt. The growing population of about eighty million in 2010 is a major concern. In Egypt’s case, democratic reformers were able to promote a strong program of family planning and birth control to help reduce family size, which in 2008 was at 2.8 children per woman and declining. The government even created a popular Egyptian soap opera to promote the concept that it was appropriate in an Arab culture to use family planning and have a small family. The prime-time program, called And the Nile Flows On, told the story of a young village bride dealing with the issues of pregnancy and life complicated by the interjection of a progressive sheik and a meddling female doctor. The drama addressed many family planning and religious issues regarding the acceptability of breaking with tradition to address the growing population problem in Egypt.
Television programming is popular in Egypt, and even reruns of old American shows such as Bonanza and Dallas are dubbed into Arabic and shown on Egyptian television. Egypt is a cultural mix with a strong heritage steeped in Arab history with a secular side that is open to the outside world. The cultural forces that create this paradox have not always been in unison. Egypt has a major connection to Western society because of tourism. The Pyramids of Giza and the Great Sphinx are major attractions that pull in millions of people per year from around the world. Tourism opens up Egypt to outside elements from various cultural backgrounds, most of which are secular.
Political Dynamics
On the political front, the democratically elected government has received strong opposition from the Islamic Brotherhood, which advocates a more fundamentalist Islamic lifestyle and government structure. The democratic reformers that vie with the Islamic Brotherhood for political power support a more open and democratic civil government. These two elements are what drive Egyptian culture and society.
The political situation changed in Egypt with the Arab Spring of 2011. Student protests against government corruption and the lack of democratic reforms emerged with an intensity that gained the support of the Egyptian people and forced the Egyptian government to respond. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak had been in power since 1981 after the assassination of the previous president, Anwar Sadat. President Mubarak was able to win every election for president that had been held since that time. Millions of Egyptians took to the streets in early 2011 in civil protests against the Mubarak government. Massive protests and demonstrations continued until February 11, when President Mubarak announced his resignation. The transition to an interim government has been complicated by continued protests and calls for justice from the people, who have called for Mubarak to stand trial for stealing billions of dollars from the state and concealing it in his own bank accounts. The people and the government continue to search for progressive opportunities to address their issues. What started out as the Arab Spring turned into the Arab Year as all three long-term leaders in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt were removed from positions of power.
The African Transition Zone
Stretching across the widest part of Africa on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert is the African Transition Zone. Known as the Sahel, meaning “border or margin,” this zone is where the dry arid conditions of the desert north meet up with the moister region of the tropics. For thousands of years, the seasonal grazing lands of the Sahel have been home to nomadic groups herding their livestock across the zone and eking out a living held together by tradition and heritage. Changing climate conditions and overgrazing has enhanced the desertification process, and the region is slowly turning into desert. The Sahara Desert is shifting southward, altering the economic activities of the millions of people who live in its path. Ten thousand years ago, North Africa and the Sahara Desert were tropical environments filled with all the biodiversity and wildlife now found in Subsaharan Africa. This desertification process has been occurring for centuries; it is not a new process. Human factors and climate change may be accelerating this process, but they did not create it.
Political stability is complicated to achieve in the African Transition Zone. The political borders established by European colonialism during the Berlin Conference of 1884 remain basically intact and create barriers that hamper the nomadic groups from traveling through the Sahel in search of grazing land for their livestock. Political boundaries now restrict movement and keep people divided and separated into national identities. The African Transition Zone is also in transition from a rural, traditional agrarian culture to a society confronting the information age and modern technology. Camel caravans that once transported goods and materials across wide expanses of desert terrain are being replaced with motor vehicles and aircraft. The many traditional groups across this zone are adapting to the conditions of the modern world but work to retain their values and the traditions of their heritage.
The colonial political borders have impeded progress in the region’s effort to establish stable governments and control the land and resources within its borders. Postindependence governments have thus far been unable to establish stable economic conditions within many of the countries in the Sahel. Natural resources are being exploited for economic profit, which is changing the natural environment. Security and safety have become significant issues. Today this region is unstable, with political and cultural conflicts between the local groups and governments. The current conflicts in Sudan are examples of the instability.
Sudan: Slavery and Genocide
Comparable in size to the entire United States east of the Mississippi River, Sudan is the largest country in Africa. The capital city of Khartoum lies where the Blue Nile River converges with the White Nile. Khartoum’s government has a black Arab majority and follows Islam, complete with Sharia laws. The African Transition Zone crosses Sudan and separates the Arab-Muslim north from the mainly African-Christian south. There has been a civil war between the north and the south for decades. Before a peace agreement brokered in 2005, military soldiers from the north would raid the villages in the south, taking women and children as slaves. Though the Sudanese government denied the slave trade, thousands of Africans were owned by northern black Arabs in Sudan, and many still are. The world community has made little effort to intervene. The price for a slave in Sudan is about fifty US dollars.
The differences in religion, ethnicity, and culture have always divided southern Sudan from the north. Additional economic considerations might fuel the debate because of an increase in oil production in the region. In January 2011, the southern region of Sudan voted on a referendum that would allow the south to break away and become an independent country called the Republic of South Sudan. The acceptance of this new republic will change the map of the region and the dynamics between South Sudan and North Sudan. The new Republic of South Sudan was formalized in July of 2011. Juba is designated as the capital with talk of creating a new forward capital in the center of the newly formed country in the future. The many clans and indigenous groups make it difficult for unity and cohesiveness in the new country. Armed groups in the various states continue to cause internal division, while at the same time boundary disputes continue to be worked out with North Sudan.
In 2003, various groups in Darfur complained that the Khartoum government was neglecting them. A militia group calling itself the Janjaweed was recruited by the local Arabs to counter the resistance in Darfur. The Janjaweed began an ethnic cleansing campaign that pushed into the Darfur region, burning villages, raping women, and killing anyone who opposed them. Refugees began to flee into the neighboring country of Chad.
South Sudan has elected to break away and become independent. The Darfur region has been experiencing genocide by Janjaweed militias backed by the Arab majority in northern Sudan.
In this particular case, the campaign was not based on religious divisions, because both sides were Muslim. This was an ethnic conflict in that the people of Darfur are of a traditional African background and the people of northern Sudan consider themselves Arab, even though they may have dark skin. Accurate numbers have been difficult to verify, but as of 2010 an estimated 300,000 people have died in this conflict. There are more than 2.7 million refugees, many of them in Chad (BBC News). Just as the government of Sudan denied the slave trade, it denies that it supports the Janjaweed. The African Union provided a modest number of peacekeeping troops before the UN stepped in to provide security. It has been up to the world community and Sudan to take more action and provide more assistance. Food, water, and care for the refugees have taxed the region’s aid and support system.
The African Union
Former Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi was instrumental in the development of the African Union (AU) in the mid-1990s. The Sirte Declaration (titled after Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte in Libya) was issued by the Organization of African Unity, which outlined the need for the creation of the AU. The AU was launched in Durban, South Africa, on July 9, 2002. Fifty-three countries formed this intergovernmental organization. The focus of the AU is on the health, education, economic development, political stability, environmental sustainability, and general welfare of the people of Africa. The organization strives to integrate the socioeconomic and political stability of its members and promote a continent-wide effort for security and peace. The AU is working to create a proper political climate, one that helps its member states engage in the global economic marketplace by negotiating international issues and policies that affect Africa.
The dominating activities of colonialism and neocolonialism (corporate colonialism) are big concerns for the AU. The AU’s objective is to bring more unity to the political and economic arena between the African countries to address the transition to a globalized world. It faces many challenges within its realm, including health care issues such as HIV/AIDS and malaria that have devastated much of Africa. The AU is working to bring political stability to countries such as Sudan and other countries experiencing civil unrest because of political turmoil or civil war, such as the Congo, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, and Liberia. AU peacekeeping troops are assisting in this process. The legal issues regarding border disputes or territorial disputes such as that of Western Sahara are problems that the AU attempts to address.
In the global scale of economic and political supranationalism, the AU will be up against three main powerhouses: the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the East Asian Community. Regions across the globe are working on trade associations to create economic networks to bring about greater cooperation and commerce between nations. The AU is one part of that network that represents a growing percentage of the world’s population and the second-largest continent on Earth.
Gadhafi was the AU chairman when the uprisings and demonstrations of the Arab Spring began in January of 2011, at which time his chairmanship ended. At the beginning of the civil war in Libya, the AU attempted to meet with Gadhafi to mediate the situation. The NATO no-fly zone declaration and intervention restricted AU activities in Libya. After Gadhafi was no longer in power in Libya by the fall of 2011, the AU continued to not recognize the NTC (National Transition Council) as the legitimate government of Libya.
Key Takeaways
• Three main physical features of North Africa are the Atlas Mountains, the Sahara Desert, and the Nile River. Most of North Africa’s population lives along the Mediterranean coast or along the Nile River. The ethnic majority in the Maghreb are Berber, with Arabs dominating in Egypt.
• The Maghreb centers on the Atlas Mountains, which traditionally has provided for a diversity of food production. Oil has been found in North Africa, the export of which has surpassed the export of food products.
• Europe has had a strong influence on the region, ranging from the Roman Empire, to colonial activity, to becoming a destination for immigrants looking for employment and opportunities.
• North Africa has experienced serious political conflicts. Political leaders in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt remained in power for decades. People have protested for economic and political reforms. The presidents of Egypt and Tunisia have stepped down, but Libya’s longtime leader, Muammar Gadhafi, did not step down but instead engaged the country in a civil war.
• The African Transition Zone creates the southern boundary for North Africa. This zone serves as the transition between the arid type B climates and the tropical type A climates. It is also the transition between the dominance of Islam and the dominance of Christianity and animism.
• The African Transition Zone cuts through the center of Sudan and divides the country along religious and ethnic distinctions. Civil war has been waged in the south and in the Darfur region, which has split the country into separate regions. Southern Sudan has initiated the process for independence.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What is the name of the majority ethnic group that resides in the Maghreb? What is the main physical feature there?
2. What have been the main ties between North Africa and European continent?
3. How did the construction of the Aswan High Dam change the way crops are grown along the Nile River?
4. What political changes have been occurring in North Africa? Why are they occurring?
5. Why has there been a civil war in Libya? How was the country divided in this civil war?
6. Where is the African Transition Zone? What does it transition between?
7. What centripetal force brought villagers together in Timbuktu?
8. Name the country in the Sahel where slavery has become prominent. Why did no one step in to stop it?
9. How has the African Transition Zone divided Sudan? What are the main groups on each side?
10. What are the most serious problems in the Darfur region of Sudan? Who is conducting ethnic cleansing and why?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• African Transition Zone
• Atlas Mountains
• Blue Nile
• Darfur
• Iberian Peninsula
• Lake Tana
• Lake Victoria
• Maghreb
• Nile River
• Strait of Gibraltar
• Western Sahara
• White Nile
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.03%3A_North_Africa_and_the_African_Transition_Zone.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize how the region of Palestine has evolved into the current Jewish State of Israel. Identify and locate the territories that have been annexed to Israel over the years.
2. Understand the division between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and the Jewish State of Israel. Outline the complications of the one-state and two-state solutions to this division.
3. Describe the differences between the governments of Jordan and Syria.
4. Outline the political arrangements of the government leadership positions in Lebanon.
The State of Israel
At the center of the Middle East, on the shores of the Mediterranean in the Levant (the area bordering the eastern Mediterranean Sea), lies the country of Israel. Israel is bordered by Lebanon to the north, Syria and Jordan to the east, and Egypt to the south. Covering an area of only 8,522 square miles, Israel is smaller than the US state of Massachusetts and only one-fifth the size of the state of Kentucky. The coastal region, which has a moderate type C climate, receives more rainfall than the dry interior and the Negev Desert in the south, both of which have arid type B climates. The Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Kinneret or the Sea of Tiberias, is a major fresh water supply. The Jordan River flows from the Sea of Galilee to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 1,300 feet below sea level, so it has no outlet. Over time, salts and minerals have built up, creating an environment that does not support fish or aquatic life. South of the Negev Desert is the Gulf of Aqaba, which provides access to the Red Sea for both Israel and Jordan. Israel does not have substantial oil resources but has a potential for natural gas in offshore locations along the Mediterranean Sea.
Though most of the population in the Middle East is Islamic, there are exceptions, such as in Israel, which has a Jewish majority. Israel was established in 1948. Before that time, the country was called Palestine. The region went through a series of tumultuous transitions before it became the nation of Israel. Before 1948, most people in Palestine were called Palestinians and consisted primarily of Arab Muslims, Samaritans, Bedouins, and Jews. Most Jewish people were dispersed throughout the world, with the majority in Europe and the United States.
The Division of Palestine
Palestine was a part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire before the end of World War I. Britain defeated Turkish forces in 1917 and occupied Palestine for the remainder of the war. The British government was granted control of Palestine by the mandate of the Versailles Peace Conference in 1919 at the end of World War I. Britain supported the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which favored a Jewish homeland. The British Mandate included Palestine and Transjordan, the area east of the Jordan River, which includes the current country of Jordan.
Between 1922 and 1947, during British control, most of the population of Palestine was ethnically Arab and followed Islam. In 1922, Jews made up less than 20 percent of the population. The Jewish settlements were mainly along the west coast and in the north. Jewish people from other countries—including primarily Jews escaping German oppression in the 1930s—migrated to the Israeli settlements. Palestine was turned over to the control of the newly created United Nations (UN) in 1945 at the end of World War II.
The United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP) was created by the UN in 1947. To address the Palestine region, UNSCOP recommended that Palestine be divided into an Arab state, a Jewish state, and an international territory that included Jerusalem. Palestine was divided by the UN. About 44 percent of the territory was allocated to the Palestinians, who consisted of about 67 percent of the population, which was mainly Arab. Approximately 56 percent of the territory was allocated to the minority Jewish population, who only consisted of about 33 percent of the population. The country of Jordan was created out of the region east of the Jordan River and the Dead Sea. The city of Jerusalem was to remain under the administrative control of the UN as an international city. The Jewish State of Israel was officially recognized in 1948. The Palestinians, who were a majority of Israel’s total population at the time and who owned about 90 percent of the land, denounced the agreement as unacceptable (Knowledgerush). One of the consequences of the territorial partition was that thousands of Palestinian Arabs were forced off the land that was allocated to the Jewish state. These Palestinians became refugees in the Palestinian portion or in neighboring countries.
Palestine’s Arab neighbors—Syria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, and Egypt—sided with the Arab Palestinians and declared war on Israel. The war did not end favorably for the Arabs. With support and aid from Britain and the United States, the Jewish State of Israel defeated the attacking Arab armies and took control of a larger portion of the land, including some of the land designated by the UN as a portion of the Arab half.
After the Arabs lost the first war against the Jewish State of Israel, the Palestinians’ problems increased. By 1950 over 750,000 Palestinians living in the Jewish-controlled regions of Israel were forced out of their homes and into refugee camps. According to the UN in 2010, about one-third of the registered Palestine refugees, more than 1.4 million, live in fifty-eight recognized refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Jordan has the highest number of Palestinian refugees: almost two million, with more than 330,000 living in refugee camps (United Nations Relief “Palestine Refugees”; United Nations Relief “Statistics”). Jordan has allowed most of its Palestinian refugees to receive Jordanian citizenship.
By 1967, the Arab armies had regrouped and were willing to attack Israel again. The 1967 war was short lived, lasting only about a week. The Arab armies were devastated once again, and Israel gained even more territory. Israel took the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, and the West Bank from Jordan. The entire city of Jerusalem came under Israeli control. The 1967 war solidified the control of the region of Palestine under the Israeli government and placed Israel at greater odds with its Arab neighbors. Syria wanted Israel to return the Golan Heights, which has a strategic military advantage in overlooking northern Israel, and Egypt wanted Israel to return control of the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt and Syria attacked Israel again on October 6, 1973, which was Yom Kippur, the most solemn holiday in the Jewish religion. The Israeli army counterattacked, driving the Syrians out and the Egyptian army and back across the Suez Canal. After a few weeks of conflict, a peace treaty was agreed upon. In 1977, Israeli president Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat were invited to Camp David, Maryland, by US president Jimmy Carter. Israel and Egypt signed the Camp David Accord, an agreement not to go to war again. Egypt agreed to officially recognize the State of Israel and to not invade Israel again. Israel agreed to return the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt; the peninsula was returned in 1982. Each participant in the accord won the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1980, Israel passed the Jerusalem Law, which stated that greater Jerusalem was Israeli territory and that Jerusalem was the eternal capital of the State of Israel. The UN rejected Israel’s claim on greater Jerusalem, and few if any countries have accepted it. Israel moved its capital from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to solidify its claim on the city even though most of the world’s embassies remain in Tel Aviv. The move of the capital was designed to create a forward capital, the purpose of which is usually either to protect a nation’s territory or to spur the development of the country. In this case, it was to protect valuable territory.
Palestinians were left with only the regions of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, which is controlled by the Israeli government and is subject to Israel’s national jurisdiction. As of 2010, about 1.5 million Palestinians live in the Gaza Strip and 2.5 million live in the West Bank. A number of cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been turned over to the Palestinian Authority (PA) for self-governing. The PA was established between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Israeli government to administer internal security and civil matters. The PLO and the PA are two separate entities. The PLO is the internationally recognized governing body of the Palestinian people. It is legitimately recognized by the UN to represent the area known as Palestine in political matters. There are two main political parties within the PLO: Hamas and Fatah. The Hamas party is the strongest in the region of the Gaza Strip, and the Fatah party is more prominent in the West Bank.
The Palestinians, Israel, and Possible Solutions
The future of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip has been the focus of talks and negotiation for decades. There are various ways to approach this issue; a one-state solution and a two-state solution have been proposed. The one-state solution proposes the creation of a fully democratic state of Israel and the integration of all the people within its borders into one country. Integration of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank into the Jewish State of Israel is part of this plan; in other words, “Take the walls down and create one state” (Masri, M., 2011). Many Palestinians support the one-state solution, but most of the Jewish population does not. Family size is much larger in the Palestinian side, so it would be only a matter of time before the Jewish population would be a minority population and would not have full political control with a democratic government. To have the Jewish State of Israel, the Jewish population needs to keep its status as the majority.
In a two-state solution, Palestinians would have their own nation-state, which would include the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The rest of former Palestine would be included in the Jewish State of Israel. The two-nation concept (Israel and a Palestinian state) has been proposed and supported by a number of foreign governments, including the United States. Implementation of a two-state solution is, of course, not without its own inherent problems. At the present time, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are subjects under the Jewish State of Israel without full political or economic autonomy. The two-state solution would buy more time for the Jewish population with smaller families to retain power as a majority political voting bloc.
Parties to the negotiations have acknowledged that the most likely solution is to create a Palestinian state bordering Israel. However, it is not clear how to make this happen. Palestine is now divided between the Jewish State of Israel (with 7.3 million people) on one side and the Palestinians (with 4.0 million people) in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip on the other side. About 75 percent of Israel’s population of 7.3 million people are Jewish, and about 25 percent are Arab. Travel between Israel and the Palestinian areas is heavily restricted and tightly controlled. A high concrete and barbed wire barrier separates the two sides for much of the border. The West Bank provides fresh water used on the Israeli side for agriculture and industrial processes. The industries also employ Palestinians and support them economically.
Jewish people from various parts of the world continue to migrate to Israel, and the Israeli government continues to build housing settlements to accommodate them. Since the West Bank region is under the Israeli national jurisdiction, many of the new housing settlements have been built in the West Bank. The Palestinians who live there strongly oppose the settlements. In 1977, only about five thousand Jews lived in the West Bank settlements. As of 2010 there were more than two hundred thousand. The Palestinians argue that if they were to have their own nation-state, then the Jewish settlements would be in their country and would have to be either resettled or absorbed. Israel responds by indicating that the two-state solution is indefensible because the Jewish settlements in the West Bank cannot be protected if the West Bank is separated from Israel.
The issues in Israel are generally complicated. After a series of wars and considerable negotiations, the central problems remain: Jews and Palestinians both want the same land, both groups want Jerusalem to be their capital city, and neither group can find a compromise. Support for the Jewish State of Israel has primarily come from the United States and from Jewish groups external to Israel. There are more Jews in the United States than there are in Israel, and the US Jewish lobby is powerful. Israel has been the top recipient of US foreign aid for most of the years since 1948. Through charitable donations, US groups provide Israel additional billions of dollars annually. Foreign aid has given the Jewish population in Israel a standard of living that is higher than the standard of living of many European countries.
In the past decade, most of the PLO’s operating budget has come from external sources. Arab neighbors provide millions of dollars annually. Though Iran is not Arab, they have provided aid to the Palestinian cause in support of fellow Muslims against the Jewish State of Israel. The PLO has received the bulk of its funding from the European Union. Russia has also provided millions of dollars in aid. The United States provides millions in direct or indirect aid to the Palestinians annually.
The Gaza Strip is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth, and it is located in a desert. There are few jobs and no real methods of gaining wealth. Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank need to rely on outside support to survive. These are small areas with lots of people. The West Bank is only about thirty miles wide by seventy-five miles long, yet more than 2.5 million people call it home. The Gaza Strip is a desert region about six miles wide by twenty-three miles long and is home to more than 1.5 million people. In 2010, family size in the West Bank was about 3.2, and in the Gaza Strip, it was about 5.0. Unemployment rates averaged about 40 percent in the Gaza Strip and over 20 percent in the West Bank (Central Intelligence Agency). Underemployment is also a major issue in that there may be few employment opportunities for professionals with specialized skills or a university degree in a specific field of interest.
In 2006, both Israel and the PLO held democratic elections for their leaders. In 2006, a candidate from the Hamas party won the election for the leadership of the PLO, which concerned many of the PLO’s external financial supporters. The Israeli government characterizes Hamas as a terrorist organization that supports the destruction of the State of Israel. Hamas has advocated for suicide bombers to blow themselves up on populated Jewish streets. The Jewish State of Israel has been fighting a low-level war against Palestinian resistance groups such as Hamas since 1948. In 2008, the leaders of the Fatah party, which are more prominent in the West Bank region, took matters to the PLO Central Council, which chose Mahmoud Abbas as president of the State of Palestine.
The problems between Israel and Palestinians are far from settled. The region has plenty of interconnected concerns. The biggest supporter of Israel, the United States, invaded Iraq in 2003, an invasion that raised the concern level of Islamic groups in the Middle East, including the Islamic leaders that control the government of Iran. Israel has nuclear weapons, and Iran has worked at developing nuclear weapons. US involvement in the region has heightened tensions between Iran and Israel. Oil revenues are driving the economies of most of the Arab countries that support the Palestinians. Oil is an important export of the region, with the United States as a major market. The difficulties between Israel and the Palestinians continue to fuel the conflict between Islamic fundamentalists and Islamic reformers. Some Islamic groups have accepted Israel’s status as a country and others have not. The Israel-Palestinian problem drives the geopolitics of the Middle East. The US war in Iraq has complicated the situation but has not superseded it. The situation in Palestine is predicted to continue long after the problems in Iraq have stabilized.
Jordan
North of the Arabian Peninsula are three Arab states that surround Israel: Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Each country possesses its own unique physical and cultural geography. The country of Jordan was created through the British Mandate after World War I, when Britain defeated the Turks in Palestine. The area east of the Jordan River became the modern country of Jordan in 1946. From 1953 to 1999, during the most volatile period of the region, the country was ruled by a pragmatic leader, King Hussein, who was able to skillfully negotiate his way through the difficult relationship with Israel and yet keep his country stable. When Palestine was divided by the UN to create the State of Israel, the region of Jordan received more than a million Palestinian refugees from the West Bank and Israel. Refugees make up a large portion of the more than six million people who live in Jordan today; about a half million refugees from the US war in Iraq are included in that total.
Jordan is not large in physical area. Natural resources such as oil and water are not abundant here, and the country often has to rely on international aid to support its economy. Inflation, poverty, and unemployment are basic issues. The government of Jordan is a constitutional monarchy. King Hussein’s son ‘Abdullah II took power after the king’s death in 1999. Economic reforms were implemented by King ‘Abdullah II to improve the long-term outlook of the country and raise the standard of living for his citizens. The king allowed municipal elections to be conducted, which allowed for 20 percent of the positions to be dedicated to women candidates. Parliamentary elections were held by a democratic vote.
Jordan has demonstrated how a country with few natural resources in a volatile region of the world can proceed down a progressive path despite difficult circumstances. Jordan has developed a positive trade relationship with Europe and the United States while at the same time working with its Arab neighbors to access oil and to maintain a civil state of affairs. Jordan is not without its challenges but has managed to confront each issue yet retain a sense of stability and nationalism.
Syria
The strategically located country of Syria is at the center of the Middle East’s geopolitical issues. Syria gained its independence from the French Mandate in 1946, the same year as Jordan. Syria has strived to work out and stabilize its political foundation. In a move to create greater Arab unity in the realm, Egypt and Syria joined forces and created the United Arab Republic in 1958. This geopolitical arrangement lasted until 1961, when the partnership was dissolved. Syria returned to its own republic. The Arab Socialist Baath Party gained strength, and in 1970 Hafiz al-Assad, of the Alawite minority (an offshoot branch of Shia Islam making up about 10 percent of the Syrian population), took over leadership in a coup that stabilized the political scene. It was during this era that the Golan Heights was lost to Israel in the Arab-Israeli War of 1967. This strategic geographical location is a point of contention in the peace negotiations between Syria and Israel.
Hafiz al-Assad served as the leader of Syria for twenty-nine years without having been democratically elected to the office by the people. His son Bashar took the reins of leadership after Hafiz died in 2000. The Alawite sect held power in Syria through the Assad family under military control. Syria has been accused of using its military power to influence conditions in Lebanon, where it brokered a peace deal in its civil war (1975–1990). Syria has also been accused of supporting the anti-Israel groups headquartered in Lebanon.
Syria is located in an ancient land with a long history of empires and peoples. The region of Syria was once part of the cradle of civilization that sprung up in Mesopotamia. Damascus claims to have been continually inhabited longer than any other capital city on Earth. The largest city and the center of industrial activity is Aleppo, which lies in the north of Syria. Syria’s physical area is slightly larger than the US state of North Dakota. Overall, Syria’s climate is characterized as an arid type B climate; some regions receive more rain than others. The western region, because it borders the Mediterranean Sea, is an area that receives more rainfall. The additional rainfall translates into extensive agricultural production. The northeast area of Syria is also productive agriculturally through water resources provided where the Euphrates River cuts through the country. Oil and natural gas have been the country’s main export products. The petroleum reserves are being depleted, and few new fields are being developed. Eventually, the wealth generated by the sale of petroleum reserves, which are finite resources, is projected to diminish, even as the population continues to increase.
The Syrian government has exerted strict control over the economy. The country will face serious economic issues in the future. There is a high rate of unemployment. Because oil production has not been increasing, the government has been forced to take on additional national debt. The arid climate and the need to supplement agriculture production have placed additional pressure on precious fresh water supplies. The Euphrates River provides fresh water, but it originates in Turkey, where large dams restrict the flow. Water rights for the region are therefore an issue. One third of Syria’s population is under the age of fifteen, which indicates a rapid population growth pattern that will tax future resources at an increasing rate. In 2010, Syria had about twenty-two million people. The country holds political significance; its strategic location between Iraq and Israel makes it is a vital player in any solution for lasting peace in the Middle East.
Syria has experienced protests and demonstrations similar to those that swept through North Africa in the Arab Spring of 2011. Citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the government because of the lack of democratic reforms, high unemployment, and the loss of civil rights, which had been taken away when the government declared a state of emergency in 1963. Student protests escalated to massive citizen demonstrations that emerged in various Syrian cities in the spring of 2011. The government cracked down on protesters, killing some. After extensive demonstrations on March 15, the government arrested more than three thousand people. Hundreds have been killed in violent clashes between the people and government security forces.
The lack of democratic processes by President Bashar al-Assad’s government has continued to prompt protests and demonstrations in Syria. The US government eventually placed sanctions against Assad and a number of high-level Syrian officials. A new cabinet was installed in Syria, and the decades-old state of emergency was rescinded. Unrest and protests by the people continue, and the government responds by cracking down on them with harsher methods. Syria’s neighbors and various European nations have increased sanctions and denounced the Assad regime, which has increased the pressure on Syria.
The uprising in Syria that started as a part of the wave of the Arab Spring continues. The Arab Spring protests and demonstrations in Syria have often been compared to those in Libya. Both Syria and Libya have had long-time leaders that ruled for decades without democratic reforms or wide-spread personal freedoms for their citizens. The difference is that in Syria the Assad regime has held total control over a large military and comprehensive control over political and economic activities. This is unlike Libya under Muammar Gadhafi, whose modest military forces included hired mercenaries from other countries and the government had a fragmented or weak political structure. Speculation regarding changes in the government and the future of Syria is more difficult.
Lebanon
Phoenicians created an empire along the Mediterranean coast of present-day Lebanon four thousand years ago, and many armies fought over the strategically located region. After the demise of the Ottoman Empire, the area became a European protectorate under the French Mandate. Independence was granted by the French in 1943.
Lebanon is smaller than the US state of Connecticut with a population of about four million. The country’s high central mountain chain, the Lebanon Mountains, reaches as much as ten thousand feet in elevation. At these elevations, precipitation turns to snow and allows the operation of ski resorts. To the east of the central range is the fertile Bekaa Valley, which plays a vital role in the country’s agriculture. On the eastern side of the Bekaa Valley is another shorter mountain range that borders Syria.
Following World War II, Beirut, the capital city of Lebanon, became known as the “Paris of the Middle East,” complete with Western-style night clubs and a jet-setting business class. In the past, of Lebanon was called the “Switzerland of the Middle East” because of its capabilities in banking and finance, which were supported by a relatively stable political climate. Unfortunately, stable and progressive conditions were not enough to keep the country from escalating into division and civil war in the 1970s.
In the latter half of the twentieth century, internal tensions were building between the many religious and cultural factions competing for power in Lebanon. By the early 1970s, the minority Christian government clashed with a majority Muslim population. Many factions entered the arena on both the Christian and Muslim sides. On the Christian side are Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant factions. The Islamic side includes the Sunni, the Shia, and the Druze, a semi-Islamic offshoot group that incorporates Gnostic or neo-Platonic philosophies.
Lebanon was experiencing a full-scale civil war by 1975 that continued until 1990, when the Syrian military brokered a peace deal. By the time it ended, the bitter civil war had destroyed the infrastructure of the country. Only one-third of Beirut’s population remained. The former thriving city had been reduced to a collection of bullet-ridden empty buildings. It took more than a decade, but through the resiliency of the people, Beirut rebounded and continues to recover. A massive rebuilding program has resurrected the city of Beirut and stimulated the economy.
Still, conflicts linger, and discord between Israel and Syria has violent results. Israel has taken military action against anti-Israel factions within Lebanon on a number of occasions. In 1982, Israel attacked PLO strongholds, which were operating out of Lebanon in the Bekaa Valley and West Beirut. In 1993, Israel conducted air raids and military strikes against guerilla bases in Southern Lebanon. Anti-Israel groups such as Hezbollah operate out of Lebanon and receive aid from other Arab states, a source of contention that has prompted Israel to confront Hezbollah on Lebanon’s territory. As a result, Lebanon has become a battleground on which factions try to work out their differences. Syria’s continual intervention in Lebanon has sometimes been unappreciated; in 2004, massive demonstrations advocated for the removal of all Syrian troops. Syria withdrew its forces in 2005.
There is no dominant majority political party in Lebanon to coalesce power. Lebanon consequently developed a unique parliamentary democratic system to relieve some of the tension between the various cultural-political factions. In this system, a number of positions in government are reserved for specific religious/political parties. The deputy prime minister position, for example, is reserved for an Orthodox Christian; the prime minister is a Sunni Muslim; the speaker of the parliament is a Shia Muslim; and the president can only be a Maronite Catholic Christian.
Lebanon’s cultural and religious factions within its small state clash with political fervor and conviction, at times creating chaotic conditions that interrupt economic growth and discourage international investments. Add the dynamic cultural conditions to Lebanon’s attractive physical features—the beautiful Mediterranean coast, the attractive interior mountains, and the cosmopolitan city of Beirut—and it is easy to see why Lebanon is such a fascinating geographic study. Lebanon holds a unique location and position in the Middle East that will remain a focus of interest to the rest of the world.
Key Takeaways
• The current Jewish State of Israel was recognized in 1948. Before this time, the region was called Palestine and the people who lived there were called Palestinians.
• Victorious in war against their Arab neighbors, Israel acquired the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the city of Jerusalem. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are considered Palestinian territory. Two plans have been proposed to address the division but have not been agreed upon.
• Jordan is a constitutional monarchy led by King ‘Abdullah II, who has worked to implement reforms to maintain a country that has few natural resources.
• The government of Syria is led by Bashar al-Assad, a member of a minority ethnic group called the Alawites. Assad and his father have ruled Syria for more than forty years under a state of emergency. Massive protests and demonstrations against the government have resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands imprisoned.
• Lebanon is a diverse country with a large number of religious groups that dominate the cultural and political scene. The physical geography includes the Lebanon Mountains, the Bekaa Valley, and the Mediterranean coast.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. How did the UN divide Palestine? Why was the division a problem for the Palestinians?
2. What happened to the Palestinians that lived in the Jewish-controlled areas after Israel was divided?
3. What was the Camp David Accord about? Which country’s leaders were involved?
4. What was so important about the Golan Heights? What is the issue with this territory?
5. Why would Israel move its capital to Jerusalem and establish it as a forward capital?
6. How are the governments of Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon different?
7. Why were there massive protests and demonstrations in Syria in 2011?
8. Why was the United Arab Republic created in 1958? Why was it dissolved?
9. Where was the “Paris of the Middle East”? What happened to the city in 1975?
10. How has Lebanon attempted to satisfy all the political factions in their government?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Allepo
• Bekaa Valley
• Dead Sea
• Euphrates River
• Gaza Strip
• Golan Heights
• Gulf of Aqaba
• Jordan River
• Lebanon Mountains
• Negev Desert
• Sea of Galilee
• Sinai Peninsula
• Tel Aviv
• Transjordan
• West Bank
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.04%3A_Israel_and_Its_Neighbors.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the physical features of the Arabian Peninsula.
2. Understand the main economic activities of each country.
3. Describe the types of governments found in the region.
4. Outline women’s rights and circumstances in each country in the region.
States of the Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula is a desert environment surrounded by saltwater bodies. The Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea border the peninsula on three sides. Arid type B climates dominate the region. Saudi Arabia only receives an average of four inches of precipitation per year. The southern portions of the peninsula are some of hottest places on Earth. Summer temperatures can reach more than 120 ºF. In the south is the Rub’ al-Khali (Empty Quarter), which is mainly desert and comprises about 25 percent of Saudi Arabia. It is extremely dry and virtually uninhabited, though oil discoveries have brought temporary settlements to the region. There are no natural lakes or major rivers on the peninsula. Agricultural activity is dependent on the availability of water by rainfall, underground aquifers, oases, or desalinization of seawater.
Most of the people living on the peninsula are Arabs, and most of the peninsula’s countries are ruled by monarchs who rely on oil revenues to gain wealth. Minerals are mined in the mountains that dominate the peninsula’s western and southern regions. The highest peaks reach more than twelve thousand feet in elevation in northern Yemen. Of the countries on the peninsula, Yemen has the fewest oil resources and has had the sole democratically elected government. Saudi Arabia dominates the region in size and in oil resources. Islam, the major religion, infiltrates all aspects of Arab culture.
Saudi Arabia
The holy cities of Medina and Mecca are in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of Islam. Islam first united the many traditional groups of Arabia with religion and then with the Arabic language. The region was further united after 1902, when Abdul Aziz Al-Sa‘ud and his followers captured the city of Riyadh and brought it under the control of the House of Sa‘ud. In 1933, the lands under the control of the king were renamed the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. In 1938, US oil corporation Chevron found large quantities of oil in the region, which has sustained the royal family ever since. Aramco is the state-run oil corporation. Controlling about one-fifth of the world’s known oil reserves, the Saudi royal family claims considerable power.
The Saudi royal family gave safe haven to thousands of Kuwaitis, including the emir and his family, during the First Persian Gulf War (1991). Saudi Arabia allowed US and Western military forces to use bases on its soil during Operation Desert Storm. Acquiescence to non-Muslims operating military bases on the same soil as the holy cities of Mecca and Medina gave extremist groups a reason to engage in terrorist activities. Out of the nineteen hijackers in the 9-11 attack in New York, sixteen were from Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government has been forced to step up its efforts against terrorism and domestic extremist groups.
The entire economy of Saudi Arabia is based on the export of oil, and more than 20 percent of the known oil reserves in the world are located in Saudi Arabia. The country is a key member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and has been the world’s number one oil exporter. Millions of foreign workers in the petroleum industry make up a vital component of the country’s economy.
A high rate of population growth has been outstripping economic growth in Saudi Arabia. In 2010, more than one-third of the population was younger than fifteen years old, and family size was about 3.8 children. The unemployment rate is high, and there is a shortage of job skills in the workforce. The government has been working to shift its focus away from a petroleum-based economy and increase other economic opportunities; it plans to heavily invest in the necessary infrastructure and education to diversify its economy.
Saudi Arabia has made several efforts to move forward and put the country more in line with globalization efforts that are modernizing the other Persian Gulf States. The World Trade Organization accepted Saudi Arabia as a member in 2005. In 2008, the king implemented the initiative for interfaith dialogue in an effort to address religious tolerance and acceptance. The first woman was appointed to the cabinet, and municipal councils held elections for its members.
Saudi Culture
The royal family and most of the people in Saudi Arabia are Sunni Muslims. The country has a strong fundamentalist Islamic tendency. The law of the state is strict and supports conservative Islamic ideals. The Wahhabi branch of Sunni Islam has a major influence on culture. Activities such as gambling, alcohol consumption, and the promotion of other religions are outlawed. Alcohol and pork products are forbidden in accordance with Islamic dietary laws. Movie theaters and other Western-style productions are prohibited but can be found in areas where workers from other countries live in private compounds. Though movie theaters are restricted, movies on DVDs are not prohibited and are widely available. The dress code in Saudi Arabia strictly follows the Islamic principles of modesty. The black abaya (an article of clothing that looks like a cloak or robe) or modest clothing is appropriate for women. Men often wear the traditional full-length shirt and a headcloth held in place by a cord.
In Saudi Arabia, human rights organizations, legal associations, trade unions, and political parties are banned. The country maintains a tight censorship of all local media. The press is only allowed to publish what the government permits it to report. Communication with foreigners, satellite media, and Internet access are highly controlled. Those who speak out against the government can be arrested or imprisoned.
The Sharia is the basic criminal code in Saudi Arabia, along with whatever law is established by the king. A wide range of corporal and capital punishments—from long prison sentences to amputations (arm or foot), floggings, and beheadings—are proscribed for legal or religious offenses. Trials are most often held in secret without lawyers. Torture has been used to force confessions that are then used to convict the accused. Torture techniques—including the use of sticks, electric shocks, or flogging—can be applied to children and women as well as men. Executions are usually held in a public place every Friday.
Role of Women
Men hold the dominant roles in Saudi society. Under strict Islamic law, women do not have the same rights as men, so Saudi women do not have the opportunities that women in many Western countries have. For example, it is not customary for a woman to walk alone in public; traditionally, she must be accompanied by a family member so as to not be accused of moral offences or prostitution. The mutawa’een (religious police) have the authority to arrest people for such actions. The punishment could be as many as to twenty-five days in prison and a flogging of as many as sixty lashes.
As of 2011, the following restrictions have been made on women:
• Women are not allowed to drive motor vehicles.
• Women must wear modest clothing such as the black abaya and cover their hair.
• Women can only choose certain college degrees. They cannot be engineers or lawyers, for example.
• Women cannot vote in political elections.
• Women cannot walk in a public spaces or travel without a male relative.
• Women are segregated from men in the workplace and in many formal spaces, even in homes.
• Women need written permission from a husband or father to travel abroad.
• Marriages can be arranged without the woman’s consent, and women often lose everything in a divorce.
Saudi Arabia is a country steeped in tradition based on the heritage of its people, and many of the traditions regarding women were implemented to protect and care for them. However, as the forces of globalization seep into the fabric of society, many of these traditions are evolving and changing to adapt to the times and to a more open society. Women are asserting themselves in the culture, and many of these long-standing traditions are starting to break down. In late 2011, there were a number of women who organized to defy the ban on driving. One woman was arrested for driving a car and sentenced to ten lashes. Saudi King Abdullah then overturned the sentence and promised to support or protect women’s rights. There is no law stating that women cannot drive a vehicle. The taboo is based on tradition and religious views. More women have taken to the roadways in spite of the taboo against it (Huffington Post). Saudi Arabia is an example of how Islamic fundamentalism is being challenged by modernity and democratic principles.
Kuwait
Kuwait, a small country located on the Persian Gulf, is a monarchy ruled by an emir from the royal family. Immense oil reserves have made Kuwait attractive to international oil investors. In 1961, Zapata Oil Company (now Pennzoil), owned by former US president George H. W. Bush, drilled the first offshore Kuwaiti oil well in the Persian Gulf. Thanks to ample oil revenues, the small Kuwaiti population (about three million people) has adequate social services. The country has a high standard of living. Education is free, and much of the labor base comes from non-Kuwaiti migrants. Petroleum exports account for most of the government’s income.
Kuwait has an excellent port at Kuwait City. However, one of the environmental problems with building a large city in the desert is the shortage of fresh water. To solve this problem, Kuwait has turned to the desalinization of seawater to provide for its domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs.
The United States and an international coalition fought the First Persian Gulf War in 1991 to “liberate” Kuwait from the grip of Saddam Hussein. It is compelling to note that the war was not about democracy. The war was about the control of oil resources. Under Hussein, Iraq invaded Kuwait and took over its enormous oil industry and port facilities. By taking over the oil assets, Hussein was in actuality taking over the oil assets of various international oil corporations. With the support of United Nations (UN) resolutions demanding that Hussein leave Kuwait, President George H. W. Bush organized an international military coalition to remove Hussein from Kuwait. The US mission was called Operation Desert Storm. The war started on bases in Saudi Arabia and pushed the Iraqi army out of Kuwait. When Hussein realized that he could not benefit from the oil in Kuwait, he had approximately 750 oil wells in Kuwait dynamited, which caused serious well fires and large lakes of oil flowing out onto the desert sands. The fires and spilled oil caused extensive environmental damage.
Kuwait was not a democracy during the Persian Gulf War and is not a true democracy today. It is considered a constitutional emirate. The emir, or head of the royal family, is the head of state. He appoints the prime minister and has a high level of control over the government. The emir has the authority to dissolve the National Assembly, which has members that hold seats by election. A number of groups wish to have a political voice in the government, including Islamists, business merchants, secular liberals, Shia activists, and a small number of local groups. Islamist groups are usually those who support an Islamic religious state as the desired type of government.
Kuwait had to invest nearly five billion dollars to reestablish the oil industry after the Persian Gulf War, but the emirate has recovered, and its economy is growing with the increased sale of exported oil. Kuwait has about 104 billion barrels of oil in known reserves. In 2010, the four largest export partners were Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore, which are all economic powers in East Asia that have to import almost all of their energy and raw materials. The US has traditionally been Kuwait’s number one source of imported goods.
Bahrain
Bahrain is a small archipelago (group of islands) in the Persian Gulf. The country received its independence from Great Britain in 1971. Iran has made claims on the islands to no avail. Similar to other small monarchies in the region, Bahrain has lots of oil and a small population. Though more than 50 percent of the population is Shia, the country is opening up to democratic reforms. In 1999, elections were approved for a parliament, all political prisoners were released, and women were allowed to vote. The royal family, ruled by the king, has had an enormous degree of power over its government. Officially, Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy, but the king appoints the members of the upper house in its bicameral legislature. The first female was appointed to a cabinet position in 2004, which was an indication of the move toward openness to the globalization process and modernization. Some in the country think the implementation of these measures is still too slow.
Most of Bahrain’s wealth is gained through the extraction of natural resources. Enormous natural gas reserves are located in Bahrain’s coastal waters, and oil now makes up about 60 percent of the export profits. The small land area size of the country, lack of sufficient supplies of fresh water, and few other natural resources has prompted a shift for Bahrain to expand into the financial sector. Islamic banking and financial services for the global marketplace have been an expanding sector of the economy. The objective in diversifying the economy is to reduce the dependency on oil as a future source of national wealth. In addition, the United States has entered into a free-trade agreement with Bahrain, which has attracted multinational corporations to do business in the region. Bahrain has been supportive of a US military presence for both protection and cooperation and is the permanent headquarters for the US Fifth Fleet navel operations. In a mutual defense agreement, some one thousand American navel officers and personnel are stationed on the island. Bahrain has been a frontline state for the US military in the Iraq War and the war in Afghanistan.
The country is also opening up development in the service sectors. Tourism is not what usually comes to mind when one thinks about the Arabian Peninsula, but Bahrain has been attracting millions of visitors yearly. The country’s authentic heritage is attractive to tourists from neighboring Arab states and the global community. The country boasts of nearly five thousand years of human activity. UNESCO has designated the Qal’at al-Bahrain castle as a World Heritage Site. The country has invested heavily in modern shopping malls and international sports facilities in an effort to modernize its country and attract more international events.
The citizens of Bahrain have had to work to balance the shift toward modernization and globalization with the strong Arab heritage and Islamic beliefs that have been the foundation of their culture. The term Middle East Lite has been applied to Bahrain because Bahrain has been investing in modern infrastructure but has worked hard to maintain its Arab heritage with a Persian Gulf identity that is more accepting and open to the outside world. The growing and prosperous middle class is more tolerant and liberal than many of its Middle East neighbors.
The same level of tolerance toward outsiders has not been witnessed within the country. The 2011 protests and demonstrations that swept across North Africa and the Middle East also occurred in Bahrain. The king, the royal family, and the majority in government follow the Sunni branch of Islam; however, most of the population follows the Shia branch of Islam. Many within the Shia community felt that they were being discriminated against and protested the lack of democratic reforms. Protests and demonstrations in Bahrain have prompted the government to call in military support from Saudi Arabia to help quell the uprising. A number of Shia mosques were reported to have been destroyed, and hundreds of people were detained by police. The protests and demonstrations in Bahrain are more than just a conflict between Shia and Sunni, though this split has been a major concern for years. Many Sunni have participated in the demonstrations because they are in support of more democratic reforms as well.
Qatar
The small peninsula jutting out from Arabia into the Persian Gulf is an Arab land in transition. Ruled by an emir who has supported democratic reforms, Qatar is moving forward with a globalization policy similar to other Westernized nations. Many of these reforms are similar to those in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Oil and gas exports have fueled a building boom that has produced shopping malls, wide boulevards, and even a large US military base. Women are allowed to vote, Western clothing and products are permitted, and rap music can be heard in the streets. Though still politically restrictive in many ways, Qatar is more open than many of its neighbors. Qatar is also home to the Al Jazeera news organization, which often balances out Western news programming. Al Jazeera is also allowed to report critically on its home country.
In the past few years, oil revenues have provided Qatar with a rapidly growing economy and a high standard of living. Proven reserves of oil and natural gas are enormous for such a small country. Qatar’s natural gas reserves are the world’s third largest. Qatar has been pursuing development of private and foreign investments in non-energy-related businesses, including banking and financial institutions.
Modernization efforts have supported Qatar’s push for a greater emphasis on education. Infrastructure and financial support have been allocated to support educational reform, and university opportunities are expanding rapidly. Qatar University was founded in 1973, and in the last decade many more universities from Western countries have opened up branch campuses in Education City, which was established to advance Qatar’s educational reform goals. The emir’s second wife has actively promoted educational reforms and has encouraged women to pursue higher education to excel in their careers. She has also created greater visibility for women in public roles and has broken through some of the cultural barriers and taboos that have restricted women in other conservative Islamic Arab countries.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
Seven small Arab emirates joined together in 1971 to form the UAE. Each emirate is an absolute monarchy ruled by a sheik. The UAE has been integrating its economy with the global marketplace and has established a high standard of living for its people. Two of the emirates—Abu Dhabi and Dubai—possess most of the oil reserves. Abu Dhabi is the capital city and consists of 87 percent of the land area in the UAE. The head of the royal family in this emirate is considered the head of state for the UAE.
It is evident that one emirate, Abu Dhabi, dominates in terms of square miles of physical area.
Dubai has turned its small emirate into an international trade center. The emirate has used its oil reserves to promote trade and commerce. Dubai built itself a world-class port facility equaling that of Hong Kong or New York. As a free-trade zone, there are no taxes or tariffs, so international corporations use the location as a trade center to bring high-volume buyers and sellers together. Dubai has been looking ahead to its future when the oil runs out. The creation of an international trade center would be a means to gain economic income when the revenue from the sale of oil diminishes.
Oil wealth and the need for workers have opened up economic opportunities in the UAE that have attracted laborers and businesspeople from many parts of the world. Noncitizens make up about 80 percent of the population; about half the noncitizens are from South Asia, and many are Muslims from India. The large number of laborers that are required to develop the infrastructure has created an imbalance between the percentage of men and women. There are about twice the number of men than there are women in Dubai. This has created an interesting dynamic for women in Dubai, who have more rights and opportunities than those in more conservative Islamic countries such as Saudi Arabia. The UAE presents an excellent example of people migrating from peripheral countries to a core region in search of opportunities and advantages in a globalized economic community.
The UAE has invested its oil income in building up its infrastructure to compete in a global economy. Hundreds of billions of dollars of construction projects are under way in Dubai alone. Dubai has the world’s tallest structure, the most expensive hotel, the world’s most expensive airport (when completed), and the world’s largest artificial islands. Dubai is even home to an indoor downhill ski resort complete with real snow. Other ventures such as the Dubailand entertainment complex and Dubai Sports City have also been proposed. The downturn in the world’s economic situation has slowed the development in this emirate but has not diminished its perspective on the future.
The Sultanate of Oman
Ruled by a sultan, the absolute monarchy of Oman on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula also controls the tip of land next to the Strait of Hormuz. All oil tankers leaving the Persian Gulf must pass through this vital choke point. Mountains reach more than nine thousand feet in the eastern region of Oman, and rugged arid central plains cover the central region. The country gets plenty of sunshine and has some excellent beaches. Annual rainfall varies from four inches or fewer in the eastern sector to as much as twenty-five inches in the southwest. The climate is generally hot: temperatures can reach 120 °F from May to September.
Oman has been using its oil income to build infrastructure to benefit its people. The sultan of Oman has widespread support from his people and has built up goodwill from the international community for his investments in his country. He has built a free-trade zone with a giant container port facility, luxury tourist hotels, a good road system, and a first-rate international airport. He has also provided clean drinking water to the rural areas. Though Oman is not a democracy, the sultan has been positive role model for other monarchs. He has used Oman’s oil wealth to help his country develop and modernize. The mountains of Oman have additional natural resources such as gold, marble, and copper.
A lack of fresh water is a concern for Oman. The nation has limited renewable water resources. More than 90 percent of the water available is used in agriculture, and the rest is used for industry and domestic consumption. Fresh water is piped throughout most of the country, but shortages occur at times because of droughts and limited rainfall. Environmental problems have also arisen in Oman. For example, irrigation operations have caused soil conditions such as a salt buildup. Oil tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz and along the coast in the Gulf of Oman have leaked oil, which has washed up on coastal areas where attractive beaches are located. The higher level of exploitation of the environment by a growing population has exacted a toll on the organisms that live in the fragile desert ecosystems. Mammals, birds, and other organisms are in danger of extinction, including the Arabian leopard, the mountain gazelle, and the Arabian oryx. The country may lose its biodiversity unless action is taken toward preservation.
Yemen
Yemen is a mountainous country bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The tallest mountains on the peninsula—reaching more than twelve thousand feet in elevation—are located here. The four main regions of Yemen are the eastern desert region of the Rub’ al Khali; the Eastern Highlands south of the Rub’ al Khali; the Western Highlands, which have the highest peaks; and the western coastal plains. The Western Highlands receive about thirty inches of rain per year, while the eastern desert received almost no rainfall. A number of volcanic islands are located off the coast. A volcano on one of the islands erupted as recently as 2007. This region is an extension of the rift valley system coming out of East Africa.
The economy has traditionally been based on agriculture. Most of the farmland is in the form of terraces cut into the mountainsides that trap rainwater as it flows down the slope from one terrace to the next. Food production is a primary concern because in 2010 the population was more than twenty-four million and increasing rapidly. The arid land has few trees, but firewood is in high demand for cooking. The demand for firewood has caused deforestation, which in turn has caused serious soil erosion and damage to the mountain terraces that produce the food. Yemen is facing serious environmental concerns. The fast-growing population will only put more pressure on the environmental systems. On the positive side, oil and natural gas reserves are being found in some quantities, which will assist with the economic conditions and help supply the energy needed in the future.
Women in Yemen do not have the opportunities available in some of the more urbanized and modernized Gulf States. The contrast between the rural dynamics of Yemen and the urban culture of Dubai provides an excellent example of a rural versus urban or a core versus peripheral spatial relationship. The basic formula of family size and income levels applies to Yemen. In 2010, the fertility rate declined to 4.8 from more than 7.0 in 2000 (IndexMundi). Rural-to-urban shift is causing cities within Yemen to grow at an increasing rate. Large family sizes are forcing young people to seek out opportunities and advantages in the cities or in other countries. The situation is only going to intensify, as the population of Yemen is projected to reach sixty million by 2050 at the current rate of increase.
Yemen has a democratically elected government that came about when North Yemen and South Yemen merged into one country to create a democratic republic in 1990. The population of Yemen is about 40 percent Shia and 60 percent Sunni. Yemen sided with Iraq and Saddam Hussein in the First Persian Gulf War in Kuwait, which resulted in Saudi Arabia expelling thousands of Yemeni workers. Yemen and Saudi Arabia have had a long-standing territorial dispute and only recently agreed on the desert border between the two countries. As the lone democracy on the peninsula, Yemen contrasts with the more conservative Islamic states and monarchies such as Saudi Arabia that are more common in the Middle East. Poor, rural, and agriculturally based, Yemen does not fit the mold of the typical oil-rich sheikdom of the region.
The cultural forces within Yemen demonstrate the dichotomy between modernization with democratic reforms and fundamentalist Islamic tendencies. Stability in Yemen is critical for the security of the regional waterways. In the past decade, piracy against ships off the coast of Somalia has increased, and many ships have been boarded and taken hostage by pirates demanding high ransoms for the release of the ship and crew. Security in the region is critical to support safe passage for international shipping activity through the Gulf of Aden and the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait.
Yemen experienced civil unrest and citizen protests in the spring of 2011 similar to those in the other Arab countries. The protests and demonstrations targeted political corruption, economic conditions, and high unemployment. During this time, the government was also looking to modify its constitution. The protesters shifted their focus to call for the president of Yemen to resign after twenty-one years in power. The president and government resisted, and the conflicts turned more serious. Clans not loyal to the president sided with the protesters, and the Yemeni president was seriously injured in a military clash. He was flown to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment. When the president recovered and returned to Yemen he still refused to step down. The country continues to adjust to the situation.
Key Takeaways
• The Arabian Peninsula is a desert region. The Rub’ al-Khali (Empty Quarter) provides an example of desert extremes. The mountains along the western and southern edges receive the most rainfall. There are no rivers or major lakes on the peninsula. Water, a resource that is vital to human activity, is scarce throughout the region.
• The export of oil and natural gas is what drives the economies of the region. Many of the states are working to diversify their economies with banking, free-trade zones, and even tourism.
• Yemen is the only country with a truly democratically elected government. Leaders of royal families rule in the other countries as heads of state with varying degrees of shared governance.
• Family size varies widely in the region, from more than 4.5 in Yemen to around 2.5 in the progressive Gulf States of Qatar, the UAE, and Bahrain. Women’s rights and opportunities have an inverse relationship with family size; that is, when women’s rights and opportunities increase, family size usually decreases. In the Gulf States, the smaller countries in land area are more open to promoting women’s rights and responsibilities in the public and private sectors.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Where are the mountains located on the Arabian Peninsula? How high do they reach in elevation?
2. Why type of government does Saudi Arabia have? What is the law based on?
3. What are some things that women are not allowed to do in Saudi Arabia that they can do where you live?
4. Who are the mutawa’een? When would one encounter them?
5. Who drilled the first offshore Kuwaiti oil well? Why is this significant?
6. What measures have the governments of Bahrain and Qatar taken to modernize their countries?
7. How has the emirate of Dubai been able to promote a globalized economy?
8. Why does the term Middle East Lite apply to Bahrain?
9. How has the current sultan of Oman used his country’s oil revenues?
10. Outline five differences between the emirate of Dubai and the country of Yemen.
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arabian Sea
• Bab-el-Mandeb Strait
• Gulf of Aden
• Gulf of Oman
• Mecca
• Medina
• Persian Gulf
• Red Sea
• Rub’ al-Khali
• Strait of Hormuz
Activities
1. Check the news for world affairs and follow up on what is happening with the protests in Bahrain and Yemen. Analyze how those two countries have been addressing their internal issues.
2. Find a way to access the English version of Al Jazeera news broadcasts and compare its coverage with the coverage from other international news agencies.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.05%3A_Arabs_Islam_and_Oil.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize Iraq’s role in the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War in 2003.
2. Understand how Iraq is divided ethnically and by the branches of Islam.
3. Explain why Turkey wants to be a member of the European Union (EU) and why it has not been accepted.
4. Outline Iran’s physical geography and how it has used natural resources for economic gain.
5. Determine why young people might be dissatisfied with the policies of the Iranian government.
Iraq
Iraq lies in the Fertile Crescent between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia were established. Ancient cities such as Nineveh, Ur, and Babylon were located here. Present-day Iraq and Kuwait were established out of the British Mandate territory gained following Britain’s defeat of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Britain established straight-line political boundaries between Iraq and Jordan, Syria, and Saudi Arabia. These types of boundaries are called geometric boundaries because they do not follow any physical feature. In 1961, when Britain withdrew from the region, the emir controlling the southern region bordering the Persian Gulf requested that Britain separate his oil-rich kingdom as an independent country. This country became Kuwait, and the rest of the region became Iraq. After a series of governments in Iraq, the Baath party came to power in 1968, paving the way for Saddam Hussein to gain power in 1979.
The two ethnic divisions are Arab and Kurd. The two religious divisions of Islam are Shia and Sunni. Karbala and Najaf both have holy sites for Shia Muslims.
Iran-Iraq War (1980–88)
In 1980, a disagreement arose over the Shatt al-Arab waterway in the Persian Gulf on the border between Iraq and Iran, and the feud led to war between the two countries. The people of Iran are not Arabs; their ethnic background is Persian. Most Iranians are Shia Muslims. Saddam Hussein and his Baath party were Arabs and Sunni Muslims. Ethnic and religious differences thus fueled the conflict. The Shatt al-Arab waterway was quickly filled with wrecked ships. The local battle escalated into an all-out war, which ended in 1988 without anyone declaring a victory. The Iran-Iraq War was as close to World War III as the world has ever seen, with more than a million casualties and a cost of more than one hundred billion dollars. World powers aligned themselves with one side or the other. Before the war, the Iranian government had been taken over by Islamic fundamentalists who opposed the US intervention in the region; therefore, in the Iran-Iraq War, the United States supported Hussein and provided him with industrial supplies and materials.
The Persian Gulf War (1990–91)
After the Iran-Iraq War, Saddam Hussein looked to Kuwait to gain new oil wealth and expand access to the Persian Gulf. By taking over Kuwait, Iraq would gain an excellent port on the Persian Gulf and earn more income from oil reserves. Hussein accused Kuwait of slant drilling oil wells along the Iraqi border and removing oil that was legally Iraq’s. It was common knowledge that both sides were engaged in this practice, but it was the excuse Hussein needed to invade Kuwait and reclaim it as the nineteenth province of Iraq.
In 1990, the Iraqi military invaded and occupied Kuwait. Though the world community opposed this action, it was not until Hussein nationalized all the oil assets of the international oil corporations that resistance was organized. Under the leadership of US president George H. W. Bush, the United Nations (UN) organized a military coalition to remove Hussein from Kuwait. On January 16, 1991, Operation Desert Storm began. After forty-five days of fighting, Iraq was overwhelmingly defeated and its military was ousted from Kuwait. This was a major victory for the coalition. It was during this time that President Bush publicly announced the emergence of the potential New World Order. Kuwait was not a democracy but a monarchy ruled by an emir. Clearly, the war was not a war over democracy; it was a war over the control of resources.
When it became evident that Hussein would lose Kuwait, his forces dynamited all the oil facilities and set all the oil wells in Kuwait on fire. His position was that if he could not have the oil, then nobody would. This was one of the worst environmental catastrophes regarding oil on record. Oil flowed into the Persian Gulf and covered the water’s surface up to three feet thick. Most mammals, birds, and organisms living on the water’s surface died. Oil flowed out onto the desert sand into large petroleum lakes. The air pollution caused by burning oil wells dimmed the sun and caused serious health problems.
Ethnic and Cultural Divisions
To keep Iraq from breaking apart after Operation Desert Storm, coalition forces allowed Hussein to remain in power. Ethnically and religiously, Iraq is divided into three primary groups that generally do not get along. Sunni Arabs dominate central Iraq in a region often referred to as the Sunni Triangle, which includes the three cities of Baghdad, Tikrit (Hussein’s hometown), and Ramadi. Sunnis were the most loyal to the Hussein government. Southeastern Iraq is dominated by Arabs who follow the Shia division of Islam, which is also followed by most of Iran’s population. A group that is ethnically Kurdish and follows the Sunni division dominates northern Iraq. Kurds are not Arabs or Persians; rather, they originated from somewhere in northern Europe centuries ago with their own religion, language, and customs. Many have converted to Islam.
Hussein was a Sunni Muslim, and when he was in power, he kept the other two groups in check. He used chemical weapons on the Kurds during the Iran-Iraq War. In 1988, he used chemical weapons on the Kurdish town of Halabja and killed about 10 percent of the eighty thousand who lived there. Thousands of Kurds died in other attacks, and thousands more continue to suffer serious health effects. After Operation Desert Storm, Hussein pushed the Kurds north until the UN and the United States restricted him at the thirty-sixth parallel, which became a security zone for the Kurds. The Arab Shia population in the south often clashed with Hussein’s military in an attempt to gain more political power, and Hussein subjected them to similar harsh conditions and treatment.
The Arab Shia population in the southeast makes up most of the Iraqi people. The two main cities of Karbala and Najaf contain holy sites for Shia followers worldwide. The Shia population is three times larger than the Kurdish population in Iraq; more Kurds live outside Iraq than live in Iraq. The Kurds are the largest nation of people in the world without a country. About twenty-five million Kurds live in the Middle East, and most—about fourteen million—live in Turkey. About eight million Kurds live in Iran, about seven million live in Iraq, and a few others live in neighboring countries. At the 1945 conference of the UN, they petitioned to have their own country called Kurdistan carved out of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey, but they were denied. You will recall from Section 8.4 “Israel and Its Neighbors” that Israel was approved to become a nation at the same UN conference.
The Iraq War (2003–11)
After the September 11, 2001, attack on the United States, there was a renewed interest in weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Knowing that Hussein had used chemical weapons on the Kurds, the Iranians, and the Shia, there was a concern that he would use them again. UN Weapons inspectors in Iraq never could confirm that Hussein retained WMD. They had been destroyed, moved out of Iraq, or hidden. US president George W. Bush decided to invade Iraq in 2003 to remove Hussein from power. In the invasion, Hussein’s two sons were killed and Hussein was captured. One aspect of the invasion plan was to use Iraq’s vast oil reserves to help pay for the cost of the war, which quickly ballooned to more than a billion dollars a week. Fundamentalist Islamic insurgents made the war difficult.
The US invasion of Iraq brought about the removal of the Baath Party from power and Iraq came under a military occupation by a multinational coalition. An Iraqi Interim Government was formed that assumed sovereignty in 2004. A new constitution was drafted and approved by vote of the Iraqi people. Elections were held and a new government was formed under the newly drafted constitution. Occupying troops continued to remain as the country struggled to adapt to the reforms. Insurgencies developed that brought about an increase in violence that peaked in about 2007. By 2010, the combat operations by occupying troops were ending and the country worked to sustain stable political conditions. Under an agreed upon mandate all combat troops were to withdraw as of the end of 2011. A number of US troops will remain in Iraq in an advisory capacity.
Resources and Globalization
In geographic terms, the Persian Gulf War and the Iraq War were wars over resources—namely, oil. Wars have historically been fought over territory and resources. When the United States invaded in 2003, Hussein was contracting billions of dollars worth of projects to oil companies in France, Russia, and China. Other support projects were contracted out to other European countries. When the United States invaded, the contracts with were summarily canceled, and British and US oil contractors took over the projects.
Iraq is an example of the second wave of globalization. Neocolonialism has been the dominant force in Iraq’s economy since before the Persian Gulf War. Industrialization requires high energy demands; therefore, the industrialized countries of the world consume energy on a massive scale. Iraq is not a core economic country, but it holds vast petroleum reserves, making it vulnerable to exploitation by industrialized core countries. It is interesting to note that the Persian Gulf War, initiated in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, can be traced directly to globalism. It was Britain that established the straight-line borders separating Kuwait and Iraq. The war over the control of Kuwait in 1991 was a war over the control of resources, just as the ongoing competition between Sunni Muslims and Shia Muslims, for example, is a competition for the control of political power or resources and not a competition related to ethnic principles.
The East African Community (EAC) is not an official organization but a core economic area.
Hussein proved to be a destabilizing force and a potential threat to the established so-called New World Order of global security and trade as outlined by US president George H. W. Bush. The removal of Hussein from power brought to the surface the competition between the trilateral powers of North America, Europe, and East Asia. It remains to be seen who will have control of or access to Iraq’s natural resources.
Politics, Oil Companies, and the Administration of US President George W. Bush
There are many connections between the administration of former US president George W. Bush and the international oil industry. Bush once owned the failed Texas oil company Arbusto Energy and was president of Spectrum 7 Energy Corporation, which bought out Arbusto. Bush was also on the board of Harken Energy Corporation when it bought out Spectrum 7 Energy. Bush’s father, former US president George H. W. Bush, owned the Zapata Oil Company, which drilled the first offshore Kuwaiti oil well and later merged to become Pennzoil. US vice president Dick Cheney was CEO of Halliburton, the world’s most extensive oil service company. Commerce Secretary Donald Evans was former CEO of Tom Brown Inc., an independent oil and gas company based out of Denver. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was a Chevron Corporation board member and had an oil supertanker named after her—the Condoleezza Rice. The former US secretary of state under former president George H. W. Bush (Sr.) was James Baker III, who had been a central attorney for an oil consortium building one of the largest oil pipelines in Central Asia. President George W. Bush appointed Zalmay Khalilzad, a former aide to the American oil company UNOCAL, as special envoy to Afghanistan, then as ambassador to Iraq, and then to the UN.
Figure 8.51 Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice During the US Presidential Administration of George W. Bush
The globalized economy forces political units to compete over valuable resources, which often results in the blending of those in leadership roles in the corporate world with those in positions of power in the political arena. The top personnel in the George W. Bush administration (2001–9) is an example of the relationships that develops between corporate leaders and political leaders. In this case, the relationship centered on the oil industry.
Turkey
Turkey is the only remaining country of the vast Ottoman Empire, which ruled the region for seven hundred years (1299–1923 CE). When the empire was at its peak in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, it controlled parts of Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, and Arabia. Located on the Bosporus—the straits that connect the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea—the ancient city of Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Called Istanbul today, this city is the largest in Turkey, but it is not the current capital. Turkey moved its capital to Ankara on the Anatolian Plateau, which is centrally located in Turkey.
Turkey has a small portion of its land area on the western side of the Bosporus to claim its connection to Europe. Most of Turkey’s land area is a part of the Asian continent, and Turkey has often been referred to as Asia Minor. Mountains on Turkey’s eastern border with Armenia include Mount Ararat, which is the highest peak in the country at 16,946 feet in elevation. Legend has it that Mount Ararat was the resting place of the legendary Noah’s ark. The people of Turkey are neither Arab nor Persian; they are Turkish and speak the Turkish language. As much as 90 percent of the Turkish population is Sunni Muslim, which is similar to many of the other Muslim countries in the Middle East.
Turkey is an established secular democracy with a democratically elected political leadership. To maintain its democracy, it has had to deal with Islamic fundamentalists, who often have supported a shift to an Islamic religious state. Turkey has also had to negotiate with its neighbors, Syria and Iraq, over water rights to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which originate in Turkey but flow through the other countries. Turkey has built dams on these rivers, much to the dismay of its neighbors, who want to use more of the water.
Turkey borders northern Iraq and was home to fifty-six million Turks and fourteen million Kurds as of 2010. The Kurdish claim of a homeland in eastern Turkey has not been recognized by the Turkish government. Open rebellion has been expressed by Kurdish groups wishing to become independent of Turkey, but the Turkish government has oppressed any movement toward independence. Many Kurds have migrated to Istanbul in search of work. They live and work in Istanbul and send money back to their families in eastern Turkey. The large city of Diyarbakir in eastern Turkey is predominantly Kurdish and is considered by many Kurds as the city that would be their capital if they had their own country of Kurdistan.
Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and has been a US ally. The United States has been allowed to have military bases in Turkey, which were helpful in Operation Desert Storm during the First Persian Gulf War. In spite of being allies, Turkey did not allow the US military to use these bases as direct invasion points when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003. The Iraq War is a major concern for Turkey, since Turkey has a major stake in the stability of the Middle East. Possessing a small portion of its land area in Europe and being a member of NATO provides Turkey with an opening to join the European Union (EU), but so far it has been denied membership, mainly because of Turkey’s controversial human rights record, conflicts with the Kurds, disagreements with Greece over Cyprus, and low economic indicators. Conditions are improving, and at some future point Turkey may have an opportunity to join the EU.
To date, the EU does not have an Islamic country in its membership; Turkey may be the first. The country has various ways of gaining wealth that could help support Europe’s other industrial activities. Turkey grows large quantities of food in the central Anatolian Plateau; vast fields of grain extend across this central plateau. Turkey also has some oil resources in the east and minerals in the mountains bordering Armenia and Georgia.
Cyprus
The island of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean Sea is officially a part of Europe and a member of the EU. The island is separated by the Green Line, monitored by the UN, which divides the Greek-dominated south from the Turkish-dominated north. The two sides have been separated since a civil war in 1974. Turkish groups in the north have declared their half of the island the independent Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Turkey is the only country that recognizes this proclamation; the rest of the world considers the whole island the Republic of Cyprus.
Iran
Iran covers a physical area larger than the US state of Alaska. It is a land of mountains and deserts: Iran’s central and eastern regions are mainly desert with few inhabitants, and the northern and western regions of the country are mountainous. The Elburz Mountains in the north around the Caspian Sea reach as high as eighteen thousand feet in elevation near the capital city of Tehran. The Zagros Mountains run along the border with Iraq and the Persian Gulf for more than nine hundred miles and can reach elevations greater than fourteen thousand feet. Similar to the Atlas Mountains in the Maghreb, Iran’s mountains trap moisture, allowing minor agricultural activities in the valleys. Most of Iran’s population lives in cities along the mountain ranges. Qanats—systems of shafts or wells along mountain slopes—bring water from the mountains to the valleys for irrigation and domestic use.
Persian Empire to Islamic Republic
Iran was once the center of the Persian Empire, which has its origins as far back as 648 BCE, and the country was called Persia until about 1935. The Ethnic Triangle of the Middle East consists of Persians in Iran, Turks in Turkey, and Arabs in Arabia (see Figure 8.55 “2010 Population Estimates for the Ethnic Triangle of the Middle East, with Egypt, Turkey, and Iran Anchoring Each Corner”). Most of the seventy million people in Iran are Persian. Iran has a long history with the ancient Persian Empire and the various conquering armies that followed it. During the rise of Islam, Iran had major contributions to the arts, mathematics, literature, philosophy, and science. The highly advanced carpet-weaving traditions from centuries past are but one example of the advancements in design and the technical expertise of the people. The country’s Persian identity and culture continued throughout the centuries under different ruling powers. The Persian language remains and is a branch of the Indo-European language family. Arabic is widely used as a second language and a language used in science, which was helpful in reaching a broader audience and reaching out to the regional community with academic and scientific findings.
In 1971, Iran celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of Persia’s first monarchy. The monarchy was ruled by a shah, which is a title for the sovereign leader in Iran similar to a king. The shah’s royal family ruled Iran from 1923 to 1979, when Islamic fundamentalists took control of the government. It was during this revolution on November 4, 1979, that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who had previously been exiled by the shah, urged Iranians to oppose US activities in Iran. Iranian students stormed the US embassy and took US citizens hostage. Fifty-two Americans were held for 414 days during the US presidency of Jimmy Carter. The hostages were released the day that US president Ronald Reagan took office. Khomeini indicated he had not been aware of the students’ plan but supported it. This is one reason the United States backed Saddam Hussein in the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s. Khomeini ruled Iran until his death in 1989. Since then, Iran has been an Islamic state with an ayatollah as the Supreme Leader. An ayatollah is a high-ranking Shia cleric that is an expert in the Islamic faith and the Sharia (Muslim code of law based on the Koran). There are cases where women have reached the same status as an ayatollah and known as Lady Mujtahideh. Approximately 90 percent of Iran’s population follows the Shia division of Islam.
Political Challenges
On the international front, Iran’s leadership has indicated a drive to develop nuclear weapons and use them against Israel, which has caused concern in the global community. The government of Iran does not recognize the legitimacy of the nation of Israel. US president George W. Bush included Iran, along with Iraq and North Korea, in his 2002 Axis of Evil speech, the focus of which was the lack of democratic freedoms and the restrictive measures of the Islamic fundamentalist government. Iran is similar to Saudi Arabia in its restrictions of civil rights. A number of countries including the United States have placed trade sanctions against Iran regarding any materials associated with nuclear weapons or missiles. The US sanctions extend to an almost total trade embargo against Iran stemming from the 1979 revolution.
Open protests expressing a need for change have periodically erupted in the streets of Tehran. Ultimately, protesters are seeking personal freedoms and a more open society. The Arab Spring of 2011 was a phenomenon that spread across North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Middle East. Iran was not immune from the impact of the protests and demonstrations that occurred in their neighboring countries, but Iran was different. First of all, Iranians are not Arab but Persian in their ethnicity. Their history and heritage creates a distinct identity that separates them from the rest of the region. Many Iranian citizens want the same outcomes that the protesters and demonstrators want in the countries experiencing the Arab Spring revolutions. The difference is that Iranians have been demonstrating and protesting issues with their government in the years before 2011. Political tensions in Iran have been high since the 2009 elections and even earlier. During the 2009 election in Iran, students and other individuals used the Internet, Twitter, and cell phones to organize a massive protest against the current president and in support of opposition candidates. The demonstrations were called the Twitter Revolution.
Iran is at a crossroads in the conflict between conservative Islamic fundamentalists and Islamic reformers. The government of the Islamic state is controlled by Muslim clerics who tend to be more conservative in their rulings, but the young people are mainly on the side of the democratic reformers. Young people are becoming more familiar with Western culture. For example, the unofficial holiday of Valentine’s Day has become extremely popular in Iran and is celebrated by a large sector of the population, mainly young people. In an effort to curb the influence of Western culture, on February 13, 2011, the government of Iran officially banned all symbols or activities associated with Valentine’s Day. One claim was that the day was named after a Christian martyr and therefore was not supportive of Islam.
Economic Resouces
Iran has abundant oil and natural gas reserves that are being exploited to form the base of their economy. Iran holds about 15 percent of the world’s reserves of natural gas, which is second only to Russia (Infoplease). In 2010, the country was the fourth-largest oil exporter in the world and held about 10 percent of the world’s known oil reserves (Opec.org). The UN has classified Iran’s economy as semideveloped. The government has taken control of the oil and natural gas industry and implemented a type of central planning over many major businesses. Small-scale agriculture and village trading activities are not usually owned by the government. The Caspian Sea provides for fishing and has oil reserves under the seabed. Oil and gas revenues make up most of the state’s income. However, fluctuations in commodity prices have resulted in a more volatile income stream, and Iran’s manufacturing base has been increasing to support a more diversified economy.
Key Takeaways
• Iraq was ruled by Saddam Hussein from 1979 to 2003. Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, which prompted the First Persian Gulf War. Hussein’s use of weapons of mass destruction provoked the US invasion in 2003, which eventually removed Hussein from power.
• The majority Arab population in Iraq shares the country with the Kurds in the north. Sunni and Shia groups have divided the country and opposed each other since the US invasion of 2003.
• Turkey has a relatively stable, democratically elected government. Turkey’s physical geography provides for large supplies of food crops and hydroelectric energy.
• Iran is a religious state that has often been at war or clashed with its Middle Eastern neighbors. Reformers and many young people in Iran would like to see the country become more democratic and more open to personal freedoms.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Name three reasons Iraq gave for invading Kuwait in 1990. Why did the United States get involved in this war?
2. What are the three main geographic regions of Iraq? What groups are the majorities in each region?
3. Why was Saddam Hussein allowed to stay in power after Operation Desert Storm?
4. Why did the United States invade Iraq in 2003? What was one plan to finance the war?
5. Where are the two main mountain chains located in Iran? How do they support agriculture?
6. What three ethnic groups form an Ethnic Triangle that dominates the Middle East?
7. Why were protesters demonstrating in the streets of Tehran?
8. Where do Kurds hope to establish the proposed country of Kurdistan? When was the hope of establishing Kurdistan first proposed to the UN?
9. What economic group does Turkey want to join? What factors are keeping Turkey from joining this group?
10. Why are there conflicts in Iran over such things as Valentine’s Day? What was the Twitter Revolution about?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Anatolian Plateau
• Bosporus
• Caspian Sea
• Cyprus
• Diyarbakir
• Elburz Mountains
• Ethnic Triangle
• Euphrates River
• Istanbul
• Karbala
• Kurdistan
• Najaf
• Shatt al-Arab
• Sunni Triangle
• Tigris River
• Zagros Mountains
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/08%3A_North_Africa_and_Southwest_Asia/8.06%3A_Iraq_Turkey_and_Iran.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Understand that Central Asia is a landlocked region that receives little rainfall and has to rely on water from major rivers flowing from the mountains in the east.
2. Summarize how Central Asia has been transitioning from a Soviet-dominated region to independent states and what has been occurring in the various states to adapt to the new economic environment.
3. Describe how the Aral Sea has been affected by the practices of water use in the region and the environmental consequences that have resulted from water use policies.
4. Explain the geopolitical history of Afghanistan and why this area has been so difficult to govern under a central government.
5. Learn why there is continual conflict in Afghanistan between Western military forces and local Taliban insurgents.
6. Understand the principle that globalization of the economy forces political units to compete over natural resources.
Central Asia (a.k.a. Turkestan)
Central Asia is a region in the Asian continent that extends from the mountains of western China to the shores of the Caspian Sea. Pakistan and Iran create the southern border of the region, and the vast expanse of Russia is to the north. Afghanistan is considered a part of the region even though it was never a formal part of the Soviet Union. Central Asia was located on what was known as the Silk Road between Europe and the Far East and has long been a crossroads for people, ideas, and trade.
Central Asia has an extremely varied geography, including high mountain passes through vast mountain ranges, such as the Tian Shan, Hindu Kush, and the Pamirs. The region is also home to the vast Kara Kum and Kyzyl Kum Deserts, which dominate the interior with extensive spans of sand and desolation. The expansive treeless, grassy steppes that surround the desert regions are considered an extension of the steppes of Eastern Europe. Some geographers think of the Eurasian Steppes as one single, homogenous geographical zone.
Under the sand and prairie grasses lay the some of the most extensive untapped reserves of gas and oil on the planet. Natural resources are the main attraction of the region driving the economic forces that determine the development patterns of individual countries. Multinational corporations have vigorously stepped up their activity in the region.
The political systems are adjusting from the old Soviet Union’s socialist policies to new democratic systems that are subject to high levels of authoritarian rule and corruption in business and politics.
The five countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan were part of the former Soviet Union until its breakup in 1991. Today, with Afghanistan, they are independent countries that make up the region called Central Asia. The term stan means “land of,” so, for example, Uzbekistan is the land of the Uzbeks. Central Asia is also referred to as Turkestan because of the Turkish influence in the region. The people of Turkey did not originate from the Middle East; they originated from northern Asia. They swept through Central Asia and dominated the region on their way to the Middle East. The Turkish language and heritage have had the most significant impact on the people of Central Asia. Turkmenistan’s name is another reminder of the Turkish connection; it means “the land of the Turkmen.”
Most of the groups of Central Asia were nomadic peoples who rode horses and herded livestock on the region’s vast steppes. This way of life continued until the 1920s, when the Soviet Union forced many of the groups to abandon their lifestyle and settle on collective farms and in cities. Most of the people of Central Asia continue to identify culturally with their nomadic past. Central Asians who live in cities often demonstrate a mix of local and Russian culture in terms of dress and food because of the large influx of Russian populations in the region. More than six million Russians and Ukrainians were resettled into Central Asia during Soviet rule. Russian is often used as a lingua franca.
One of the primary ways in which people distinguish themselves culturally is through religious practices. Despite the area being part of the Soviet Union, where religious activities were discouraged, Islam was and still is the dominant religion. Most Central Asian Muslims are Sunnis.
Kazakhstan
The traditional people of Kazakhstan, who share a Mongol and Turkic heritage, moved into the Central Asia region sometime after 1200 CE. The expansion of the Russian Empire under the tsars integrated Kazakhstan and its neighbors, which eased their transition when the tsarist system of Russian government gave way to the Soviet Union. The influx of Russian people and culture had a major influence on Kazakhstan.
Kazakhstan gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, thereby creating the world’s largest landlocked nation. It is the ninth-largest state on the planet in terms of square miles and is larger in physical area than of all of Western Europe. This vast land is host to a wide variety of physical landscapes, including the high, snow-capped peaks of the ranges on the Chinese border. The western portions are lowlands bordering the Caspian Sea. The seemingly endless grasslands of the interior are one of the largest steppe regions in the world. The steppe region has a semiarid type B climate. A large portion of southern Kazakhstan is desert, including the northern regions of the Kyzyl Kum Desert. Colder type D climates are found in the northern regions of the country.
The steppe produces grain in large quantities and other agricultural products, while the productive mining of minerals adds to the national wealth. Kazakhstan ranks high in the mining of many metals and uranium. Even diamonds are found here. Oil and natural gas extraction accounts for the largest sector of the country’s economy and generates the largest export income. The Tengiz basin around the northeast shores of the Caspian Sea is home to extensive petroleum reserves. Oil pipelines are expanding to transport the oil to port locations and other countries, including China. The economy of Kazakhstan has been larger than the economies of all the other Central Asian states combined.
Kazakhstan also has a forward capital. During the Soviet era, the capital was located in the southeast at Almaty, but after gaining independence in 1991, the capital was moved north to Astana to ensure that the Russian-dominated northeast would be monitored against devolutionary forces that desiring to secede and become part of the Russian Republic.
Uzbekistan
Uzbekistan physically borders all the Central Asian countries. It is the most populous Central Asian country, with a population that exceeds twenty-seven million. Uzbekistan’s eastern boundary extends deep into Kyrgyzstan territory. The boundary lines were created during the Soviet era to provide the central government with more control over its republics by politicizing enclaves to their benefit. Geographers call Uzbekistan a doubly landlocked nation because all the countries that surround it are also landlocked. The main source of fresh water comes from the Eastern Highland regions. The main rivers have been heavily diverted for irrigation and are often depleted before reaching their destination at the Aral Sea.
Cotton is the main agricultural crop. Uzbekistan is one of the top producers of cotton in the world and is a major exporter to world markets. The central and western regions have mainly arid desert climates and rely heavily on the fresh water flowing in from the mountains. Agriculture employs a full one-fourth of the population and accounts for one-fourth of the gross domestic product (GDP). The extraction of gold, minerals, and fossil fuels are also prime economic activities. The country has been transitioning from the old Soviet Union’s command economy, which was controlled by the central government, to a market economy competing in a global marketplace.
Uzbekistan is a country of young people: about one-third of the population is under the age of fifteen. Education was heavily emphasized during the Soviet era; as a result, about 99 percent of the population is literate—though about one-third of the people still live in poverty. Islam emerged in this country after Uzbekistan won its independence in 1991 after the fall of the Soviet Union. In a culture of openness, Islam has risen in prominence to the point that approximately 88 percent of Uzbeks profess Islamic beliefs. The most commonly spoken language is Persian/Farsi.
Samarkand and the country’s capital city, Tashkent, are located in the eastern core region, which is home to most of the population. Tashkent has an unofficial population of more than three million people. The city, which sits on the confluence of a local river and its tributaries, started as a caravanserai, or oasis for trade, along the Silk Road. Samarkand is Uzbekistan’s second-largest city and is most noted as the central city of the Silk Road as well as an important historical city for Islamic scholars. In 2001, UNESCO declared this 2,750-year-old city a World Heritage Site. It is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and has been one of the more important cities in Central Asia. The historical architecture is heavily influence by Islamic styles from Iran. The region around Bukhara, Uzbekistan’s fifth-largest city, has been occupied for at least the last five thousand years. Bukhara was another important city on the Silk Road and is known for its Asian carpet and textile industry. This region has been an important cultural, economic, and scholarly center for most of its known existence.
Aral Sea Environmental Disaster
Central Asia’s shrinking Aral Sea is shared by Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The sea was once the fourth-largest body of water in the world, but it has been reduced to a fraction of its original area. In 1960, the Aral Sea covered about 26,254 square miles, an area larger than the size of the US state of West Virginia. By 2009, the sea covered less than 10 percent of the same area. The entire eastern portion of the sea has become a sand desert, complete with the deteriorating hulls of abandoned fishing vessels. The loss of water is approximately equivalent to the complete draining of both Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in North America.
The water loss escalated when the Syr Darya River, which flowed into the northern part of the sea, and the Amu Darya River, which flowed into the southern side of the sea, were diverted for the irrigation of cotton and other crops. At about 1,500 miles long, the Amu Darya is the region’s longest river. Its source is the high mountain streams and lakes of the Pamir Mountains. Environmental problems were further exacerbated by the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in agricultural processes. The chemicals contaminated the water flowing into the Aral Sea. Once the water dried up in the sea, the winds carried the buildup of chemicals and salt from the dry seabed over the land, causing serious health-related problems in the nearby human population. Cancer and respiratory illness rates continue to be higher than normal. Water and land pollution is a serious problem. Even the climate around the Aral Sea has changed gradually because of the loss of water from evaporation for precipitation. The climate is getting warmer in the summer and colder in the winter. The moderating affect that this large body of water had on its surrounding area is no longer as prominent as it once was.
The decline of the Aral Sea has destroyed habitats and the local economy. The fishing industry, which employed more than sixty thousand people, has been devastated. The remaining western portion of the sea has a rising salt content that is contributing to the decline of the fish population. Adding to the environmental devastation, the Soviets conducted biological weapons experiments on an island that was once in the middle of the Aral Sea. Hazardous wastes such as anthrax and toxic chemicals contaminated the land and found their way into the sea. Efforts have been made to marginalize the environmental damage of the contamination, but the damage has not been completely ameliorated. The sea has historically been an important environmental location for wildlife. It is located in a major flyway for migratory waterfowl in Central Asia and served as an important habitat. The deterioration of the Aral Sea and the destruction of habitat for waterfowl and other organisms is one of the world’s worst environmental catastrophes. The fact that the Aral Sea is located in a region that is not part of the core economic area of the global community has rendered it “out of sight and out of mind” by entities that could potentially provide economic support.
In the northern portion of the Aral Sea, called the Little Aral Sea, there has been some success in abating the deterioration of this once-thriving environmental habitat. A major dam has been constructed that partitions off the Little Aral Sea, causing water from the Syr Darya River to increase the water level of the Little Aral Sea and reduce the salt content. Canals, dikes, and irrigation processes have been updated to reduce the loss of water and increase the amount that flows into the northern section. The development efforts have caused the water level to rise and therefore have reinvigorated the once-struggling fishing industry. The efforts have been undertaken by Kazakhstan’s government, which controls the Little Aral Sea.
A major part of the southern portion of the once thriving sea is located in Uzbekistan, which has not contributed the economic attention necessary to halt the sea’s continued deterioration. The remaining western portion of the Uzbekistan side of the Aral Sea will continue to shrink if measures are not taken to address the loss of water from the Amu Darya River. The eastern side was completely dry by 2009. Uzbekistan has responded to the situation by contracting out to various multinational oil companies from Korea, China, and Russia to explore for oil beneath the dry seabed.
The demise of the Aral Sea was caused in part by the diversion of water from its northern inlet, the Syr Darya River. At the other end of the Syr Darya River an additional factor augmented the lack of water flow: the Soviet Union placed a dam on the river and allowed the overflow from the dam to flow into low-lying dry pans, creating artificial lakes. As a result, Aydar Lake was created and became the second-largest lake in Uzbekistan. Various species of fish were introduced and the lake became a major source for commercial fishing. Hundreds of tons of fish are harvested annually. Just as fishing was declining in the Aral Sea, the fishing industry was growing at Aydar Lake.
Turkmenistan
To the south of the Amu Darya River is the desert country of Turkmenistan, which extends from the Caspian Sea to Afghanistan in the east. Turkmenistan is slightly larger in physical area than the US state of California. Roughly 80 percent of the country is covered by the Kara Kum Desert, which is among the driest in the world. The southern mountains along the Iranian and Afghan border reach as high as 10,290 feet in elevation. Water from the Amu Darya River has been diverted by the seven-hundred-mile-long Kara Kum Canal through Turkmenistan to help grow cotton and other agricultural products.
The transition from a Soviet republic to an independent state in 1991 brought many changes. The former leader of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic, Saparmurat Niyazov, who went by the name Turkmenbashi (leader of the Turkmen people), dominated the presidency for fifteen years. Through his authoritarian rule, he promoted a traditional culture—with Islam as the predominant religion—and was notorious for developing a cult of personality. For example, he changed all the names of the days of the week and the months of the year to his name, the names of his family members, and the names of Turkmen heroes or famous people. Turkmenbashi’s image was printed on the currency, and large posters of him could be seen throughout the country. His book on important concepts, the Ruhnama (The Book of the Soul), was to be read by all schoolchildren and the public. After his death in 2006, many of his actions were reversed. The country continues to transition to a stable democratic state, though many of the same dynamics of corruption and authoritarian rule remain.
Turkmenistan is blessed with the fourth-largest natural gas reserves in the world; the top three are Russia, Iran, and the United States. The income from natural gas exports has become the country’s greatest means of gaining wealth. Because Turkmenistan is landlocked, its government has been forced to partner with Russia to use of Russia’s pipelines to export the natural gas. Not wishing to rely on Russia’s monopoly on the pipelines, Turkmenistan developed an additional pipeline to China to help boost income and profits. Many international corporations are seeking to do business in Turkmenistan and Central Asia to corner a piece of the vast natural resources. Corporate colonialism is extremely active and has contributed to a high level of corruption in the government and the business sector. It is unclear how much of the country’s wealth filters down to most of the population. Over the past decade, unemployment rates have exceeded 50 percent, and more than half the population lives below the poverty line.
The administrative center and largest city of Turkmenistan is its capital, Ashgabat, which has a population of about one million. Ashgabat lies between the Kara Kum Desert and the mountains near the former Silk Road. In the historic region of Central Asia, it is comparatively a very young town, having grown out of a small village founded in 1818. Ashgabat is primarily a government and administrative center, although it has thriving cotton, textile, and metalworking industries. Ashgabat is also a popular stop along the Trans-Caspian Railway.
Kyrgyzstan
Local groups in the mountains of Central Asia make up the population of Kyrgyzstan. The forty rays of sun on the country’s flag symbolize of the legendary forty tribes of Manas that represent the nation. The rugged landscape of this mountainous land includes the high ranges of the Tian Shan Mountains, which can reach elevations as high as 24,400 feet and cover about 80 percent of the country. Snowfall from the mountains provides fresh water for agriculture as well as hydroelectric energy. Food crops can be grown in the valleys and the few lowland areas. Half the population works in agriculture, and self-sufficiency in food production is a major objective for survival. The mountains hold deposits of metals and minerals that have a strong potential for adding to the national wealth. Oil and natural gas reserves are also available for exploitation. The government is seeking foreign aid and investments to help develop these resources.
In 2009, Kyrgyzstan had a population of about 5.4 million in a land area about the size of the US state of South Dakota. About 30 percent of the population is under the age of fifteen, and about 36 percent of the population is urban. The western boundary with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan is winding and creates various small enclaves and exclaves of people from one country surrounded by people of another country and separated from their home nations.
Kyrgyzstan’s transition from a Soviet republic to independence was not smooth. The loss of the state social safety net pushed the economy further to the informal sector, where trading and small transactions for personal survival are common. Shortages of consumer goods occur in rural areas and small towns. Kyrgyzstan is an isolated country that has been working to integrate itself into the global economy through technology and modernization. In 2010, clashes between Uzbeks and Kyrgyz brought about riots in the streets of major cities, resulting in more than two hundred casualties and three hundred thousand displaced citizens. After the situation cooled down, the government worked to stabilize itself with new leadership.
A form of improvisational oral poetry, which allegedly dates back to more than one thousand years ago, is an aspect of traditional culture that has been preserved. While common throughout the region, it is mainly found in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Practitioners will often engage in “lyrical battles” of folklore. These poets, often accompanied by two- or three-stringed instruments, will recite the Manas, an epic poem of Kyrgyzstan that details the life of the Kyrgyzstan hero Manas. This epic tale is a renowned part of the culture and festivals of Kyrgyzstan.
Tajikistan
The eastern region of Central Asia has some of the highest mountain ranges in the world; about 90 percent of Tajikistan is mountainous, and more than half the country is 10,000 feet in elevation or higher. Ranges of the Himalayas extend from the south all the way to the western border with China. The Pamirs is a mountain range located where the Tian Shan, Karakorum, and Hindu Kush mountain ranges meet in Tajikistan, an area referred to as the Pamir Knot, or the roof of the world. Elevations in the Pamirs often exceed 24,500 feet. The Pamirs is the source of the Amu Darya River and is home to the longest glacier outside the polar regions (forty-eight miles long in 2009). There is great potential for hydroelectric power generation, and Tajikistan is developing the world’s highest dam.
Tajikistan has the smallest physical area of any country in Central Asia but has a population of about 7.3 million. Only about one-fourth of the population is urban, and one-third of the population is younger than fifteen years of age. There is less ethnic or religious diversity; 80 percent of the people are ethnically Tajik and are Sunni Muslims. Though it has natural resources similar in quantity to those in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan’s economy is not advanced enough to fully take advantage of its economic potential. Half the labor base works abroad and sends remittances back to their families for economic support. Unemployment is high, and job opportunities have not been able to keep up with demand.
Dushanbe, the capital and largest city of Tajikistan, is situated on the confluence of two local rivers and is famous for its Monday markets (Dushanbe means “Monday” in Tajik). Dushanbe, like Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, was originally a small village; it became an administrative center for the region when the Soviet army conquered the area in 1929. Similar to many of the other cities and regions in Central Asia, the Soviets transformed the political and economic landscape and made Dushanbe a center for cotton and silk production. The Soviets also transformed the cultural and ethnic makeup of the city by relocating tens of thousands of people from Russia and other regions of Central Asia to Dushanbe.
The transition from a Soviet Republic to an independent country in 1991 was difficult for Tajikistan. From 1992 to 1997, a bitter civil war between regional factions killed more than fifty thousand people. Political instability and corruption has hampered the growth of a market economy, and political power remains in the hands of the economic elite. Debt restructuring with Russia and an infusion of development loans from China have aided the ailing economy. Aid from the US helped fund a thirty-six-million-dollar bridge linking Tajikistan and Afghanistan, which opened in August 2007. US aid has also contributed to infrastructure development designed to help US military operations in Afghanistan and in the region as a whole. Countries such as Russia, China, and the United States are all looking to gain an advantage with their ties to Tajikistan to exploit the region’s natural resources.
Afghanistan
Present-day Afghanistan has been conquered by the likes of Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, and the Mogul Empire and was a buffer zone for colonial feuds between Russia and British India. The high central mountain range of the Hindu Kush dominates the country and leaves a zone of well-watered fertile plains to the north and a dry desert region to the south. Afghanistan is a remote region without access to the sea and acts as a strategic link between the Middle East and the Far East.
The Soviet Invasion and the Taliban
In 1979, the Soviet Union took advantage of ongoing ethnic warfare in Afghanistan to inject itself into the country. The Soviets pushed in from the north and occupied much of Afghanistan until they completely withdrew in 1989. During the Soviet occupation, the United States supported anti-Communist resistance groups such as the Mujahideen with money, arms, and surface-to-air missiles. The missiles were instrumental in taking out Soviet aircraft and MiG fighters, which caused a critical shift in the balance of power in the war. One of the major connections between the for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Mujahideen was a Saudi national named Osama bin Laden. Support from the CIA through bin Laden to the Mujahideen was instrumental in defeating the Soviets.
The power vacuum left by the retreating Soviets allowed conflicts to reemerge between the many ethnic factions in Afghanistan. Dozens of languages are spoken in Afghanistan; the top two are Pashtu and Afghan Persian-Dari. There are also a dozen major ethnic groups; the top two are Pashtun and Tajik. The groups regularly fight among themselves, but they have also been known to form alliances. Rural areas are usually led by clan leaders who are not part of any official arm of a national government. Afghanistan is a place where forming any national unity or identity is not easy. The national government in the capital city of Kabul has little influence in the country’s rural regions.
The Soviet invasion brought the internally warring factions together for a short period to focus on the Soviet threat. Chaos and anarchy thrived after the Soviet forces withdrew, but the Islamic fundamentalist group known as the Taliban came forward to fill the power vacuum. One objective of the Taliban was to use Islam as a unifying force to bring the country together. The problem with that concept was that there was much diversity in how Islam was practiced by the numerous local groups. Many of the factions in Afghanistan opposed the Taliban; one such group being the Northern Alliance, which was an association of groups located in the northern portion of the country. The civil war between the Taliban and those that opposed them resulted in the deaths of more than fifty thousand people by 1996 when the Taliban emerged to take power in Kabul. The Taliban is a Sunni Muslim group that adheres to strict Islamic laws under the Wahhabi branch of the faith similar to that of Saudi Arabia. Under Taliban rule, women were removed from positions in hospitals, schools, and work environments and had to wear burkas (also spelled burqas) and be covered from head to toe, including a veil over their faces. Violators were either beaten or shot. The Taliban brought a sense of militant order to Kabul and the regions under their control. Various factions such as the Northern Alliance did not share the Taliban’s strict Islamic views and continued to oppose their position in power.
Al-Qaeda and the US Invasion
After the war against the Soviet Union was over, the US role in Afghanistan diminished. The groups that the United States had supported continued to vie for power in local conflicts. Osama bin Laden remained in Afghanistan and established training camps for his version of an anti-Western resistance group called al-Qaeda. Just as he had opposed the Soviet Union, he now opposed the United States, even though the United States had supported him against the Soviets. The Saudi government allowed the United States to establish military bases in Saudi Arabia during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War, and this was one reason for bin Laden’s opposition; he believed that non-Muslims should not be on the same ground as the Muslim holy sites of Mecca and Medina.
The 9-11 attack in New York City was traced back to al-Qaeda and bin Laden, who was residing in Afghanistan at the time. In a military action dubbed Operation Enduring Freedom, the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, removed the Taliban from power, and dismantled the al-Qaeda training camps. Although bin Laden escaped, the terror of the Taliban was temporarily reduced. Women were allowed to return to the workplace, and the rebuilding of the country became a priority. The country was devastated by war and is divided by the human geography because of the various ethnic and traditional groups. Afghanistan is one of the most impoverished places on Earth. The armed conflicts in Afghanistan did not end with the US invasion. After regrouping, the Taliban rallied its supporters on the Pakistani side of the border and returned to the fighting front in Afghanistan against North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and US forces.
Fighting between Western forces and the Taliban in Afghanistan continued to provide the exiled bin Laden a platform to promote his al-Qaeda terrorist activities from his hiding place. Efforts to locate and marginalize bin Laden continued through to the US presidency of Barack Obama. In May of 2011, on orders from President Obama, a team of US Navy Seals were sent into the city of Abottabad, Pakistan, to a private compound where intelligence indicated that bin Laden was hiding. In the confrontation, the US Navy Seal team killed bin Laden. The entire operation was conducted without the awareness of the Pakistani government. This event may have impacted al-Qaeda but has not likely diminished the fighting in Afghanistan.
The country is the world’s largest producer of opium, a product extracted from a poppy plant seedpod that can also be refined into heroin. The expanding poppy cultivation as well as a growing drug trade may account for one-third of the country’s income. More than 80 percent of the heroin consumed in Europe is grown in Afghanistan. The drug trade has only multiplied the problems in this devastated country. Prudent and effective methods for the government to address the drug trade are matters for debate and negotiation. Most of the country is ruled by warlords and clan leaders who have few resources other than tradition and custom. Afghanistan’s infrastructure has been destroyed through warfare, and its government is dependent on foreign aid; without it, this country cannot recover to integrate itself with the global economy. Central Asia has enormous oil and natural gas reserves, and the core economic regions of the world will continue their work to extract these resources for economic gain.
Operation Enduring Freedom
The US Department of Defense issued an official statement on Afghanistan in 2008 (Source DoD 2008):
In response to the events of September 11, 2001, the U.S. and its allies launched an invasion of Afghanistan to overthrow the Taliban regime and destroy the al-Qaeda terrorist network it supported. In the years since, the International Security Assistance Force, under NATO leadership, has taken charge of extensive provincial reconstruction and stabilization efforts, helping set the economic, political and security conditions for the growth of an effective, democratic national government in Afghanistan. As the lead member of the international coalition, the U.S. contributes troops to both the ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] mission and Operation Enduring Freedom, tasked with pursuing al-Qaeda throughout Afghanistan’s inhospitable border region with Pakistan.
The Western military troops aligned themselves with Afghan groups such as the Northern Alliance to defeat the Taliban and remove the al-Qaeda presence.
Democratic elections were held for the office of president in Afghanistan beginning in October of 2004. Hamid Karzai was the country’s first elected president in the twentieth century. He was reelected as president in 2009 under the cloud of claims of election fraud. The right to vote was restored to women in the 2004 election. To combat voter fraud, people would dip their fingers in ink to indicate they had voted and to ensure they did not vote more than once. Voting has not been a smooth process because democratic rule is new to Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s future is insecure. Most of Afghanistan is still ruled by warlords and clan leaders. The Taliban has sustained its support in Afghanistan from bases on the Pakistani side of the border, and United Nations (UN) and NATO troops continue to confront the Taliban and work toward stability. Kandahar, the second-largest city in Afghanistan, is located in the south, an area where support for the Taliban is stronger than it is in Kabul in the north.
Resources and Globalization
In 2010, a US government report indicated that vast amounts of mineral wealth were discovered in Afghanistan by American geologists and Pentagon officials. Enormous deposits of iron, copper, gold, cobalt, and rare industrial minerals such as lithium are reported to be present in Afghanistan. Total reserves are unknown or have not been released but if extracted would result in trillions of dollars of economic gain for the country. Lithium is highly sought after and is used in the manufacturing of batteries, computers, and electronic devices. The report indicated that Afghanistan could become the world’s premier mining country.
Discovery of vast resources helps place the war in Afghanistan in perspective with respect to global competition over the control of resources. It has been reported that China has already offered millions of dollars in incentive money to Afghan government officials to allow its country to mine copper. Bribery and corruption in the Afghan government is a serious impediment to a stable political environment, but criminal activities are projected to persist and swell with the potential for additional mining wealth. Afghanistan does not have a long-standing tradition of mining. Agriculture has been the main focus of economic activity for the rural communities. A newfound potential for mineral wealth will change the future of Afghanistan. It will be interesting to watch how Afghanistan adapts to and benefits from the discovery of previously unknown resources.
Key Takeaways
• Central Asia is a landlocked region that receives little rainfall. Two large desert regions are located at the region’s core. Vast grasslands called steppes dominate the northern sector. High mountains to the east provide a border between Central Asia and China.
• Central Asia (a.k.a. Turkestan) has been dominated by the Soviet Union during the twentieth century. The transition to independence has challenged the region to adjust to changes in political and economic systems.
• The demise of the Aral Sea is being caused by the diversion of water from the two rivers flowing into the sea. A once-thriving fishing industry has been destroyed and environmental damage has been catastrophic.
• Armed conflicts in Afghanistan continue between Western military forces and the Taliban over the control of the country. Clan leaders are a main component of the political fabric of the country. The diversity and fragmentation of the country make it almost impossible to govern.
• Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world based on data on standards of living. However, the country has one of the largest deposits of valuable minerals and ores in the world waiting to be extracted. The deposits are the target of multinational corporations around the globe.
• The following is a summary of trends in Central Asia:
• Shift from Soviet Union to independent states
• Rise in authoritarian governments and corruption
• Increase of cultural influence of Islamic institutions
• Global economic focus on extractive activities
• Increase in military activity over control of resources
• Decline in agriculture as an economic base
• Continued concern for environmental problems
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why is Central Asia often referred to as Turkestan? What does the suffix “stan” indicate?
2. Which country in Central Asia has a forward capital and why?
3. How is the Tengiz basin important to the global economy? Where is it located?
4. How have problems with the Aral Sea affected the people of the region?
5. What is attracting multinational corporations to Central Asia? How do the corporations impact politics?
6. What happened in Tajikistan after it received independence in 1991? How did this affect the country?
7. List at least five general trends that have been occurring in Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
8. Why did the CIA get involved in the 1980s war in Afghanistan? Who acted as a CIA contact?
9. What role did the Taliban once have in Afghanistan’s government? Why were not they allies with Iran?
10. What are the main methods of gaining wealth in Afghanistan today? How might this change in the future?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Amu Darya River
• Aral Sea
• Aydar Lake
• Caspian Sea
• Hindu Kush
• Kandahar
• Kara Kum Canal
• Kara Kum Desert
• Karakorum Ranges
• Kyzyl Kum Desert
• Little Aral Sea
• Pamir Knot
• Pamirs
• Samarkand
• Syr Darya River
• Tengiz basin
• Tian Shan
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Chapter Summary
• North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Central Asia (Turkestan) are included in a the realm of North Africa and Southwest Asia, which is dominated by the religion of Islam, arid type B climates, and the export of oil and natural gas. Large, expansive deserts make up most of the physical areas of all three regions of the realm. Water is of particular importance, as most of the population has traditionally made a living from agriculture. Division, warfare, and conflict have been constant elements. The Arab Spring of 2011 included a wave of mass citizen demonstrations in many Arab countries where the people demanded political and economic reform.
• The three main monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam emerged from the Middle East and can be traced back to a common patriarch, Abraham. Most of the people in the realm are Muslims. The Five Pillars of Islam create a guide for Muslims to live by. Mecca, the holiest city for Muslims worldwide, is where the prophet Muhammad started the religion. The two main divisions of Islam are Sunni (84 percent) and Shia (15 percent). Other smaller divisions exist, such as Sufi.
• North Africa includes the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea and Sudan on the Red Sea. Most of the people in North Africa are Muslims. The high-population areas are along the coast or along the Nile River. The Maghreb is included in the region with the Atlas Mountains in the west. The Atlas Mountains trap moisture, which provides precipitation for agriculture in the mountain valleys. The countries of North Africa have all witnessed political uprisings in which the people have demanded democratic reforms and increased civil rights. Egypt is the most populous Arab country and the cornerstone of the Arab world.
• The African Transition Zone is where the dry, arid conditions of the Sahara Desert meet the tropical conditions of Equatorial Africa. Islam is dominant in the north, and Christianity and tribal religions are dominant in the south. Sudan is one place where the two sides have clashed in warfare and division. Tribal Christian southern Sudan separated from the Arab Muslim north to create the independent country of South Sudan. Ethnic cleansing has been witnessed in the western part of Sudan in the region of Darfur.
• Palestine was divided in half in 1945 into an Arab state and a Jewish state. The Jewish state became the nation of Israel in 1948. Since that time, there has been a constant struggle between the mainly Arab Palestinians and the Jewish State of Israel. The West Bank and the Gaza Strip are Palestinian regions that have worked to be recognized with equal sovereignty. The solution to this division is debated; both sides have claims that are incompatible with each other. The neighboring Arab states of Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon have their own unique political situations.
• The Arabian Peninsula includes a number of states ruled by a single king, sultan, emir, or sheik, except Yemen, which has a democratically elected president. Saudi Arabia is the home of the two main cities of Islam, Mecca and Medina. Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the peninsula and has about 25 percent of all the known oil reserves in the world. Oil and natural gas are the main export products and the main source of income for the region. Yemen is mainly an agricultural country with high population growth and a rural majority.
• Most people in Turkey are of Turkish ethnicity, and most people in Iran are of Persian ethnicity. The country of Turkey is what remains from the once expansive Ottoman Empire. Iran is a country of mountains and deserts that was once the center of the Persian Empire. Turkey has a portion of its country in Europe, and its largest part includes the expansive Anatolian Plateau in Asia. Turkey is a democratic republic with elected public officials. Iran is a religious state in which the Islamic leadership controls who can be included in the government. Both countries have large populations of about seventy million each.
• Iraq was at the center of the Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia, which spawned early human civilizations. Iraq was invaded by the United States in 2003 and has been working to establish a democratic government. The country is divided between a Shia majority and a Sunni minority. It is an Arab country with a large minority group of Kurds in the north. Iraq has enormous oil reserves that have not yet been developed for exploitation, which has attracted the attention of the world’s energy-dependent core regions.
• Central Asia (Turkestan) is a landlocked region with mainly type B climates with cooler temperatures in the higher elevations of the eastern mountains. The prominently Muslim region has been transitioning from a Soviet-controlled domain to independent states. Some countries are making the transition with less difficulty than others. The Aral Sea has been one of the major environmental disasters in modern history. Globalization activities have targeted the region for its immense amount of natural resources—mainly oil, natural gas, and minerals.
• Afghanistan has been conquered by many empires and was a buffer state between British and Russian colonial efforts. The country has a dry, rugged terrain and a devastated economy. The people are poor with little infrastructure. The many tribal groups have made it difficult for a centralized government to be effective. The United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to remove al-Qaeda training camps run by Osama bin Laden. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces have taken over the mission in Afghanistan to defeat the Taliban extremists and support stability for the country. Afghanistan has enormous amounts of mineral resources that are in high demand by the world’s core industrial regions.
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the realm’s physical geography. Identify each country’s main features and physical attributes and locate the realm’s main river systems.
2. Understand the dynamics of the monsoon and how it affects human activities.
3. Outline the early civilizations of South Asia and learn how they gave rise to the early human development patterns that have shaped the realm.
4. Describe how European colonialism impacted the realm.
5. Learn about the basic demographic trends the realm is experiencing. Understand how rapid population growth is a primary concern for the countries of South Asia.
The Physical Geography
The landmass of South Asia was formed by the Indian Plate colliding with the Eurasian Plate. This action started about seventy million years ago and gave rise to the highest mountain ranges in the world. Most of the South Asian landmass is formed from the land in the original Indian Plate. Pressure from tectonic action against the plates causes the Himalayas to rise in elevation by as much as one to five millimeters per year. Destructive earthquakes and tremors are frequent in this seismically active realm. The great size of the Himalayas has intensely influenced the beliefs and traditions of the people in the realm. Some of the mountains are considered sacred to certain religions that exist here.
The Himalayan Mountains dominate the physical landscape in the northern region of South Asia. Mt. Everest is the tallest peak in the world, at 29,035 feet. Three key rivers cross South Asia, all originating from the Himalayas. The Indus River, which has been a center of human civilization for thousands of years, starts in Tibet and flows through the center of Pakistan. The Ganges River flows through northern India, creating a core region of the country. The Brahmaputra River flows through Tibet and then enters India from the east, where it meets up with the Ganges in Bangladesh to flow into the Bay of Bengal. While the northern part of this region includes some of the highest elevations in the world, the Maldives in the south has some of the lowest elevations, some barely above sea level. The coastal regions in southern Bangladesh also have low elevations. When the seasonal reversal of winds called the monsoon arrives every year, there is heavy flooding and its effect on the infrastructure of the region is disastrous. The extensive Thar Desert in western India and parts of Pakistan, on the other hand, does not receive monsoon rains. In fact, much of southwest Pakistan—a region called Baluchistan—is dry, with desert conditions.
The mountains on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan extend through Kashmir and then meet up with the high ranges of the Himalayas. The Himalayas create a natural barrier between India and China, with the kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan acting as buffer states with Tibet. Farther south along the east and west coasts of India are shorter mountain ranges called ghats. The Western Ghats reach as high as eight thousand feet, but average around three thousand feet. These ghats are home to an extensive range of biodiversity. The Eastern Ghats are not as high as the Western Ghats, but have similar physical qualities. The ghats provide a habitat for a wide range of animals and are also home to large coffee and tea estates. The Deccan Plateau lies between the Eastern and Western Ghats. The Central Indian Plateau and the Chota-Nagpur Plateau are located in the central parts of India, north of the two Ghat ranges. The monsoon rains ensure that an average of about fifty-two inches of rain per year falls on the Chota-Nagpur Plateau, which has a tiger reserve and is also a refuge for Asian elephants.
The Monsoon
A monsoon is a seasonal reversal of winds that is associated with heavy rains. The summer monsoon rains—usually falling between June and September—feed the rivers and streams of South Asia and provide the water needed for agricultural production. In the summer, the continent heats up, with the Thar Desert fueling the system. The rising hot air creates a vacuum that pulls in warm moist air from the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. This action shifts moisture-laden clouds over the land, where the water is precipitated out in the form of rain.
The monsoon rains bring moisture to South Asia right up to the Himalayas. As moisture-laden clouds rise in elevation in the mountains, the water vapor condenses in the form of rain or snow and feeds the streams and basins that flow into the major rivers, such as the Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Indus. The Western Ghats creates a similar system in the south along the west coast of India. Parts of Bangladesh and eastern India receive as much as six feet of rain during the monsoon season, and some areas experience severe flooding. The worst-hit places are along the coast of the Bay of Bengal, such as in Bangladesh. There is less danger of flooding in western India and Pakistan, because by the time the rain clouds have moved across India they have lost their moisture. Desert conditions are evident in the west, near the Pakistan border in the great Thar Desert. On average, fewer than ten inches of rain fall per year in this massive desert. On the northern rim of the region, the height of the Himalayas restricts the warm moist monsoon air from moving across the mountain range. The Himalayas act as a precipitation barrier and create a strong rain shadow effect for Tibet and Western China. The monsoon is responsible for much of the rainfall in South Asia.
By October, the system has run its course and the monsoon season is generally over. In the winter, the cold, dry air above the Asian continent blows to the south, and the winter monsoon is characterized by cool, dry winds coming from the north. South Asia experiences a dry season during the winter months. A similar pattern of rainy summer season and dry winter season is found in other parts of the world, such as southern China and some of Southeast Asia. A final note about the monsoons: small parts of South Asia, such as Sri Lanka and southeastern India, experience a rainy winter monsoon as well as a rainy summer monsoon. In their case, the winter monsoon winds that come down from the north have a chance to pick up moisture from the Bay of Bengal before depositing it on their shores.
Early Civilizations
The Indian subcontinent has a long history of human occupation, and is an area where cities independently developed and civilization emerged. The earliest civilization on the subcontinent was the Indus Valley Civilization, in existence from about 3300 BCE to 1500 BCE. This Bronze Age civilization started as a series of small villages that became linked in a wider regional network. Urban centers developed into various religious and trade networks that spanned as far as Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and, perhaps, Egypt. The civilization is known for its planned structures. The cities and villages of the urban phases were planned with major streets going north/south and east/west. It had a system of drains that channeled waste water outside the city. Additionally, this civilization had a homogeneous material culture. Its artifacts of pottery and metallurgy all had a very similar style that was spread over a vast land area, a fact that aided in the recognition of the expanse of the culture.
Invasions by outsiders have the potential effect of bringing with them an influx of new ideas, concepts, and technology. Likewise, the Indus Valley Civilization no doubt had an impact on the region that it encompassed. Little is known of the historical events of earlier times. Some of the evidence we rely on today to discern historical events is gleaned from language, religion, and ethnicity. Significant to South Asia is the presence of Indo-European languages. It is presumed that these languages were brought to the region by immigrants from the west, where these languages were dominant. Aryans from Persia and other cultures might have diffused languages such as Hindi to South Asia, which later may have led to Hindi, for example, becoming the lingua franca of the region.
The northern plains of South Asia, which extend through the Ganges River valley over to the Indus River valley of present-day Pakistan, were fertile grounds for a number of empires that controlled the region throughout history. After the decline of the Indus Valley Civilization, various phases of Iron Age traditions emerged. Most of this Iron Age culture is defined by the presence of iron metallurgy and distinctive characteristics of ceramics.
The Mauryan Empire existed between 322 and 185 BCE and was one of the most extensive and powerful political and military empires in ancient India. This empire was founded by Chandragupta Maurya in 322 BCE, who began to extend his regime westward, easily conquering areas that had been disrupted by the expansion of Alexander the Great’s armies. The Mauryan Empire was prosperous and greatly expanded the region’s trade, agriculture, and economic activities. This empire created a single and efficient system of finance, administration, and security. One of the greatest emperors in the Mauryan dynasty was Ashoka the Great, who ruled over a long period of peace and prosperity. Ashoka embraced Buddhism and focused on peace for much of his rule. He created hospitals and schools and renovated major road systems throughout the empire. His advancement of Buddhist ideals is credited with being the reason most of the population on the island of Sri Lanka is Buddhist to this day.
Islam became a powerful force in South Asia upon its diffusion to the subcontinent. Muslim dynasties or kingdoms that ruled India between 1206 and 1526 are referred to collectively as the Delhi Sultanate. The Delhi Sultanate ended in 1526 when it was absorbed into the expanding Mughal Empire. The Islamic Mughal Empire ruled over much of northern and central India from the 1500s to about the middle of the nineteenth century. After 1725, it began to decline rapidly because of a combination of factors, with European colonialism adding the finishing touch. The Mughal Empire had been religiously tolerant but Muslim oriented. The classic period of this empire began in 1556 and ended in 1707. Many of the monuments we associate with India, including the Taj Mahal, the Red Fort in Lahore, and the Agra Fort, were built during the classical period.
Colonialism in South Asia
The force of colonialism was felt around the world, including in South Asia. South Asia provides an excellent example of colonialism’s role in establishing most of the current political borders in the world. From the sixteenth century onward, ships from colonial Europe began to arrive in South Asia to conduct trade. The British East India Company was chartered in 1600 to trade in Asia and India. They traded in spices, silk, cotton, and other goods. Later, to take advantage of conflicts and bitter rivalries between kingdoms, European powers began to establish colonies. Britain controlled South Asia from 1857 to 1947.
Goa is the smallest state in modern-day India. In the sixteenth century, it was first encountered by Portuguese traders, who annexed it shortly after arriving. Goa was a colony of Portugal for the next 450 years. By the mid-1800s, most of the population of the tiny area had been forcibly converted to Christianity. Many of the Hindu traditions, however, survived in the region. Hindu holidays are celebrated among the expatriate community in India. Christian holidays are also celebrated, especially Christmas and Easter. The cathedrals and secular architecture in many of the historic buildings of Goa are European in style, reflecting its Portuguese origins. This architecture is locally termed “Indo-Portuguese.” Goa was one of the longest-held colonial possessions in the world. It was finally annexed to India in 1961.
The British no longer controlled South Asia after 1947. Local resistance and the devastating effects of World War II meant the British Empire could not be controlled as it once was. Great Britain pulled away from empire building to focus on its own redevelopment. Upon the British withdrawal from India, Britain realized the immense cultural differences between the Muslims and Hindus and created political boundaries based on those differences. West Pakistan was carved out of western India; East Pakistan was carved from eastern India. However, the new borders separating Hindu and Muslim majorities ran through population groups, and some of the population now found itself to be on the wrong side of the border. The West Pakistan-India partition grew into a tragic civil war, as Hindus and Muslims struggled to migrate to their country of choice. More than one million people died in the civil war, a war that is still referred to in today’s political dialogue between Pakistan and India. The Sikhs, who are indigenous to the Punjab region in the middle, also suffered greatly. Some people decided not to migrate, which explains why India has the largest Muslim population of any non-Muslim state.
Another civil war would erupt in 1973 between West Pakistan and East Pakistan. When the states were first created in 1947, they operated under the same government despite having no common border and being over nine hundred miles apart and populated by people with no ethnic similarities. The civil war lasted about three months and resulted in the creation of the sovereign countries of Pakistan and Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). The name Bangladesh is based on the Bengali ethnicity of most of the people who live there. Both Pakistan and Bangladesh are among the top ten most populous countries in the world.
Language is probably one of the more pervasive ways that Europeans affected South Asia. In modern-day India and Pakistan, English is the language of choice in secondary education (English-medium schools). It is often the language used by the government and military. Unlike many other Asian countries, much of the signage and advertising in Pakistan and India is in English, even in rural areas. Educated people switch back and forth, using English words or entire English sentences during conversation in their native tongue. Some scholars have termed this Hinglish or Urglish as the base languages of northern India and Pakistan are Hindi and Urdu, respectively.
The British game of cricket is an important cultural and national sport within this Asian subcontinent. The constant conflict between the nations of India and Pakistan are reflected in the intense rivalry between their national cricket teams. The Cricket World Cup is held every four years and is awarded by the International Cricket Council. South Asian countries have won the Cricket World Cup three times: India (1983), Pakistan (1992), and Sri Lanka (1996).
Population in South Asia
South Asia has three of the ten most populous countries in the world. India is the second largest in the world, and Pakistan and Bangladesh are numbers five and six, respectively. Large populations are a product of large family sizes and a high fertility rate. The rural population of South Asia has traditionally had large families. Religious traditions do not necessarily support anything other than a high fertility rate. On the other hand, the least densely populated country in South Asia is the Kingdom of Bhutan. Bhutan has a population density of only fifty people per square mile. Bhutan is mountainous with little arable land. More than a third of the people in Bhutan live in an urban setting. Population overgrowth for the realm is a serious concern. An increase in population requires additional natural resources, energy, and food production, all of which are in short supply in many areas.
Table 9.1 Demographics of South Asia and the World’s Most Populous Countries
Rank Country name Population in millions Total population density Physiologic density Fertility rate Population growth rate (%) Doubling time in years Percentage urban Gross domestic product per capita (\$)
1 China 1,336 361 2,405 1.54 0.49 143 47 7,600
2 India* 1,189 937 1,912 2.62 1.34 52 30 3,500
3 United States 313 84 468 2.06 0.96 73 82 47,200
4 Indonesia 245 331 3,013 2.25 1.07 65 44 4,200
5 Brazil 203 62 884 2.18 1.13 62 87 10,800
6 Pakistan* 187 604 2,414 3.17 1.57 45 36 2,500
7 Bangladesh* 158 2,852 5,186 2.60 1.57 45 28 1,700
8 Nigeria 155 435 1,319 4.73 1.94 36 50 2,500
9 Russia 138 21 301 1.42 −0.47 73 15,900
10 Japan 126 867 7,225 1.21 −0.28 67 34,000
11 Mexico 113 149 1,149 2.29 1.10 64 78 13,900
41 Nepal* 29 525 3,379 2.47 1.59 44 19 1,200
57 Sri Lanka* 21 862 6,001 2.2 0.93 75 14 5,000
165 Bhutan* 0.700 50 1,697 2.2 1.2 58 35 5,500
176 Maldives* 0.400 3,438 26,194 1.81 −0.15 40 6,900
* Countries noted with an asterisk are part of South Asia
Empty cell indicates a negative population doubling time.
South Asia’s growing population has placed exceedingly high demands on agricultural production. The amount of area available for food production divided by the population may be a more helpful indicator of population distribution than total population density. For example, large portions of Pakistan are deserts and mountains that do not provide arable land for food production. India has the Thar Desert and the northern mountains. Nepal has the Himalayas. The small country of the Maldives, with its many islands, has almost no arable land. The number of people per square mile of arable land, which is called the physiologic density, can be an important indicator of a country’s status. Total population densities are high in South Asia, but the physiologic densities are even more astounding. In Bangladesh, for example, more than five thousand people depend on every square mile of arable land. In Sri Lanka the physiologic density reaches to more than 6,000 people per square mile, and in Pakistan it is more than 2,400. The data are averages, which indicate that the population density in the fertile river valleys and the agricultural lowlands might be even higher.
The population of South Asia is relatively young. In Pakistan about 35 percent of the population is under the age of fifteen, while about 30 percent of India’s almost 1.2 billion people are under the age of fifteen. Many of these young people live in rural areas, as most of the people of South Asia work in agriculture and live a subsistence lifestyle. As the population increases, the cities are swelling to accompany the growth in the urban population and the large influx of migrants arriving from rural areas. Rural-to-urban shift is extremely high in South Asia and will continue to fuel the expansion of the urban centers into some of the largest cities on the planet. The rural-to-urban shift that is occurring in South Asia also coincides with an increase in the region’s interaction with the global economy.
The South Asian countries are transitioning through the five stages of the index of economic development. The more rural agricultural regions are in the lower stages of the index. The realm experienced rapid population growth during the latter half of the twentieth century. As death rates declined and family size remained high, the population swiftly increased. India, for example, grew from fewer than four hundred million in 1950 to more than one billion at the turn of the century. The more urbanized areas are transitioning into stage 3 of the index and experiencing significant rural-to-urban shift. Large cities such as Mumbai (Bombay) have sectors that are in the latter stages of the index because of their urbanized work force and higher incomes. Family size is decreasing in the more urbanized areas and in the realm as a whole, and demographers predict that eventually the population will stabilize.
At the current rates of population growth, the population of South Asia will double in about fifty years. Doubling the population of Bangladesh would be the equivalent of having the entire 2011 population of the United States (more than 313 million people) all living within the borders of the US state of Wisconsin. The general rule of calculating doubling time for a population is to take the number seventy and divide it by the population growth rate. For Bangladesh the doubling time would be 70 ÷ 1.57 = 45 years. The doubling time for a population can help determine the economic prospects of a country or region. South Asia is coming under an increased burden of population growth. If India continues at its current rate of population increase, it will double its population in fifty-two years, to approximately 2.4 billion. Because the region’s rate of growth has been gradually in decline, this doubling time is unlikely. However, without continued attention to how the societies address family planning and birth control, South Asia will likely face serious resource shortages in the future.
Key Takeaways
• All the South Asian countries border India by either a physical or a marine boundary. The Himalayas form a natural boundary between South Asia and East Asia (China). The realm is surrounded by deserts, the Indian Ocean, and the high Himalayan ranges.
• The summer monsoon arrives in South Asia in late May or early June and subsides by early October. The rains that accompany the monsoon account for most of the rainfall for South Asia. Water is a primary resource, and the larger river systems are home to large populations.
• The Indus River Valley was a location of early human civilization. The large empires of the realm gave way to European colonialism. The British dominated the realm for ninety years from 1857 to 1947 and established the main boundaries of the realm.
• Population growth is a major concern for South Asia. The already enormous populations of South Asia continue to increase, challenging the economic systems and depleting natural resources at an unsustainable rate.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why are the Himalayan Mountains continuing to increase in elevation? Which of the countries of South Asia border the Himalayas?
2. What are the three major rivers of South Asia? Where do they start and what bodies of water do they flow into? Why have these river basins been such an important part of the early civilizations of the realm and why are they core population areas today?
3. Why does the monsoon usually arrive in late May or early June? What is the main precipitation pattern that accompanies the monsoon? Why is the monsoon a major source of support for South Asia’s large population?
4. What changes did British colonialism bring to South Asia? When did the British control South Asia? Why do you think the British lost control when they did?
5. Why is the high population growth rate a serious concern for South Asian countries? What can these countries do to address the high population growth rate?
6. How can Pakistan have a higher fertility rate than Bangladesh but still have the same growth rate and doubling time?
7. Why would the country of the Maldives be concerned about climate change?
8. How would you assess the status of each country with regard to the index of economic development?
9. What are the three dominant religions of the realm? How did religion play a role in establishing the realms’ borders? What happened to East Pakistan?
10. How can the principle of doubling time be used to assess a country’s future potential? What is the general formula to calculate a population’s doubling time?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arabian Sea
• Baluchistan
• Bay of Bengal
• Brahmaputra River
• Central Indian Plateau
• Chota-Nagpur Plateau
• Deccan Plateau
• Eastern Ghats
• Ganges River
• Himalayas
• Indian Ocean
• Indus River
• Kashmir
• Mt. Everest
• Punjab
• Thar Desert
• Western Ghats
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline the main physical features of the countries described in this section.
2. Understand how cultural differences in religion and ethnicity continue to cause conflict and division in South Asian countries and regions.
3. Outline how and why Kashmir is divided and its importance for the region.
4. Describe how tourism has been a means of gaining wealth for the listed countries.
5. Summarize the main environmental concerns that are apparent in each of the countries.
As detailed earlier, the Indian subcontinent is a large landmass that juts into the Indian Ocean along the southern side of Asia, between Afghanistan and Myanmar (Burma) and south of China. The Indian perimeter includes the southern countries of the Maldives and Sri Lanka, and the northern regions of the Punjab, Kashmir, Nepal, and Bhutan. This landmass has a long tectonic history and has been formed by the collision of the Indian Tectonic Plate with the Eurasian Plate. This tectonic collision has given rise to the highest mountain chains and ranges in the world along the northern and northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent—that is, the Himalayas.
The Karakoram Mountains are located in northern Pakistan and Kashmir. Together with the other Himalayan Mountain ranges, they form an arc that stretches across the entire northern border of South Asia. Nepal and Bhutan are both located in the Himalayas. The Himalayan ranges have some of the highest peaks in the region, including Mount Everest (located on the border between Nepal and China) and K2 (located in Pakistan). In western Pakistan and western Afghanistan, the Hindu Kush mountain ranges that border this area are found. The Indus River flows from the northern part of the Karakoram mountains and creates a large, fertile flood plain. Along its northern area, the Indus River System has four main tributaries. Together, these rivers constitute the five rivers of the Punjab regions of Pakistan and India; Punjab means the “land of the five rivers” in the Punjabi language.
The Punjab
The Punjab is a fertile agricultural region with a high population density located on the border between India and Pakistan. Areas of the Punjab lie in both India and Pakistan. Where there is ample fresh water and bountiful food production, there is usually high population density. The Punjab is the most densely populated region in Pakistan. India has a separate state called the Punjab. Its river valleys are excellent areas for agricultural production and contribute heavily to the provisions needed to feed the enormous populations of the two countries.
The Punjabi people are found in the Punjab State of India and the Punjab Province of Pakistan. This large cultural area was separated into two countries during Partition at the time of Indian independence and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. Most of the people in the Punjab speak Punjabi, an Indo-European language. In a larger context, people with Punjabi background are considered one of the main ethnic groups in South Asia. Punjabis account for about 45 percent of the population of Pakistan.
In Pakistan, the Punjabis are grouped in clans and groups that correspond with traditional occupations. Traditionally, Punjabis are farmers and warriors, and in modern times are associated with agricultural professions and military life. Punjabis in Pakistan are predominantly Muslim, although a Christian minority exists. Indian Punjabis belong to traditional groups, including many of the same groups as in Pakistan, but many more. Most of the Muslim populations of the Punjab migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and, thus, most of the Indian Punjabis are Sikh with a Christian minority.
Sikhs protest against India’s opposition to their proposed homeland (nation-state) in the Punjab called Khalistan.
People gravitate toward nation-state systems, but globalization supports integration across political boundaries.
The Punjab region of Pakistan and India is the homeland of the Sikhs, people who follow a religion that is different from Islam or Hinduism. Sikhism was founded by Guru Nanak Dev (1469–1538). All distinctions of caste, creed, race, or gender are rejected in this religion. In Sikhism there is no priestly class. Every person is equally and fully responsible for leading a moral life, which eventually leads to universal salvation. Heaven and hell are not physical places, and God is the cosmic universal spirit. Historically, traditional Sikh men wear turbans on their heads and never cut their hair or beard. Sikhism is a universal religion. A prominent Sikh landmark and spiritual center is their Golden Temple, located in the city of Amritsar in the Indian state of the Punjab.
Sikhism is a system of religious philosophy and expression, known as the Gurmat or the counsel of the gurus, or the Sikh Dharma (or way of life). Sikhism comes from the Hindi and Punjabi word sikhna, which means “to learn.” The principal belief in Sikhism is faith in the universal God. Sikhism promotes the pursuit of salvation through discipline and personal meditation on the name and message of God. However, it must be mentioned that Sikhs have a nonanthropomorphic concept of God; that is, Sikhs do not envision God as having any form or shape or mind similar to that of humans. Sikhism has become the fifth-most widely adhered to religion on Earth.
During British colonial occupation of South Asia, Sikhs were elevated to positions of power to help the British rule over Muslim and Hindu populations. The Sikhs are often overshadowed by the large Hindu and Muslim populations in the realm. Many of the Sikhs would like to have their own nation-state, free from Muslim or Hindu domination, and would like to see the Punjab region become the new homeland for this nation-state, called Khalistan. They have held rallies and demonstrations to promote the creation of Khalistan. The Indian government has, however, cracked down on militant movements that support the Khalistan concept. The Khalistan movement was more popular in the 1970s and 1980s and has been scaled down in recent decades. Proponents still attempt to attract young people and foreign donations to its cause. Khalistan does not have the support of the Pakistani and Indian governments and is not likely to become a reality any time soon. Khalistan is an example of the devolutionary push for a nation-state political unit for a particular group of people with similar aspirations or heritage.
The Kingdom of Kashmir
Located in the high mountains of the north is the former Kingdom of Kashmir, a separate kingdom before the British divided South Asia. In 1947, when the British drew the boundary between India and Pakistan, the leader of Kashmir, the maharajah, chose not to be a part of either country but to remain independent. About 75 percent of the population in Kashmir was Muslim; the rest, including the maharajah, were mainly Hindu. This arrangement worked for a time, until the Muslim majority was encouraged by their fellow Muslims in Pakistan to join Pakistan. After a Muslim uprising, the maharajah asked the Indian military for assistance. India was more than pleased to oblige and saw it as an opportunity to oppose Pakistan one more time. Today Kashmir is divided, with Pakistan controlling the northern region, India controlling the southern region, and China controlling a portion of the eastern region. A cease-fire has been implemented, but outbreaks of fighting have occurred. The future of Kashmir is unclear. None of the countries involved wants to start a large-scale war, because they all have nuclear weapons.
The conflict in Kashmir is about strategic location and control of water rather than labor and resources. It is unknown whether there are abundant minerals in the mountains in Kashmir to be mined, but regardless, there is little mining activity going on, not enough to cause conflict. One of the main physical geography features of importance is water. The Indus River flows through Kashmir from Tibet and into Pakistan. The control of this river system is critical to the survival of people living in northern Pakistan. If India were to place a dam on the river and divert the water to their side of the border, to the dry regions of the south, Pakistan could suffer a water shortage in the northern part of the country. Another aspect of the Kashmir conflict goes back to the division of Pakistan and India, which pitted Muslims against Hindus along the border region. The religious differences have come to the surface again in the conflict over the control of Kashmir. Extremist movements within Kashmir by the Muslim population have fueled the division between those who support Pakistan and those who support Hindu-dominated India.
The Kingdom of Bhutan
Landlocked and mountainous, the small Kingdom of Bhutan is remotely located next to the high Himalayas between China and India. The mountain peaks reach more than twenty-three thousand feet. Bhutan is about half the size in physical area of the US state of Kentucky and has fewer than one million people. The southern plains are warm, with subtropical weather, but the higher altitudes of the snow-capped mountains have polar-type climates. The local people call their country the “Land of the Thunder Dragon” because of the harsh storms they experience. Bhutan has large areas of natural habitat that have not been disturbed by human activity. The natural environment and the unique heritage and culture of the people make Bhutan an attractive destination for world travelers.
Bhutan is a small country without much industry or high-tech corporate involvement. Forestry and agriculture are the main economic activities, which account for approximately 60 percent of the country’s population. Grazing livestock and subsistence agriculture are the primary types of farming. Increasing the country’s modest infrastructure is hampered by its high mountains and remote location. India is Bhutan’s main trading partner and has played an important role in the country’s development and economic situation.
Modern transportation and communication technologies are being introduced in Bhutan and are changing how the country is connected to the rest of the global economy. Satellite and cable television, mobile phone networks, the Internet, and major airline service are opening the doors of opportunity and interaction between the people of Bhutan and the rest of the world. Introduction of technological services has prompted Bhutan’s government to take steps to protect its environment and unique heritage. Tourism has become a major focus of the changes. The country has stepped up its efforts to develop tourism but has targeted a specific type of traveler. Bhutan is an expensive place to visit, which has been the biggest deterrent for travelers. Visitors from places other than India and Bangladesh must agree to strict requirements set by the suppliers of Bhutanese tourism, including large daily fees just to be in the country. Tourism is increasing in Bhutan but remains highly selective in its requirements and regulations. These measures are to ensure that the environmental health of the country remains intact and that there is minimal cultural impact from outsiders.
Buddhism is the state religion and is followed by about 75 percent of the population. Hinduism is the second-largest religion and is followed by the other 25 percent of the population. One of the principles of the government in regulating development projects has been the concept of gross national happiness (GNH), which is used as a guide to determine the impact of a project on the culture and people of Bhutan. The stern measures regarding development have protected the country from serious environmental degradation and have helped to sustain the lifestyles of the Bhutanese people. Some measures may appear harsh to outsiders, but the country is implementing these measures to promote the health and well-being of its people. For example, tobacco products are banned from being sold in the country. Democratic elections are becoming standard after centuries of rule by a monarchy. The intent of the transition is to provide the people with more direct control of their government and country.
Interesting points about the culture of Bhutan include the issue of marriage. Marriages based on love are becoming more common in the cities, while arranged marriages remain a tradition in many of the smaller villages. Under the current legal system, women have the right to inheritance. Homes and personal possessions are passed down through a family’s female children. Traditionally, male children do not inherit. Men are expected to earn their own livelihood and if they get married will most often live in the wife’s house.
Archery is the national sport of Bhutan. Most villages regularly hold archery competitions, which usually include festivities of serving food and conducting community events.
The Kingdom of Nepal
Bordering the highest mountain range in the world, the Himalayas, the country of Nepal is isolated from any seacoast and buffered from the outside world by India and China. Nepal is about the same size in physical area as Bangladesh, and is home to almost thirty million people. More than 80 percent of its people work the land in a region that is suffering from severe deforestation and soil erosion. Trees are cut down to build houses, to cook food, and to keep warm. Without trees to hold the soil, the monsoon rains wash soil from the mountain fields into the valleys. The combination of the fast-growing population with the loss of food-growing capacity means it is only a matter of time before a major crisis occurs in Nepal. Nepal’s best farmland is in the Tarai lowlands of southern Nepal, while the north is quite mountainous. The towering elevation of the Himalayas restricts human habitation in the north. High population growth has also been outstripping the country’s economic growth rate in recent years.
Nepal has an abundance of tourist attractions, Mt. Everest being its best known. In addition, there are hundreds of ancient temples and monasteries. Swift flowing streams and high-mountain terrain support a modest trekking industry. Visitors to Nepal have an opportunity to glimpse a rich culture that few outsiders can witness. The downside is that tourism demands an investment in infrastructure and services. Such investments direct funds away from schools, medical clinics, and public services needed by the Nepalese people. Income from tourism is needed and always welcome, but the trade-off with investments is a difficult choice to make. Tourism in Nepal is not as restrictive as that of Bhutan, and the unique physical and cultural landscapes will continue to draw travelers from throughout the world.
Hinduism is the main religion in Nepal, but a blend of Buddhism is more prevalent in the north. The guardian deity of Nepal is Shiva. Pashupatinath Temple, the world’s most significant Shiva worship site, is located in the capital city of Kathmandu. This Shiva temple is not only a UNESCO World Heritage Site but a major destination for Hindu pilgrims from around the world. Buddhist and Hindu beliefs often mix in Nepal. There are certain situations where the same deities and temples can be honored or worshipped by members of both religions.
In a different part of Nepal, Lumbini—near the city of Bhairahawa (Siddharthanagar), on the border with India—is another UNESCO World Heritage Site, this one focusing on the birthplace of the Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born about 563 BCE, near Lumbini. The city has recognized the prince with a number of monasteries and temples built in his honor. An entire development zone is restricted to nothing but monasteries and temples. No other commercial or public buildings—such as hotels, shops, or businesses—can be constructed in the zone. The different branches of the Buddhist faith each have their own specific designated sections of the zone. Lumbini is a major pilgrimage site for Buddhist believers from around the world.
In the late 1700s, local states of Nepal were consolidated into the one kingdom and ruled by monarchy. The kingdom was ruled by royal families until the mid-1900s. Nepal has been free of British influence since 1947, but has had trouble establishing a stable central government. The royal family in charge of the kingdom was replaced in 1951, and further democratic reforms were made in 1990. Communist partisans from China have been active in insurgent activities. Frequent protests and civil unrest have caused political instability, which has discouraged tourism and has depressed the economy even further. The Maoist Communist movement and other opposition political parties held mass protests, culminating in a peace accord. Ensuing elections created the establishment of a federal democratic republic. The first president of Nepal was sworn into office in 2008. There is still much tension in the country between those loyal to the royal family and those wanting the royal family to be dissolved. Without a stable government, economic and political progress in Nepal will be a serious challenge.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is a beautiful island about half the size of Nepal. The island has a warm, tropical type A climate, with forested hills and mountains in the center. Rivers flow from the center outward to water the farm fields of rice and other crops. The best farmland in located in the Sinhalese-controlled areas of the southwestern portions of the island. Cinnamon is native to the island and has been cultivated since colonial times as an important export. Coconuts, coffee, and tea are also important export products. The island is home to various national parks, four biosphere reserves, and several wild elephant herds. Sri Lanka has the potential to become a major tourist destination with high incomes and a hub for international trade. Factors working against Sri Lanka reaching its potential are not based on its physical geography or location, but rather they are linked back to colonialism and cultural or ethnic divisions between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority.
The people of South Asia follow various religions. Pakistan and Bangladesh are Muslim. India has a Hindu majority. About 90 percent of the people of Nepal are considered Hindu but many follow a unique blend of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. The small, mystical, mountainous kingdom of Bhutan is Buddhist. Sri Lanka has its own unique circumstances and is a mixed country with a strong Buddhist majority and an active Hindu minority. The conflict between the majority and the minority ethnic groups fueled a low-level civil war on the island for decades. Differences in religion, ethnicity, and politics have brought the country to halt on various occasions.
Sinhalese people from somewhere in northern India moved to the island of Sri Lanka about 2,500 years ago. The Sinhalese brought with them Buddhism and the Sinhala language, which belongs to the Indo-European language family. They established themselves on the island for centuries. Sri Lanka was first colonized by Portugal, then Holland. When the British colonized South Asia, they took control of Sri Lanka. It was called Ceylon at that time and changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972. The higher elevations of the center of the island were excellent for tea production; British colonizers established tea plantations there. To work the plantations Britain brought thousands of additional Tamil laborers from southern India across the Polk Strait to Ceylon. Most of the Tamil speak a Dravidian language and follow the Hindu religion.
The Tamil Tigers laid claim to a large portion of the eastern part of the island but did not control it. The only Tamil-controlled areas were in the far north, including the Jaffna Peninsula and a small area around it.
When the British were forced out of South Asia and left Ceylon, the Tamils remained on the island. The Tamils now make up only 10 percent of the population and live mainly in the northeastern region of the island. They have been pressuring the Sinhalese majority to split the island politically and grant them independence. An insurgent civil war was waged for decades between the Tamil guerillas—called the Tamil Tigers—and the Sinhalese government. About sixty to eighty thousand people died in this conflict. Originally only controlling the Jaffna Peninsula, the Tamil Tigers later made claims on a large portion of the northeastern part of the island. The Tamil Tigers created a government in the north called Eelam and wanted to legitimize it. The Sri Lankan president announced an end to the civil war in 2009, and the Tigers admitted defeat at that time. This civil war devastated Sri Lanka’s tourism industry and discouraged foreign investments, further reducing economic opportunities for the island.
The Maldives
Just north of the Equator in the Indian Ocean to the southwest of India lie the Maldives, a group of low-lying islands that consists of twenty-six atolls encompassing a territory of only about 115 square miles. Within the atolls are approximately 1,200 small islands, of which about 200 are inhabited. Portugal controlled the Maldives from 1558 during their colonial expansion into Asia. Holland took over from the Portuguese in 1654. The Maldives became a British protectorate in 1887, which lasted until 1965, when independence was achieved. Three years later the country became a republic. The Maldives is a country with many extremes. It is Asia’s smallest nation in both physical area and population. The island nation has the smallest physical area of any country with a majority Muslim population. The average elevation—four feet, eleven inches above sea level—is the lowest in the world for any country.
Fishing and tourism are the chief methods for Maldivians to earn a living. Tourism has increased in recent years. The many islands and atolls are attractive destinations for world travelers. The first tourist resort opened in 1972. Since that time, dozens of world-class resort facilities have opened for business across the archipelago. Tourism is the country’s number one means of gaining wealth. The coral reefs that make up the island chain are excellent for diving and water sports. The tropical climate and miles of sandy beaches provide for an attractive tourism agenda.
The Maldives is an example of an entire country that could be in danger of flooding because of climate change if polar ice melts and sea levels rise. Concerns over the future of the islands gave reason for the president of the country to announce a plan in 2008 to purchase land in other countries in case sea levels rise to a point where the Maldives are no longer habitable. The purchase of land from tourism receipts would provide a place for the Maldivians to move in case they had to evacuate the islands. The administration of the Maldives has worked hard to lobby the international community to address the increase in greenhouse gas emissions and the possibility of an increase in sea level caused by the global warming aspect of climate change.
Key Takeaways
• The Punjab is a highly productive agricultural region located partly in Pakistan and partly in India. The region is home to the Sikh population, which has proposed having its own nation-state.
• Kashmir is divided between Pakistan, China, and India. The religious differences and the control of a valuable water source are at the core of this conflict.
• Nepal borders the Himalayan Mountains and has an economy based on agriculture and tourism. High population growth has been stripping the land of trees, causing serious deforestation issues and soil erosion.
• The Kingdom of Bhutan has placed major restrictions on tourism to protect its environment and limit outside influences on its culture.
• The beautiful tropical island of Sri Lanka experienced a low-level civil war for decades between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority and the Tamil Hindu minority. The island has an excellent location and potential for economic development.
• The archipelago of the Maldives is a small country that depends on tourism for its economic survival. The low elevation of its land area makes it subject to flooding due to the effects of climate change.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Why is the Punjab region vital to both Pakistan and India?
2. What has been one political goal of the Sikhs living in the Punjab?
3. What three countries control parts of the Kingdom of Kashmir?
4. Why is the region of Kashmir vital to South Asia’s viability?
5. Why is Bhutan so selective about admitting tourists?
6. Explain Bhutan’s guiding philosophy regarding development.
7. Why is Nepal experiencing environmental degradation?
8. What was the civil war about in Sri Lanka? What did each side want?
9. What is it about each country listed that is attractive to the tourism industry?
10. What plan was announced to address the Maldives’s environmental concerns?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Jaffna Peninsula
• Lumbini
• Mt. Everest
• Polk Strait
• Tarai lowlands
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline how Pakistan and Bangladesh are similar in their populations and economic dynamics but different in their physical environments.
2. Understand why the two countries were once under the same government and separated in 1972, when East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
3. Describe the various regions of Pakistan and their physical and cultural landscapes.
4. Comprehend the impact that large populations have on the natural environment and outline the main environmental issues that confront these two countries.
Pakistan and Bangladesh are two separate and independent countries physically divided by India. Historically, this was not always the case: from 1947 to 1971 they were administered under the same government. The two countries share a number of attributes. They both have Muslim majorities and both have high population densities. The countries are two of the top ten most populous countries in the world. Their populations are youthful and mainly rural; agriculture is the main economic activity in each country. Rural-to-urban shift is a major trend affecting urban development. Infrastructure is lacking in many areas of each country. These similar factors indicate that both Pakistan and Bangladesh will face comparable challenges in providing for their large populations and protecting their natural environments.
The Muslim League was responsible for the formation of a united Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim state for South Asian Muslims. Pakistan was created from the former Indian territories of Sindh (Sind), North West Frontier Provinces, West Punjab, Baluchistan, and East Bengal. Pakistan was formed with two separate physical regions, defined by religious predominance. East Bengal, on the eastern side of India, was known as East Pakistan, while the remainder, separated by more than one thousand miles, was known as West Pakistan. The two physical units were united politically.
East and West Pakistan, administered by one government, became independent of their colonial master in 1947, when Britain was forced out. Pakistan (East and West) adopted its constitution in 1956 and became an Islamic republic. In 1970, a massive cyclone hit the coast of East Pakistan and the central government in West Pakistan responded weakly to the devastation. The Bengali populations were angered over the government’s lack of consideration for them in response to the cyclone and in other matters. The Indo-Pakistan War changed the situation. In this war, East Pakistan, with the aid of the Indian military, challenged West Pakistan and declared independence to become Bangladesh in 1972. West Pakistan became the current country of Pakistan.
Pakistan
The physical area of Pakistan is equivalent to the US states of Texas and Louisiana combined. Much of Pakistan’s land area comprises either deserts or mountains. The high Himalayan ranges border Pakistan to the north. The lack of rainfall in the western part of the country restricts agricultural production in the mountain valleys and near the river basins. The Indus River flows roughly northeast/southwest along the eastern side of Pakistan, flowing into the Arabian Sea. River sediments are deposited in large areas found between river channels and oxbow lakes formed from the constantly changing river channels. These “lands between the rivers” are called “doabs” and represent some of the most fertile land in the Indian subcontinent. The Indus River flows from the northern part of the Karakoram mountains and creates a large, fertile flood plain that comprises much of eastern Pakistan. Pakistan has traditionally been a land of farming. The Indus River Valley and the Punjab are the dominant core areas where most of the people live and where population densities are remarkably high.
The two core areas of Pakistan are the Punjab and the Indus River Valley.
Approximately 64 percent of the population lives in rural areas and makes a living in agriculture. Most of the people are economically quite poor by world standards. In spite of the rural nature of the population, the average family size has decreased from seven to four in recent decades. Nevertheless, the population has exploded from about 34 million in 1951 to about 187 million as of 2011. About half of the population is under the age of twenty; 35 percent is under the age of fifteen. A lack of adequate medical care, an absence of family planning, and the low status of women have created an ever-increasing population, which will have dire consequences for the future of Pakistan. Service and infrastructure to address the needs of this youthful population are not available to the necessary degree. Schools and educational opportunities for children are rarely funded at the needed levels. As of 2010, only about 50 percent of Pakistan’s population was literate.
The capital of Pakistan when it was under British colonialism was Karachi, a port city located on the Arabian Sea. To establish a presence in the north, near Kashmir, the capital was moved to Islamabad in 1960. This example of a forward capital was an expression of geopolitical assertiveness by Pakistan against India. The lingua franca of the country for the business sector and the social elite continues to be English, even though Urdu is considered the national language of Pakistan and is used as a lingua franca in many areas. More than sixty languages are spoken in the country. There are as many ethnic groups in Pakistan as there are languages. The three most prominent ethnic groups are Punjabis, Pashtuns, and Sindhis.
Regions of Pakistan
The three main physical geographic regions of Pakistan are the Indus River Basin, the Baluchistan Plateau, and the northern highlands. These physical regions are generally associated with the country’s main political provinces. The four main provinces include the Punjab, Baluchistan (Balochistan), Sindh (Sind), and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North West Frontier). To the north is the disputed region of Kashmir known as the Northern Areas. Each of these regions represents a different aspect of the country. The North West Frontier has a series of Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan that have been traditionally under their own local control. Agents under Tribal Agencies have attempted to administer some type of structure and responsibility for the areas, with little success.
The Punjab
As explained previously, the Punjab is a core area of Pakistan, and has about 60 percent of Pakistan’s population. The five rivers of the Punjab border India and provide the fresh water necessary to grow food to support a large population. Irrigation canals create a water management network that provides water throughout the region. The southern portion of the Punjab includes the arid conditions of the Thar Desert. The northern sector includes the foothills of the mountains and has cooler temperatures in the higher elevations. The Punjab is anchored by the cities of Lahore, Faisalabad, and Multan. Lahore is the cultural center of Pakistan and is home to the University of the Punjab and many magnificent mosques and palaces built during its early history. In the 1980s, many Punjabis migrated to Europe, the Middle East, and North America seeking opportunities and employment. This diaspora of people from the Punjab provided cultural and business ties with Pakistan. For example, trade connections between the Punjab and the United States are increasing. The Punjab is the most industrialized of all the provinces. Manufacturing has increased with industries producing everything from vehicles to electrical appliances to textiles. The industrialization of the Punjab is an indication of its skilled work force and the highest literacy rate in Pakistan, at about 80 percent.
Baluchistan
Figure 9.17 Man with His Camel in the Desert Region of Baluchistan in Western Pakistan
Baluchistan (Balochistan) encompasses a large portion of southwest Pakistan to the west of the Indus River. The region connects the Middle East and Iran with the rest of Asia. The landscape consists of barren terrain, sandy deserts, and rocky surfaces. Baluchistan covers about 44 percent of the entire country and is the largest political unit. The sparse population ekes a living out of the few mountain valleys where water can be found. Local politics provides the basic structure for society in this region. Within the Baluchistan province of Pakistan are several coastal and interior rivers; the interior rivers flow from the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan, while most of the rivers along the coastal deserts from west of Karachi to the Iranian border are seasonal in nature and provide one of the few sources of fresh water in those coastal regions. Much of the coastal region is arid desert with sand dunes and large volcanic mountainous features.
The Sindh
The Sindh (Sind) region of the southeast is anchored by Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and major port. The Indus River is the border on the west and the Punjab region lies to the north. To the east of the Sindh is the border with India and the great Thar Desert. The Sindh is a region that misses out on the rains from the summer monsoon and the retreating monsoon season, when the winds sweep in from the north over South Asia. The city of Hyderabad, Pakistan, is located along the Indus River, which is a key food-growing area. Food crops consist of wheat and other small grains, with cotton as a major cash crop that helps support the textile industry of the region.
Hyderabad, Pakistan, is not to be confused with a large city with the same name in India.
Rural-to-urban shift has pushed large numbers of Sindh residents into the city of Karachi to look for opportunities and employment. In previous sections, slums and shantytowns have been described and explained for cities such as Mexico City and São Paulo; Karachi has similar development patterns. The central business district has a thriving business sector that anchors the southern part of the country. The city has a large port facility on the Arabian Sea. As a city of twelve to fifteen million people or more, there are always problems with a lack of public services, law enforcement, or adequate infrastructure. Urban centers usually have a strong informal economy that provides a means for many of the citizens to get by but is outside the control of the city or national government. The Sindh is the second-most populous region of Pakistan, after the Punjab.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (The North West Frontier)
Figure 9.19 Man Firing AK-47 in the North West Frontier of Pakistan
The North West Frontier is a broad expanse of territory that extends from the northern edge of Baluchistan to the Northern Areas of the former Kingdom of Kashmir. Sandwiched between the tribal areas along the Afghanistan border and the well-watered lands of the Punjab, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province is dominated by remote mountain ranges with fertile valleys. The famous Khyber Pass, a major chokepoint into Afghanistan, is located here. The frontier is a breeding ground for anti-Western culture and anti-American sentiments, mainly fueled by the US military activity in Afghanistan. The Taliban movement that once controlled the government of Afghanistan has been active and generally more organized in this region than in Afghanistan. A push for more fundamentalist Islamic law has been a major initiative of the local leaders. Support for education and modernization is minimal. The government of Pakistan has also stepped up its military actions in the region to counter the activities of the militant Islamic extremists.
The Tribal Areas
The North West Frontier borders the Tribal Areas, where clans and local leaders are standard parts of the sociopolitical structure. These remote areas have seldom been fully controlled by either the colonial governments (the British) or the current government of Pakistan. There are about seven main areas that fall under this description. Accountability for the areas has been difficult and even when the national government stepped in to exercise authority, there was serious resistance that halted any real established interaction. These remote areas are where groups such as al-Qaeda and the Taliban often find safe haven. South and North Waziristan are two of the main areas that have been controlled by Tribal Agencies and not directly by the Pakistani government.
Northern Areas with Disputed Kashmir
Pakistan’s Northern Areas include the territories that were once part of the Kingdom of Kashmir, the boundaries of which are disputed with India. The region is, in other words, interconnected with the issues related to Kashmir that involve Pakistan, India, and China. There are two main political entities: the large northern section bordering Afghanistan is called Gilgit-Baltistan, and the narrow section near Islamabad is called Azad Kashmir (Azad Jammu and Kashmir). The Northern Areas are highlands, bordered to the north by the towering Karakoram and Pamir mountain ranges. K2, the world’s second highest mountain, which reaches 28,250 feet, is located here. The Northern Areas are sparsely populated except for the Indus River valley. The conflicts over these territories fuel nationalistic forces in both Pakistan and India. The conflicts are as much between Islam and Hinduism as they are between political factions. The early war between India and Pakistan over the border that the British placed between them in 1947 almost seems to be reenacted in the more recent conflicts over the region of Kashmir.
Religion and Politics in Pakistan
Today most of the people living in Pakistan are Muslim. About 85 percent of the Muslim population in Pakistan is Sunni and about 15 percent of the Muslim population is Shia, which is consistent with the percentages of the two Islamic divisions worldwide. Islam is considered the state religion of Pakistan. The state is a federal republic with a parliamentarian style of government. As an Islamic state following the Sharia laws of the Koran, it has been a challenge for Pakistan to try to balance instituting democratic reforms while staying true to fundamental Islamic teachings. Pakistan has held elections for government leaders, and the status of women has improved. Women have held many governmental and political positions, including prime minister. The military has been a foundation of power for those in charge. As a result of weak economic conditions throughout the country, it has been the military that has received primary attention and is the strongest institution within the government. Pakistan has demonstrated its nuclear weapons capability in recent years, which established it as a major player in regional affairs.
Pakistan has suffered from inadequate funding for public schools. As a rule, the wealthy urban elites have been the only families who could afford to send their children to college. With half the population consisting of young people, there are few opportunities to look forward to in Pakistan. Education has been supported in the form of Islamic religious schools called madrassas, which teach children the Koran and Islamic law. Much of the funding for religious schools comes from outside sources such as Saudi Arabia. The result is a religious education that does not provide the skills needed for the modern world. Pakistan has worked to build schools, colleges, and universities to educate its people. The situation is that population growth has been outpacing what little budget was allocated for educational purposes.
The government of Pakistan has struggled to meet the challenge posed by the democratic structure of its constitution. The combination of a federal republic and an Islamic state creates a unique and at times difficult balance in administrative politics. The legislative body of Pakistan consists of a National Assembly and a Senate. The leader of the National Assembly is the prime minister. The elected president not only is in charge of the military but is also head of state. The military establishment and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency hold major political power in Pakistan. The political leadership has often vacillated between military and civilian rule. Transitions between the two types of leadership have been conducted through civil unrest or political demonstrations in the streets.
Benazir Bhutto: The First Female Prime Minister of Pakistan
Women’s roles in Pakistani leadership have been complex. To understand the impact of electing the first woman prime minister in Pakistan, one has to go back to 1972. At that time, East Pakistan gained its independence and changed its name to Bangladesh. At roughly the same time, Pakistan elected President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to power. After ruling for five years, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted from power and sentenced to death by General Zia, who became the next president. General Zia was the first military general to also be president. He allowed the Islamic Sharia law to be introduced into the legal system, which bolstered the influence of Islam on the military and government services. In 1988, General Zia was killed in an unexplained plane crash. The daughter of the first president—Zulfikar Ali Bhutto—was then elected as prime minister. The thirty-five-year-old Benazir Bhutto was the first female prime minister of Pakistan.
Benazir Bhutto’s tenure as prime minister was short-lived. After a year and a half, the president removed her from office on accusations of corruption. She ran again in 1993 and was reelected to the prime minister position. Charges of corruption continued and she was removed as prime minister a second time in 1996. Political corruption, or the accusations of such a charge, is not uncommon in Pakistan or other countries with volatile political situations. To keep from being prosecuted by her opposition, Benazir Bhutto left Pakistan in 1998 and lived in Dubai. She did not return to Pakistan until 2007, under an agreement reached with the military general who was president at the time, General Pervez Musharraf. Benazir Bhutto was given amnesty for any and all claims against her.
Figure 9.21
Benazir Bhutto visits the United States in 1989 while she was the prime minister of Pakistan.
The elimination of the corruption charges against her allowed Benazir Bhutto to become a candidate for the office of president. She organized an effective campaign. Her campaign for the presidency energized the political landscape of the country. In December of 2007, her campaign was cut short. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated after departing a political rally. She was assassinated a few weeks before the polls were to open for the election. Benazir Bhutto was the leading opposition candidate. Her death rallied support against General Musharraf with continued calls for his removal from office. General Musharraf resigned from the presidency in 2008. The winner of the presidential elections that followed was none other than Benazir Bhutto’s husband, Asif Ali Zardari. President Zardari blamed the Taliban for the assassination of his wife.
Environmental Issues in Pakistan
Pakistan is confronted with severe environmental issues. One of the concerns is a fault zone that runs directly through the region. Pakistan’s regions are divided by the Eurasian tectonic plate and the Indian tectonic plate. Shifting tectonic plates cause earthquakes; there have been several major ones in Pakistan’s recent history. For instance, an earthquake of 7.6 magnitude in 2005 in the northern region of the North West Frontier claimed about eighty-nine thousand lives in Pakistan and a few thousand others in neighboring India and Afghanistan. About 150 aftershocks were felt the next day, many of which were over the 6.0 level on the Richter scale. This particular event in 2005 was listed as the fourteenth most devastating earthquake on record at the time. It left over three million people without a home in Pakistan alone and more people were left homeless in neighboring areas. Hardest hit outside of Pakistan was the portion of Kashmir that is controlled by India. Many countries, including the United States, stepped up and supported the aid effort to reach people in the devastated region. Major earthquakes that cause devastation for the large populations here are common along this tectonic plate boundary.
Another environmental issue in Pakistan is water pollution. Raw sewage discharges into the rivers and streams and contaminates the drinking water for many Pakistanis. Most of the population lives in rural areas and relies on natural untreated water for their consumption. The water sources are heavily polluted, triggering disease and health problems. The urban areas lack public water works to handle fresh water supplies or to dispose of sewage properly. Industrial wastes and agricultural runoff also pollute and damage water supplies. Floods and natural runoff can carry pollutants from the land or urban areas into the rivers and streams that are used by human communities. The net effect of all these factors is that a majority of Pakistan’s population lacks safe drinking water.
Deforestation is another environmental problem in Pakistan, because the demand for wood for cooking fuel and building is on the rise. Only about 2.5 percent of Pakistan is forested. In the last two decades, Pakistan has lost about one-fourth of its forest cover. The removal of forests causes widespread soil erosion during heavy rains and decreases natural habitat for organisms and wild animals. Efforts to protect the biodiversity of the country have been minimal and are complicated by the increase in population, which is expected to double in about forty-five years if population growth remains on its current trajectory. The reality is that deforestation is likely to continue in Pakistan, with little hope of a solution anytime soon.
Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a low-lying country that is associated with the types of marshy environments found in tropical areas and river deltas. The region is extremely prone to flooding, particularly during the monsoon season because of the high amount of rainfall. One of the most important rivers of Bangladesh flows southward from the Himalayas through India and into Bangladesh. While in India, this river is known as the Brahmaputra River, but when it enters Bangladesh, it is known as the Jamuna River. It provides a major waterway for this region and empties into the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh has about the same geographical area as the US state of Wisconsin. Bangladesh’s population estimate in 2011 was 158 million; Wisconsin’s was about 5.6 million.
Contributing to the immense flow of water through the country are the Ganges and the Meghna rivers, which join up with the Brahmaputra River near the sea. The Ganges flows through northern India and is a major source of fresh water for a large population before it reaches Bangladesh. The Meghna is a collection of tributaries within the boundaries of Bangladesh that flows out of the eastern part of the country. The Meghna is a deep river that can reach depths of almost two thousand feet with an average depth of more than one thousand feet. The hundreds of water channels throughout the relatively flat country provide for transportation routes for boats and ships that move goods and people from place to place. There are few bridges, so land travel is restricted when rainfall is heavy.
Population and Globalization
Imagine a country the size of the US state of Wisconsin. Now imagine half of the entire population of the United States living within its borders. Welcome to Bangladesh. With an estimated population of about 158 million in 2011 and a land area of only 55,556 square miles, it is one of the most densely populated countries on the planet. Most of the population in Bangladesh is rural, agriculturally grounded, and poor. The larger cities, such as the capital of Dhaka, have modern conveniences, complete with Internet cafes, shopping districts, and contemporary goods. The rural areas often suffer from a lack of adequate transportation, infrastructure, and public services. Poverty is common; income levels average the equivalent of a few US dollars per day. Remarkably, the culture remains vibrant and active, pursuing livelihoods that seek out every opportunity or advantage available to them.
There are many ethnic groups in Bangladesh, and many languages are spoken. The official and most widely used language in Bangladesh is Bengali (Bengala), which is an Indo-Aryan language of Sanskrit origin and has its own script. A Presidential Order in 1987 made Bengali the official language for the government of Bangladesh. Bengali is also the main language for the Indian state of West Bengal, which neighbors Bangladesh. English is used as the lingua franca among the middle and upper classes and in higher education. Many minor languages are spoken in Bangladesh and in the region as a whole. Most of the population, about 90 percent, is Muslim, with all but about 3 percent Sunni. There is a sizable minority, about 9 percent, which adheres to Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, or animism. The US State Department considers Bangladesh to be a moderate Islamic democratic country.
Bangladesh suffers from a demographic dilemma. Its tropical climate, availability of fresh water, and productive agricultural land have augmented a high population growth rate. The ever-increasing population is a growing concern. The government has stepped up its support for women’s health, birth control, and family planning services. This is an Islamic country, but practical approaches and common sense in regard to population control have won out over Islamic fundamentalism, which has not always supported family planning. This poor and highly populated country has experienced political problems. Most of the people work in agriculture, while the remaining population is primarily concentrated in the service sector. Small business enterprises have been encouraged by the issuing of microcredit, or small loans, to assist people in using their skills to earn income.
Globalization is evident in Bangladesh. As a result of the availability of cheap labor, sweat shops have been implemented to manufacture clothing for export to the world markets. The country also receives financial remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas in places such as the oil-rich region of the Middle East, which also is predominantly Muslim and is attracting cheap labor for its economic development projects funded by oil revenues. One example of how Bangladesh has been able to acquire materials such as steel is in the recycling of old ships. Shipping companies that have ships that are no longer viable for modern shipping have brought them to the shores of Bangladesh to be stripped down, taken apart, and the materials recycled.
Environmental Issues
The summer monsoons are both a blessing and a curse in Bangladesh. The blessing of the monsoon rains is that they bring fresh water to grow food. The northeast part of Bangladesh receives the highest amount of rainfall, averaging about eighteen feet per year, while the western part of the country averages only about four feet per year. Most of the rain falls during the monsoon season. Bangladesh can grow abundant food crops of rice and grain in the fertile deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, rivers that ultimately empty into the Bay of Bengal. About 55 percent of the land area is arable and can be used for farming, but flooding causes serious damage to cropland by eroding soil and washing away seeds or crops. Every year, countless people die because of the flooding, which can cover as much as a third of the country. One of the worst flooding events in Bangladesh’s history was experienced in 1998, when river flooding destroyed more than three hundred thousand homes and caused more than one thousand deaths, rendering more than thirty million people homeless.
Most parts of Bangladesh are fewer than forty feet above sea level, and the country is vulnerable to major flooding according to various global warming scenarios. Half of the country could be flooded with a three-foot rise in sea level. Storm surges from cyclones killed as many as one hundred fifty thousand people in 1991. In comparison, about two thousand people died when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2006. The high death toll from flooding does not receive its due attention from Western news media. Environmental concerns increase with the long-term projections of climate change. If sea level rises or if storms increase, then the low-lying agricultural lands of Bangladesh would suffer even more flooding and devastation. This would decrease the food supply of a growing population.
Another environmental problem for Bangladesh is deforestation. Wood is traditionally used for cooking and construction. The needs of a larger population have caused widespread deforestation. Brick and cement have become alternative building materials, and cow dung has become a widely used cooking fuel even though it reduces the fertilizer base for agriculture. Even so, these adaptations have not halted the deforestation problem. The main remaining forests are located along the southern borders with India and Burma (Myanmar) and in the northeast sector.
Figure 9.25 Man Working in a Rice Field in Bangladesh
Bangladeshis suffer because of widespread water pollution from naturally occurring arsenic that contaminates water wells. The pyrite bedrock underneath much of western Bangladesh has large amounts of arsenic in it. Millions of people drink groundwater contaminated with this arsenic on a daily basis. Arsenic kills people slowly, by building up in their bodies, rotting their fingernails, giving them dark spots and bleeding sores. Arsenic is a slow killer and a carcinogen that increases the risk of skin cancer and tumors inside the body. Villagers in Bangladesh began being affected by these symptoms in the 1970s. In 1993, official tests indicated that up to 95 percent of the wells in one of the villages in the western region were contaminated. The widespread water contamination has also had a social cost. Reports indicate that husbands are sending their disfigured wives back to their families of origin, and some young people are remaining single. Stories are told of people who believe that the health problems are contagious or genetic and can be passed on to children, which causes dilemmas for women who are trying to find a husband.
Women and Banking in Bangladesh
Despite an overall languishing economy, economic success stories in this poor country do exist. The Grameen Bank has been working to empower women in Bangladesh for many years. The bank issues microcredit to people in the form of small loans. These loans do not require collateral. Loans are often issued to impoverished people based on the concept that many of them have abilities that are underutilized and can be transformed into income-earning activities. About 96 percent of these loans are to women, and the average loan is equivalent to about one hundred dollars. Women have proven to be more responsible than men in repaying loans and utilizing the money to earn wealth. The loan recovery rate in Bangladesh is higher than 98 percent (Grameen Support Group, 2011). Microcredit has energized poor women to use their skills to make and market their products to earn a living. More than five million women have taken out such loans, totaling more than five billion dollars. This program has energized local women to succeed. It has been a model for programs in other developing countries.
Key Takeaways
• When Britain’s colonialism ended in South Asia in 1947, the Muslim League was instrumental in creating the united Muslim state with both East Pakistan and West Pakistan under one government. East Pakistan broke away and became the independent country of Bangladesh in 1972.
• Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have large populations that are increasing rapidly. Both countries have agriculturally based economies. Rural-to-urban shift is occurring at an ever-increasing rate in both countries. Population growth places a heavy tax on natural resources and social services.
• The political units within Pakistan include four main provinces. Tribal Areas border Afghanistan and are controlled by local leaders. The Northern Areas are disputed with India. Each of the provinces has its own unique physical and human landscapes.
• Earthquakes are common in Pakistan because the country is located on a tectonic plate boundary. Deforestation and water pollution are two other major environmental concerns.
• Bangladesh is a low-lying country with the Brahmaputra River, Ganges River, and the Meghna River flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Flooding is a major environmental concern that has devastated the country on a regular basis.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What happened to East Pakistan? Why did its name change?
2. Why does Pakistan have a forward capital? Where is it? Where did the capital used to be?
3. Compare the population density of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the United States.
4. What are the four main provinces of Pakistan? How are they different from each other?
5. How is Bangladesh affected by the summer monsoon? How much rain can it receive annually?
6. What are the main environmental problems in Pakistan? In Bangladesh?
7. What type of government does Pakistan have? What is the law based on?
8. How could both countries address their population growth situation?
9. Who was the first woman prime minister of Pakistan? What happened to her?
10. How has microcredit aided in the economic development of Bangladesh?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arabian Sea
• Azad Kashmir
• Baluchistan
• Bay of Bengal
• Brahmaputra River
• Ganges River
• Gilgit-Baltistan
• Hyderabad
• Indus River
• Karachi
• Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Khyber Pass
• Lahore
• Meghna River
• Northern Areas
• Punjab
• Sindh
• Thar Desert
• Tribal Areas
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/09%3A_South_Asia/9.03%3A_Pakistan_and_Bangladesh.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline the basic activities of British colonialism that affected the realm.
2. Understand the basic qualities of the rural and urban characteristics of India.
3. Summarize the main economic activities and economic conditions in India.
4. Describe the differences between various geographic regions of India.
5. Explain the measures the Indian government has taken to protect the biodiversity of India.
India and Colonialism
India is considered the world’s largest democracy. As the historic geography and the development patterns of India are examined, the complexities of this Hindu state surface. European colonizers of South Asia included the Dutch, Portuguese, French, and, finally, the British. In search of raw materials, cheap labor, and expanding markets, Europeans used their advancements in technology to take over and dominate the regional industrial base. The East India Company was a base of British operations in South Asia and evolved to become the administrative government of the region by 1857. The British government created an administrative structure to govern South Asia. Their centralized government in India employed many Sikhs in positions of the administration to help rule over the largely Muslim and Hindu population. The English language was introduced as a lingua franca for the colonies.
In truth, colonialism did more than establish the current boundaries of South Asia. Besides bringing the region under one central government and providing a lingua franca, India’s colonizers developed the main port cities of Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras (now called Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai, respectively. The names of the port cities have been reverted to their original Hindi forms). The port cities were access points for connecting goods with markets between India and Europe. Mumbai became the largest city and the economic center of India. In 1912, to exploit the interior of India, the British moved their colonial capital from Kolkata, which was the port for the densely populated Ganges River basin, to New Delhi. Chennai was a port access to southern India and the core of the Dravidian ethnic south.
Britain exploited India by extending railroad lines from the three main port cities into the hinterlands, to transport materials from the interior back to the port for export. The Indian Railroad is one of the largest rail networks on Earth. The problem with colonial railroads was that they did not necessarily connect cities with other cities. The British colonizers connected rail lines between the hinterland and the ports for resource exploitation and export of commercial goods. Today, the same port cities act as focal points for the import/export activity of globalization and remain core industrial centers for South Asia. They are now well connected with the other cities of India.
Goa is the smallest state of modern-day India. In the sixteenth century, it was first encountered by Portuguese traders, who annexed it shortly thereafter to become a colony of Portugal, which it was for the next 450 years. Goa was one of the longest-held colonial possessions in the world, and was not annexed by India until 1961. By the mid-1800s, most of the population of this tiny area had been forcibly converted to Christianity. Although many Hindu traditions survived the colonial period, and Hindu holidays are celebrated here, Goa is known for its Christian holiday celebrations, especially Christmas and Easter. The cathedral and secular architecture in many of the historic buildings of Goa are European in style, reflecting its Portuguese origins.
The People of India
Contrasts in India are explicitly evident in the regional differences of its human geography. The north-south contrasts are apparent through the lingua franca and ethnic divisions. The main lingua franca in the north is Hindi. In the Dravidian-dominated south, the main lingua franca is English. The densely populated core region along the Ganges River, anchored on each end by Delhi/New Delhi and Kolkata, has traditionally been called the heartland of India. The south is anchored by the port city of Chennai and the large city of Bangalore. Chennai has been a traditional industrial center. The industrial infrastructure has shifted to more modern facilities in other cities, giving over to a “rustbelt” syndrome for portions of the Chennai region. India is a dynamic country, with shifts and changes constantly occurring. Any attempt to stereotype India into cultural regions would be problematic.
In 2010, India had more than 1.18 billion people, which is about one-sixth of the human population of the earth. An 80 percent majority follow Hindu beliefs. About 13 percent of the population is Muslim. Thirteen may not seem like a high percentage, but in this case it equates to about 140 million people. This is equivalent to all the Muslims who reside in the countries of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt combined. India is sometimes called the third-largest Muslim country in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan, because of its large Muslim minority. India essentially has two lingua francas: English and Hindi, of which Hindi is the official language of the Indian government. India has twenty-eight states and fourteen recognized major languages. Many different languages are spoken in rural areas. The languages of northern India are mainly based on the Indo-European language family. Languages used in the south are mainly from the Dravidian language family. A few regions that border Tibet in the north use languages from the Sino-Tibetan language family.
Urban versus Rural
Rural and urban life within the Indian Subcontinent varies according to wealth and opportunity. While concentrated in specific areas across the landscape, in general the population in rural areas is discontinuous and spread thinly. In urban areas, the populations are very concentrated with many times the population density found in rural areas. India has six world-class cities: Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, and Hyderabad. There are many other large cities in India; in 2010, India had forty-three cities with more than a million people each.
India’s interior is mainly composed of villages. In rural villages, much of the economy is based on subsistence strategies, primarily agriculture and small cottage industries. The lifestyle is focused on the agricultural cycles of soil preparation, sowing, and harvesting as well as tending animals, particularly water buffalo, cattle, goats, and sheep. About 65 percent of the population lives in rural areas and makes a living in agriculture. About 35 percent of the population—which is equal to the entire US population—is urbanized. India is rapidly progressing toward urbanization and industrialization. Changes in technology, however, tend to be slow in dispersing to the rural villages. More than half the villages in India do not have road access for motor vehicles. For residents of those villages, walking, animal carts, and trains are the main methods of transportation. Agricultural technology is primitive. Diffusion of new ideas, products, or methods can be slow. Modern communication technology is, however, helping connect these remote regions.
India’s cities are dynamic places, with millions of people, cars, buses, and trucks all found in the streets. In many areas of urban centers, traffic may be stopped to await the movement of a sacred cow or a donkey or bullock cart loaded with merchandise. Indian cities are growing at an unsustainable rate. Overcrowded and congested, the main cities are modernizing and trying to keep up with global trends. Traditionally, family size was large. Large family size results in a swell of young people migrating to urban areas to seek greater opportunities and advantages. In modern times, family size has been reduced to about three children, an accomplishment that did not come easily because of the religious beliefs of most of India’s people. If current trends continue, India will overtake China as the most populous country in the world in about fifty years.
The level of official governmental control is usually different in an urban setting from what it is in the rural areas. There may be more police or military personnel in areas of heavy traffic or in urban areas that need extra control. A central feature of many Indian cities is an older central city that represents the protected part of the city. In Delhi, for example, New Delhi represents the new construction of government buildings that was begun during the British occupation of the region as part of the British Empire. Old Delhi represents the old markets, government buildings, palaces, fortresses, and mosques that were built during the Mogul Empire, between the mid-1500s and the mid-1800s. These older parts of the cities, particularly the markets, are bustling with activities, merchants, shoppers, cab drivers, and pedal and motor rickshaws. Rickshaws are either bicycle-driven cabs or cabs based on enclosed motor scooters.
In urban areas, there is a socioeconomic hierarchy of a small group of people who are wealthy and can afford all the amenities we associate with modern life—electricity, clean water, television, computers, and the like. One of the things that characterize modern Indian cities is an expanding middle class. Many young people see the kinds of material goods that are available in the West and are creating job markets and opportunities to allow them to reach or maintain this type of lifestyle. One of the major markets to support this burgeoning middle class is the information technology field, as well as outsourcing in many of the cities of peninsular India.
India is a country with considerable contrast between the wealthy urban elites and the poor rural villagers, many of whom move to the cities and live in slums and work for little pay. Low labor costs have enabled Indian cities to industrialize in many ways similar to Western cities, complete with computers, Internet services, and other modern communications services. India’s growing middle class is a product of educational opportunities and technological advancements. This available skilled labor base has allowed India’s industrial and information sectors to take advantage of economic opportunities in the global marketplace to grow and expand their activities. Development within India is augmented by outsourcing activities by American and European corporations to India. Service center jobs created by business process outsourcing (BPO) are in high demand by skilled Indian workers.
India’s Economic Situation
In the past decade, India has possessed the second fastest growing economy in the world; China is first. India’s economy continues to rapidly expand and have a tremendous impact on the world economy. In spite of the size of the economy, India’s population has a low average per capita income. Approximately one-fourth of the people living in India live in poverty; the World Bank classifies India as a low-income economy. India has followed a central economic model for most of its development since it declared independence. The central government has exerted strict control over private sector economic development, foreign trade, and foreign investment. Through various economic reforms since the 1990s, India is beginning to open up these markets by reducing government control on foreign investment and trade. Many publicly owned businesses are being privatized. Globalization efforts have been vigorous in India. There has been substantial growth in information services, health care, and the industrial sector.
The economy is extremely diverse and has focused on agriculture, handicrafts, textiles, manufacturing, some industry, and a vast number of services. A 60 percent majority of the population earns its income directly from agriculture and agriculture-related services. Land holdings by individual farmers are small, often less than five acres. When combined with the inadequate use of modern farming technologies, small land holdings become inadequately productive and impractical. Monsoons are critical for the success of India’s agricultural crops during any given season. Because the rainfall of many agricultural areas is tied to the monsoon rains of only a few months, a weak or delayed rainfall can have disastrous effects on the agricultural economy. Agricultural products include commercial crops such as coffee and spices (cardamom, pepper, chili peppers, turmeric, vanilla, cinnamon, and so on). An important product for perfume and incense is sandalwood, harvested primarily in the dense forests of the state of Karnataka, in southwestern India. Bamboo is an important part of the agricultural harvest as well. Of course, rice and lentils provide an important basis for the local economy.
Over the last two decades, information technology and related services are transforming India’s economy and society. In turn, India is transforming the world’s information technologies in terms of production and service as well as the export of skilled workers in financial, computer hardware, software engineering, and software services. Manufacturing and industry are becoming a more important part of India’s economy as it begins to expand. Manufacturing and industry account for almost one-third of the gross domestic product (GDP) and contribute jobs to almost one-fifth of the total workforce. Major economic sectors such as manufacturing, industry, biotechnology, telecommunications, aviation, shipbuilding, and retail are exhibiting strong growth rates.
A large number of educated young people who are fluent in English are changing India into a “back office” target for global outsourcing for customer services. These customer services focus on computer-related products but also include service-related industries and online sales companies. The level of outsourcing of information activity to India has been substantial. Any work that can be conducted over the Internet or telephone can be outsourced to anywhere in the world that has high-speed communication links. Countries that are attractive to BPO are countries where the English language is prominent, where employment costs are low, and where there is an adequate labor base of skilled or educated workers that can be trained in the services required. India has been the main destination for BPO activity from the United States. Firms with service work or computer programming are drawn to India because English is a lingua franca and India has an adequate skilled labor base to draw from.
Tourism has always been an important part of India’s economy and has been focused on the unique natural environments as well as historical cities, monuments, and temples found throughout the country. Of particular importance are the Mogul-period tombs, palaces, and mosques in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur, India’s “Golden Triangle” of tourism. India is a country of contrasts. Scenic beauty abounds from the Eastern and Western Ghats to the high mountains of the Himalayas. The monsoon rains provide abundant agricultural crops for densely populated regions such as the Ganges River basin. On the other hand, places such as the Thar Desert are sparsely inhabited. There is a wide gap between the wealthy elite and the massive numbers of people who live in poverty. Mumbai has some of the largest slums in Asia, yet it is the financial capital of India, teeming with economic activity.
As incomes rise for the middle class in India, the price of automobiles becomes more accessible. On the downside, an escalation in the numbers of motor vehicles in use tends to lead to an escalation in the levels of air pollution and traffic congestion. Similarly, an expansion of transportation systems increases the use of fossil fuels. India is a major competitor for fossil fuels exported from the Persian Gulf and other Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) sources. The continued industrialization and urbanization in India foretells an increase in demand for energy. Rising energy costs and demand, combined with economic growth, have caused a serious problem for India. Many areas will be without power as they are shut off the power grid for hours or days, a process known as load-shedding. This allows industry and manufacturing to use the energy resources during peak times. In general, India is poor in natural gas and oil resources and is heavily dependent on coal and foreign oil imports. India is rich in alternative energy resources, such as solar, wind, and biofuels; however, alternative energy resources have not been sufficiently developed.
Vehicle Manufacturing
Two examples of India’s growing economic milieu are motor vehicle manufacturing and the movie industry. India’s vehicle manufacturing base is expanding rapidly. Vehicle manufacturing companies from North America, Europe, and East Asia are all active in India, and India also has its own share of vehicle manufacturing companies. For example, Mumbai-based Tata Motors Ltd. is the country’s foremost vehicle production corporation and it claims to be the second-largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in the world. Tata Motors is India’s largest designer and manufacturer of commercial buses and trucks, and it also produces the most inexpensive car in the world, the Tata Nano. Tata Motors manufactures midsized and larger automobiles, too. The company has expanded operations to Spain, Thailand, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. The company is an example of an Indian-based international corporation that is a force in the global marketplace. In 2010, India was recognized as a major competitor with Thailand, South Korea, and Japan as the fourth main exporter of autos in Asia.
The Indian Cinema
Cinema makes up a large portion of the entertainment sector in India. India’s cinema industry is often referred to as “Bollywood,” a combination of Bombay and Hollywood. Technically, Bollywood is only the segment of the Indian cinema that is based out of Bombay (Mumbai), but the title is sometimes misleadingly used to refer to the entire movie industry in India. Bollywood is the leading movie maker in India and has a world-class film production center. In the past few years, India has been producing as many as one thousand films annually. The highest annual output for the US film industry is only about two-thirds that of India. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, India’s city of Hyderabad has the most extensive film production center in the world. The Telugu film industry operates the studio in Hyderabad.
Figure 9.31: Bollywood is a major film production company located in Mumbai (Bombay). The film industry in India produces almost twice as many movies as the United States. Indian production scenes can be dramatic and expressive. Feminist julie – Bollywood – CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Indian films are produced in more than a dozen languages and appeal to a wide domestic and international audience. Indian movies range from long epic productions with stories within stories to dramas, musicals, and theatrical presentations. Their popularity extends beyond South Asia. Indian movies with modest dress, lack of explicit sexual scenes, and a focus on drama are popular in places such as Egypt, the Middle East, and other African countries. Movie stars are energetically promoted and enjoy celebrity in India, as is the case with the entertainment industry in the United States and Europe. The cinema is part of the cultural experience in Indian society. Urban life in India reserves a large presence for the entertainment industry, particularly the Indian film industry. One of the prime artistic endeavors in urban India is movie posters depicting all the glory of the latest Bollywood movie. Most of these colorful posters are painted by hand and they tend to be large; some are several stories high.
India: East and West
South Asia’s physical geography—an overview of its physical features—was described at the beginning of the chapter. India makes up the largest physical area of the South Asia realm. Another way of looking at the physical and human landscapes of India is to study spatial characteristics. Additionally, the economic side of the equation can be illustrated by dividing India between east and west according to economic development patterns. To do this, on a map of India draw an imaginary line from the border with Nepal in the north, near Kanpur, to the Polk Strait border with Sri Lanka in the south. This division of India illustrates two sides of India’s economic pattern: an economically progressive West India and an economically stagnant East India.
India can be divided either along north/south dimensions or along east/west dimensions.
The progressive western side of India is anchored by Mumbai and its surrounding industrial community. Mumbai is the economic giant of India with the country’s main financial markets, and has been a magnet for high-tech firms and manufacturing. Mumbai’s port provides access to global markets and is solidly connected to international trade networks. Auto manufacturing, the film industry, and computer firms all have major centers in the large urban metropolitan areas of the west. Large industrial cities such as Bangalore and Hyderabad have established themselves as high-tech production centers, attracting international business in the computer industry and the information sector. Chemical processing has been ongoing in Bhopal, which is noted for an environmental disaster, a gas leak in 1984 that resulted in the deaths of as many as ten thousand people. The nation’s capital is located in New Delhi, which borders the massive city of (Old) Delhi. The western half of India has been progressing along a pattern with a positive economic outlook that views the global community outside of India as a partner in its success.
The eastern half of India has not been as prosperous as the west in its economic growth. The renowned city of Kolkata has traditionally anchored the eastern sector, but its factories have deteriorated into rustbelt status with aging and outdated heavy industries. The high-intensity labor activities of textile and domestic goods manufacturing are not as economically viable as they were in the past. The stagnant economic scene in the east is signified by the low average income levels of many of the states in the eastern region. Neighboring Bangladesh offers little in support of economic growth, and Myanmar, another neighbor to the east, has its own set of problems and lacks support for East India. The eastern half of India does not have the strong partnerships with the global economy found in the west and thus relies more on internal resources for survival.
India: North and South
There are differences in the geographic patterns between the northern and southern halves of India as well as between the eastern and western halves—depending on the criteria used to compare them. Climate patterns, for example, are more diverse in the north, with a wide range of temperatures throughout the seasons. Winter temperatures in the mountainous north are cold and summer temperatures in the Thar Desert can be extremely high. Southern India has a more moderate range of temperatures throughout the year. The far north has high mountains. The south has only the low-lying Eastern and Western Ghats. The north has the extensive Ganges River basin. The south has different drainage networks based on the plateaus of the region.
Besides physical aspects, there are cultural differences between the north and south as well. India is a complex societal mix of many ethnic groups, languages, and traditions. Spatially separating the country into vernacular regions is not conducive to agreeable results. Still, there are some recognizable trends that have been stereotyped or commonly stated between the northern and southern parts of India. The north is portrayed as a faster-paced society, with more edge and competitiveness. The south has been portrayed as more relaxed and less insistent.
As the section on languages illustrated, Indo-European languages are mainly spoken in the north and Dravidian languages are predominantly spoken in the south. Hindi is more commonly the lingua franca of the north, while English is more frequently the lingua franca of the south. People in the north are of Indo-Aryan descent, while the people in the south have a Dravidian heritage. Hinduism dominates all of India, but the north has a wider diversity of religions, such as Sikhism, Buddhism, and Islam, practiced by a large number of people. The south has a substantial Christian population along its west coast.
Food is an important aspect of the culture of societies, and there are clearly distinctions between the cuisine of the north and of the south in India. Indian cooking is primarily vegetarian, emphasizing aspects of Hinduism. However, many dishes, particularly in North India, contain goat, chicken, lamb, fish, and other meats. Beef is not eaten by Hindus, while pork and some species of fish are not traditionally eaten by Muslims. North India has more wheat-based products and less rice. Their dishes are prepared with spices and herbs, including black and chili peppers. Northern Indian food is characterized by its use of dairy products (yogurt; milk; paneer, or homemade cheeses; and ghee, or clarified butter). Onions, ghee, and spices are the common base for different types of salans or curries (gravies). Griddles are used for preparing different types of flat breads—chapattis, naan, and kulcha. Rice, lentils, and chickpeas are a staple part of the diet in North India.
Figure 9.33
A meal of fish curry with rice and peppers can be found in South India.
Food in the southern parts of India includes more rice as a staple, and seafood (fish and prawns) is common along the coastal areas. Coconut oil is used as a basis for cooking. Sambar, a stew made of peas and vegetables, is an important staple of the region as are rice and idlis, which are a type of cake or bread made from steaming fermented black lentils. Chili peppers are also common in South Indian cooking.
Biodiversity and the Environment
Earlier sections have introduced the issues of population growth and resource depletion in South Asia. India has its share of the same environmental problems. Water pollution along the Ganges is severe and affects the largest concentration of people in India. India is the second-largest consumer of coal in the world, coal that is mainly burned to produce electricity. Burning coal adds significantly to air pollution. A rise in the number of vehicles in use, combined with few emission controls, also adds to the air pollution in urban areas. Deforestation continues in many rural areas, as was noted in earlier sections about Pakistan and Bangladesh.
India has a number of rare animal species that need habitat if they are going to survive. A few of the larger animals include the Indian Rhinoceros, Clouded Leopard, Indian Leopard, Snow Leopard, Asiatic Lion, Bengal Tiger, Asian Water Buffalo, Asian Elephant, Stripped Hyena, and the Red Panda. Many species are endangered or threatened along with many other lesser-known organisms. The high human population growth throughout South Asia places a strain on the natural habitat of wild animals. Habitat loss caused by human development makes holding on to the wide array of biodiversity difficult.
The Indian Leopard is a near-threatened species that once lived throughout South Asia.
India has instituted measures designed to preserve its biodiversity. The Indian government has created sanctuaries for threatened or endangered species. National parks were established before India declared independence and were substantially expanded in recent decades. In 1972, The Wildlife Protection Act was instituted to create critical habitat for tigers and other rare species. There are hundreds of protected wildlife areas and fifteen biosphere reserves in India. Four of the biospheres were created in conjunction with the World Network of Biosphere Reserves.
The Indian government has established protected areas throughout the country, many of which are in the highland regions and the northern mountains. For example, the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary, including an area preserved for Asian Lions, is located on the Kathiawar Peninsula north of Mumbai, which juts out into the Arabian Sea. India is the only place left with Asian Lions in the wild. Tigers, elephants, rhinos, and leopards can be found in the sanctuaries. The country has about ninety-two national parks, which are also home to rare wildlife species, and more than three hundred fifty wildlife sanctuaries of all sizes. There are about twenty-eight tiger reserves in India. The country also has a number of marine reserves and protected areas along its coastlines.
The efforts of the Indian government to protect the country’s biodiversity constitute an admirable environmental undertaking. The government has stepped up law enforcement efforts to combat poaching, which is a major cause of the decrease in numbers of rare species. Poachers kill animals such as tigers, leopards, elephants, and rhinos for their hides, horns, or body parts, which are sold on the black market in Asia for large sums of money. Many of the rare, threatened, or endangered species of India would not have a chance of survival without the government efforts to protect and provide for them. Balancing finding resources for rapid human population growth with wildlife management will continue to be a challenge in the years ahead for India and all countries of the planet.
Key Takeaways
• Colonialism had a tremendous impact on South Asia and its people. Colonial development patterns were implemented to control the people and to extract resources, not necessarily to benefit the realm.
• India has a wide disparity between its poor rural areas with agricultural economies and its wealthier bustling cities with expanding business sectors.
• Various urban centers of India have positioned themselves well to take advantage of the global economy and expand their manufacturing and industrial base. India is becoming a major manufacturing country for vehicles and high-tech industries.
• There are noticeable economic differences between the more progressive Western India and the stagnant economic conditions of Eastern India. There is also a noticeable cultural difference between the North and the South in India in the categories of language, ethnicity, food, and society.
• The Indian government has created national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, and game reserves to help protect rare, threatened, or endangered species.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Outline the main ways in which British colonialism impacted South Asia.
2. What are the three main language families in India? What is the lingua franca?
3. List the main qualities that are different between the rural and urban areas of India.
4. How did British colonizers transport resources from the hinterland to the port cities for export back to Great Britain? How has this system changed since 1947?
5. Explain the various ways in which the rapid population growth is impacting India.
6. Why is India a major target for BPO?
7. List various ways the Indian film industry impacts India and the world.
8. How is economic development different between Western India and Eastern India?
9. Outline some cultural differences between the North and the South in India.
10. How has the government of India worked to protect the biodiversity of the natural environment? What are some of the animals that are being protected?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Agra
• Bangalore
• Bombay (Mumbai)
• Bhopal
• Calcutta (Kolkata)
• Delhi
• Goa
• Hyderabad
• Jaipur
• Kathiawar Peninsula
• Madras (Chennai)
• New Delhi
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/09%3A_South_Asia/9.04%3A_India.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline the basic religions of the realm. Name the largest minority religion.
2. Understand the basic structure and concepts of Hinduism, including the caste system.
3. Describe how Buddhism differs from Hinduism.
4. Summarize religions other than Buddhism and Hinduism that are prominent in India.
The realm of India and its surrounding countries is the native land for more than a few ancient religions. There are people in the realm who continue to adhere to animist beliefs who are not followers of any of the main world religions. The oldest world religions of India are Hinduism and Buddhism. Other important religions in the realm include Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, and the Baha’i faith. India is at times labeled a Hindu state, but the accuracy of the label is dubious. A more suitable way to describe India is to say that it is a secular country where approximately 80 percent of the population follows Hindu traditions. Islam is the second-most popular religion, practiced by about 13 percent of the population. Christianity is India’s third-largest religion, practiced by about 3 percent of the population. Sikhism accounts for about 2 percent of the population of India. Buddhism and Jainism are two other minority religions that have their origins in South Asia. And finally, there are still Indians who practice animist religions that predate all the other religions listed, especially in remote areas.
Hinduism
Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest major religions still practiced. Its origins can be traced to ancient Vedic civilizations in India approximately three thousand years ago. The religion is found mainly in India, and it has the third-highest number of believers of religions in the world. Hinduism does not originate from a single teacher but from many traditions. The Hindu belief system consists of a number of schools of thought, with a wide variety of rituals and practices.
Hinduism has a vast body of written scripture that discusses theology, mythology, and philosophy as well as providing important guidance on the practice of dharma, religious or right living. These texts include the Vedas and the Upanishads. Other important scripts include the Tantras, the Agamas, the Purānas, and the epics of the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyana. The Bhagavad Gitā is a small part of the Mahābhārata that is a conversation between one of the Pandava brothers and the god Krishna, concerning the meaning of life and worthiness. This is often thought to be a summary of the spiritual teachings of the Vedas.
Figure 9.36 Shiva Statue in Bangalore, India
Predominantly, Hinduism follows the teachings of many gods or goddesses, frequently including a Supreme Being. While there are hundreds, if not thousands, of gods and goddesses, many are thought to represent different aspects of the same individual or Supreme Being. These individuals can be recognized by items that they are holding as well as by the vehicle or avatar that carries them. The three main deities and most widely venerated of the Hindu faith are Shiva the Destroyer, Vishnu the Preserver, and Brahma the Creator. There is a continuous cycle in which the original creation was accomplished by Brahma, Shiva destroys the universe, and Vishnu will recreate or preserve that universe from destruction. Different Hindu traditions have venerated each of the three main deities as the all-encompassing Supreme Being.
The polytheistic traditions of Hinduism consider a large number of deities or spiritual entities. Since there is no one creed or unified systems of beliefs, Hinduism has been referred to as more of a religious tradition than a religion. It has been said that Hinduism cannot be defined, but is instead experienced. This understanding allows a variety of beliefs to be included in the vast array of Hindu religious practices. There is actually freedom for the individual as to the form of worship or individual beliefs. The religion in general is more of a tradition and lifestyle with different avenues of practice. This allows for the diversity of spiritual deities or their manifestations within one Hindu faith.
Hinduism is an extremely diverse religion, making it extremely difficult to define set doctrines that are accepted by all denominations. Within the wide spectrum of religious traditions are general concepts that are common to Hindu beliefs. Hindus believe in Dharma (code of conduct or duty), Samsara (reincarnation/rebirth), Karma (personal actions and choices), and Moksha (salvation) by belief in God and through an individual path of faith. Reincarnation is a cycle of death and rebirth for a soul to transmigrate through until it reaches Moksha. Karma governs how the soul is reincarnated. Actions in this life determine the soul’s life cycle for the next life. Positive and upright works will draw one closer to God and a rebirth through reincarnation into a life with a wider consciousness or higher caste level. Evil or bad actions take the soul farther from God and into a lower form of worldly life or caste level. In the Hindu faith the eternal natural law applies to all life forms. The cycle of death and rebirth for the soul is necessary to reach the ultimate goal of reaching the universal divine spirit. Yoga is often used as a practice or path for following the traditions.
Pilgrimages are common in Hindu practice. Holy sites or temples are located throughout India and are regular destinations for the Hindu faithful. Pilgrimage is not required but is routinely conducted by a good number of Hindus. Besides many holy temples, a variety of cities and other holy places are pilgrimage destinations for Hindus. Varanasi, one such city, is considered by many as the holiest city of Hinduism, although other cities also hold this distinction. Located on the Ganges River, Varanasi is home to a large number of temples and shrines. The most visited shrine in Varanasi is one in honor of a manifestation of Shiva. Hindu festivals are held in Varanasi throughout the year, many along the banks of the Ganges. Varanasi is also one of the holiest places in Buddhism; it is said to have been designated by Gautama Buddha as one of four prime pilgrimage sites.
Varanasi boasts more than one hundred ghats that provide access to the Ganges River. These ghats are not to be confused with the Eastern and Western Ghats that are highland ranges located along the coasts of India. For this application, a ghat is a term for a set of steps leading to the water. Some ghats are used for bathing, some for religious rituals, and others for the cremation of the dead. More than one million Hindu pilgrims visit Varanasi annually. Mother Ganga, as the river is referred to in Hinduism, is considered holy by many Hindu followers. Devotees ritually bathe in the river or take “holy” water from it home to ill family members. Some Hindus believe that the water can cure illnesses. Others believe that bathing in the Ganges will wash away your sins. The nonspiritual truth is that the Ganges is a highly polluted waterway. The water is not considered safe for human consumption by most universal health standards.
Hindu Marriage Act
India’s 1955 Hindu Marriage Act addresses the issues of marrying outside of one’s religion or caste. The act proclaims that all Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Hindus of any sect, creed, or caste level are considered as Hindus and can intermarry. A non-Hindu is allowed to marry a Hindu, with the provision that specific legal stipulations must be followed, regardless of the ceremony. Every Hindu marriage has to be witnessed by the Sacred Fire, in deference to Agni, the fire deity. To complete the marriage, the bride and groom must together encircle the Sacred Fire seven times.
Figure 9.38 Hindu Wedding Couple in India
The Hindu Caste System
The exact origins of Hinduism and the caste system are unknown, but powerful nomadic Aryan warriors appeared in northern India about 1500 BCE. The Aryans conquered most of India at the time, including the Dravidian groups of central and southern India. They organized society into separate groups or castes. Every person was born into an unchanging group or caste that remained his or her status for the rest of his or her life. All lifetime activities were conducted within one’s own caste. The caste a person was born into was considered to be based on what they had done in a past life. The caste system has evolved differently in different parts of Asia. Each Hindu branch has its own levels of castes, and thousands of sublevels have been established over time. In Hinduism, the basic system originated around five main caste levels:
1. Brahmin: priests, teachers, and judges
2. Kshatriya: warrior, ruler, or landowner
3. Vaishya: merchants, artisans, and farmers
4. Shudra: workers and laborers
5. Dalits (Untouchables or Harijan): outcasts or tribal groups
The Dalits (Untouchables or Harijan) traditionally worked in jobs relating to “polluting activities,” including anything unclean or dead. Dalits have been restricted from entering Hindu places of worship or drinking water from the same sources as members of higher castes. They often had to work at night and sleep during the day. In many areas, Dalits needed to take their shoes off while passing by upper-caste neighbors. Dalits could leave their Hindu caste by converting to Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam. The Indian government has implemented a positive affirmative action plan and provided the Dalits with representation in public offices and certain employment privileges. This policy has received harsh opposition by upper-caste groups. Technically, the caste system is illegal under current Indian law. Nevertheless, the opportunities that are available to the upper castes remain out of reach to many of the lowest caste. In some areas, education and industrialization have diminished the caste system’s influence. In other areas, Hindu fundamentalists have pushed for a stronger Hindu-based social structure and opposed any reforms.
Traditional socioeconomic status tends to be more important in rural areas, where the caste system is more formally adhered to. If you live in a community of millions of people, caste affiliations tend not to be important, but in a smaller, more rural community, these relationships and the status they hold can be very important, especially as many of the castes are associated with traditional village tasks, such as religious leaders, politicians, farmers, leather workers, or other activities.
Buddhism
Around 535 BCE in northern India, a prince by the name of Siddhartha Gautama broke from the local traditions that shaped Hinduism and taught religious salvation through meditation, the rejection of earthly desires, and reverence for all life forms. Siddhartha is recognized as the first Buddha. He taught that through many cycles of rebirth a person can attain enlightenment and no longer have a need for desire or selfish interests. Enlightenment is being free from suffering and is reaching a state of liberation often referred to as Nirvana. Buddhism is considered a “dharmic” faith that concerns following a path of duty for a proper life. According to Buddhism, life is dictated by karma, which connects our actions with future experiences. Buddhism spread across the Indian Subcontinent after the sixth century BCE and became the region’s dominant religion within 1,500 years. However, since that time, the religion has diminished in the Indian Subcontinent, although it has seen some revival under the influence of Buddhist scholars. Buddhism predominates in the northernmost areas of India.
Buddhism is the majority religion in Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Tibet, and most of Southeast Asia. It was prominent in China, Mongolia, and North Korea before their governments adopted Communist ideology. Communist governments officially announced that their countries were nonreligious, although many people still followed religious systems. Various branches of Buddhism have developed, with many schools established within each branch. Buddhism can be divided geographically into southern, northern, and eastern Buddhism. Scholars and Buddhists practitioners may arrive at various methods of classification of the various schools of thought within the Buddhist faith; the geographic basis of recognition provides only one way to understand the variations within the religion. One feature common throughout all branches of the faith is that Buddhism does not have caste levels.
The southern branch of Buddhism is known as Theravada Buddhism (the Teaching of the Elders), most prominent in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka. This branch, referred to as the oldest branch of Buddhism, attempts to follow the original Buddha’s teachings. Meditation and concentration are seen as keys to enlightenment. Spiritual forces do exist but it is up to the individual to attain his or her own path toward awakening.
The northern variety of Buddhism is associated with the Vajrayana Buddhist tradition and is often called Tibetan Buddhism. It has its strongest allegiance in Tibet, Western China, Bhutan, Nepal, and parts of Mongolia. Rooted in the Buddha’s original teaching, Northern Buddhism seeks to break out of the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Spiritual techniques are often used, along with the main principle of meditation. Vajrayana Buddhism is considered by some to be a branch of Mahayana Buddhism.
In the east, the main form of Buddhism is the Mahayana tradition, which is most common in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, parts of Vietnam, and eastern China. There are various forms of the eastern traditions, including Zen Buddhism. Meditative in nature, there is a strong emphasis on universal compassion, altruism, and selflessness. Considered by many to be compatible with other religions, it is often touted as more a lifestyle than a religion. The meditative activities are often said to focus on calming the body and mind, which can provide a positive outcome for anyone seeking inner direction, even those following other religions.
All branches of Buddhism teach nonviolence, honesty, selflessness, tolerance, and moral living. Buddhism holds to the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path (The Middle Way) to enlightenment. Suffering is a standard component of humanity. Only through the Eightfold Path to enlightenment is freedom from suffering possible. Enlightenment comes through wisdom, ethical conduct, and meditation. Buddhism has become the world’s fourth main religion, with most of its followers in Asia.
The Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path
The Four Noble Truths
1. Suffering exists.
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires.
3. Suffering ceases when desire ceases.
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path.
The Middle Way or Eightfold Path
Attainable through wisdom
1. Right view
2. Right intention
Attainable through ethical conduct
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
Attainable through meditation
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right concentration
Islam
Islam diffused to South Asia from the Middle East through traders and merchants shortly after its creation. The Mogul Empire dominated northern India for centuries and is an example of the Islamic presence in the region. India has the largest Muslim minority in the world. In 2010, India had an estimated population of 140 million Muslims, which made up about 14 percent of the population. India has the third-largest Muslim population in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Most Muslims in India live in the north along the Ganges River Basin and in Nepal. There is also a large Muslim population in eastern India near the border with Bangladesh. Kashmir, in northern India, also continues to hold a significant Muslim population.
Christianity
Christianity is India’s third-largest religion, practiced by about 3 percent of the population. Christianity is a monotheistic religion following the teachings of Jesus Christ that originated in the Middle East. Tradition has it that Christianity first came to India through first-century CE missionary activity linked to the Apostle Thomas, and later arrived to other parts of India through the activities of western missionaries from 1500 CE onward. A major Christian stronghold is the state and city of Goa on the southwest coast, a colony of Portugal from the 1500s to the mid-1900s. There is also a strong Christian presence in eastern India, in the region bordering Myanmar.
Jainism
Jainism or Jain Dharma is a spiritual, religious, and philosophical tradition in India that dates back to about the ninth century BCE. Jains (followers of Jainism) believe that their religion’s origins extend back to the distant past. A Jain is a follower of Jinas (the saints), who are humans who have rediscovered the dharma (or the way) and have become fully liberated. These Jinas can then teach this spiritual path to other people. A major characteristic of Jainism is the emphasis on the consequences of physical and mental behavior. There are about five million Jains in India, and others around the world.
Great care must be taken while going about one’s daily life, as Jains believe that everything is alive and that many beings (including pests such as insects) possess a soul. All life is considered worthy of respect and all life is equal and deserves protection, especially the life of the world’s smallest creatures. While in India, you can recognize Jains, because many of the strictest adherents will wear masks to prevent themselves from inhaling insects and thus destroying the insects’ souls. Jains are a religious minority, with around five million followers in modern-day India.
All followers of Jainism are vegetarians. Their diet is part of the practice of nonviolence at the heart of their religion. They will eat only food items such as fresh fruit, vegetables, cereals, and legumes. Most root vegetables such as potatoes and onions are avoided by the more devout because of the harm that would be done to the plants themselves or other organisms in the soil when the roots are pulled. Additionally, Jainists will not eat honey, consume any food that may have fermented overnight, or drink water that has not been filtered.
Sikhism
Sikhism was previously discussed in the section on the Punjab, the region at the center of the Sikh community. Sikhism is a monotheistic religion centered on justice and faith. In Sikhism, salvation can be obtained through devotion to God and through disciplined meditation. There is a high importance placed on the principle of equality between all people in the Sikh religion. There should be no discrimination on the basis of gender, creed, caste, or ethnicity; every person is equal. The writings of former Sikh gurus are the basis for the religion. The center of the Sikh religion is found in the Golden Temple, in the city of Amritsar, in the Punjab. This is where Sikhs gather to unite in the faith and associate with each other. There are about twenty-six million Sikhs in the world, and about three-fourths of them live in the Punjab state of India.
Baha’i Faith
The Baha’i Faith is found in many large urban areas of the Indian Subcontinent, particularly New Delhi, where a large temple complex is found. This temple is commonly known as the “Lotus Temple” based on its shape, which looks like a large lotus flower. Two million Baha’is live within India, which has the largest population of Baha’is in the world. Iran has the second-highest Baha’i population in the world. There is also a major Baha’i temple and center in Haifa, Israel. The Baha’i Faith was founded by Baha’u’llah in Persia (Iran) during the nineteenth century CE. This religion focuses on the spiritual oneness of humanity and the unity of the other major world religions.
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism originated in Iran (or Persia); in fact, it was once the dominant religion of Greater Iran, but it has now dwindled to about two hundred thousand Zoroastrians around the world, with concentrations in Iran, India (primarily Mumbai), and Pakistan (primarily Karachi and Lahore). Zoroastrianism follows the teachings of the prophet Zoroaster (also known as Zarathustra or Zarthosht). This philosophy acknowledges the divine authority of Ahura Mazda (Mazdaism) as proclaimed by Zoroaster. One of the tangible forms of this religion is the use of fire as a purifying agent in ceremonies. The temples are commonly known as “fire temples.” Additionally, because of a prohibition of burials of bodies in the ground, Zoroastrians allow natural exposure of bodies to the elements in structures known as “Towers of Silence.” The greatest numbers of followers of Zoroastrianism can be found in India, with additional numbers in southern Pakistan.
Key Takeaways
• Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest still-practiced religions. There is no one specific path in the religion. Hinduism is more of a religious tradition based on core concepts than it is a formal religion.
• The caste system is a Hindu practice of placing people in social layers with similar occupations, privileges, and status. The untouchables are the lowest caste.
• Buddhism was created around 535 BCE from the traditions that shaped Hinduism by Siddhartha Gautama, who taught religious salvation through meditation, the rejection of earthly desires, and reverence for all life forms. There is no caste system in Buddhism, which has a number of branches that vary throughout Asia.
• Islam and Christianity are the second- and third-largest religions in India but did not originate in South Asia. Jainism and Sikhism got their start in South Asia and are still practiced by millions of people. The Baha’i Faith and Zoroastrianism are also active in India.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the major religions in India in terms of population percentage?
2. What are four of the main concepts of Hinduism? How is yoga related to Hinduism?
3. Who are the three main deities in the Hindu tradition? What are each of these three associated with?
4. Is the caste system a centripetal force or a centrifugal force? In other words, does it divide or unite India?
5. What is the relationship between Hinduism and the Ganges River? What are ghats used for?
6. What is the caste system based on? How does one become a member of a caste level?
7. Does the United States have a caste system? What other countries or groups have caste-type levels?
8. What is the difference between Hinduism and Buddhism? Who started Buddhism, and when?
9. What are the three main branches of Buddhism, based on geographic location?
10. What are the general aspects of Jainism? How is this religion different from Islam?
9.06: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
1. The Himalayan Mountain ranges border South Asia to the north. Nepal is located along this border and is somewhat of a buffer state between India and China. Nepal has a high population growth rate. Most of its people work in agriculture. Deforestation is a major environmental concern and causes erosion of the landscape. Landlocked and poor, Nepal struggles to maintain a stable government and adequate public services.
2. South Asia was colonized by Britain for ninety years. Colonialism brought a structured administration, a railroad system of transportation, and large port cities used for the export of goods from the interior. The political borders were established for South Asia by British colonizers, based on religious affiliation and economic advantages. The British elevated Sikhs from the Punjab to help rule over the Hindu and Muslim populations. English is widely used as a lingua franca.
3. Conflicts continue in mountainous Kashmir and tropical Sri Lanka. Kashmir’s remote territory in the northern part of the realm is divided between Pakistan, China, and India. All three countries have nuclear weapons. Sri Lanka’s majority Buddhist population is Sinhalese and is based in the southwest, controlling most of the island. Sri Lanka’s minority Tamil population is Hindu and is based out of the Jaffna Peninsula in the northeast. The Tamil want their own country and have claims on the island.
4. Port cities of South Asia are centers for international trade and development. There is a wide disparity between the rural poor and the affluent elites. India has been developing a strong economy based on a growing information sector, health care, and manufacturing. Motor vehicles and computer technologies are emerging in India and competing worldwide. Pakistan’s economy struggles under the high population growth and Islamic extremism in the country.
5. Pakistan and Bangladesh were once under the same government. Bangladesh was formerly East Pakistan. These Muslim countries have extremely high population densities and have agrarian economies. The Indus River flows through Pakistan and the two rivers of the Brahmaputra and the Ganges flow through Bangladesh. Monsoon flooding is a serious concern for Bangladesh; earthquakes have caused serious damage in Pakistan.
6. Hindu and Buddhist traditions first developed in South Asia. India has the most of the world’s Hindu followers. The concept of the caste system has created socioeconomic layers in the culture that are being tempered by high urbanization rates. Buddhism has a number of branches that can be geographically identified as eastern, northern, and southern. Bhutan and Sri Lanka have Buddhist majorities. South Asia is also home to Sikhism and Jainism. Islam is strong in South Asia: Pakistan is the world’s second-largest Muslim country, India has the world’s third-largest Muslim population, and Bangladesh is a Muslim country as well. South Asia is also home to a Christian minority in addition to various other minority religious groups.
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline the countries and territories that are included in East Asia. Describe the main physical features and climate types of each country.
2. Understand the relationship between physical geography and human populations in East Asia.
3. Summarize the main objectives in building the Three Gorges Dam.
4. Describe how colonialism impacted China. Outline the various countries and regions that were controlled by colonial interests.
5. Outline the three-way split in China after its revolution and where each of the three groups ended up.
Physical Geography
East Asia is surrounded by a series of mountain ranges in the west, Mongolia and Russia in the north, and Southeast Asia to the south. The Himalayas border Tibet and Nepal; the Karakoram Ranges, Pamirs, and the Tian Shan Mountains shadow Central Asia; and the Altay Mountains are next to Russia. The Himalayan Mountains are among the highest mountain ranges in the world, and Mt. Everest is the planet’s tallest peak. These high ranges create a rain shadow effect, generating the dry arid conditions of type B climates that dominate western China. The desert conditions of western China give rise to a large uninhabitable region in its center. Melting snow from the high elevations feeds many of the streams that transition into the major rivers that flow toward the east.
Created by tectonic plate action, the many mountain ranges are also home to earthquakes and tremors that are devastating to human livelihood. The Indian tectonic plate is still pushing northward into the Eurasian plate, forcing the Himalayan ranges upward. With an average elevation of fifteen thousand feet, the Tibetan Plateau is the largest plateau region of the world. It has high elevations and type H climates. The plateau is sparsely populated and the only places with human habitation are the river valleys. Lhasa is the largest city of the sparsely populated region. Sometimes called “the Roof of the World,” the Tibetan Plateau is a land of superlatives. The small amount of precipitation that occurs often comes in the form of hailstorms mixed with wind. Its landscape is generally rocky and barren.
The vast arid regions of western China extend into the Gobi Desert between Mongolia and China. Colder type D climates dominate the Mongolian steppe and northern China. The eastern coast of the Asian continent is home to islands and peninsulas, which include Taiwan and the countries of Japan and North and South Korea. North Korea’s type D climates are similar to the northern tier of the United States, comparable to North Dakota. Taiwan is farther south, producing a warmer tropical type A climate. The mountainous islands of Japan have been formed as a result of tectonic plates and are prone to earthquakes. Since water moderates temperature, the coastal areas of East Asia have more moderate temperatures than the interior areas do. A type C climate is dominant in Japan, but the north has a colder type D climate. The densely populated fertile river valleys of central and southeastern China are matched by contrasting economic conditions. Rich alluvial soils and moderate temperatures create excellent farmland that provides enormous food production to fuel an ever-growing population.
Most of China’s population lives in its eastern region, called China Proper, with type C climates, fresh water, and good soils. China Proper has dense population clusters that correspond to the areas of type C climate that extend south from Shanghai to Hong Kong. Around the world, most humans have gravitated toward type C climates. These climates have produced fertile agricultural lands that provide an abundance of food for the enormous Chinese population. To the south the temperatures are warmer, with hot and humid summers and dry, warm winters. The climates of China Proper are conducive for human habitation, which has transformed the region into a highly populated human community. The North China Plain at the mouth of the Yellow River (Huang He River) has rich farmland and is the most densely populated region in China.
Northwest of Beijing is Inner Mongolia and the Gobi Desert, a desert that extends into the independent country of Mongolia. Arid type B climates dominate the region all the way to the southern half of Mongolia. The northern half of Mongolia is colder with continental type D climates. In the higher elevations of the highlands in western Mongolia, there is a section of type H highland climates. Its climate and location identify Mongolia as a landlocked country in the northern latitudes with a low level of precipitation. The areas of type D climate that extend north from Beijing through Northeast China at times receive more precipitation than northern Mongolia. Northeast China features China’s great forests and excellent agricultural land. Many of China’s abundant natural mineral resources are found in this area. Balancing mineral extraction with the preservation of agricultural land and timber resources is a perennial issue.
Lying north of the Great Wall and encompassing the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia is the vast Mongolian steppe, which includes broad flat grasslands that extend north into the highlands. North China includes the Yellow River basin as well as the municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin. Areas around parts of the Yellow River are superb agricultural lands, including vast areas of loess that have been terraced for cultivation. Loess is an extremely fine silt or windblown soil that is yellow in color in this region. Deciduous forests continue to exist in this region, despite aggressive clearcutting for agricultural purposes. The Great Wall of China rests atop hills in this region.
Most of western China is arid, with a type B climate. Western China has large regions like the Takla Makan Desert that are uninhabited and inhospitable because of hot summers and long cold winters exacerbated by the cold winds sweeping down from the north. In a local Uyghur language, the name Takla Makan means “You will go in but you will not go out.” To the far west are the high mountains bordering Central Asia that restrict travel and trade with the rest of the continent. Northwestern China is a mountainous region featuring glaciers, deserts, and basins.
The central portion of China Proper is subtropical. This large region includes the southern portion of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang River) and the cities of Shanghai and Chongqing. Alluvial processes give this area excellent agricultural land. Its climate is warm and humid in the summers with mild winters; monsoons create well-defined summer rainy seasons. Tropical China lies in the extreme south and includes Hainan Island and the small islands that neighbor it. Annual temperatures are higher here than in the subtropical region and rainfall amounts brought by the summer monsoons are at times very substantial. This area is characterized by low mountains and hills.
River Basins of China
There are two major river systems that provide fresh water to the vast agricultural regions of the central part of China Proper. The Yellow River (Huang He River) is named after the light-colored silt that washes into the river. It flows from the Tibetan highlands through the North China Plain into the Yellow Sea. Dams, canals, and irrigation projects along the river provide water for extensive agricultural operations. Crops of wheat, sorghum, corn, and soybeans are common with vegetables, fruit, and tobacco grown in smaller plots. The North China Plain has to grow enough food to feed its one thousand people per square mile average density. This plain does not usually produce a food surplus because of the high demand from the large population of the region. Beijing borders the North China Plain. Its nearest port, Tianjin, continues to expand and grow, creating an economic center of industrial activity that relies on the peripheral regions for food and raw materials. Cotton is an example of a key industrial crop grown here.
The Yangtze River (Chang Jiang River) flows out of the Tibetan Plateau through the Sichuan Province, through the Three Gorges region and its lower basin into the East China Sea. Agricultural production along the river includes extensive rice and wheat farming. Large cities are located on this river, including Wuhan and Chongqing. Nanjing and Shanghai are situated near the delta on the coast. Shanghai is the largest city in China and is a growing metropolis. The Three Gorges Dam of the Yangtze River is the world’s largest dam. It produces a large percentage of the electricity for central China. Oceangoing ships can travel up the Yangtze to Wuhan and, utilizing locks in the Three Gorges Dam, these cargo vessels can travel all the way upriver to Chongqing. The Yangtze River is a valuable and vital transportation corridor for the transport of goods between periphery and core and between the different urban centers of activity. Sichuan is among the top five provinces in China in terms of population and is dependent on the Yangtze River system to provide for its needs and connect it with the rest of China.
The region of eastern China that is favorable to large populations is called China Proper. River basins historically produce abundant food, which in turn leads to concentrated populations.
Northeast China was formerly known as Manchuria, named after the Manchu ethnic group that had dominated the region in Chinese history. Two river basins create a favorable industrial climate for economic activity. The lower Liao River Basin and the Songhua River Basin cut through Northeast China. The cities of Harbin and Shenyang are industrial centers located on these rivers. This region is known as the Northeast China Plain. It has extensive farming activities located next to an industrial landscape of smokestacks, factories, and warehouses. Considerable mineral wealth and iron ore deposits in the region have augmented the industrial activities and have created serious environmental concerns because of excessive air and water pollution. In its zenith in the 1970s, this was China’s main steel production area, but the region is being reduced to a rustbelt since many of China’s manufacturing centers are now being developed in the southern regions of China Proper.
The southernmost region of China Proper is home to the Pearl River Basin, an important agricultural and commercial district. Though smaller in size than the Yangtze River Basin, major global urban centers are located on its estuary, where the mouth of the river flows into the South China Sea. The system includes the Xi River, Pearl River, and their tributaries. As the third-longest river system in China, these rivers process an enormous amount of water, and have the second-highest volume of water flow after the Yangtze. Guangzhou, Macau, and Hong Kong are the largest cities located here, alongside the rapidly expanding industrial center of Shenzhen. As mentioned earlier, Macau was a former Portuguese colony and Hong Kong was a former British colony. These urban areas are now hubs for international trade and global commerce. Guangzhou is one of the largest cities in China, along with Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan, and Tianjin. Cantonese heritage and traditions form a foundation for the cultural background of the people who live here.
Three Gorges Dam (The New China Dam)
The Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is known in China as the New China Dam. Its hydroelectric production system is the largest on Earth. The river system is the world’s third longest, after the Nile and the Amazon. Ideas for this project go back to the days just after the last dynasty fell. Plans and development began in the decades before 1994, when the construction of the dam began. The main purposes of the dam are to control the massive flooding along the Yangtze, produce hydroelectric power, and increase shipping capacity along the river.
Figure 10.6 Three Gorges Dam Region
The Yangtze River flows through three deep gorges where a dam has been constructed to stabilize flooding, produce electricity, and support river transportation.
• Dam length: 7,661 feet
• Dam height: 610 feet
• Dam width (at base): 377 feet
• Physical construction began: December 14, 1994
• Construction cost: estimated thirty-nine billion US dollars
• Estimated surface area of reservoir: 403 square miles
• Estimated length of reservoir: 375 miles
• Capacity of thirty-two generators totaling 22,500 MW (equivalent to about twenty nuclear power plants the size of the Watts Bar 1, the newest US nuclear reactor)
Before construction of the dam, flooding along the Yangtze cost thousands of lives and billions of dollars in damage. In 1954, the river flooded, causing the deaths of more than thirty-three thousand people and displacing an additional eighteen million people. The giant city of Wuhan was flooded for three months. In 1998, a similar flood caused billions of dollars in damage, flooded thousands of acres of farmland, resulted in more than 1,526 deaths, and displaced more than 2.3 million people. The dam was rigorously tested in 2009, when a massive flood worked its way through the waterway. The dam was able to withstand the pressure by containing the excess water and controlling the flow downstream. The dam saved many lives and prevented billions of dollars in potential damage. The savings in human lives and in preventing economic damage are projected to outweigh the cost of the dam in only a few decades.
The dam produces most of the electricity for the lower Yangtze Basin, including Shanghai, the largest city in China. Five years of the dam producing electricity has already paid for about one-third of its construction costs, which is equivalent to burning approximately 150 million tons of coal (depending on coal quality). This reduces the emission of millions of tons of carbon dioxide, sulfur, and nitrogen oxides into the atmosphere, which reduces air pollution and does not contribute to climate change. Heavy freight traffic on the Yangtze was the norm even before the dam was built; in fact, it has the highest rates of transport of any river. The building of the dam has augmented the amount of freight traffic.
Figure 10.7
China’s Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River is the largest dam in the world.
All the positive attributes of the Three Gorges Dam have contributed to the economic development of China. This is a testimony to the engineering and technological capacity of the nation. However, this project has also created its own problems and negative impacts on culture and the environment. By 2008, the number of people forced to relocate from the flooding of the reservoir had reached 1.24 million. Historic villages and hundreds of archaeological sites were flooded. Thousands of farmers had to be relocated to places with less productive soils. Compensation to the farmers for relocation was forfeited because of corruption and fraud. Sadly, much of the scenic beauty of the river basin is now under water.
Animal species like the critically endangered Siberian Cranes, who had wintered in the former wetlands of the river, had to find habitat elsewhere. The endangered Yangtze River Dolphin has been doomed to extinction because of the dam and the amplified river activity. The dam restricts the flushing of water pollution and creates a massive potential for landslides along its banks, exacerbating the potential for the silting in of the reservoir and the clogging of the dam’s turbines. The dam also sits on a fault zone and there is concern that the massive weight of the water in the reservoir could trigger earthquakes that may destroy the dam, with catastrophic consequences. Large development projects tend to have an enormous impact on the people and the environment that inhabit their shadow. The building of the Three Gorges Dam has created controversy, with strong arguments on both sides of the issues. To further complicate the situation, other large dams are being proposed or are under construction along the same river.
Chinese Dynasties and Colonialism
The earliest Chinese dynasty dates to around 2200 BCE. It was located in the rich North China Plain. Organized as a political system, Chinese dynasties created the Chinese state, which provided for a continuous transfer of power, ideas, and culture from one generation to another. From 206 to 220 CE, the Han Dynasty established the Chinese identity; Chinese people became known as People of Han or Han Chinese. The last dynasty, the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty, which ruled between 1644 and 1911, claimed control of a region including all of China, Mongolia, Southeast Asia, and Korea. Dynastic rule ended in China in 1911.
Europeans colonized the Americas, Africa, and South Asia, and it was only a matter of time before technology, larger ships, and the European invasion reached East Asia. European colonialism arrived in China during the Qing Dynasty. China had been an industrialized state for centuries; long before the empires of Rome and Greece were at their peak, China’s industrial cities flourished with the concepts of clean drinking water, transportation, and technology. Paper, gunpowder, and printing were used in China centuries before they arrived in Europe. The Silk Road, which crossed the often dangerous elevations of the high mountain passes, was the main link between China and Europe.
European colonial powers met tough resistance in China. They were kept at bay for years. Meanwhile, the Industrial Revolution in Europe, which cranked out mass-produced products at a cheap price, provided an advantage over Chinese production. British colonizers also exported opium, an addictive narcotic, from their colonies in South Asia to China to help break down Chinese culture. By importing tons of opium into China, the British were able to instigate social problems. The first Opium Wars of 1839–1842 ended with Britain gaining an upper hand and laying claim to most of central China. Other European powers also sought to gain a foothold in China. Portugal gained the port of Macau. Germany took control of the coastal region of the rich North China Plain. France carved off part of southern China and Southeast Asia. Russia came from the north to lay claim to the northern sections of China. Japan, which was just across the waterfront from China, took control of Korea and the island of Formosa (now called Taiwan). Claims on China increased as colonialism moved in to take control of the Chinese mainland.
Though European powers laid claim to parts of China, they often fought among themselves. China did not produce heavy military weapons as early as the Europeans did and therefore could not fend them off upon their invasion. Chinese culture, which had flourished for four thousand years, quickly eroded through outside intrusion. It was not until about 1900, when a rebellion against foreigners (known as the Boxer Rebellion) was organized by the Chinese people, that the conflict reached recognizable dimensions. The Qing Dynasty dissolved in 1911, which also signified an end to the advancements of European colonialism, even though European colonies remained in China.
Three-Way Split in China
European colonialism in China slowed after 1911, and World War I severely weakened European powers. The Japanese colonizers, on the other hand, continued to make advancements. Japan did not have far to travel to resupply troops and support its military. In China, a doctor by the name of Dr. Sun Yat-sen promoted an independent Chinese Republic, free from dynastic rule, Japan, or European colonial influence. Political parties of Nationalists and Communists also worked to establish the republic. Dr. Sun Yat-sen died in 1925. The Nationalists, under the leadership of Chiang Kai-shek, defeated the Communists and established a national government. Foreigners were evicted. The Communists were driven out of politics.
Both the Republic of China (ROC) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) consider Dr. Sun Yat-sen to be a famous Chinese historical figure.
Richard winchell – Museum of Australian Currency Notes – CC BY-ND 2.0.
Nationalists, Communists, and Japan conducted a three-way war over the control of China. Japan’s military took control of parts of Northeast China, known as Manchuria, and were making advancements on the eastern coast. Nationalists defeated the Communists for power and were pushing them into the mountains. The Chinese people were in support of the two parties working together to defeat the Japanese. The Long March of 1934 was a six-thousand-mile retreat by the Communists through rural China, pursued by Nationalist forces. The people of the countryside gave aid to the efforts of the Communists. The Chinese were primarily interested in the defeat of Japan, a country that was brutally killing massive numbers of China’s people in their aggressive war.
In 1945, the defeat of Japan in World War II by the United States changed many things. Japan’s admission of defeat prompted the end of Japanese control of territory in China, Taiwan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. By 1948, the Communists, who were becoming well organized, were defeating the Nationalists. Chiang Kai-shek gathered his people and what Chinese treasures he could and fled by boat to the island of Formosa (Taiwan), which in 1945 had just been freed from Japan. Taiwan was declared the official Republic of China (ROC). The Communists took over the mainland government. In 1949, Communist leader Mao Zedong declared the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) with its capital in Peking (Beijing). Japan was devastated by US bombing and defeated in World War II; its infrastructure destroyed and its colonies lost, Japan had to begin the long process of rebuilding its country. Korea was finally liberated from the Chinese dynasties and Japanese colonialism but began to experience an internal political division. Political structures in the second half of the twentieth century in East Asia were vastly different from the political structures that had been in place when the century began.
Key Takeaways
• China is the largest country in physical area and in population in East Asia. The realm is isolated by the high mountains in the west, which cause a major rain shadow and desert conditions in the western regions. Mongolia is the only landlocked country. The other countries and territories are located along the Pacific Rim.
• Robust population growth has been supported by adequate food production in the major river valleys and coastal regions of East Asia. Coastal areas receive adequate precipitation and allow access to fishing for human activities.
• The Three Gorges Dam was constructed on the Yangtze River to control flooding, generate electricity, and support shipping. The dam is the largest in the world. Downsides of the dam have included the relocation of human settlements, erosion, and other environmental concerns.
• Colonialism infiltrated China and challenged its last dynasty. By 1911, both the dynasty and European colonialism were in demise. In a three-way battle for power in China, the Communists emerged in 1949 to take control. The Nationalists fled to Formosa to form their own government.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Outline the countries or territories that make up the region known as East Asia.
2. How is East Asia separated from the rest of Asia? How did this keep the realm isolated for many centuries?
3. What is the only landlocked country in East Asia? Describe its physical features.
4. What are the main climate types in each of the countries in East Asia?
5. Where are the four main river basins in China Proper? How do they contribute to China’s development?
6. What are the three main benefits of the Three Gorges Dam? What are three of the negative impacts?
7. What was significant about the Han and Qing Dynasties? When did dynastic rule end in China?
8. How did the British attempt to break down Chinese culture? What was China’s response?
9. What was the relationship between Japan, Korea, and China before World War II?
10. What was the three-way split in China about? What happened to each of the three groups?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Altay Mountains
• Chang Jiang River
• China Proper
• Chongqing
• Formosa
• Gobi Desert
• Guangzhou
• Hainan Island
• Harbin
• Hong Kong
• Huang He River
• Inner Mongolia
• Karakoram Ranges
• Liao River
• Macau
• Nanjing
• North China Plain
• Northeast China Plain
• Pamirs
• Pearl River
• Shanghai
• Shenyang
• Shenzhen
• Songhua River
• Taiwan
• Takla Makan Desert
• Three Gorges Dam
• Tianjin
• Tian Shan
• Tibet
• Western China
• Wuhan
• Xizang
• Yangtze River
• Yellow River
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the main steps China has taken to transition from a strict Communist country established in 1949 to a more open society with a capitalist type of economy today.
2. Outline the location of the political units of China with the autonomous regions and special administrative units. Establish the connection between the autonomous regions and ethnicity.
3. Understand the population dynamics of China. Learn about the one-child-only policy and evaluate how it has affected Chinese society and culture.
4. Describe how China has shifted its economic policies and structure in the past few decades. Outline the changes in economic development with China’s open door to Western trade.
5. Sketch out the historical geopolitical objectives of China and how they relate to China today.
The Emergence of Modern China
China is the world’s largest Communist country. Isolated from Europeans and Central Asians by the Himalayas and other high mountain ranges, Chinese culture has endured for thousands of years. Rich in history, adventure, and intrigue, a tour through China would reveal a people with a deep, longstanding love of the land, traditions as old as recorded history, and a spirit of commerce and hard work that sustains them to this day. China is about the same land size as the United States, although technically it is slightly smaller than the United States in total area, depending on how land and water areas are calculated. China only has an eastern coast, whereas the United States has both an eastern and a western coast. If you recall the climate types and the relationship between climate and population, you can deduce the location of the heavily populated regions of China.
The form of Communism promoted by Mao Zedong was not the same as the type of Communism practiced in the Soviet Union. Various Communist experiments were forced upon the Chinese people, with disastrous results. For example, in 1958, the Great Leap Forward was announced. In this program, people were divided into communes, and peasant armies were to work the land while citizens were asked to donate their pots and pans to produce scrap metal and increase the country’s industrial output. The goal was to improve production and increase efficiency. The opposite occurred, and millions of Chinese died of starvation during this era.
Another disaster began in 1966 and continued until Mao died in 1976. The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution wreaked havoc on four thousand years of Chinese traditional culture in a purge of elitism and a drive toward total loyalty to the Communist Party. Armies of indoctrinated students were released into the countryside and the cities to report anyone opposing the party line. Schools were closed, universities were attacked, and intellectuals were killed. Anyone suspected of subversion might be tortured into signing a confession. Violence, anarchy, and economic disaster followed this onslaught of anti-Democratic terror. Estimates vary, but most sources indicate that about thirty million people lost their lives during the Mao Zedong era through purges, starvation, and conflict.
During the early decades of Communism in China, all travel into or out of China was severely restricted by the so-called Bamboo Curtain. The United States had backed the nationalist movement during the Chinese Civil War and continued to support Chiang Kai-shek in Formosa (Taiwan). The United States did not recognize Communist China; the US embassy was in Taiwan, not in Beijing. As China was experiencing its disastrous experiments with Communism, the core economic areas of the world were advancing with commercial technology and high-tech electronics and sending rockets to the moon. China lagged behind in its industrial activities and became a country based on agriculture. A visit to China by US president Richard Nixon in 1972 signaled the opening of diplomatic relations with the United States and was also viewed as a Cold War move against the Soviet Union.
• 1949 – Communist China
• 1958 – Great Leap Forward (Backward)
• 1966 – Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution
• 1972 – Richard Nixon visits China (open door)
• 1980s – Four Modernizations (Deng Xiaoping)
• 1990s – Growth of Enterprise and Industry
• 2000+ – A New Century (Trade with the West)
The Chinese Communist Party’s approach when it took power was to institute a “planned economy.” A planned economy, sometimes called a command economy, stands in marked contrast to a market economy. In a planned economy, the government controls all aspects of the economy, including what goods and products should be produced, how much of each should be produced, how products will be sold or distributed and for what (if any) price, who should have jobs and what jobs they should have, how much people will be paid, and all other decisions related to the economy. In a planned economy, businesses are nationalized; that is, businesses are owned by the government rather than by any private entity. By contrast, in a market economy, businesses are privately owned, and most decisions are driven by consumer and investor behavior.
The decade of the 1980s was a transition for China in that there was a shift of focus from China’s Communist economy to a more market-oriented economy. The economic collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s coincided with the opening of China to trade with the West. In 1992, China announced that it would transition to a socialist market economy, a hybrid of a Communist-planned economy and a market economy. A series of statements by China’s political leaders suggested that in order for China to enjoy a more mature form of socialism, greater national wealth was needed. They further indicated that socialism and poverty should not be considered synonymous and that the country was ready to turn its attention to increasing the wealth and quality of life of its citizens. During the next decade, China experienced an enormous growth in its economy. At the beginning of this century, China was ranked in the top five of the world’s largest trading nations, joining ranks with the United States, Germany, Japan, and France. The sheer size of China’s population contributes to the magnitude of its economy. This does not, however, mean that most of China’s population has a high standard of living.
Political Units
China can be divided into regions utilizing various criteria: political regions, economic regions, natural regions, and climatic regions to name a few. The Communist government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is made up of a number of types of political units. The main region of China Proper includes twenty-two provinces, including the island province of Hainan in the south. The island formerly known as Formosa, now called Taiwan, is considered by China to be its twenty-third province but in actuality remains under its own government—the Republic of China (ROC). Mainland China includes five autonomous regions, each with a designated minority group; four municipalities; and two special administrative regions (SARs) that hold considerable autonomy. All but Taiwan are included in the region called mainland China, except the SARs Hong Kong and Macau.
The autonomous regions exist as a kind of a compromise between China and the regions that would prefer to be totally independent and that have large non-Han or ethnic minority populations. These five autonomous regions are Tibet, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia. It should be noted that “autonomous” is how China would describe these regions, but that description is arguable. In reality, the autonomous regions have very little legal ability to govern themselves and, in fact, have in some ways less autonomy than the provinces to pass their own legislation.
Four of China’s cities have governance structures that are roughly on par with that of the provinces. The directly controlled municipalities are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing and encompass large geographic areas well beyond the city limits, including towns, villages, and rural areas.
The two SARs of China are Hong Kong and Macau. Hong Kong was part of the British Empire and later a British protectorate until its governance reverted to China in 1997. Known informally under Chinese law as “one country, two systems,” Hong Kong and Macau are guaranteed a great degree of autonomy for at least the first fifty years after the transfer from Britain to China. China is responsible for defense and some portions of foreign affairs, while Hong Kong and Macau are responsible for most other matters of state, including their legal systems, law enforcement, immigration laws, monetary systems, customs policies, and others.
Figure 10.12 China and Its Administrative Divisions, Including Autonomous Regions, Municipalities, and SARs
China’s Communist government is controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, which is protected and guaranteed power by the country’s constitution. Compared to the more open democratic political systems of Western Europe and North America, China is considered an authoritarian state, complete with heavy restrictions on the Internet, the press, freedom of assembly, reproductive rights, and freedom of religion. Economic trade with the West has created more openness with travel and business, which has begun to challenge or erode the hard-line politics of decades past.
Population
With four thousand years of culture to build on, China continues to press forward into the twenty-first century. In 2010, China had more people than any other country in the world, about 1.33 billion. Most of its people live in China Proper, in the eastern regions of the country. China Proper has the best agricultural lands in the country, the most fertile river basins, and the most moderate climates. For perspective, China has over one billion more people than the United States, with most of those people living in the southeastern portion of China. During Mao’s time, there was little concern for population growth, but in recent decades China has implemented measures to deal with its teeming population.
The government of China has taken the responsibility to address its growing population and the country’s ability to provide for the needs of the additional populace. In 1978, China implemented the one-child-only statute, limiting family size to one child. The policy allows for exemptions under certain conditions. Couples living in rural areas and people of minority status are two examples of exempted conditions and may be permitted more than one child, especially if the first child is a girl. Peripheral administrative regions like Macau and Hong Kong are exempt. The one-child-only policy was implemented in an attempt to address environmental, economic, and social issues related to population growth. This policy has helped reduce China’s potential population by hundreds of millions of people, but the controversial policy has not been easy to implement or make effective. There are growing concerns regarding the policy’s negative impact on society. In response to the one-child-only policy, there have been reports of female infanticide and a higher number of abortions. However, surveys taken by independent agencies indicate that about three-fourths of China’s population supports it.
Economic incentives pressure families to abide by the one-child-only policy. Government benefits and social programs offer incentives that may be lost if couples have more than one child. Enforcement of the policy has been left to the provincial authorities with varying levels of success. Parents eager to have a boy to carry on the family name might abort a female baby. Though now illegal, the use of ultrasound equipment to determine the gender of a fetus is widespread. Some provinces in China have a severe shortage of women because of the policy; men in provinces where women are scarce may have to migrate to find a wife. In China there are more boys born than girls; the ratio averages more than 10 percent more boys than girls, with some provinces reaching more than 25 percent. This imbalance creates cultural issues that may have a negative impact on traditional society. Conventional society is challenged when there are a large number of unmarried young men in an area that may not have adequate employment opportunities for them or available women for potential marriage.
More than 50 percent of China’s population lives in rural areas, meaning there is potential for high levels of rural-to-urban migration. The core industrial cities located in China Proper attract migrants in a periphery-to-core migration pattern. China hopes that this urbanization and industrial activity will also support their population control methods and fuel the industrial labor base. China’s urbanization increased at an unprecedented rate from 17 percent in 1978 to 47 percent in 2010. This rural-to-urban shift has been one of the largest in human history. It still continues; many workers shift from holding temporary employment in the cities to returning to their families in the countryside between jobs.
Ethnic Groups
Han Chinese is the largest ethnic group in China, with about 90 percent of the country’s population. Some of the largest minority groups include Zhuang (Tai) in the south, Manchu in the northeast, Mongolian in the north central region, Uyghur in Western China, and Tibetan in Tibet, although many other minority groups exist. The main language in China, Mandarin, is spoken in different ways in different parts of the country, particularly in the north and the south. The number of languages in China (over 290) roughly corresponds to the number of ethnic groups in the country. In Western China, where the percentage of Han Chinese is quite low, most of the population is Uyghur, a group that tends to be Muslim. There are also Kazahks, Kyrgyz, and Tajiks from Central Asia, who are also predominantly Muslim. In 2010, the precise number of Muslims in China was not known, but government reports indicated there were about twenty-one million. Other reports indicate there may be three times that many. Minority groups like the Uyghurs have often experienced discrimination by the Chinese government, which has taken measures to marginalize minority groups to keep them in check.
As a Communist country, there is no official religion in China, nor is any supported by the Chinese government. Before Communism took control, most of the people followed a type of Buddhism. Other belief systems included Taoism and the teachings of Confucius. Christianity does exist in China, but it is illegal to proselytize or recruit converts. Despite that, the Christian population in China has grown rapidly in recent decades. The exact number is unknown, but the CIA World Factbook estimates 3 to 4 percent of the population to be Christian, or somewhere between thirty-nine and fifty-two million adherents. There are many other sects and religious groups in China that have gained attention in recent years. Among these are the followers of Falun Gong, which emerged in the 1990s and has elements of Buddhism and Taoism in its beliefs. The group claims to be more of a science than a religion. The Chinese government believes otherwise and banned the Falun Gong in 1999 after the group staged a large protest against the Communist Party. The crackdown by the government included many arrests and stiff prison sentences. The group is currently banned by the government.
Economic Summary
In the past two decades, China has shifted its economy from a closed system with a centrally planned, government-controlled market to one with more open trade and a flexible production structure. These economic reforms have allowed capitalistic tendencies to drive production, have promoted increased involvement in private enterprise, and have increased international investment in the Chinese economy. China has phased out collective farms and has increased agricultural production; the approach to free enterprise and international trade and investment has become more open; and the Chinese economy has grown at a rapid rate. Open trade and interaction with the global community have allowed China to catch up with the rest of the world in terms of information and communication technology, and computer and Internet use in China has opened up many sectors to new opportunities and employment possibilities. China’s policy of creating special economic zones (SEZs) has increased urban and economic growth in coastal cities, fueling the strong rural-to-urban shift in the population.
Beijing, a metropolitan center of Chinese culture, is the capital of China. Freeway development has expanded in recent years as higher incomes have allowed for automobile purchases. As a result, traffic congestion and air pollution are part of China’s current environment.
The fast-paced growth of the Chinese economy in the past decade has brought with it some negative consequences. The exploitation of resources and the heavy utilization of the environment have resulted in serious soil erosion and air pollution. The water table in many parts of China has decreased because of heavy demands on the nation’s water supply. Arable land is being lost to erosion and inadequate land-use practices. Rural areas have not received consideration or resources equal to the coastal cities, so conditions remain poor for most rural people. Half of China’s population earns the equivalent of a few dollars per day, while a fortunate few earn high salaries. Unemployment is at an elevated level for tens of millions of migrants who shift from location to location, looking for work. There is also an unfortunate degree of corruption within the government and state-run offices.
Compared to Western countries, China is an authoritarian state that does not allow labor unions, free speech, freedom of religion, or freedom of the press. There has been more openness in China’s economic reforms and in travel, but other strict rules of the state remain. There is no minimum wage law for factory workers, who work long hours and do not receive benefits or sick leave. There are fewer safety requirements or government regulations for security. China is trying to have the best of both worlds: the efficiency of an authoritarian government and an efficient market-driven capitalist economy. Sustaining the largest standing army in the world, China is geared to become a global superpower. The next great world conflict could be a cultural war between the United States and China that would involve economic, political, and human issues. To work together, the United States and China would be well served to increase their understanding of each other.
Growth of Enterprise and Industry
During the 1980s, following the death of Mao Zedong, China went through a transition period. The new leader, Deng Xiaoping, realized that in order for China to compete in the world market, its economy would have to be modernized. The challenge was to open up to the outside without the outside placing pressure on the Communist system inside of China. The so-called Bamboo Curtain, which referred to the restriction of movement of goods and people across Chinese borders, diminished. To attract business and tap into the global market economy, China established SEZs along the coast at strategic port cities. SEZs attracted international corporations who wanted to manufacture goods cheaply, while China’s population of 1.3 billion people provided an enormous labor pool and consumer market. China’s modernization efforts paid off in the 1990s, when world trade increased and US trade with China exploded.
By the year 2000, China had profited greatly because of its expanded manufacturing capacity. The coastal cities and the SEZs had become core industrial centers, attracting enormous numbers of migrants—most of them poor agricultural workers—looking for work in the factories. Compared to other jobs, factory jobs are prized employment opportunities. Rural-to-urban shift has kicked in and China’s urban growth is occurring at unprecedented rates. Chinese people are moving to the cities looking for work, just like people in many other areas of the world. The SEZs encourage multinational corporations to move their overseas operations to China and take advantage of the lower labor and production costs. China benefits from the new business opportunities and by the creation of jobs for its citizens. SEZs operate under the objectives of providing tax incentives for foreign companies, exporting market-driven manufactured products, and creating joint partnerships so that everyone benefits. In the past decade, four main cities have been designated as SEZs, along with the entire province of Hainan Island to the south. Many coastal cities were also designated as development areas for industrial expansion.
Coastal development and SEZs along the coast of China are prompting growth of the rural-to-urban shift.
In 2006, the president of China called for an expansion of the economy to focus on more innovative activities. The government allowed additional funding for more research in the areas of genetics and gene therapy, computer software development, semiconductors, and alternative energy technologies. China has a high-level energy demand to fuel its expanding economy and provide for a large population, so alternative energy development has been expanding into wind and solar power for both domestic and commercial purposes. China’s industrial sector is advancing to compete in the global marketplace and muscle into the high-tech economy once dominated by core areas of Japan, Western Europe, and the United States.
Geopolitics
The political environment of China cannot be separated from its geography. To understand the larger political picture of China’s position in the world, one has to understand China’s geography. In terms of its land area, China is a large country. It includes an immense peripheral region surrounding China Proper consisting of minority populations and buffer states. The core of China is the Han Chinese heartland of China Proper. This is where most of the population lives and where the best agricultural land for food production is located. The surrounding periphery consists of autonomous regions and minority populations, including Tibet, Western China, Inner Mongolia, and Northwestern China. Tibet is a buffer state between China and India; high mountains provide a buffer between India and Tibet. Nepal, Bhutan, and Kashmir are also buffer states between China and South Asia. High mountain ranges extend all along China’s western boundary.
Western China has a majority Muslim population closely aligned with ethnic groups in Central Asia. Inner Mongolia and the independent country of Mongolia create a buffer between China and Russia. China’s actual border with Russia is remote and distant. Northeast China was historically called Manchuria and is home to the Manchus, who are not Han Chinese. Even the isolated sovereign country of North Korea acts as a buffer between China and the world superpower of the United States through its surrogate South Korea. The border with Southeast Asia is mountainous with difficult terrain and very little access. All these buffer regions insulate the Han heartland from the outside. China’s powerbase is actually a territorial island insulated and isolated from the rest of the world. Technology and trade has opened links between the Han Chinese heartland and the global marketplace.
In the scope of geopolitics (the study of the geography of international relations), the core of China is protected on all fronts except one, the eastern coast. Coastal China is accessible to anyone with a ship. Coastal China is where Japan and the European colonialists such as France, Great Britain, Portugal, and Germany all came to carve up China for their imperial advancements. Also located along the coast is the island of Taiwan with the independent government of the ROC. Taiwan has been on friendly terms with the United States, which has posed a threat to the Chinese mainland. The coast makes China vulnerable. The challenge for China has been to neutralize the coastal threat and reduce its vulnerability. This is where the SEZs make a difference: the Chinese economy has relied on the SEZs to attract foreign corporations to conduct their business with the Chinese in these coastal cities. The economic world has forged ties with the Chinese along China’s coastal waters. The extensive coastal development creates a situation where it is now in everyone’s best interest to make the coastal region of China safe and prosperous.
In the geopolitical sense, China has historically operated under three main premises. The first premise is that China must secure a buffer zone in the periphery, which includes the regions along China’s borders. Second, the country needs to continue to maintain unity within the Han Chinese majority that anchors the core region of China Proper. The third component of China’s geopolitical strategy is to protect and secure its vulnerable coastal region. The country needs to find a way to marginalize outside influence and keep the heartland protected from invaders. These three geopolitical directives were designed before the postindustrial economy emerged with the information age, but the main themes of securing and protecting China remain.
China has additional political issues within the core region of China Proper. To maintain a unified Han Chinese powerbase, there should not be uneven levels of equity in the standards of living within the core region. Manufacturing has rapidly increased in the coastal cities of the SEZs and other development areas. The standard of living in the coastal cities has improved, which has created a disparity between the coastal cities and the rural regions of the interior. Factory workers can earn the equivalent of fifty cents an hour, while their counterparts working in the fields in agriculture are only making the equivalent of a few dollars per day. As a Communist country, this was one of the basic foundational principles within a socialist society—the even distribution of wealth. It kept everyone on the same playing field, at least in theory. The more open capitalist economy is changing this and challenging the equality issue.
China is also economically disproportionately reliant on its ability to maintain a high level of export manufacturing as its method of gaining wealth. The country does not have a type of geography that holds adequate agricultural resources to provide for its vast population. Manufacturing requires good political and economic relationships with the international community. In summary, China’s eastern coast development is a risk that China is forced to take. The risk is a trade-off. On one hand, the eastern coast is the most geopolitically vulnerable side of China, but on the other hand, it is where the most extensive economic gains have been made in recent years. China’s Bamboo Curtain has disappeared; the country is no longer isolated from the rest of the world. Economic development has created a strong degree of dependency on other countries through the doorways of China’s coastal cities. China is becoming dependent on the outside world for oil, raw materials, and technology. Multinational corporations are dependent on China for low-cost manufactured goods. China is becoming more integrated within the network of the global economy.
Key Takeaways
• China has embarked on a number of serious transitions since the Communist republic was declared in 1949. Since that time, the country has shifted from a command economy to a market economy and has opened up trade to the West. This has opened up more opportunities for the Chinese people as well.
• China has a number of autonomous regions and municipalities. Many of these political units are also home to minority ethnic groups. Han Chinese make up about 90 percent of the people of China.
• China’s large population has prompted the government to implement a one-child-only policy, which has resulted in a decrease in population growth but has also caused an imbalance in the percentages of boys and girls being born in many of the provinces.
• The creation of SEZs along the coast, and an open-trade policy, have rapidly developed China’s manufacturing sector. This trend has attracted multinational corporations to move their operations to China to tap into the low labor and overhead costs and receive tax incentives from the Chinese government. The result has been an increase in rural-to-urban shift in China’s population.
• China’s historical geopolitical situation was to secure a buffer around its heartland, unify the Han majority, and protect its venerable coastal region. Economic trade and interaction with the global economy has made China dependent on other countries for its continual economic success.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What did the Bamboo Curtain refer to? How has China changed with regard to its Bamboo Curtain?
2. What are SEZs? Where would we find them in China? Why are they located where they are located?
3. Which region of China has the highest population density? Why do they live here rather than in other areas of China?
4. What policy has China implemented to help curb population growth? What are some of the results of these policies?
5. What are the five autonomous regions based on in China? Where are they located?
6. Why did China shift from a command economy to a market economy?
7. What are the main ethnic groups, languages, and religions in China?
8. Considering current conditions, what are the major development patterns in China?
9. Under what four main principles do the SEZs operate?
10. What where the three main historical objectives in China’s geopolitical situation?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Beijing
• Chongqing
• Guangxi
• Hainan Island
• Hong Kong
• Inner Mongolia
• Macau
• Ningxia
• Tianjin
• Tibet
• Shanghai
• Western China
• Xinjiang
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/10%3A_East_Asia/10.02%3A_Emerging_China.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline Hong Kong’s progression from a British colony through the transformation into a special autonomous region of China. Describe why Hong Kong and Shenzhen have been important to the development of the Chinese economy.
2. Understand the development of and reasons for a government for Taiwan that is separate from the government of mainland China. Describe the current relationship between Taiwan and mainland China.
3. Explain the challenges that Tibet has experienced in becoming an autonomous region of China. Understand who the Dalai Lama is and describe his traditional position within Tibet.
4. Summarize the role Mongolia played during the Cold War and learn how that role is changing as Mongolia becomes more involved in the global economy.
5. Explain why the peripheral regions of Tibet, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are important to the Chinese government and the vitality of the country.
The heartland of China has always been part of China Proper. Surrounding China Proper are a number of autonomous regions, associated territories, and independent countries. These peripheral areas buffer China Proper from the rest of the world. They also provide China with either access to trade relationships or access to raw materials needed for development. Each peripheral political unit has its own unique physical and cultural characteristics and, in many cases, a minority population that is other than Han Chinese.
Hong Kong and Shenzhen
Hong Kong is a former British colony and includes a number of islands on the southern coast of China. Hong Kong includes an excellent port, Victoria—one of the best in Asia. Victoria’s deepwater port is on the interior side of Hong Kong Island and is protected from the sea, allowing ship access to an extensive sheltered harbor area. To the north of Hong Kong Island is a peninsula called New Territories, which the British agreed to lease from China in 1897 for a period of ninety-nine years. Bordering the New Territories on the mainland is the rapidly growing industrial city of Shenzhen.
Hong Kong was a major entry point into China for Britain during the colonial era. The colony was a British outpost that created a doorway for British expansion into China. The port allowed for an early trade relationship to become established. The trade relationship was broken during the Korean War in the 1950s. Britain and China found themselves on opposite sides of the war. China was a newly created Communist country and sided with North Korea; Great Britain was a capitalist country and sided with South Korea. The boundary between the busy port of Hong Kong and China was closed. This left Hong Kong with a world-class port but no access to its main markets in China. Instead of closing the port and shutting down shipping, the business community of Hong Kong took advantage of its unique situation and first-rate port to create a world trade center. Ships would import raw materials, which would be processed or manufactured into finished products. The products would then be shipped back out at a profit.
From the theory of how countries gain wealth, recall that manufacturing was traditionally the method with the highest value-added profits. Hong Kong is a good example of this in action; that is, manufacturing was a successful method of gaining wealth for Hong Kong. First, low-level goods such as clothing and textiles were produced with Hong Kong’s cheap labor and low costs. As business increased, higher-level technical goods were produced, such as radios and other electronic products. Incomes increased. Soon, Hong Kong was a business and banking center trading with all global markets. International trade attracted a strong financial network that enhanced the free market system in Hong Kong. Business in Hong Kong attracted attention in Beijing. Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, who had begun China’s open door policy in the 1980s, viewed Hong Kong as a major access point to establish trade and commerce with. In the 1990s, the special economic zone of Shenzhen became an important development area for Chinese industries and multinational corporations. China once again used Hong Kong as a major trade corridor so that about one-fourth of all the country’s imports and exports were being shipped through the port of Hong Kong.
During the 1990s, as China actively invested in its industrial sector, it sought ways to attract the business generated by Taiwan and Hong Kong, two economic tigers. Opportunity came knocking in 1997 when the ninety-nine-year lease of the New Territories to Britain expired. China did not want to renew the lease. A deal covering all of Hong Kong was struck between China and Great Britain. Britain would relinquish all its claims to Victoria, the port, and all of Hong Kong if China would allow the area to remain non-Communist and under its own autonomy for fifty years. China agreed, and Britain left Hong Kong in 1997. Hong Kong became associated with mainland China as a special autonomous region, but remained capitalist and democratic in its operations. This opened the door for Taiwan and other trading partners to increase trade with China through Hong Kong. Shenzhen, a special economic zone (SEZ) across the border from Hong Kong in China, was ready to capitalize on its accessibility to the port and the enormous trade that had been established by Hong Kong. Shenzhen became one of the fastest growing cities in the world and has become a center of manufacturing and trade for the global economy. It grew from a moderately sized city of about three hundred fifty thousand in the early 1980s to a city of ten and half million by 2010, and is still growing. One of Shenzhen’s largest trading partners is the Walmart Corporation, as factories in the city produce goods for export to the United States and sale in Walmarts around the country. Shenzhen has established a port of its own and is a magnet for international trade.
More than 95 percent of the seven million people living in Hong Kong are ethnically Chinese. The people have strong ties to mainland China but highly value their separate and independent economic and political status. Hong Kong is a major financial and banking center for Asia and has been working with the Chinese government to provide private banking services for Chinese citizens. The small land size of Hong Kong makes it a high-priced real estate destination. The cost of living is high, and space is at a premium and expensive. Nevertheless, Hong Kong attracts millions of visitors per year and has established itself as a tourism hub for people desiring to visit southern China. Tens of millions of tourists each year use Hong Kong as a base or stopover point to enter China’s southern provinces. Hong Kong offers visitors immense shopping possibilities in a safe and modern environment that is attractive to people from all over the world. Cantonese is the official language, but English is widely spoken in Hong Kong because of Britain’s influence and because of world trade relationships.
Victoria Harbor in Hong Kong, with its deepwater port and solid bedrock island, allows oceangoing vessels to dock right next to high-rise business and office complexes.
Across the Pearl River Estuary to the west is the former Portuguese colony of Macau. The arrangement between China and the British government over Hong Kong provided a pattern that was also applied to Macau. At the end of 1999, Portugal relinquished its claim to Macau and the colony was turned over to the Chinese government under an agreement similar to the agreement between Britain and China regarding Hong Kong. Macau was enabled to retain its autonomy and free-market economy for fifty years as it becomes a special administrative region (SAR) of China. Macau is a much smaller territory than Hong Kong, and home to only about half a million residents.
Taiwan (ROC)
Taiwan is separated from the Chinese mainland by the Taiwan Strait. In 2010, the population of the island, which is about the size of the US state of Maryland, was twenty-two million. The island is mountainous and has rugged national parks in its interior, while most of the people in Taiwan live in bustling cities along the coast. Taiwan’s push for good education and technical skills for its citizens has paid off in the form of high incomes and an industrialized economy. After World War II, when China raised its Bamboo Curtain, the United States cut its trade relations with the Communist mainland. However, the United States did trade a great deal with the Nationalists in Taiwan. The deep tensions that exist between China and Taiwan are easy to understand given the history that led to Taiwan’s current existence. One of the flash points in China-Taiwan relations has been the “One China” policy. Originally asserted by Beijing, the principle contends that there is only one indivisible China, which encompasses all of China, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Tibet.
During the Cold War, the sizeable population of mainland China was attractive to US corporations that sought trade with China. In 1972, for the benefit of the United States and to counter the influence of the Soviet Union, US president Richard Nixon organized a visit to Beijing that opened the door to US-China diplomatic relations. There were conditions placed on the open door agreement that followed. One condition that mainland China imposed was for the US government to recognize the Communist government in Beijing as the official China. To do this, the United States had to move their US embassy from Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, to Beijing and recognize only the Beijing government as the official China. The United States agreed to this policy. As a result, no government official in the US State Department, cabinet level or higher, can officially visit Taiwan; at the same time, no equal-level diplomat from Taiwan can officially visit the United States. This policy placed Taiwan in an ambiguous position: Is Taiwan an independent country or is it a part of mainland China?
Mainland China has always demanded that in order for countries to have good relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), they must not recognize Taiwan (Republic of China, or ROC). This has caused intermittent problems for the United States and other countries. The termination of diplomatic relations between the United States and the ROC was a huge blow for Taiwan, even though the United States continued to conduct trade with the island. The United States has always supported Taiwan’s economic independence. In 2007, the United States sold military arms to Taiwan. As a result, China began to deny routine access to its ports for US ships. Taiwan’s status on the world stage has fluctuated. For about twenty years after the Nationalists set up a government in Taiwan, the ROC held a seat in the United Nations (UN), and the UN recognized Taiwan’s claim as the legitimate government of China. In 1971, the UN changed its position and gave the seat to Beijing. The UN indicated it could not give a seat to Taiwan because Taiwan is not recognized as a legal nation.
Taiwan (ROC) is located just across the Taiwan Strait from Mainland China (PRC).
In 2000, Taiwan renewed its efforts to be internationally recognized as a sovereign nation and announced tentative plans to formally secede from China. China responded with many threats and conducted military exercises across the strait from Taiwan. The military exercises were seen as another threat, essentially a show of military might, meant to intimidate Taiwan into retreating from its secessionist position. The United States supported Taiwan by parking a naval fleet nearby, which incensed the mainland government. In 2005, China passed a law authorizing the use of military force to stop any secessionist actions by Taiwan.
Taiwan’s economy continues to use its skilled labor base. In years past, Taiwan’s factories produced textiles and light clothing. As incomes and skills advanced, production shifted to electronics and high-end goods, which it has since been exporting around the world. Taiwan has achieved a high standard of living for its people. When trade opened up through Hong Kong with mainland China, many Taiwanese industries shifted production to the SEZs along China’s coast. Labor in SEZs is less expensive, leading to a corresponding rise in profits. Unfortunately, this has resulted in higher unemployment levels in Taiwan.
In the past few years, Taiwan’s focus has turned from secession to trade. In 2008, Taiwan elected a government that, though nationalist in its ideology, is committed to strengthening trade and investment with China. Taiwan entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 using the name Chinese Taipei. That move started a cascade of actions that improved “cross-strait” trading conditions, and within just a few years, direct trade between China and Taiwan has become extensive. The question of Taiwan’s political status is as yet unresolved and is clearly still volatile, but trade and investment between China and Taiwan are robust and growing. Taiwan has been able to independently compete in world-class sporting events, including the Olympics, under the name Chinese Taipei.
Autonomous Region of Tibet
Located in mountainous southwestern China, Tibet is classified as one of China’s autonomous regions, a disputed political arrangement. It is debatable whether Tibet or any of the other Chinese regions are actually autonomous. The legal structures actually allow for very little self-governance, and most new initiatives require approval from the Chinese central government. Tibet had been an independent entity through much of its history and governed itself as a Buddhist theocracy. Its theocratic political system established the Dalai Lama as both the head of state and the religious leader of the Tibetan people.
Tibet has had a complicated history with China. This is as true of its early history as it is today. In its early history, Tibet was an independent kingdom with its unique type of Buddhism as its state religion. It was during this era that a system of Lamaism, a hierarchy of monks or other religious leaders, took hold. China’s influence in Tibet waxed and waned during the later years of the kingdom, in the tenth century. The Mongols subsumed Tibet into their empire during the first part of their conquests in the thirteenth century. However, in the fifteenth century, the Mongols gave considerable local authority to the Dalai Lama, making him the spiritual leader as well a powerful political figure.
Tibet came under the control of China during the Qing Dynasty. When imperialist rule ended in China in 1911, Tibet began to once again assert its independence. Chinese, British, and Tibetan officials met and came up with an agreement that partitioned Tibet into Inner Tibet, which would be controlled by China, and Outer Tibet, which would be independent. China later indicated its intention to control all of Tibet, a move greatly resented by the Tibetan people.
When Communists took control of China in 1949, the Dalai Lama was originally allowed control over domestic affairs while China would control all other governmental functions. The Chinese government then took steps to greatly reduce the powers of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama (spiritual leader). With the intention of spreading Communism to Tibet, China destroyed monasteries, religious symbols and icons, and other long-practiced ways of life were threatened. The Tibetans considered the Chinese political dominance a cruel and invading force. Monasteries were burned, monks were beaten or imprisoned, and Buddhism was brutally suppressed.
Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet, rests at 12,100 feet above sea level. This is the former seat of government of the Dalai Lama in Tibet and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Tibetans revolted in 1956. Backed by the United States, the revolt continued even as China indicated it would suspend the transformation of Tibet. China brutally crushed the revolt in 1959, leaving tens of thousands of Tibetans dead or imprisoned. The Dalai Lama and thousands of Tibetans fled to Dharamsala, India, where they established a government in exile. At this point, China had a firm grip on Tibet, and in 1965 the reorganization of Tibet into a Chinese socialist region began in full force.
During the 1980s and early 1990s, China expressed some willingness to relent in its authoritarian control of Tibet. However, they demanded that the Dalai Lama renounce claims of Tibetan independence, which he refused. Demonstrations and continued violence occurred throughout this period. Chinese-Tibetan relations were further damaged when the Panchen Lama died mysteriously shortly after criticizing socialist reform in Tibet. The Panchen Lama is the next-highest Buddhist official under the Dalai Lama. There is now a controversy with the Chinese government over the selection of the eleventh Panchen Lama. China and Tibet both claimed the authority over choosing the Panchen Lama and each named a different person to take on the role. The situation illustrates the conflict over the minds and the people of Tibet.
Who Is the Dalai Lama?
The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader of all Tibetans. The Dalai Lama is thought to be the current incarnation of past Buddhist Masters, or Tulkus. The Masters have grown behind the cycle of death and rebirth and choose their own time of rebirth to help educate humanity in how to live. As indicated, the Dalai Lama was always considered the head of state for the government of Tibet and its capital was located in Lhasa. Tenzin Gyatso is the rebirth of the thirteenth Dalai Lama. When he was fifteen years old, on November 17, 1950, he became Tibet’s fourteenth Dalai Lama. This occurred only one month after China’s invasion of Tibet. The Dalai Lama originally, under military pressure from China, ratified the 1951 Seventeen Point agreement. In 1959, he left Tibet and went into exile in India. China has crushed any attempt of Tibetan resistance. While in India, the Dalai Lama has established the Tibetan government in exile and is attempting to preserve Tibetan culture among the thousands of refugees that have accompanied him.
Figure 10.22 The Fourteenth Dalai Lama and Tibetan Leader in Exile
In 2008, a peaceful protest led by Buddhist monks turned violent. Chinese authorities responded with a harsh crackdown. The world’s attention was focused on China at the time because the Olympic Games were under way in Beijing. China has often been a target for protests because of its human rights violations against Tibetans and other minority groups. Little attention was drawn to Tibet during the 2008 Olympic Games. China wanted to showcase its advancements in industrial development and culture and did not want the world to focus on the issues with Tibet or any other part of China.
The population of Tibet is only about three million. They mainly live in the mountain valleys, below seven thousand feet. Lhasa is Tibet’s main urban center as well as its capital. In the past couple of decades, China has softened its treatment of Tibetans and restored some of the monasteries. China has also moved thousands of ethnically Chinese people into Tibet to shift the ethnic balance of the population. A major rail line now directly connects Beijing with Lhasa, Tibet. Lhasa will soon have a majority Chinese population with cultural similarities that reflect more the attributes of China Proper than Tibet. The Tibetans who live there are being compromised simply by population dilution.
The core-peripheral spatial relationship can be appropriately applied to Tibet and its relationship with China. Tibet is a peripheral region with raw materials that provide benefits to the core areas of China, which require the raw materials for industrial development.
As indicated previously, China wants to maintain the mountainous, rural region—with little inhabitable land area and very few people—as a buffer state between India and the Han Chinese heartland of China Proper. Tibet is also becoming more important to the government of Beijing and the business people in Shenzhen and Shanghai. To understand why this is, consider the core-peripheral spatial relationship. What do the core and the periphery usually have to offer each other? Consider also how countries gain wealth. Tibet can play an important role in the larger picture of the Chinese economy. The mountains of Tibet potentially hold vast amounts of natural resources that could support the growing industrial economy in China, which is based on manufacturing goods for the global export markets. China will continue to see to it that Tibet becomes economically integrated with the rest of China in spite of the cultural differences that may exist.
Mongolia
Mongolia ranks as the world’s nineteenth-largest country in terms of square miles. Mongolia shares a similar geography with much of Kazakhstan, which is the world’s largest landlocked nation; Mongolia is second-largest. Despite Mongolia’s large land area (slightly smaller than the US state of Alaska or the country of Iran), its population is only about three million, and the country is the least densely populated country in the world. Mountains, high plains, and grass-covered steppe cover much of Mongolia, a country that receives only between four and ten inches of rain per year, precipitation that usually comes in the form of snow. The Gobi Desert to the south, extending from southern Mongolia into northern China, receives even less precipitation. Inner Mongolia is a sparsely inhabited autonomous region south of Mongolia that is governed by the Chinese government.
Mongolia’s modern capital city of Ulan Bator is home to about one-third of the people of Mongolia; it has the coldest average temperature of any world capital. Mongolia’s history includes the great Mongol Empire of Genghis Khan, which was established in the thirteenth century. The Soviet Union used Mongolia as a buffer state with China. Mongolia’s Communist party dominated politics until the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s. The current government in Ulan Bator has to contend with Mongolia’s position between the two large economies of Russia and China.
Tibetan Buddhism is the dominant religion in Mongolia and is practiced by about 50 percent of the population. The Communist influence is evident in that approximately 40 percent of the population considers itself nonreligious. Most of the people are of Mongol ethnicity. Today, about 30 percent of the people are still seminomadic and migrate seasonally to accommodate good grazing for their livestock. A round yurt, which can be constructed at whatever location is selected for the season and disassembled for mobility, is the traditional dwelling. Mongolian culture and heritage revolve around a rural agrarian culture with an extensive reliance on the horse. Archery, wrestling, and equestrian events are some of the most popular sporting activities.
Mongolia’s economy has traditionally been centered on agriculture, but mining has grown in recent years to be a major economic sector. Mongolia has rich mineral resources of coal, molybdenum, copper, gold, tin, and tungsten. Being landlocked cuts Mongolia off from the global economy, but the large amounts of mineral reserves are in demand by core industrial areas for manufacturing and should boost the poor economic conditions that dominate Mongolia’s economy. China has increased its business presence in Mongolia and has been drawing Mongolia’s attention away from its former Soviet ally to become a major trading partner.
Key Takeaways
• Hong Kong was a British colony with an excellent port that provided access to China during the colonial era. Hong Kong became an economic tiger and regained its importance for trade with the mainland during the open door policy of China in the 1980s. The colony was returned to China in 1997 under an autonomous arrangement.
• Taiwan created an independent government after the three-way split in China. The separation from the mainland government has created strained relations between Beijing and Taipei. In recent years, trade and economic exchanges have brought the two Chinas together and they have become more dependent on each other.
• Tibet established itself as a Buddhist theocracy before the 1949 declaration of the Communist PRC. The Dalai Lama ruled as both political and religious leader of Tibet until China took control. The Dalai Lama fled to India, where he set up a government in exile to continue to promote Tibetan culture and support Tibet.
• Mongolia is an independent landlocked country with a small population and a large land area. It receives only modest amounts of rainfall. The country was a historic buffer state between the Communist countries of the Soviet Union and China. Mongolia is working to capitalize on its natural resources to engage the global economic situation.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What makes the port of Hong Kong significant in both physical characteristics and relative location?
2. Why was Hong Kong important to China? How did Hong Kong become an economic tiger?
3. Where is Shenzhen? Why did this city emerge as one of the fastest growing cities in the world?
4. Why does Taiwan have a different government from mainland China? What type of government does it have?
5. Why is it that a US president or any cabinet-level US official cannot visit Taiwan but can visit Communist Beijing?
6. How did Taiwan develop a high standard of living for its people whereas mainland China lagged behind?
7. Who is the Dalai Lama? Where did the Dalai Lama rule? Where is the Dalai Lama today?
8. What is Tibet’s relationship with China? Why does China want or need Tibet?
9. How was Mongolia viewed by its neighbors during the Cold War? How does China view Mongolia today?
10. What is Mongolia’s physical geography like? What has been the traditional lifestyle in Mongolia?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Gobi Desert
• Hong Kong
• Inner Mongolia
• Lhasa
• Macau
• Mongolia
• New Territories
• Shenzhen
• Taipei
• Taiwan
• Tibet
• Ulan Bator
• Victoria
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/10%3A_East_Asia/10.03%3A_Chinas_Periphery.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the physical geography of the Korean peninsula.
2. Understand how North Korea and South Korea developed independently.
3. Outline the political structure of North Korea.
4. Describe how South Korea developed a high standard of living and a prosperous economy.
5. Express how the concept of regional complementarity can apply to the Koreas.
Japan
Japan consists of islands that lie along the Pacific Rim east of China and across the Sea of Japan from the Korean Peninsula. Most of the archipelago, which has more than three thousand islands, is just north of 30° latitude. Four islands make up most of the country: Shikoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido, and Honshu. The islands have tall mountains originating from volcanic activity. Many of the volcanoes are active, including the famous Mount Fuji. The physical area of all Japan’s islands is equivalent to about the size of the US state of Montana. The mountainous islands of Japan extend into two climate zones. All but the northern region of Japan has a type C climate. The island of Hokkaido in northern Japan has a type D climate and receives enough snow for downhill skiing. Japan hosted the Winter Olympics in 1998. Mt. Fuji, located just west of Tokyo, is a widely photographed mountain because of its symmetrical volcanic cone.
Cities like Mexico City, São Paulo, and Bombay, which have vast slum communities, each claims to be the world’s largest city but lacks firm census data to verify its population. The largest metropolitan urban area in the world that can be verified is Tokyo, with a population of 26.7 million. The Tokyo metropolitan area is located in an extensive agricultural region called the Kanto Plain and includes the conurbation of Tokyo, Yokohama, and Kawasaki. The second-largest urban area in Japan is located in the Kansai District, and includes the cities of Kobe, Osaka, and Kyoto. Japan is a mountainous region, and most of its large cities are located in low-lying areas along the coast. Most of the population (67 percent) lives in urban areas such as Japan’s core area, an urbanized region from Tokyo to Nagasaki. The 2010 population of Japan was listed at about 126 million, less than half the size of the United States. It is ironic that the world’s largest metropolitan area is built on one of the worst places imaginable to build a city. Tokyo is located where three tectonic plates meet: the Eurasian Plate, the Philippine Plate, and the Pacific Plate. Earthquakes result when these plates shift, leading to possibly extensive damage and destruction. In 1923, a large earthquake struck the Tokyo area and killed an estimated 143,000 people. In 1995, an earthquake near Kobe killed about 5,500 people and injured another 26,000.
In March 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck forty-three miles off the eastern coast of northern Japan. The earthquake itself caused extensive damage to the island of Honshu. A shockwave after the earthquake created a tsunami more than 130 feet high that crashed into the eastern coast of Japan causing enormous damage to infrastructure and loss of life. Hundreds of aftershocks were recorded; at least three registered over 7.0 in magnitude. This is the strongest earthquake to ever hit Japan in recorded history. It resulted in more than 15,500 deaths and wreaked serious damage across Japan in the value of billions of dollars. Thousands of additional people remain missing. Nuclear power plants along the coast were hit hard by the tsunami, which knocked out their cooling systems and resulted in the meltdown of at least three reactors. The nuclear meltdowns created explosions that released a sizeable quantity of nuclear material into the atmosphere. This is considered the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 reactor meltdown at the Soviet plant at Chernobyl, located north of Kiev in present-day Ukraine. The next big earthquake could happen at any time, since Japan is located in an active tectonic plate zone.
Development
The country of Japan is an interesting study in isolation geography and economic development. For centuries, shogun lords and samurai warriors ruled Japan, and Japan’s society was highly organized and structured. Urban centers were well planned, and skilled artisans developed methods of creating high-grade metal products. While agriculture was always important, Japan always existed as a semiurban community because the mountainous terrain forced most of the population to live along the country’s coasts. Without a large rural population to begin with, Japan never really experienced the rural-to-urban shift common in the rest of the world. Coastal fishing, always a prominent economic activity, remains so today. The capital city of Tokyo was formerly called Edo and was a major city even before the colonial era. Japan developed its own unique type of urbanized cultural heritage.
Encounters with European colonial ships prompted Japan to industrialize. For the most part, the Japanese kept the Europeans out and only traded with select ships that were allowed to approach the shores. The fact that European ships were there at all was enough to convince the Japanese to evaluate their position in the world. During the colonial era, Britain was the most avid colonizer with the largest and best-equipped navy on the high seas. Britain colonized parts of the Americas, the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and Australia and was advancing in East Asia when they encountered the Japanese. Both Japan and Great Britain are island countries. Japan reasoned that if Great Britain could become so powerful, they should also have the potential to become powerful. Japan encompassed a number of islands and had more land area than Britain, but Japan did not have the coal and iron ore reserves that Britain had.
Around 1868, a group of reformers worked to bring about a change in direction for Japan. Named after the emperor, the movement was called the Meiji Restoration (the return of enlightened rule). Japanese modernizers studied the British pattern of development. The Japanese reformers were advised by the British about how to organize their industries and how to lay out transportation and delivery systems. Today, the British influence in Japan is easily seen in that both Japanese and British drivers drive on the left side of the road. The modernizers realized that to compete on the high seas in the world community they had to move beyond samurai swords and wooden ships. Iron ore and coal would have to become the goods to fuel their own industrial revolution. Labor and resources were valuable elements of early industrialization in all areas of the world, including Asia.
Japan was a major colonial power in the Asian Pacific Rim. Japan colonized parts of Russia, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Korea.
Japan began to industrialize and build its economic and military power by first utilizing the few resources found in Japan. Since it was already semiurban and had an organized social order with skilled artisan traditions, the road to industrialization moved quickly. Japan needed raw materials and expanded to take over the island of Formosa (Taiwan) and the Korean Peninsula in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Japan was on its way to becoming a colonial power in its own right. They expanded to take control of the southern part of Sakhalin Island from Russia and part of Manchuria (Northeast China) from the Chinese. Japanese industries grew quickly as they put the local people they subjugated to work and extracted the raw materials they needed from their newly taken colonies.
Figure 10.28
This photo, taken after the atomic bomb blast of World War II in 1945, illustrates all that was left standing of a Shinto shrine in Nagasaki.
The three-way split in China revealed that the Japanese colonizers were a major force in China even after the other European powers had halted their colonial activities. Japan’s relative location as an independent island country provided both quick access to their neighbors and also protection from them. By World War II, Japan’s economic and military power had expanded until they were dominating Asia’s Pacific Rim community. The Japanese military believed that they could invade the western coast of North America and eventually take control of the entire United States. Their attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in 1941, was meant to be only a beginning. History has recorded the outcome. The United States rallied its people and resources to fight against the Japanese in World War II. The Soviet Union also turned to fight the Japanese empire. The end came after atomic bombs, one each, were dropped by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The terms of Japan’s surrender in 1945 stipulated that Japan had to give up claims on the Russian islands, Korea, Taiwan, China, and all the other places that they had previously controlled. Japan also lost the Kurile Islands—off its northern shores—to the Soviet Union. The islands have never been returned. Japan offered Russia an enormous amount of cash for them but the matter remains unresolved. The Kurile Island chain continues to be controlled by Russia. Japan also agreed not to have a military for offensive purposes. Japan was decimated during World War II, its infrastructure and economy destroyed.
Economic Growth
Since 1945, Japan has risen to become Asia’s economic superpower and the economic center of one of the three core areas of the world. Japanese manufacturing has set a standard for global production. For example, think of all the automobiles that are Japanese products: Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Nissan, Isuzu, Mazda, and Suzuki. How many Russian, Brazilian, Chinese, or Indonesian autos are sold in the United States? The term “economic tiger” is used in Asia to indicate an entity with an aggressive and fast-growing economy. Japan has surpassed this benchmark and is called the economic dragon of Asia. The four economic tigers competing with Japan are Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea. Japan came back from total devastation in 1945 to become a world economic superpower.
Japan’s recovery in the last half of the century was remarkable. If an island nation like Japan could accomplish this rapid growth in its economy, why couldn’t other similar-sized countries accomplish the same level of growth? What was it that caused the Japanese people to not only recover so quickly but rise above the world’s standard to excel in their economic endeavors? The answer could be related to the fact that Japan already had an industrialized and urbanized society before the war. The United States did help rebuild some of Japan’s infrastructure that had been destroyed during World War II—things like ports and transportation systems to help bring aid and provide for humanitarian support. However, the Japanese people were able to not only recover from the devastation of World War II but rise to the level of an economic superpower to compete with the United States. Japan used internal organization and strong centripetal dynamics to create a highly functional and cohesive society that focused its drive and fortitude on creating a manufacturing sector that catapulted the country’s economy from devastation to financial success.
The same dynamics can be applied to Germany after World War II. Germany was completely destroyed by the war. The Allied powers decimated Germany’s infrastructure and resources. Today, Germany is the strongest economy in all of Europe. Part of the reason Germany came back to become so economically successful was its industrialized and urbanized society. Germany also was able to access resources. Again, think of all the automobiles that are German products: Mercedes, Volkswagen, Porsche, BMW, and Audi. The pattern of economic growth was similar for Germany and Japan. The loss of colonies after World War II prompted Japan to look elsewhere for its raw materials. Extensive networks of trade were developed to provide the necessary materials for the rapidly growing manufacturing sector. The urbanized region around Tokyo, including the cities of Yokohama and Kawasaki, swelled to accommodate the growth of industry. Japan’s coastal interior has a number of large cities and urban areas that rapidly increased with the growing manufacturing sector.
The basis for Japan’s technological and economic development may be related to its geographic location and cultural development. Japan’s pattern of economic development has similarities to the patterns of other Asian entities that have created thriving economic conditions. Hong Kong and Taiwan are both small islands with few natural resources, yet they have become economic tigers. Taiwan exports computer products to the United States, but Russia, with all its natural resources, millions of people, and large land area, does not. Explaining how or why countries develop at different rates can be complex, because there may be many interrelated explanations or reasons. One element might be centripetal cultural forces that hold a country together and drive it forward. The ability to manage labor and resources would be another part of the economic situation. The theory of how countries gain wealth may shed some light on this issue. Japan used manufacturing as a major means of gaining wealth from value-added profits. This is the same method the Asian economic tigers also developed their economies. Japan developed itself into a core economic country that took advantage of the peripheral countries for labor and resources during the colonial era. Japan took advantage of every opportunity that presented itself to become a world manufacturing center.
Modern Japan
Japan is a homogeneous society. In 2010, all but 1 percent of the population was ethnically Japanese. Japan resembles a nation-state, where people of a common heritage and aspirations hold to a unified government. This provides a strong centripetal force that unites the people under one culture and one language. However, religious allegiances in Japan vary, and there are a good number of people who indicate nonreligious ideologies. Shintoism and Buddhism are the main religious traditions. Shintoism includes a veneration of ancestors and the divine forces of nature. There is no one single written text for Shintoism; the religion is a loosely knit set of concepts based on morality, attitude, sensibility, and right practice. It is possible for a Shinto priest to conduct a wedding for a couple, whereas the funeral (hopefully taking place much later) for either of the spouses might be conducted by a Buddhist priest. The Buddhism that is practiced in Japan is more meditative in nature than mystical.
Modernization has brought new opportunities and problems for the Japanese people. With a highly urban and industrial society, personal incomes in Japan are high and family size is quite low, at about 1.2 children. The replacement level for a given population is about 2.1 children, which means Japan has a declining population. The population is aging and there are not enough young people to take entry-level jobs. The family has been at the center of Japanese tradition, and the elderly have been venerated and honored. As the country has become more economically developed, higher incomes for young people have prompted a shift toward convenience and consumer amenities. Consumer goods are available, but all the oil and about 60 percent of the food products have to be imported. During the off season, fruit, for example, is expensive. Beef is at a premium price, so fish is a staple source of protein. Income levels are high, but the cost of living in places like Tokyo is also quite high.
Japan is facing a labor shortage for many low-level service jobs that had traditionally been held by young people entering the workforce. Japan is an island country that has prided itself in being 99 percent Japanese. Countries in stage 5 of the index of economic development usually enter a negative population growth pattern. According to population statistics, Japan is at the start of a serious population decline, with a negative population growth pattern. While Western Europe and the United States also have a declining percentage of young people, in those countries the declining youth cohort has been replaced by an elevated level of immigration, both legal and illegal. Culturally, this is not an attractive option for Japan, but they are forced to address the labor shortage in any way they can. Their economy will depend on the ability to acquire cheap labor and resources to compete in the global marketplace.
Centripetal Forces Hold a State Together
• Ethnic Unity and Tolerance
• Social/Economic Equity
• Just and Fair Legal System
• Charismatic Leadership
• Religious Acceptance
• Nationalism
• Common Heritage
• Common Language
• Any Other Unifying Force
As the economic dragon of Asia, Japan has had an enormous economic impact on the East Asian Community (EAC). The shortage of cheap labor has forced Japan to look elsewhere for new manufacturing ventures. China is an attractive country in this respect because of its substantial population and low standard of living for many of its citizens. Japan is looking to take advantage of its geographical location to establish a more positive trade situation with its Asian neighbors. The dynamics of its economy are uniquely similar to that of the United States and Europe. All three core economic areas are competing for inexpensive labor and resources to fuel their economies. China has been a major destination for manufacturing production because of its low labor costs and attractive financial incentives. If you recall, during World War II China and Japan were locked in a bitter war that caused harsh animosities to take root against each other. The two countries have not historically been friendly toward each other. Japan’s history as a colonizer has caused serious cultural attitudes against it from its Asian neighbors. Nevertheless, economics usually drive politics, and Japan wields enormous economic power. Japan now engages in trade with China and continues to be a core economic country in the global economy.
Korea
The Korean Peninsula juts out into the Pacific Rim from northwestern Asia. The peninsula is bound by the Sea of Japan (the East Sea) and the Yellow Sea. North and South Korea share the peninsula. These countries have been separated by the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) since 1953. To the west and north is China and to the far north along the coast is Russia. Korea is separated from China by the Yellow Sea and the Yalu and Tumen Rivers to the north. The Yalu and Tumen rivers form the actual border between North Korea and China. Japan is located just east of the Korean Peninsula across the Korea Strait. The Korean Peninsula is now split between South Korea and North Korea. The capital city of North Korea is Pyongyang, and Seoul is the capital of South Korea.
The topography of the Korean Peninsula is mountainous with arable or cultivable land in high demand. Approximately 70 percent of the Korean Peninsula is mountainous. The bedrock is predominantly composed of volcanic and granitic rocks that have been severely modified by glacial processes over the past twenty-five thousand years. The highest peak in North Korea rises more than nine thousand feet. The Korean Peninsula can be thought of as four general areas:
1. Western Region with an extensive coastal plain, river basins, and small foothills
2. Eastern Region with high mountain ranges and a narrow coastal plain
3. Southeastern Basin
4. Southwestern Region of mountains and valleys
Off the southern and western coasts of the Korean Peninsula are about three thousand small and mostly uninhabited islands, all within the territory of South Korea. South Korea’s largest island has an area of 712 square miles. It is the highest point of land in South Korea, at 6,398 feet above sea level.
North and South Korea have very different, yet related, environmental issues, primarily related to the degree of industrialization. With a low level of industrialism, North Korea has severe issues of water pollution as well as deforestation and related soil erosion and degradation. Other issues in North Korea include inadequate supplies of clean drinking water and many waterborne diseases. South Korea has water pollution associated with sewage discharge and industrial effluent from its many industrial centers. Air pollution is severe at times in the larger cities, which also contributes to higher levels of acid rain.
The physical size in square miles of North Korea or South Korea is similar to the physical area of the US state of Kentucky. North Korea is slightly larger, and South Korea is slightly smaller. For centuries, Korea was a unified kingdom that was often invaded by outsiders. After the fall of the Chinese Qing (Manchu) Dynasty, the Japanese took control of the Korean Peninsula (1910) and controlled it as a colony. Japanese colonial rule ended in 1945 when the United States defeated Japan, forcing it to give up its colonial possessions. The structure of modern Korea is a result of the ending of World War II.
The conclusion of World War II was a critical period for the Korean Peninsula. The United States and the Soviet Union both fought against the Japanese in Korea. When the war was over, the Soviet Union took administrative control of the peninsula north of the thirty-eighth parallel, and the United States established administrative control over the area south of the thirty-eighth parallel. The United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea approximately in half and eventually established governments in their respective regions that were sympathetic to each nation’s own ideology. The Soviet Union administered the northern portion; the United States administered the southern region. Politics deeply affected each of the regions. Communism dominated North Korea and capitalism dominated South Korea. In 1950, with aid from China and the Soviet Union, the Communists from the north invaded the south. After bitter fighting, a peace agreement was reached in 1953 to officially divide the Korean Peninsula near the thirty-eighth parallel. Korea remains divided to this day. The United States has thousands of soldiers stationed along the Cease-Fire Line (or DMZ), which is the most heavily guarded border in the world.
North Korea
The government of North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or DPRK) was formed with the leadership of Communist dictator Kim Il Sung, who shaped his country with a mix of Soviet and Chinese authoritarian rule. Having few personal freedoms, the people worked hard to rebuild a state. Using the threat of a US military invasion as a means of rallying his people, Kim Il Sung built up a military of more than one million soldiers, one of the largest in the world. People could not travel in or out of the country without strict regulation. North Korea existed without much notice until the 1990s, when things suddenly changed.
When the Soviet Union fell in 1991, North Korea lost a valued source of financial support and oil. Without fuel and funding, many of the factories closed. Unemployment rates rose significantly. Meanwhile, China adopted a more open posture and began to increase its level of trade with the West. The result was that China began to lose interest in propping up North Korea politically. North Korea was facing serious problems. Massive food shortages caused famine and starvation. Thousands of people died. Kim Il Sung died in 1994 and the country lost their “Great Leader.” He had ruled the country since World War II and in the end was deified as a god to be worshiped by the people.
Figure 10.32
This giant statue of North Korea’s “Great Leader” Kim Il Sung stands in the capital city of Pyongyang and is called the Mansudae Grand Monument. This mammoth bronze statue was built in 1972 to celebrate the Great Leader’s sixtieth birthday.
The government dictatorship continued as the Great Leader’s son, Kim Jong Il, took over the leadership role. Kim Jong Il, known as the “Dear Leader,” took repression of his people to new levels. Televisions and radios sold in North Korea can only receive government-controlled frequencies. Cell phones and the Internet are banned. The government takes a hard line against dissenters. If you are caught speaking against the state or taking any action to support dissent, you can be arrested, fined, placed in a prison camp, or executed. People are not allowed to leave or enter the country without government approval. Only a couple hundred tourists are allowed into the country per year and are closely escorted.
Kim Jong Il has taken hard measures to stay in power and to avoid yielding to the capitalist frenzy of corporate colonialism. He has nuclear weapon capability and has used his military weapons production as a bargaining chip against the United States and other world powers. North Korea has demonized the United States as the ultimate threat and has used state-funded propaganda to indoctrinate its people. North Korea’s government continually tells its people that the United States will invade at any minute and to be prepared for the worst. Propaganda has been used to create and enforce military, economic, and political policies for an ideology that supports the unification of all of Korea under Communist control.
North Korea is mainly mountainous; there is little quality farmland. While only 2 percent of the land is in permanent crops, about a third of the population works in agriculture. The best farmland in North Korea is located south of the capital city of Pyongyang. The capital is a restricted area where only the most loyal to the state can live. There is a serious shortage of goods and services. Electricity is not available on a dependable basis. Massive international food aid has sustained the people of North Korea. Outside food aid is accepted even though Kim Jong Il has continued a policy of self-reliance and self-sufficiency called Juche. Juche is designed to keep Korea from becoming dependent on the outside. The policy of Juche has been quite effective in isolating the people of North Korea and keeping dictator Kim Jong Il in power. The policy of Juche also holds back the wave of corporate capitalism that seeks to exploit labor and resources in global markets for economic profit.
A North Korean soldier looks across the DMZ in the Joint Security Area (left). The modern “63 Building” in Seoul, South Korea, stands as witness to the prosperity and advancements in the South Korean economy (right).
One way that North Koreans are finding out about the outside world is through smuggled-in cell phones and VHS videotapes from South Korea. Popular VHS productions include South Korean soap operas, because of the common heritage, language, and ethnicity. The North Korean government has attempted to crack down on smuggled videotapes by going from home to home. Electricity is turned off before entering the home. Once the electricity is turned off, videotapes cannot be removed from the video player. The government agents then recover the videotape. Citizens found with smuggled videotapes are punished with steep fines or imprisonment. Desperate North Koreans have escaped across the border into northern China, where thousands of refugees have sought out better opportunities for their future. It is ironic to think that Communist China, with historically few human rights, would be a place where people would seek refuge, but China’s economy is growing and North Korea’s economy is stagnant, which creates strong push-pull forces on migration.
South Korea
In 1993, South Korea became a fully fledged democracy with its first democratically elected president. Seoul is the capital city and is home to almost ten million people. Seoul is located just south of the Cease-Fire Line, also known as the DMZ, which is referred to in general terms as the thirty-eighth parallel, even though it does not follow it exactly. The United States has many military installations in this area.
South Korea manufactures automobiles, electronic goods, and textiles that are sold around the world. South Korea is a democracy that has used state capitalism to develop its economy. After the World War II era, South Korea was ruled by a military government that implemented land reform and received external economic aid. Large agricultural estates were broken up and redistributed to the people. Agricultural production increased to meet the demands of the population. South Korea has much more agricultural production than North Korea and is therefore in providing food for the high population density. A once-modest manufacturing sector has grown to become a major production center for export trade.
The fifty million people who live in South Korea have a much higher standard of living than the residents of North Korea. Personal income in the north is barely equivalent to a few dollars per day, while personal income in the south is similar to that of Western countries. The economic growth of the south was a result of state-controlled capitalism, rather than free-enterprise capitalism. The state has controlled or owned most of the industrial operations and sold its products in the global marketplace. Giant corporations, which forced industrialization along the coastal region, have promoted South Korea as the world’s leading shipbuilding nation. South Korean corporations include Daewoo, Samsung, Kia Motors, Hyundai, and the Orion Group. As an economic tiger, South Korea continues to reform its economic system to adapt to global economic conditions.
South Korea has announced plans to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of its energy and transportation networks. Government funding will augment efforts to create more green-based initiatives. Part of this effort will focus on lower energy dependency with environmentally friendly energy developments such as wind, solar, bike lanes, and new lighting technologies. High-speed rail service and increased capacity in electronic transmissions lines are planned as part of a next generation of energy-efficient technologies that will increase economic efficiency. These policies have been enacted to update South Korea’s economy and create new products for manufacturing export.
Buddhism was introduced into the Korean Peninsula, as were many other aspects of Chinese culture that had significant effects on the Korean heritage. Buddhism has been a prominent religion in Korea for centuries. The teachings of Confucius are also widely regarded. About 30 percent of the population claims Christianity as their religious background; about 20 percent of the Christians are Protestant and 10 percent are Catholic. This is the highest Christian percentage of any Asian country. Up to half of the population makes no claims or professions of faith in any organized religion. Before 1948, Pyongyang was a notable Christian center. At that time, approximately three hundred thousand people identified as Christian. After the establishment of a Communist government in North Korea, many of the Christians fled to South Korea to avoid persecution.
Unification of North and South
What if North Korea and South Korea would become unified again? In the field of geography, there is a concept of regional complementarity, which exists when two separate regions possess qualities that would work to complement each if unified into one unit. North and South Korea are the classic illustration of regional complementarity. The North is mountainous and has access to minerals, coal, iron ore, and nitrates (fertilizers) that are needed in the South for industrialization and food production. The South has the most farmland and can produce large harvests of rice and other food crops. The South has industrial technology and capital needed for development in the North. If and when these two countries are reunited, they could work well as an economic unit.
The harder question is how and under what circumstances the two Koreas could ever come to terms of unification. What about the thirty-five to forty thousand US soldiers along the DMZ? What type of government would the unified Korea have? There are many young people in South Korea that would like to see the US military leave Korea and the two sides united. The generation of soldiers that survived the Korean War in the 1950s understands the bitterness and difficulties caused by the division. This segment of the population is highly supportive of maintaining the presence of the US military on the border with North Korea. Unification is not likely to take place until this generation either passes away or comes to terms with unification. The brutal dictatorship of Kim Jong Il, with his claimed nuclear capabilities, has been a main barrier to unification. This is a political division, not technically a cultural division, even though the societies are quite different at the present time. The geography of this situation is similar to that of East and West Germany after World War II and during the Cold War. Korea may have different qualities from Germany, but unification may be possible under certain conditions, foremost being different leadership in the north.
Key Takeaways
• Japan’s mountainous archipelago has provided isolation and protection for the Japanese people to maintain their unique culture and heritage. The islands were created by tectonic plate action, which continues to cause earthquakes in the region.
• Japan was a colonial power that colonized much of the Asian Pacific region. Its defeat in World War II devastated the country and liberated all its colonies. Since 1945, Japan has been developing one of the strongest economies in the world through manufacturing.
• Japan is a highly industrialized country that is in stage 5 of the index of economic development. The country’s small family size and declining population are a concern for economic growth in the future.
• The Korean Peninsula is divided in two by the DMZ. North Korea is a Communist dictatorship with a low standard of living and absolutely no civil rights. South Korea is a capitalist democracy with a high standard of living and a free-market economy.
• North Korea is more mountainous and lacks arable land to grow food. South Korea has more farmland and fewer mountains. If the two countries were to be united with a common economy, they would complement each other with a balance of natural resources.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What climate types are found in Japan? How does climate type correspond to population?
2. Why has Japan never experienced a strong rural-to-urban shift in its population?
3. What is the ethnic makeup of Japan? Why does this pattern exist in Japan?
4. Does Japan have a high or low population growth rate? What problems arise from this situation?
5. How did Japan become an economic superpower after 1945?
6. How would South Korean soap operas pose a serious threat to North Korea?
7. How did South Korea develop such a robust economy with such a small physical area?
8. Why are thousands of US soldiers positioned on the DMZ?
9. How does North Korea’s policy of juche align with the global economy?
10. Explain how the concept of regional complementarity applies to the two Koreas.
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Edo
• Hokkaido
• Honshu
• Kansai District
• Kanto Plain
• Kawasaki
• Kobe
• Korea Strait
• Kurile Islands
• Kyoto
• Kyushu
• Mt. Fuji
• Osaka
• Pyongyang
• Sakhalin Island
• Sea of Japan
• Seoul
• Shikoku
• Yellow Sea
• Tokyo
• Yokohama
10.05: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
1. East Asia is anchored by Communist China, a large country that dominates the physical region. High mountains on its western borders have isolated China. The peripheral regions of Tibet, Western China, Mongolia, and Manchuria act as buffer states that protect the core Han Chinese heartland in China Proper, where most of the population lives.
2. To boost foreign trade and increase its manufacturing sector, China has established special economic zones (SEZs) along its coast in hopes of attracting international businesses. Shenzhen is one such SEZ, which is located across the border from Hong Kong. Urbanization and industrialization have prompted a major rural-to-urban shift in the population.
3. The world-class port and strategic geographic location of Hong Kong have played a large role in its development as an economic tiger. High-tech manufacturing with banking and financial services have catapulted the small area into a major market center for Asia. In 1998, Hong Kong was united with China, opening the door for massive trade and development with China and Shenzhen.
4. Taiwan is a small island off the southeast coast of China. It has developed into an economic tiger with high-tech manufacturing and high incomes. The island has a separate government from mainland China and has a capitalist economy. There has been historic tension between Taiwan and Beijing ever since the Nationalists moved here in 1948. Economic trade between Taiwan and mainland China has brought the two sides closer together.
5. Japan is made up of a number of large islands. After its defeat in World War II, Japan worked to recover and become a core manufacturing country and the second-largest economy in the world, although that title is now held by China. Japan has a homogeneous society in which about 99 percent of the population is Japanese. Family size is low and the population has begun to decline in numbers, causing an economic concern about the lack of entry-level workers.
6. Korea is split between an authoritarian-controlled North Korea and a capitalist South Korea. North Korea is isolated with a weak economy. Its citizens are denied basic human rights. South Korea has developed into one of the economic tigers of Asia. South Korea has a strong manufacturing sector that produces high-tech electronics and information technology. Thousands of Korean and US soldiers remain stationed on the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas.
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Learning Objectives
1. Understand the geographical differences between the mainland region and the insular region.
2. Summarize how the region was colonized. Learn how colonial activities influence each country’s cultural situation.
3. Realize how the physical geography has been influenced by tectonic activity.
4. Outline the main ethnic and religious affiliations of Southeast Asia and explain why they are so diverse.
5. Comprehend the impact and influence of the overseas Chinese in the region.
Physical Geography
The islands and the mainland of Southeast Asia include a wide array of physical and cultural landscapes. The entire realm is located in the tropics except the northernmost region of Burma (Myanmar), which extends north of the Tropic of Cancer. A tropical Type A climate dominates the region and rainfall is generally abundant. The tropical waters of the region help moderate the climate. Southeast Asia is located between the Indian Ocean on the west and the Pacific Ocean on the east. Bordering the many islands and peninsulas are various seas, bays, straits, and gulfs that help create the complex maritime boundaries of the realm. The South China Sea is a major body of water that acts as a separator between the mainland and the insular region. The thousands of islands that make up the various countries or lie along their coastal waters create a matrix of passageways and unique physical geography.
The three longest rivers of the realm, Mekong, Red, and Irrawaddy, are located on the mainland and have their headwaters in the high elevations of Himalayan ranges of China. The Mekong River makes its way from the high Himalayas in China and helps form the political borders of Laos and Thailand on its way through Cambodia to Vietnam where it creates a giant delta near Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The Red River flows out of China and through Hanoi to the Red River delta on the Gulf of Tonkin. The Irrawaddy River flows through the length of Burma providing for the core area of the country. Another major river of the mainland is the Chao Phraya of Thailand. With its many tributaries, the Chao Phraya creates a favorable core area that is home to the largest population of the country. Many other rivers can be found on both the mainland and the insular region. The rivers transport water and sediments from the interior to the coasts, often creating large deltas with rich soils that are major agricultural areas. Multiple crops of rice and food products can be grown in the fertile river valleys and deltas. The agricultural abundance is needed to support the ever-increasing populations of the realm.
Tectonic plate activity has been responsible for the existence of the many islands and has created the mountainous terrain of the various countries. High mountain ranges can have peaks that reach elevations of over fifteen thousand feet. The high-elevation ranges of New Guinea, which are along the equator, actually have glaciers, ice, and snow that remain year-round. The island of Borneo, in the center of the insular region, is actually a segment of ancient rock that has been pushed upward by tectonic forces to form a mountainous land mass. The mountains on Borneo have been worn down over time by erosion. Mountains and highlands stretch across the northern border of the realm along the borders with India and China. The interior nature of this border makes it less accessible. Similar dynamics can be found in the interior of the islands of the insular region, where the isolation and remoteness have helped create the environmental conditions for unique flora and fauna. In the highland areas the human cultural landscape can be diverse. Time and isolation have worked together to form the traditions and cultural ways that give local groups their identity and heritage.
Tectonic activity makes the region vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The volcanic peak of Mt. Pinatubo, in the Philippines, erupted in 1991, spewing ash and smoke into the atmosphere and impacting much of the planet. An earthquake of 9.0 magnitude occurred off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra in 2004 and caused widespread disaster throughout the wider region of the Indian Ocean. As many as one hundred fifty thousand deaths were reported, mainly from flooding. A thirty-five-foot-high wall of water from the tsunami devastated many coastal areas from Thailand to India.
Impact of Colonialism
Southeast Asia has not escaped the impact of globalization, both colonial and corporate. As Europeans expanded their colonial activities, they made their way into Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia was heavily influenced by European colonialism. The only area of the region that was not colonized by the Europeans was Thailand, which was called Siam during the colonial era. It remained an independent kingdom throughout the colonial period and was a buffer state between French and British colonizers. The Japanese colonial empire controlled much of Southeast Asia before World War II.
Some of the countries and regions of Southeast Asia became known by their colonial connection. Indonesia was once referred to as the Dutch East Indies, which was influential in the labeling of the Caribbean as the West Indies. French Indochina is a term legitimized for historical references to the former French claims in Southeast Asia. Malaya and British Borneo each had its own currency based on a dollar unit that was legal tender for the regions of the Federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sarawak, North Borneo, and Brunei. Independence from the European powers and freedom from Japanese imperialism by the end of World War II provided a new identification for the various countries of the realm. Cultural and economic ties remain between many former colonies and their European counterparts.
Southeast Asia was colonized by Europeans and later by Japan.
East Timor, a former Portuguese colony south of Indonesia, has been the most recent colony to gain independence. Timor is an island just north of Australia. The western portion is claimed by Indonesia. The whole island was annexed to Indonesia in 1975. As a result of separatist movements that entailed conflict and violence, the eastern portion was finally granted independence in 2002. Since then, East Timor has been working to establish itself as a country and is now negotiating its offshore boundary to include important oil and gas reserves.
Cultural Introduction
Southeast Asia has a population of more than six hundred million people; more than half the population lives on the many islands of Indonesia and the Philippines. The small island of Java in Indonesia is one of the most densely populated places on Earth. More than half of the two hundred forty-five million people who live in Indonesia live on the island of Java. The island of Luzon in the Philippines is also one of the more densely populated areas of the insular region. The Philippines has over one hundred million people, Vietnam has more than ninety million, and Thailand has about sixty-seven million. Local areas with high food-producing capacity are also high population centers, which would include deltas, river valleys, and fertile plains.
The ethnic mosaic of Southeast Asia is a result of the emergence of local differences between people that have evolved into identifiable cultural or ethnic groups. Though there are a multitude of specific ethnic groups, a number of the larger ones stand out with recognizable populations. On the mainland the Burmese, Thai, Khmer, and Vietnamese are the largest groups, coinciding with the physical countries from Burma to Vietnam. A similar situation can be found in the insular region. Many distinct groups can exist on the many islands of the region. The island of New Guinea, for example, has hundreds of local groups with their own languages and traditions. The large number of ethnic groups is dominated by Indonesians, Malays, and Filipinos, coinciding with the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Each of these main groups has many subgroups that hold to their own cultural heritage in the areas where they exist. The many islands of Indonesia and the Philippines create the opportunity for diversity to continue to thrive, in spite of the globalization process that increased the interaction and communication opportunities between groups.
Indonesia is also home to the largest Muslim population in the world. All major religions can be found here. The Philippine population is predominantly Christian, but there is a minority Muslim community, including rebel insurgents. Most of people in Malaysia follow Islam. About 95 percent of the people in Thailand and more than 60 percent of the people in Laos are Buddhist. Hinduism is present in the Indonesian island of Bali and in various other locations in the region. Animism and local religions can be found in rural and remote areas. Clearly, Southeast Asia is a mix of many ethnic groups, each with its own history, culture, and religious preference.
Overseas Chinese
Southeast Asia is also home to over thirty million overseas Chinese—ethnic Chinese who live outside of China. The Chinese exodus to the realm was the greatest during the last Chinese dynasties and during the colonial era. European colonial powers enhanced this migration pattern by leveraging the use of people with Chinese heritage in their governing over the local populations in the realm. Life has often been difficult for overseas Chinese. The Japanese occupation of the realm during World War II was a time of harsh discrimination against Chinese. Japanese occupation and colonialism diminished with the end of World War II. The overseas Chinese minority retained an economic advantage because of their former colonial status and their economic connections. Chinatowns emerged in many of the major cities of Southeast Asia. The discrimination against the Chinese, fueled by religious or socioeconomic differences, often continued after World War II by the local ethnic majorities. Nevertheless, overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia have been instrumental in promoting the global business arrangements that have established the Pacific Rim as a major player in the international economy.
Key Takeaways
• Southeast Asia can be studied by dividing up the realm into two geographic regions: the mainland and the insular region. The mainland borders China and India and has extensive river systems. The insular region is made up of islands and peninsulas between Asia and Australia, often with mountainous interiors.
• France and Britain colonized the mainland region of Southeast Asia. Burma was a British colony and the rest was under French colonial rule. The Japanese took control of the region briefly before World War II ended in 1945. Siam was the only area not colonized. Siam became the country of Thailand.
• The physical geography of the mainland and the insular region is dominated by a tropical type A climate. Cooler temperatures may be found in the mountainous regions and more even temperatures ranges can be found along the coasts. Tectonic plate activity is responsible for the many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions that occur in the realm.
• Southeast Asia is ethnically, religiously, and linguistically diverse. A number of major ethnic groups dominate in the mainland and insular region but are only examples of the multitude of smaller groups that exist in the realm. One minority group is the overseas Chinese, who immigrated to the realm during the colonial era.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Which countries of Southeast Asia are in the mainland region? Which countries are in the insular region?
2. What are the four main rivers of the mainland region and how do they contribute to each region’s economic activities?
3. How has tectonic plate activity been evident in Southeast Asia? How has the rest of the world been influenced by tectonic activity in the realm?
4. Which European countries have been the main colonizers and which countries did each colonize? How has the colonial experience influenced the realm?
5. Where are the main population centers? Why are these locations favorable to such large populations? Which countries are the most populous?
6. What are the main ethnic groups on the mainland and in the insular region? Why are there so many ethnic groups in this realm? How has physical geography contributed to the diversity?
7. What are the main religious affiliations of the realm? Which countries have the largest Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian populations? How do you think this diversity of religious beliefs could create difficulties in the workplace?
8. What is the newest country to declare independence in the realm? Which European country colonized the area? Why didn’t this country gain its independence many decades ago?
9. How have the overseas Chinese influenced the realm of Southeast Asia? Why have the overseas Chinese been so influential in the economic situation of the Pacific Rim?
10. What other region of the world has similar dynamics in physical geography and colonial activities to the insular region of Southeast Asia?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Chao Phraya River
• Gulf of Tonkin
• Ho Chi Minh City
• Indochina
• Insular Region
• Irrawaddy River
• Mainland Region
• Mekong River
• Red River
• Saigon
• Siam
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the main economic activities of each country.
2. Understand how Vietnam was divided by civil war and the impact the war had on the country.
3. Realize how the country of Laos is addressing its rural landlocked economic situation.
4. Describe the radical conditions that led to the creation of Democratic Kampuchea.
5. Outline the physical geography of Thailand and how this country has developed its economy.
6. Comprehend the conditions in Burma. Learn why the Burmese people would be opposing the government.
Vietnam
The elongated state of Vietnam is slightly larger than Italy and about three times the size of the US state of Kentucky. In 2010 it was estimated to have a population of about ninety million people. Sixty percent of the population is under age twenty-one. This indicates that the population was only about half its current size at the end of the Vietnam War. Vietnam has two main urban core areas: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) in the south and the capital, Hanoi, in the north. The middle region of Vietnam is narrow, with higher elevation. Each core area is located along a major river delta. The Red River delta is located east of Hanoi in the north, and the mighty Mekong River delta is located next to Saigon in the south. These river deltas deposit silt from upstream and provide excellent farmland for growing multiple crops of rice and food grains per year.
Vietnam has a tropical Type A climate with a long coastline. Fishing provides protein to balance out nutritional needs. More than 55 percent of the population works in agriculture. Family size has dropped dramatically because of population growth and a trend toward urbanization. Rural-to-urban shift has caused the two main urban core cities to grow rapidly. Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam and has a port that can accommodate oceangoing vessels. Hanoi, the capital, is not a port city and is located inland from the nearest port of Haiphong on the coast of the Gulf of Tonkin.
Political Geography
An understanding of Vietnam is not complete without understanding the changes in political control the country of Vietnam has experienced. Different Chinese dynasties controlled Vietnam at different times. When France colonized Vietnam, it imposed the French language as the lingua franca and Christianity as the main religion. Both changes met resistance, but the religious persecution of Buddhism by the French colonizers created harsh adversarial conditions within the culture. The French domination started in 1858. The Japanese replaced it in 1940; this lasted until the end of World War II. With the defeat of Japan in 1945, the French desired to regain control of Vietnam. The French aggressively pushed into the country, but met serious resistance and were finally defeated in 1954 with their loss at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
In the mid-1950s, the Vietnamese began asserting their request for an independent country. The dynamics were similar to that of Korea. After 1954, Vietnam needed to establish a government for their independent country. They were not unified. The northern section rallied around Hanoi and was aligned with a Communist ideology. The southern region organized around Saigon and aligned itself with capitalism and democratic reforms.
During the Cold War, the United States opposed Communism wherever it emerged. Vietnam was one such case. Supporting South Vietnam against the Communists in the north started not long after the defeat of France. By 1960, US advisors were working to bolster South Vietnam’s military power. After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon Johnson had to make a choice to either pull out of Vietnam or push the US military to fully engage the Communists in North Vietnam.
Not wishing Vietnam and its neighbors to “go Communist” through a domino effect—where if one country fell to Communism its neighbors would follow—President Johnson decided to escalate the war in Vietnam. By 1965, more than one half million US soldiers were on the ground in Vietnam. History has recorded the result. Just as Vietnam was divided by political and economic ideology, the Vietnam War also divided the US population. Protests were common on college campuses and public support for the war was often met with public opposition.
Figure 11.4 Portrait of Ho Chi Minh, the Communist Leader of North Vietnam during the Cold War
Wikimedia Commons – public domain.
The US government, under President Richard Nixon, finally decided to pull all US troops out from Vietnam after a cease-fire was agreed upon in a Paris peace conference in 1973. More than fifty-seven thousand US soldiers had died in the Vietnam War. Two years later, in 1975, the North Vietnamese Communists invaded South Vietnam and took control of the entire country. Vietnam was unified under a Communist regime. More than two million people from South Vietnam escaped as refugees and fled to Hong Kong, the United States, or wherever they could go. Thousands were accepted by the United States, which caused ethnic rifts in US communities. The United States placed an embargo on Vietnam and refused to trade with them. The United States did not open diplomatic relations with Vietnam again until 1996. The Vietnam War devastated the infrastructure and economy of the country. Roads, bridges, and valuable distribution systems were destroyed. Vietnam could only turn to what it does best: growing rice and food for its people.
Modern Vietnam
For the past three decades, Vietnam has been recovering and slowly integrating itself with the outside world. Its population has doubled; most of the population was born after the Vietnam War. Their main goal is to seek out opportunities and advantages to provide for themselves and their families. Vietnam has been a rural agrarian society. The two main core cities, however, are now waking up to the outside world, and the outside world is discovering them. Looking for cheap labor and economic profits, economic tigers such as Taiwan are turning to Saigon to set up light manufacturing operations. People from the rural areas are migrating to the cities looking for employment. Saigon has more than 8.5 million people and has a special economic zone (SEZ) located nearby. Rural-to-urban shift is kicking in. After 1975, the city of Saigon was renamed Ho Chi Minh City after the victorious Communist leader, Ho Chi Minh. Many of the people who live there and who live in the United States still refer to it as Saigon.
Any country that experiences rapid urbanization or economic change suffers from serious growing pains. Conflicts usually erupt over control of resources and land ownership, ethnic groups usually vie for power, and environmental damage is usually extensive. All these issues are evident in Vietnam. The dogmatic Communist government has acted to moderate both the problems and the economic growth. The future of Vietnam may be similar to most of Southeast Asia as it balances out the strong adhesive forces of local culture and the demands of a competitive global economy. The growing population will add to the demand for resources and employment opportunities. Vietnam has been a relatively poor country but it still has been able to export rice and other agricultural products. In recent years, the Communist government has implemented a series of reforms moving toward a market economy, which has encouraged economic development and international trade.
Globalization has prompted a strong rural-to-urban shift within Vietnam. The rural countryside is still steeped in its agrarian heritage based on growing rice and food crops, but the urban centers have been energized by modern technology and outside economic interest. Vietnam has enormous growth potential. The country’s urban centers are shifting from stage 2 of the index of economic development into stage 3, where the urbanization rates are the strongest. The rapid rise of the global economy that is connected to Vietnam’s major cities has provided jobs and opportunities that are highly sought after by the growing population. The city streets are filled with a sea of motorbikes and bicycle traffic. Cars are becoming more plentiful. Saigon has been a major destination for the export textile industry and other industries seeking a cheap labor base. Cell phones and Internet services have connected a once-isolated country with the rest of the world.
Laos
The geography of Laos centers on the Mekong River basin and rugged mountain terrain. Laos is landlocked. Vietnam shields Laos from the South China Sea to the east and Cambodia to the south. It doesn’t have a port city to the outside world. The mountains reach up to 9,242 feet. The Type A climate provides a rainy season and a dry season. The rains usually fall between May and November, followed by a dry season for the remainder of the year. The Mekong River flows through the land and provides fresh water, irrigation, and transportation. The country’s capital and largest city, Vientiane, is located on the Mekong River. Laos is about the same size in area as the US state of Utah.
The Lao Kingdom coalesced in the 1500s and was eventually absorbed by the Kingdom of Siam, which thrived during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. France muscled in during the colonial era and created a French Indochina. Laos received independence from France in 1949. Laos is a rural country with about 80 percent of the population working in agriculture. Globalization has not yet been established in this country and infrastructure is less developed. Electricity is not available on a consistent basis and transportation systems are quite basic. There aren’t any railroads and there are few paved roads. Clean water for human consumption is not always available. The economy is based on agriculture, with some outside investments in mining and natural resources.
Two-thirds of the people in Laos are Buddhists. Animist traditions and spirit worship have the next highest percentage of followers. Muslims and Christians make up a small percentage of the population. Lao make up the largest ethnic group and 70 percent of the population. Other ethnicities include the Hmong and mountain tribal groups, which can be found in various remote regions of the country. The remoteness and rural heritage of the many tribal people have started to attract tourism. Tourism has increased in recent years, partially due to the Chinese government allowing its citizens to travel outside their borders from China into Laos. Laos has two UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the historic town of Luang Prabang, and the southern site of Wat Phou (Vat Phu), which is an ancient Hindu temple complex.
Laos is a poor country. It has fewer employment opportunities for its citizens than other developing countries have. The one-party Communist political system of the Cold War has been decentralizing control and working to encourage entrepreneurial activities. Foreign investments are increasing in the areas of mining, hydroelectric production, and major construction projects. The World Bank and other agencies have supported efforts to improve infrastructure and provide opportunities for the people of Laos. China has been partnering with the Laotian government to help build rail transport in the country. These efforts have assisted in reducing poverty and increasing the economic and physical health of the country.
A Notorious History
Cambodia is about the same size in area as the US state of Missouri. The population in 2008 was estimated at 14.5 million. The Khmers created the Angkor Empire, which reached its peak between the tenth and thirteenth centuries. Preceding the colonial period, the Angkor Empire entered into a long era of decline. France took control of the region in the latter part of the seventeenth century. Japan took control of the region before World War II and then relinquished it when they surrendered to end World War II. France regained control of Cambodia after the Japanese army was defeated. Cambodia finally received independence from France in 1953.
To understand Cambodia, one has to understand its recent history. This country has undergone some of the most extreme social transitions in modern times. The Khmer Rouge, under the leadership of Pol Pot, turned society upside down, giving the country a legacy that it will carry forward as integration continues into the world community.
Between 1969 and 1973, while the United States was fighting the Vietnam War, US forces bombed and briefly invaded Cambodia in an effort to disrupt the North Vietnamese military operations and oppose the Khmer Rouge. Millions of Cambodians were made refugees by the war, and many ended up in Phnom Penh. The number of casualties from the US bombing missions in Cambodia is unknown. The US war in Vietnam thus had spilled over into Laos and Cambodia and advanced the opportunities for the Khmer Rouge regime to gain power. Pol Pot’s Communist forces of the Khmer Rouge finally captured Cambodia’s capital of Phnom Penh in 1975. The Khmer Rouge evacuated all cities and towns and forced the people to move to the rural areas. The country’s name was changed to Democratic Kampuchea. China’s Great Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward disaster were influential for Pol Pot’s radical experiment. Since Vietnam was supported by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), the Khmer Rouge looked to China for arms and support.
Pol Pot was creating an agricultural model for a new country based on eleventh-century ideals. People in urban areas were forcibly marched off into the countryside for labor in agriculture. Anyone who resisted or even hinted at dissent was killed. All traces of Westernized ideas, technology, medical practice, religion, or books were destroyed. Thousands of people were systematically killed in an attempt to bring into being a rural agrarian utopian society. The thousands upon thousands who were systematically eliminated gave rise to the term Killing Fields, meaning fields where massive groups of people were forced to dig their own graves and then were killed. The mass killings were reminiscent of those carried out by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao. Pol Pot’s regime also targeted ethnic minority groups. Muslims and Chinese suffered serious purges. Professional, educated people, such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers, were also targeted for execution. According to some reports, the very act of wearing eyeglasses was a death sentence as it was a symbol of intellectualism. In a country of eight million in 1970, more than two million people were executed or died as a result of Pol Pot’s policies. The total number will never be known. Hundreds of thousands became refugees in neighboring countries.
By 1978, the Khmer Rouge was isolated in the countryside. Vietnamese forces controlled the urban areas. A decade of civil war and unrest followed. Paris peace talks, cease-fires, United Nations–sponsored elections and coalition governments have since helped provide political stability. Pol Pot died under unclear circumstances in 1998 while being held under house arrest. As of 1999, the Khmer Rouge elements that were still in existence had surrendered or were arrested. Many of the Khmer Rouge leaders were charged with crimes against humanity by United Nations–sponsored tribunals.
Modern Cambodia
Cambodia is working to become a democratic and open country with established trade relationships with global markets. The people have struggled to create a stable society that can rebound from their legacy of turmoil and conflict. The country’s population is relatively young. More than half the population is under age twenty-five; one-third is under fifteen. The rural areas and the generations who remain there continue to lack the basic amenities of modern society. Education, electricity, and modern infrastructure are lacking. More than half the population works in agriculture. Since less than 25 percent of the population lives in cities, Cambodia is likely to experience a high rural-to-urban shift in its future.
People are returning to religious practices that were banned during the Pol Pot era. Buddhism is the dominant religion of about 95 percent of the population. Small percentages of the population also practice Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, or tribal beliefs. There are at least twenty distinct hill tribes that hold to their own traditions and cultural ways. The country has historically been self-sufficient with food, but the rapid population growth, political instability, and lack of infrastructure are challenging the future of the country.
Agriculture has been the main economic activity, though textiles (clothing manufacturing) have increased in recent years because of the low cost of labor combined with an abundant workforce. The international business sector has sought to exploit this opportunity, but multinational corporations are hesitant to invest in a country that suffers from political instability or a high level of corruption within the public and private sector.
Cambodia has been attempting to build a sustainable economy. The textile industry is the number one source of national wealth. Sweatshops and low-tech manufacturing have begun to take root in the expanding capital city of Phnom Penh. Tourism is another sector that has experienced rapid growth. Though nonexistent in earlier decades, tourism has taken off. Cambodian tourism provides travelers with an experience that is more pristine and less commercialized. Tourism has been rated as the second-largest sector of the economy. One of the main sites that attract many visitors is the extraordinary ancient site of Angkor Wat (Angkor means “city” and Wat “temple”). This site is one of the best-preserved showcases of Khmer architecture from its early empire years. Angkor Wat is being developed as a major tourist attraction. The twelfth-century complex was first a Hindu site dedicated to Vishnu, and then it was converted to a Buddhist site. Angkor Wat has become an international tourist destination. It is one of the largest temple complexes in existence in the world and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city of Angkor has been estimated to have been the largest city in the world at its peak. As many as a thousand other temples and ancient structures have been recovered in the same area in recent years.
Cambodia has pressing environmental problems. The country has the notorious designation by the UN as the nation with the third-highest number of land mines on Earth. Since 1970, more than sixty thousand people have been killed, and many more injured or maimed because of unexploded land mines in rural areas. The growing population, attempting to recover from decades of devastation, has cut down the rainforest at one of the highest rates in the world. In 1970, rainforests covered about 70 percent of the country. Today there is only about 3 percent of the rainforest left. A rise in the need for resources, along with illegal timber activities, has devastated the forests, resulting in a high level of soil erosion and loss of habitat for indigenous species. The loss of natural resources is likely to hinder the country’s economic growth.
Thailand
Thailand is larger than Laos and Cambodia combined but smaller than Burma. The physical regions that make up Thailand include the mountainous north, where peaks reach up to 8,415 feet; the large southeastern plateau bordering the Mekong River; and the mainly flat valley that dominates the center of the country. The southern part of the country includes the narrow isthmus that broadens out to create the Malay Peninsula. The tropical Type A climate has dry and rainy seasons similar to Cambodia. The weather pattern in the main part of Thailand, north of the Malay Peninsula, has three seasons. The main rainy season lasts between June and October, when the southwest monsoon arrives with heavy rain clouds from over the Indian Ocean. After the rainy season, the land cools off and starts to receive the northeast monsoon, which is a cool dry wind that blows from November to February. Considered the dry season, its characteristics are lower humidity and cooler temperatures. From March to May, the temperatures rise and the land heats up. Then the cycle starts over again with the introduction of the rainy season. The weather pattern in the southern part of Thailand in the Malay Peninsula receives more rain throughout the year, with two rainy seasons that peak from April through May and then again from October through December.
Thailand was formerly known as the Kingdom of Siam. In 1932, a constitutional monarchy was established after a bloodless revolution erupted in the country. The name was officially changed to Thailand in 1939. The ruling monarch remains head of state but a prime minister is head of the government. Siam was never colonized by either the Europeans or the Japanese. The leaders of Siam played France and Britain against each other and remained independent of colonial domination. During World War II, the Japanese did extend influence in the region. Thailand briefly engaged the Japanese military in World War II but worked out an armistice that used the Japanese military to regain territories lost to Britain or France. At the same time, Thailand was working to support Allied efforts in the region.
About three-fourths of the population is ethnically Thai. There is a noticeable Chinese population and a small percentage of people who are ethnically Malay. There are various minority groups and hill tribes. The country’s official language is Thai. Buddhism is adhered to by about 95 percent of the population. The ruling monarch is considered the defender of the Buddhist faith. Southern Buddhism is fervently practiced here. Thailand does not use the Western Gregorian calendar. Thailand uses an official calendar based on an Eastern translation of the Buddhist era, which essentially adds 543 years to the Gregorian calendar. For example, when it was 2010 AD in the West, it was 2553 BE in Thailand.
There have been clashes between Thailand’s small Muslim minority groups in the south, which have been increasing since 9-11. Islamic influences have been increasing near the border with Malaysia, which is about 60 percent Muslim. The Buddhist government of Thailand has sought to keep extremist groups like Al-Qaeda from operating within its borders. A series of Muslim-inspired bombings in recent years have increased social tensions and brought more attention to the religious division in the south.
Thailand has an excellent record of economic growth and has been one of Southeast Asia’s best performers in the past couple of decades. Thailand is developing its infrastructure and has established measures to attract foreign investments and support free-enterprise economic activities. The recent slowdown in the global economy and internal political problems have caused a sharp downturn in Thailand’s economic growth. Nevertheless, Thailand remains a strong economic force and one of the best economies in the region. The positive indicators include a strong focus on infrastructure, industrial exports, and tourism.
Urbanization rates are increasing; at least one-third of the population lives in cities. Family size has fallen to lower than two children per family, while education rates have increased. The country has also tapped into its natural resources for export profits as the world’s third-largest exporter of tin and the second-largest exporter of tungsten. Light manufacturing has taken off and become a major component of the economy, accounting for about 45 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). The country is a major manufacturer of textiles, footwear, jewelry, auto parts, and electrical components. Thailand has been the major exporter of rice in the world and has a strong agricultural base.
Thailand is a newly industrialized country and has all its bases covered to build national wealth: a balance of agriculture, extractive activities, manufacturing, and postindustrial activities (tourism). Thailand is considered the third-largest manufacturer of motor vehicles in Asia, after Japan and Korea. Vehicle producers from the United States and Asia are manufacturing large numbers of cars and trucks in Thailand. Toyota dominates the market in both truck and auto production. Truck production is augmented by Mitsubishi, Nissan, Chevrolet, Ford, and Mazda. Honda, from Japan, and the Tata Motor Corporation, from India, are expanding their operations in Thailand. Thailand is in a good position to advance its economy and shift the whole country into the next stage of development to become a major participant in the global economic marketplace.
The tourism industry has grown immensely in Thailand over the past few decades. Green and lush tropical mountain landscapes, the exquisite architecture of ancient Buddhist temples, and beautiful golden beaches along warm tropical coastlines make for an excellent tourism market. Some of the best world-class tropical beach resorts are located along the sandy and sunny shores of Thailand. The country is open to outsiders and has welcomed tourism as part of its economic equation. The relatively stable country provides a safe and exciting tourism agenda that has a global clientele. The downside of the thriving tourism industry is the sex trade. Relaxed laws on sexual activity have made Thailand a destination for people from around the world seeking “sex tours” and erotic experiences. Not surprisingly, a sharp increase in the number of individuals infected with sexually transmitted diseases has been documented. Approximately one million people in Thailand tested HIV positive in the mid-1990s. The sex industry has been big business for Thailand and at the same time has created an unfortunate negative stereotype for the overall tourism situation. There is much more to the tourism industry in Thailand than the sex trade.
The country of Thailand has the potential to recover from the global economic downturn and once again claim its role as an economic tiger of Southeast Asia. If political stability serves to enhance economic investments, the country will continue to experience economic growth. The low population growth is a model for other countries in the region. Thailand provides a good example of the theory that as a country urbanizes and industrializes, family size will usually go down. Thailand is also moving forward in the index of economic development. It is in stage 3, where there is a strong rural-to-urban shift in the population. The capital city of Bangkok has stage 4 development patterns and is an economic core area for the country and the region. As large as New York City, Bangkok has developed into the political, cultural, and economic center of Southeast Asia. Often referred to as the “Venice of the East” because of its city canals, Bangkok has become a global city with a population of more than eight million people officially and more than fifteen million unofficially.
Myanmar or Burma
The Union of Myanmar (Union of Burma) is the official name for Burma. Since 1989, the military authorities in Burma have promoted the name Myanmar as a conventional name for their state. The US government and many other governments have not recognized or accepted the name change. Some groups within Burma do not accept the name because the translation of Myanmar is also the name of an ethnic minority in Burma. The use of the name Burma or Myanmar is split around the world and within the country.
Burma is the largest country on the Southeast Asian mainland in terms of physical area. It is about the same size in area as Texas and had a population in 2010 of about fifty-four million. The country has a central mass with a southern protrusion that borders Thailand toward the Malay Peninsula. The northern border area between India and China has high mountains that are part of the Himalayas, with towering peaks extending to 19,295 feet. The Irrawaddy River cuts through the center of the country from north to south, creating a delta in the largest city, Rangoon (Yangon). Most of the country’s population lives along this river valley.
There are differences in physical landscape between the north and south. The northernmost area is mountainous with evergreen forests. Cool temperatures are found in the north and warmer annual temperatures are found in the south. To the west of the Irrawaddy River and north of Mandalay the land cover is mainly deciduous forests. The eastern region from Mandalay to the Laos border is scrub forests and grasslands. This area is considered the dry zone, with an annual rainfall of about forty inches. The more tropical south and coastal areas can receive higher levels of precipitation. The area around the core city of Mandalay was a major focus of agricultural development before British colonialism. Dryland crops were most common. During the colonial era, the British looked to the rich farmlands of the southern Irrawaddy delta and emphasized Rangoon as the center of their exploitations. Wetland rice is a major crop of the southern Irrawaddy basin. The southwest and the southern protrusion are mainly tropical evergreen forests. There has been oil exploration along the coastal regions of the Bay of Bengal and along the Andaman Sea.
The country was colonized by the British and was once a part of Great Britain’s empire in South Asia as a province of India. Burma was one of the most prosperous colonies of Britain until World War II, when the Japanese invaded and war devastated the region. Democratic rule existed from 1948 until 1962, when an authoritarian military dictatorship took over the country. A revolutionary council ruled the country between 1962 and 1974. This government nationalized most of the businesses, factories, and media outlets. The overall operating principle of the council was a concept called the Burmese Way of Socialism. This concept was based on central planning and Communist principles mixed with Buddhist beliefs.
Between 1974 and 1988, the sole political party of the country was the Burma Socialist Program Party, which was controlled by the same military general and his comrades who had been in control for decades. During this time, the rest of the world was advancing in technology and economic development and moving forward with advancements in health care and education. Burma remained an impoverished and isolated nation. A number of countries, including the United States, have trade restrictions with Burma. For decades, the authoritarian regime in Burma has been accused of serious human rights violations, which have largely been ignored by the outside world.
Protests against the military rule have always existed in Burma but have been suppressed by the armed forces and the authoritarian government. In 1962, the government cracked down on demonstrations at Rangoon University, resulting in fifteen students being killed and many others in need of medical attention. The military government has taken serious action against any antigovernment protest activities. By 1988, the people of Burma were taking to the streets with widespread demonstrations and protests against the government over claims of oppression, mismanagement, and lack of democratic reforms. A total crackdown on the people was implemented, with thousands of protesters killed. A new council led by a military general created the State Law and Order Restoration Council a year later. Martial law was imposed and even harsher policies were imposed on anyone opposing the government. This is when the name of Myanmar was first used for the country.
The name change and the military rule have not been universally accepted. The United States still refers to the capital city as Rangoon, not as Yangon. In 2006, military rulers moved the capital north to the city of Naypyidaw. The purpose of the move was to establish a forward capital and shift development and political energy more toward the center of the country, rather than along the coast. World nations are divided on the issues of how to deal with the changes and the military regime in Burma. The governments of some countries believe more sanctions should be implemented to force the leadership into compliance. Other countries believe sanctions are not effective against the government; that is, sanctions harm the people and do not affect the military leadership. Countries on this side of the equation believe that open trade is the best policy.
Demonstrators Marching to Express Discontent with the Government of Rangoon (Yangon), 2007
The banner, written in Burmese, refers to a national movement to promote nonviolence. A Buddhist monk is in the foreground, and the Shwedagon Pagoda is in the background.
Antigovernment protests erupted in 2007 when the military-ruled government allowed prices on fuel and energy to double and triple in price. Protesters were quickly and violently dealt with and many were arrested and jailed. Later that year, thousands of Buddhist monks led a peaceful protest to gain the government’s attention to make democratic changes. The demonstration ended in a renewed government crackdown. Another voice in the antigovernment demonstrations has been that of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a UN worker in the early 1960s and a Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1991. Her opposition to the military rule has led to imprisonment and house arrest for decades. She has been a symbol of the opposition and hope for democratic reforms. In 2010, Aung San Suu Kyi was at long last released from house arrest and allowed more freedom of movement under government restrictions.
Burma has been placed in the same category as North Korea and Somalia in terms of authoritarian rule, lack of human rights, and stagnant economy. Economic conditions are poor. The military rulers have gained control of the main income-generating enterprises in the country, including the lucrative drug trade from the prime opium growing region of the northern Golden Triangle, where Burma borders Laos and Thailand. All factors seem to indicate an increase in opium production in recent years. Precious gemstones such as rubies, sapphires, and jade are abundant in Burma. Rubies bring the highest incomes. Burma produces about 90 percent of the world’s supply, with superb quality. The Valley of Rubies in the north is noted for quality gem production of both rubies and sapphires. Most of the gems are sold to buyers in Thailand. All the profits go to Burma’s military rulers in the government, and since there is a high level of corruption and mismanagement within the government and business, the income from the gems produces limited economic development for the main population and discourages foreign investment in the country. Burma has become one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia. China has emerged as the main trading partner with Burma and has been propping up the dictatorial military regime. China supplies the regime with arms, constructs many of the infrastructure projects, and supplies natural gas to the country.
Burma is ethnically diverse. Though it is difficult to verify, the government of Burma recognizes one hundred thirty-five distinct ethnic groups within its borders. It is estimated that there are over a hundred different ethnolinguistic groups in Burma. About 90 percent of the population is Buddhist. This high level of diversity can allow for strong centrifugal forces that are not generally conducive to unity and nationalism. The heavy emphasis on the national military is one of the only centripetal forces within the population, even though the military leadership is also looked at with distain by those desiring more openness and democratic conditions.
Key Takeaways
• France and Britain colonized the mainland region of Southeast Asia. Burma was a British colony and the rest was under French colonial rule. The Japanese took control of the region briefly before World War II ended in 1945. Siam was the only area not colonized. Siam became the country of Thailand.
• Vietnam was divided by a Communist north and a capitalist south during the Cold War. Vietnam is emerging from decades of isolation to provide the global economy with a large low-cost labor pool that has been attracting foreign investments by multinational corporations.
• The rural and landlocked nation of Laos has strong Buddhist traditions and an agrarian society.
• Cambodia was impacted by the Vietnam War and then by the devastation of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge radical experiment in agrarian socialism, which killed as many as 2.5 million people. Recovery has been slow, but the textile industry and tourism have contributed to economic growth.
• The Buddhist country of Thailand has been experiencing major economic development in recent decades and has established itself as a major economic power in the region. The modern capital city of Bangkok is a major center of manufacturing and cultural activities.
• The people of Burma (Myanmar) continue to suffer under an authoritarian regime that offers few civil rights or democratic processes to its people. Poor, isolated, and militarily controlled, Burma has been at the center of many human rights violations in recent decades with little response from the international community.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main physical features and qualities of the mainland region of Southeast Asia?
2. What are the two main core areas of Vietnam? Which river is associated with each city?
3. What prompted the United States to enter into the conflict in Vietnam? Did Vietnam attack the United States?
4. What river flows through parts of Laos? What is the main economic activity in Laos?
5. What geographic aspect isolates the country of Laos and restricts its globalization efforts?
6. Who was Pol Pot? What type of society did he attempt to create? What were some of his methods?
7. What were the Killing Fields? What people were targeted to be eliminated? Why were these people killed?
8. What attracts tourism to Cambodia, Laos, or Thailand? Why aren’t more tourists going to Burma?
9. What is the main religion in Southeast Asia? Who is considered the defender of this faith?
10. Who is Aung San Suu Kyi? How is she a reflection of conditions in her country?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Andaman Sea
• Golden Triangle
• Malay Peninsula
• Mandalay
• Naypyidaw
• Rangoon
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/11%3A_Southeast_Asia/11.02%3A_The_Mainland_Countries.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the economic development of each of the countries in this section.
2. Understand that Malaysia is divided between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo.
3. Outline how the structured island nation of Singapore became an economic tiger.
4. Describe the physical geography of Indonesia and the population dynamics of the island of Java.
5. Summarize the cultural characteristics of the Philippines. Learn why this country is a popular destination for business process outsourcing (BPO).
The insular region of Southeast Asia includes the countries of Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, East Timor, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Of the Southeast Asian countries, East Timor most recently gained its independence, as was mentioned in the previous lesson. In comparing these island nations, extensive diversity in all aspects will be found. There are major differences in cultural, economic, and political dynamics, and in the ethnic groups that make up the dominant majorities in each. There is also a high level of linguistic and religious diversity. The physical geography varies from island to island; some have high mountain relief and others are low-lying and relatively flat. Active tectonic plate action in the region causes earthquakes and volcanic activity, resulting in destruction of infrastructure and loss of life; both acutely impact human activities.
Economic forces continue to prompt the countries of Southeast Asia to enter into trade relationships that integrate them with global networks based on dependency and reliance. The old colonial powers may no longer control them politically but may affect them economically. The new dynamics of corporate colonialism, with their economic power located in the core economic regions, still seek to exploit the countries of Southeast Asia for their labor and resources. These Asian nations are working to develop their own economies and use their own labor and resources to gain national wealth and increase the standard of living for their people. Each country has to contend with globalization forces within the international network of economic relationships.
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country made up of various British colonies that came together as a federation and then became an independent country. Britain started establishing colonies in the region in the late 1700s. The two main areas include the western colonies on the Malay Peninsula and the eastern colonies on the island of Borneo. The western settlements were part of the Malay Peninsula, which included the colonies of Pinang and Singapore. Eventually, the British took control of the eastern colonies of Brunei, Sarawak, and Sabah on the island of Borneo. In 1957, the western colonies on the mainland peninsula broke from their British colonizers and became an independent country called the Federation of Malaya. In 1963, the British Borneo colonies of Sarawak and Sabah joined the Federation of Malaya to form the current country, which is called Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore broke off from Malaysia and became an independent country. Brunei, which was still a British protectorate, became independent in 1984.
Malaysia has two main land areas separated by the South China Sea. The regions of Sarawak and Sabah, on the island of Borneo, are called East Malaysia; the mainland on the Malay Peninsula is called West Malaysia. These regions have similar physical landscapes, which include coastal plains with nearby densely forested foothills and mountains. The highest mountains, rising 13,436 feet, are in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Located near the equator, Malaysia has a tropical Type A climate with monsoons regularly occurring from October to February.
Diversity of Culture and Ethnicity in Malaysia
Malaysia’s culture is diverse in that several major religions are practiced within its borders. Islam is considered the official religion and is supported by at least 60 percent of the population. About 20 percent of the people are Buddhists, 10 percent Christians, and 6 percent Hindu. The remaining percentages of the population include traditional Chinese religions and local tribal beliefs. In this Islamic country, there are concerns that Muslims get preferential treatment by government programs and policies. There are even special judicial legal courts for Muslims only to work out issues regarding marriage, custody, inheritance, or other conflicting Islamic issues regarding faith and obligation. This court only hears Islamic issues and no other legal matters. There have been movements by minority extremist groups that would like to see Malaysia shift toward a true Islamic state, complete with the Sharia Criminal Code as the law of the land. The movement, however, has been cracked down on by the government. Since the 9-11 incident in the United States, there has been more concern about extremist religious views.
People of Malay ethnic background make up more than 50 percent of the population. People of Chinese descent are the second-largest group at about 24 percent. An additional 11 percent of the population is made up of indigenous groups. During British colonialism, a number of people from South Asia were brought to Malaysia. For example, Tamils were brought from India to work the plantations. Their Hindu beliefs were infused into the culture and some Tamils also converted to Christianity. Sikhs were brought from South Asia to help Britain run the country as police, soldiers, or security officers. The Sikhs who came brought their religion with them, which added to the multireligious dynamics of the country.
Malaysia’s diverse ethnic and cultural mix often results in strong centrifugal forces that push and pull on the societal dynamics of the country. China has been active in the business community and has established strong economic ties with regional countries that have Chinese populations. The single largest minority group in the province of Sarawak on Borneo is Chinese. As a minority group, Chinese citizens of Malaysia have felt discrimination. Since the official language is Malay and the official religion is Islam, there have been concerns about discrimination against all minority groups. Working through the cultural and ethnic diversity has been a major challenge for the country. Each minority religious or ethnic group desires to celebrate its own special holidays. For example, there is the usual New Year’s celebration on January 1, and then there is the traditional fifteen-day Chinese New Year celebration celebrated at a different time of the year. Sikhs celebrate the Sikh New Year. Buddhists celebrate a holiday in honor of the life and enlightenment of Buddha. Christians celebrate Christmas and Easter. Many other holidays of significance are respected or honored by various minority groups.
Economic Development in Malaysia
Malaysia has rapidly advanced its economy in recent decades and is modernizing its infrastructure—roads, bridges, highways, and urban facilities. In the capital city, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia built a modern central business district with a twin high-rise office building claimed to be the world’s tallest at the time of construction. Before the global economic downturn that started in 2007, Malaysia had developed a fast-growing economy and was industrializing at a rapid rate. Malaysia has taken advantage of its location on a major shipping lane and has shifted to manufacturing as an important sector of its economy. The country has been a leader in the export of natural resources such as tin, rubber, and palm oil and has developed its agricultural and extractive sectors to gain income. The 1980s and 1990s were prosperous times for the country and it matured its manufacturing base from light textiles into electronics and heavy industries.
One aspect of the country that is looming on the horizon and may cause problems is the high population growth rate. In 2010, Malaysia’s population was estimated at more than twenty-five million, with a doubling time of about forty years. Though the country is 70 percent urban, family size (fertility rate) is still at about 3.0, which indicates an increasing population growth pattern. One-third of the population is under the age of fifteen. Malaysia is one case where the general principle that if a country urbanizes and industrializes the family size will go down has not taken place fast enough. The fertility rate has dropped from 5.0 to 3.0, but it needs to get below a rate of about 2.0 if the country is going to successfully stabilize its population growth. Unless the country addresses this population growth, the demand for resources might outstrip economic progress in the future.
Singapore
Under British colonial rule, the island of Singapore was included in the Malaysian federation. It broke away and became independent in 1965. It is a small island measuring about thirty miles long at its widest point. Singapore is about two hundred forty square miles in area. Singapore’s most valuable resource is its relative location. Singapore is similar to Hong Kong in its development. With a good port, Singapore is a hub for ships sailing between Europe and China. It serves Southeast Asia as an entrepôt, or break-of-bulk point, where goods are offloaded from large ships and transported to smaller vessels for distribution to the Southeast Asian community.
Singapore has made good strategic utilization of its geographic location by serving as a distribution center for goods and materials processed in the region. Crude oil from Indonesia is unloaded and refined here. Raw materials are shipped in, manufactured into finished products, and then shipped out to global markets. Since Singapore is small, it has had to concentrate on manufacturing goods that provide for optimal profits. As an economic tiger, Singapore has transitioned through the same stages as Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong to become an economic power in Southeast Asia.
To keep labor costs low, initial manufactured products were textiles, clothing, and cheap goods. As incomes and labor skills rose, so did the complexity of the manufactured goods. The government of Singapore has targeted certain types of products to ensure a high profit margin and a global market need. This has included automation equipment, biotechnology, and high-end information technologies. Singapore doesn’t manufacture automobiles but it does manufacture automation robotic components that most modern auto manufactures will purchase and use. Medical technology is expensive and is in high demand the world over. Singapore is targeting this market. The information age has spawned new technologies that are evolving rapidly and, once again, Singapore has been at the center of this industry. Singapore has been a center for the production of computer disc drives for a multitude of global corporations.
Singapore Island is a swampy place with no natural resources. All production components, food goods, construction materials, and energy must be imported. Importing everything has raised the cost of living. To compete with the other Asian economic tigers in the global marketplace, Singapore has implemented severe control measures on its operations. There are harsh penalties for criminal activities and for even misdemeanor offenses. Singapore is a safe place to live because of its strict state rules. It has an authoritarian government, which strives to create an attractive place for international corporations to operate. One of the objectives is to eliminate corruption and establish a business-friendly environment.
The government of Singapore has entered into trade agreements with two of its neighbors to provide raw materials and cheap labor. A trade triangle has been established between Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Malaysia and Indonesia provide Singapore with raw materials and cheap labor; Singapore provides its neighbors with technical know-how and financial support. Everyone benefits. Singapore is an excellent example of the upper end of the economic spectrum in Southeast Asia. Countries like Laos or Vietnam would be at the opposite end, since they have a largely rural population based on agriculture that is just beginning to shift to the cities with industrialization. Singapore is already 100 percent urban with high incomes based on high-tech manufacturing and processing of raw materials. Singapore is an economic hub for Southeast Asia, complete with global airline connections and is located on a major shipping lane. Singapore’s world-class port is one of the busiest in Asia. The rest of Southeast Asia is somewhere in between these two ends of the spectrum as far as economic development is concerned.
Indonesia
The country of Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelago state, consisting of more than 17,500 islands, about one-third of which are inhabited. Indonesia is the sixteenth-largest country in the world by area. The combined area of all the islands and regions of Indonesia would equal about the size of the country of Mexico. The country shares land borders with the Borneo side of Malaysia, the western half of the island of Timor, and the western portion of the island of New Guinea, which is shared with the country of Papua New Guinea.
The country’s location on both sides of the equator provides a tropical Type A climate, complete with a monsoon season. Average rainfall can vary from seventy to two hundred forty inches per year. The highest mountain is in West Papua and rises to about 16,024 feet. Indonesia is located on the Pacific Rim, where tectonic plate activity produces earthquakes and volcanic activity. The country is home to over one hundred fifty active volcanoes, including two of the most famous ones, Krakatoa and Tambora. Both had devastating eruptions in the past two centuries. One of the most violent volcanic explosions ever recorded in human history came from Krakatoa, which is located between the islands of Java and Sumatra. A series of eruptions in 1883 were heard as far away as the coast of Africa. Shockwaves reverberated around the globe seven times. Ash erupted into the atmosphere to a height of about fifty miles. The official death toll was 36,417, but estimates from local sources place it as high as 120,000. Global temperatures fell by about 2 °F, and weather patterns were disrupted for the next five years. Krakatoa remains active. Over the past few decades, the volcanic peak has been growing at the average rate of about five inches per week.
The tropical climate and the archipelago nature of the country provide for enormous biodiversity within the environment. Second only to Brazil in its biodiversity, Indonesia is host to an enormous number of unique plants and animals. The habitats of many of these creatures are being encroached upon by human activity. The remote islands have more of a chance of escaping habitat devastation and remaining intact, but agricultural and extractive economic activities have converted much of the natural environment into a cultural landscape that is not conducive to environmental sustainability.
Animals such as orangutans are losing their natural forests and may become extinct if current trends continue. The timber industry has brought about deforestation. Slash and burn agriculture has destroyed forest habitat, and human development patterns such as roads and urbanization have altered the ecosystems of the region. According to recent reports, Indonesia is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide in the world because of the high number of forest fires set each year. In 2009, the United States brokered a deal with Indonesia to forgive thirty million dollars of its debt if the country would work to protect forests on the island of Sumatra, which is home to endangered indigenous animals such as tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans.
In 2010, the estimated population of Indonesia was about 245 million. Indonesia has the fourth-largest population of any country in the world, after the United States, India, and China. Indonesia also has more Muslims than any other country in the world. More than half the population of Indonesia lives on Java, the island where Jakarta, the capital city, is located. Java is the most populous island in the world, and has a population density of more than 2,400 people per square mile. Java is the size in area of the US state of Louisiana. Java has 135 million people, whereas Louisiana has 4.5 million people. Jakarta is a world-class city that is larger than New York City and encompasses a large metropolitan area, complete with many manufacturing centers, business complexes, and housing districts.
The many islands of Indonesia are home to a large number of diverse ethnic and religious groups that vary as widely as any Southeast Asian nation. There may be as many as three hundred different and distinct ethnic groups in Indonesia. Many of the ethnic groups are further divided by islands or distance. More than two hundred fifty separate languages and hundreds of additional dialects are spoken. There are an estimated seven hundred fifty languages spoken on the island of New Guinea itself, with hundreds of them spoken on the Indonesian side of the island, in a population of less than three million. The most prevalent language group in the country as a whole is Javanese, which is spoken by about 42 percent of the population. Javanese includes the official language of Indonesian, which is taught in schools and used in business and politics as the lingua franca of the country. Many people speak more than one language or even a number of languages to communicate throughout the country.
Islam was diffused to Indonesia in the thirteenth century and by the sixteenth century had become the dominant religion. The Indonesian constitution allows for religious freedom, although more than 85 percent of the population follows Islam. There are at least four other religions that are officially recognized: Christianity (both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism), Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Since Islam is followed by such a large percentage of the population, the other religions do not carry the same influence. Regional and ethnic differences play a role in the varied religious dynamics. The island of Bali, for example, is home to a majority Hindu population. Most of the Buddhists are ethnically Chinese, and they only make up a small percentage of the population. Christians and Muslims have had conflicts on the island of Sulawesi. It is common to find the practice of these religions less than orthodox in the more rural communities of the country.
In spite of the diversity within the population, the country of Indonesia has established a substantial degree of nationalism as a centripetal force that holds the country together. There is a relatively high degree of stability in spite of the surface tensions or ethnic and religious conflicts that may erupt. An example of the social tensions is demonstrated in the case of Chinese citizens of Indonesia, who only make up about 1 percent of the population but impart a substantial influence over the privately owned business sector of the economy. This seemingly inequitable relationship has resulted in considerable resentment by other portions of the population, often with violent results. The many islands have become natural divisions between cultural groups.
Some of the islands—or portions of them—have attempted to break away in a devolutionary manner and become independent countries. Just as East Timor became independent, the most western province of Aceh on the island of Sumatra had a similar movement toward independence. West Papua on the island of New Guinea has also had an independence movement. The Aceh situation was negotiated out while the West Papua movement has been suppressed by military and political force. Many of the islands possess large amounts of natural resources, so the country of Indonesia does not want to lose these national assets that could prove valuable in gaining wealth for the future. It is not easy to create national unity with such a diverse population scattered throughout such a large archipelago.
Agriculture has been the historic base of the Indonesian economy. In 2010, it accounted for about 13 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP). Agriculture is the largest employment sector—approximately 42 percent of the workforce. This equates to more than half of the population being rural. Many of the agricultural methods in rural areas are traditional; for example, farmers use water buffalo or oxen for tilling the land. The tropical climate and adequate rainfall provide for multiple crops of rice per year in many areas. Spices, coffee, tea, palm oil, and rubber are also produced in substantial quantities.
Industries are an important building block for how a country gains wealth. In the case of Indonesia, industry accounts for about 40 percent of its GDP and employs about 20 percent of its workforce. Major industries include oil, natural gas, mining, and textiles or clothing manufacturing. Indonesia’s economy has been affected by global markets, but in 2005 still managed to run a trade surplus. Japan has been its main trading partner, and China has also been a major supplier of imported goods. Indonesia has been taking advantage of the trade triangle it has with its neighbors, Singapore and Malaysia, to increase its import and export trade activities.
The political background of Indonesia is similar in dynamics to many of its neighbors. Colonized by Europeans, Indonesia was previously called the Dutch East Indies, which explains why the islands of the Caribbean were called the West Indies. The Dutch colonized Indonesia in the early seventeenth century but had to relinquish possession of the archipelago to the Japanese in World War II. In 1945, after the Japanese surrendered, Indonesia declared its independence, which was finally granted in 1949 after much negotiation. The country’s government quickly moved toward authoritarian rule.
During a fifty-year time period, there were only two authoritarian leaders: Sukarno (1949–68) and Suharto (1968–99). Near the end of Sukarno’s rule, there were violent conflicts between Sukarno’s military and the Communist Party of Indonesia, which resulted in more than five hundred thousand deaths. Suharto’s regime was credited for substantial economic growth but was also accused of serious corruption and the repression of opposition political voices. Since 1999, Indonesia has conducted free parliamentary elections and is now considered the third-largest democracy, after India and the United States.
Brunei
There are noticeable similarities between the oil-rich sheikdoms of the Persian Gulf region in the Middle East and the small sultanate of Brunei on the northern coast of Borneo. Bordered by Sarawak, the sultanate is actually two small separate regions along the coast of the South China Sea. The former British protectorate of Brunei is today a major oil and natural gas exporter. It provides a high standard of living for its small population. The compact country is about the size of the US state of Delaware. The country’s population for 2009 was listed at about 388,000. Brunei is attracting immigrants seeking opportunities and advantages. It is called a sultanate because the kingdom has been ruled by sultans (rulers) from the same family for the past six centuries.
The main ethnic groups in Brunei are Malay, at 66 percent, and Chinese, at 11 percent. Brunei is an Islamic State with Islam as its state religion. About two-thirds of the population is Muslim. Buddhism is the second-most popular religion. The ruling sultan is not only head of state but also prime minister of the government and leader of the Islamic faith. Similar to states in the Middle East where Islam is the official religion, alcohol is banned and the public consumption or sale of it is illegal. Prohibition against alcohol has eliminated the establishments of pubs and nightclubs. Non-Muslims and visitors to the country can legally hold small quantities of alcohol for personal consumption.
The people of Brunei have a high standard of living, with the availability of modern amenities. The government has been concerned about integrating the country into the global economy. Natural gas and crude oil bring in about 90 percent of exports and just over half of the GDP. Education and medical care is free. Food, housing, and rice farming are subsidized by the state. The state has been working to expand the economy beyond natural gas and oil. Agricultural production has been increased and unemployment has been a major focus. The wealthy emirate has also been developing its tourism sector and the financial and banking industry.
Brunei may have to take a lesson from the United Arab Emirates (UAE)—that is, to work to develop a free trade zone to attract international trade—if the country wants to continue to gain wealth once the oil and natural gas run out. It has an excellent location on the South China Sea but would have to compete with the established economic tigers of Singapore and Hong Kong as well as the other rising urban centers in the region, such as Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.
The Philippines
Located on the eastern side of the Southeast Asian community is the archipelago state of the Philippines. With more than 7,100 islands, many volcanic peaks, and an expanse of coastal waterways, the Philippines is home to more than ninety million people in a combined land area about the size of Arizona. The Philippines were a Spanish colony. The name is taken from Spain’s sixteen-century King Philip II. Spain relinquished its claim on the Philippines to the United States in 1898 after its defeat in the Spanish-American War. The people of the Philippines wanted independence at that time and fought a bitter war with the United States in which more than a million people died. The United States allowed the Philippines to become a commonwealth in 1935. The independence movement was placed on hold while the Japanese invaded and controlled the Philippines during World War II. After the war was over, the United States granted the Philippines their independence in 1946.
Environmental Forces
The islands of the Philippines are of volcanic origin. They are mainly mountainous and covered in tropical rainforest. The highest mountain, at 9,692 feet, is Mt. Apo, which is located on the southern island of Mindanao. The Philippines has a number of active volcanoes. The northern island of Luzon is home to the Taal Volcano, Mt. Pinatubo, and Mt. Mayon. The Pacific tectonic plate reaches the southern edge of the Philippine plate where it meets up with the Eurasian Plate. The juncture of tectonic plates creates a similar situation to that of Tokyo, which is at the opposite end of the Philippine plate. Active seismic forces result in many earthquakes. As many as twenty earthquakes a day can be registered here, though many are too weak to be noticed. In 1990, an earthquake on the island of Luzon registered at a magnitude of 7.8 and killed more than 1,621 people, causing extensive damage.
Luzon’s Mt. Pinatubo volcano has been active in recent years. Before 1991, the mountain attracted little attention, was heavily forested, and was home to tribal indigenous people. The volcano had a colossal eruption in 1991 that was recorded as the second largest in a century, after Alaska’s 1912 Novarupta eruption. Mt. Pinatubo began giving signs of an eruption, which were heeded by the government. Thousands of people were evacuated from the area, which saved many lives. The eruption caused billions of dollars in damage. More than eight hundred people were killed, and more than two million were directly impacted. The eruption destroyed more than eight thousand homes and the overall effects of the volcano were felt around the world.
Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption forced billions of tons of magma, ash, sulfur dioxide, minerals, and particulates into the atmosphere and onto the earth’s surface. The sun was blocked out, temperatures dropped, and ash piled up in nearby areas, causing extensive damage to roofs, roadways, and agricultural lands. The damage from the eruption was amplified by the fact that a full-scale typhoon hit the country on the same date, bringing torrential rainfall and wind that mixed with the ash in the air to create extremely dangerous environmental conditions. The damage had a massive impact on the entire economy of the Philippines.
The eruption severely damaged civilian infrastructure and US military bases in the region. The Subic Bay Naval Base was fifty miles to the southwest of Mt. Pinatubo’s summit, while Clark Air Base was less than sixteen miles to the east. Enormous clouds of ash covered everything. As a result of the damage to the operations at the bases, the United States Air Force evacuated and moved all air base personnel and military assets to bases in Guam, Okinawa, or Hawaii. The United States ultimately abandoned Clark Air Base, while Subic Bay reverted to the Philippines. There are thirty-seven volcanoes in the Philippines, of which eighteen are still active. Mt. Mayon is the most active volcano at the present time. It has had forty-seven eruptions in recorded history. The eruption in 1993 killed sixty-eight people and caused the evacuation of sixty thousand more.
Earthquakes and volcanoes are not the only serious natural concerns of the Philippine Islands; they are also directly in the center of the Western Pacific’s major typhoon belt. As many as twenty typhoons occur yearly in the area of the islands, and as many as half hit the islands directly. The 1991 typhoon Thelma/Uring killed as many as eight thousand people. The 1911 typhoon dumped over forty-six inches of rain in a twenty-four-hour period. Flooding is usually the main problem with typhoons and is the number one killer related to typhoon deaths. For more information, see Chapter 5 “Middle America”, Section 5.5 “Tropical Cyclones (Hurricanes)”. Typhoon activity also brings precipitation to the islands and the region. The Philippines are in the major path of typhoons in the Pacific and will continue to combat the effects of these powerful forces of nature.
Political Geography
The Philippines can be divided into three main geopolitical regions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The northern island of Luzon is home to the nation’s national capital region with Quezon, the largest city, and Manila, the capital. Both cities are a part of metropolitan Manila, which has a population of more than twenty million. The northern island of Luzon is home to half the population of the country. The central Philippines consists of the Visayas Island group, including the islands between the Sulu Sea and the Philippine Sea. The southern region of the country is anchored by the large island of Mindanao.
The government of the Philippines is a constitutional republic with an elected president. With independence in 1946 came various leaders who have shaped the political landscape of the Philippines. After recovering from the devastation of World War II, the country prospered during the 1960s and showed positive economic gains. The political scene entered a difficult political era with the election of President Ferdinand Marcos in 1965, which turned into an authoritative dictatorship. During his time in power, the economy became sluggish and social unrest began to arise in opposition to his leadership.
Barred by law from being elected for a third time, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law in 1972 under the premise that there was too much political conflict with Communist elements and Islamic insurgencies. Marcos ruled with his wife Imelda Marcos until 1986, when conditions worsened and the two were implicated in the assassination of opposition leader Benigno Aquino. Corruption, vote rigging, and the dictatorial actions of President Marcos caught up with him through mass protests, which eventually led to his removal from office. He left the Philippines for his exile in Hawaii. It was later alleged that during his twenty years in office, Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos had embezzled billions of dollars of public funds and moved them to bank accounts in Switzerland, the United States, other countries, and into fictitious money-laundering corporations. Ferdinand Marcos died of illness in 1989 in Honolulu.
Imelda Marcos returned to the Philippines to run for public office and even attempted a failed run for the presidency. Imelda was known for her thousands of shoes, which she had acquired while in power. Many of them are in a shoe museum in the Philippines. She was also known for her extravagant spending trips around the world. Several different political leaders have come to power since the Ferdinand Marcos era. Political stability has been difficult to achieve. The national leadership has faced Islamic insurgencies, attempted coups, corruption in the government, and a high national debt. These issues continue today but a modest level of stability has encouraged economic growth.
Cultural Geography
The Philippines is a diverse country with hundreds of ethnic groups. Many tribal groups as well as a large number of immigrants from Asia, Spain, and the United States have made the Philippines home. Together with Spanish influence, mixed ethnic groups have been created. They are an example of the confluence of cultures that make up the country. The Philippines is the only country in Asia where Roman Catholicism predominates, other than recently independent East Timor.
Figure 11.21
Ferdinand Magellan brought Christianity to the Philippines and converted members of the Cebuano tribe to Catholicism in 1521.
Christians make up about 90 percent of the population. All but 10 percent identify themselves as Roman Catholic. A modest Muslim population is prominent in the southern island of Mindanao and neighboring islands. Islamic fundamentalism has increased the insurgency in the region, causing political and economic turmoil and conflict. People of Chinese heritage often follow Buddhism, Taoism, or Chinese folk religions. Various tribal groups still follow their cultural animist beliefs and have traditional shaman religious leaders.
The Philippines is home to more than one hundred eighty native languages and dialects. English and Filipino were declared the official languages of the Philippines in 1987. Tagalog is the main language spoken. Filipino is a version of Tagalog that is used in many of the urban areas. English and Tagalog are used in different parts of the country. The population growth rate is considerable. The Philippines will soon push past the one hundred million mark, at which point it will become a country in which 35 percent of its citizens are under the age of fifteen. Average family size is more than 3.2, which will continue to influence the economic situation of the country.
The Global Economy and Outsourcing
The modest level of political stability has caused the Philippines to become an attractive destination for global corporations who seek to outsource their information and technology service jobs. Any work that can be conducted over the Internet or telephone can be outsourced to anywhere in the world with high-speed communication links. Countries that are attractive to business process outsourcing (BPO) are countries where the English language is prominent, where employment costs are low, and where there is an adequate labor base of skilled or educated workers that can be trained in the services required. All three of these requirements are met by the labor force of the Philippines. The historical influence of the United States has provided a base of English language speakers. The country also has an adequate population base with the education or professional skills necessary to meet these demands. Corporate colonialism has the Philippines in its business focus and is finding a good source of available labor.
In 2005, information technology and BPO amounted to about thirty-four billion dollars globally. Since 2005, that amount has increased dramatically, doubling and tripling in some countries by 2009. India has been a major destination for BPO, but the Philippines is gaining ground and increasing its infrastructure in an attempt to gain a larger share of the market. Other countries around the world are a part of this outsourcing market. This type of business activity shifts jobs from one country to another. A country might lose these types of jobs, but its corporations can remain competitive in the global marketplace if they can cut costs of operation by outsourcing their service work to a low-cost country.
Jeepneys
The term jeepney is derived from the use of early US army jeeps left over from World War II that were used as base vehicles transformed into a type of taxi. These transformed vehicles took on a cultural identity as jeepneys with their flamboyant colors and extended seating. Jeepneys are now produced for this purpose and are the most widely used public transportation mode in the Philippines. An electric version of the jeepney is being developed for a number of Asian countries.
US corporate giants like America Online, Texas Instruments, Citibank, Hewlett Packard, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the McClatchy Company (third-largest US newspaper company) have been shifting call centers and other back-office functions to the Philippines. Other European companies like Germany’s global Siemens Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, Swedish Telecom provider Ericsson Telecommunications, and Danish shipping giant Maersk are examples of corporations that have established outsourcing centers in the Philippines. The economic savings can be considerable. BPO wages in the Philippines are one-fifth of the wages paid for the same jobs in the United States. Those same wages are double the national average wages for Philippine employees. A rise in the number of outsourced jobs is welcome news for the Philippines, whose economy is in need of a boost.
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
Timor is an island of southern Indonesia not far from Australia. The island is divided by its colonial history. The eastern half was a Portuguese colony beginning in the sixteenth century. Portuguese colonizers introduced Christianity in the form of Roman Catholicism. The western half was associated with Indonesia, which was a Dutch colony during the colonial era. The Japanese occupied the Dutch colony during World War II but had to give it up after they surrendered in 1945. Indonesia received its independence in 1949 and laid claim to the whole island of Timor. East Timor made a declaration of independence in 1975 but was occupied by Indonesia. A bitter civil war erupted. A year later, Indonesia declared it its twenty-seventh province. The civil war resulted in the deaths of as many as two hundred fifty thousand people. It wasn’t until 1999 that Indonesia finally ceded its political control over East Timor. The Australian military has been instrumental in securing East Timor for independence, and has been serving as a peacekeeping force for internal security for the past decade. The United Nations (UN) recognized East Timor as a sovereign independent country in 2002. The official name of the country is listed as Timor-Leste.
Timor-Leste has a population of about 1.2 million. About 98 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The only other predominant Catholic country in Asia is the Philippines. About 90 percent of the population still works in agriculture. The country has had a difficult time establishing a stable government and reducing conflict. Almost all its infrastructure was damaged in the civil war and rebuilding has been slow. Poor and impoverished due to the civil war over independence, the country does have some opportunity derived from the large natural gas field in the vicinity. East Timor has been working to gain control of its maritime boundaries to benefit from the offshore natural resources.
Key Takeaways
• Malaysia was a former British colony made up of various regions from both the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo. Modern Malaysia has diverse cultural dynamics and is modernizing its economy to compete with the core economic areas of the world.
• Singapore is an economic tiger that doesn’t have natural resources but makes good use of an excellent location. High-tech manufacturing has been Singapore’s main method of gaining wealth.
• Indonesia is made up of thousands of islands and hundreds of ethnic groups. Indonesia is the fourth-most populous country in the world and has the world’s largest Muslim population. More than half the population lives on the island of Java.
• The Philippines has more than ninety million people on thousands of islands. The country was colonized by Spain and was then a possession of the United States before it gained independence. Roman Catholicism and the English language are common in the Philippines, both of which augment a large outsourcing industry.
• Brunei is a small Muslim emirate with high incomes because of oil revenues. East Timor is half of a small island north of Australia. It is a former Portuguese colony and just gained its independence in 2002.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Which European country colonized each of the Southeast Asian nations discussed in this lesson?
2. What is the dominant religion in each country? Name the two Roman Catholic countries in Asia.
3. What cultural and ethnic issues does Malaysia need to address?
4. What type of economic activity has Singapore engaged in to gain wealth?
5. How does the growth triangle that Singapore is engaged in work? How does each partner benefit?
6. How does an entrepôt fit into the core-periphery spatial relationship in Southeast Asia?
7. What environmental problems exist in Indonesia and the Philippines? Which are natural phenomena?
8. Where are devolutionary forces active in Indonesia? How could the government address them?
9. What are the three main regions of the Philippines? Which region has the largest population?
10. What qualities or conditions are necessary for BPO?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Aceh
• Bali
• Borneo
• East Malaysia
• Java
• Luzon
• Mindanao
• Pinang
• Quezon
• Sarawak
• Sabah
• Sumatra
• Visayas
• West Papua
11.04: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
1. Southeast Asia consists of two main geographic regions: the mainland portion that borders China and the insular region that consists of islands or portions of them between Asia and Australia. The large island of Borneo is split between the three countries of Brunei, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
2. The only region of Southeast Asia that was not colonized by European countries was the Kingdom of Siam, which is part of the current country of Thailand. This French-colonized region has been often referred to as French Indochina. Britain, Holland, Portugal, and Spain were also primary colonizers of the realm.
3. Southeast Asia is diverse in both its human and its physical landscapes. Tropical climates dominate the realm with mountains and coastal areas covering the main land surfaces. This realm has a high rate of seismic activity with many active volcanoes and is susceptible to earthquake activity.
4. All the main world religions can be found here. Indonesia is the most populous Muslim country in the world. East Timor and the Philippines are the only two predominantly Christian countries in Asia. Buddhism is the dominant religion of the mainland region. Both Malaysia and Singapore have sizeable Hindu minority groups.
5. Economic activities vary in Southeast Asia, with Singapore being an economic tiger and Brunei being an oil-rich emirate. Thailand is becoming a major manufacturing center and the Philippines has been a destination for outsourced information jobs. Landlocked Laos and isolated Burma (Myanmar) have weak economies. Vietnam and Cambodia are recovering from political isolation.
6. Indonesia has the fourth-largest population in the world. Half of its people live on the island of Java. The Indonesian island of Bali has a Hindu majority and is a notable tourist destination. The island of Timor is divided between an Indonesian western half and the independent eastern half of East Timor, which is a former Portuguese colony.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/11%3A_Southeast_Asia/11.03%3A_The_Insular_Region_%28Islands_of_Southeast_Asia%29.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize how colonialism has affected the development and socioeconomic conditions of Australia and New Zealand.
2. Determine where the Wallace Line and the Weber Line were located. Understand how isolation has allowed for the high level of biodiversity.
3. Outline how colonialism impacted the Maori and the Aboriginal populations.
Isolation Geography
Wallace’s and Weber’s Lines were developed independently to account for the differences in biodiversity between the Austral realm and the Asian realm. Scientists continue to analyze the true boundary between the realms. These lines demarcate a clear environmental difference in species development between the two sides.
The historic isolation of New Zealand and Australia from the rest of the world has caused animals and organisms that are not found anywhere else to develop in these two countries. The unique biodiversity includes marsupials, or animals whose young are raised in the mother’s pouch, such as kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, and bandicoots. It is believed that these creatures developed separately after the continents broke away from each other more than two hundred million years ago. Many plant species are also unique to this realm. The biodiversity found here is separate from that of Asia. This has been explained by various biogeographers by drawing imaginary lines just north of Australia to indicate the line of division between the Asian realm and the Austral realm. Wallace’s Line and Weber’s Line are two such examples. Both examples attempt to establish the correct line of demarcation for the differences in species development between the two sides. During the ice ages, sea level was lower, and the many islands of Southeast Asia were connected by land to the mainland. Papua New Guinea was connected to Australia. Wallace and Weber believed that no land bridge connected the Asian side with the Austral side for animals to cross over. This separation caused the organisms to the south to develop independently of those in the north. For example, marsupials are not found on the Asian side of these lines but are found on the Australian side.
Colonialism
New Zealand and Australia were both inhabited before the era of European colonialism. Aboriginal people are said to have migrated to Australia across Southeast Asia from the mainland of Asia more than forty thousand years ago. They made Australia their home and adapted to the physical geography of the continent. For tens of thousands of years before the Europeans arrived, the Aborigines carved out an existence in Australia and developed their cultural ways. Only about four hundred fifty thousand Aborigines remain in Australia today. New Zealand was inhabited by the Polynesian group called the Maori who established themselves on the islands in the tenth century. For hundreds of years they, too, established their culture and traditions in the region before the Europeans arrived. The Aborigines in Australia and the Maori in New Zealand were both confronted with the European invaders. From their standpoint, there was much to lose by the arrival of the Europeans. Lands were lost, new diseases killed many, and control of their methods of livelihood were taken over by Europeans. The Maori initiated a number of wars against British colonizers, but in the end the greater military power gained the advantage. At the present time, the Maori make up less than 10 percent of the population of New Zealand.
The sighting of Australia by the Dutch dates to 1606. Portuguese explorers may have discovered Australia earlier, but there are no written records. In the early 1700s, the northern and western coastlines of Australia were known as “New Holland.” There were no established colonies. James Cook, a naval officer working for the British navy, commanded the good ship Endeavor and mapped Australia’s eastern coast in 1770. He made port at Botany Bay, just south of the current city of Sydney and claimed the region for Britain. He named the land New South Wales. The charting of the coast resulted in continued attention being paid to the region.
Meanwhile, England had a severe problem with overcrowding of its prisons. Its problem was exacerbated by the loss of Britain’s American colonies. Upon Cook’s return to England, interest was generated in the concept of relieving prison overcrowding by sending prisoners to Australia. In 1787, eleven ships with seven hundred fifty convicts sailed from Great Britain to Botany Bay. Prison colonies were established in Australia. By the end of the seventeenth century, the entire Australian continent was under the British Crown. At the same time that the movement of prisoners from England to Australia was diminishing, the next wave of immigration was being fueled by the discovery of gold in the 1850s. The practice of transferring prisoners to Australia ended in 1868. The arrival of the Europeans had caused a serious demise in the Aboriginal population. Aborigines were completely decimated in Tasmania.
Great Britain colonized Australia by establishing prison colonies. The prison colony of Botany Bay was located near the current city of Sydney, Australia.
In 1901, the various territories and states of Australia came together under one federation called the Commonwealth of Australia. A new federal capital city of Canberra was proposed. By 1927, Canberra was ready for government activity. This commonwealth government still allowed for individual state differences. The British monarch is considered the head of state, though it is mainly a ceremonial position. There have been movements within Australia in recent years to separate from the British Crown, but they have not been approved. Australia has a democratically elected government.
British naval officer James Cook mapped the coastline of New Zealand in 1769. As the colonial era emerged, Great Britain took possession of New Zealand and included it with its colony of New South Wales. In the 1840s, New Zealand became a separate crown colony. The colony developed a local parliament and a representative government. By 1893, New Zealand made headlines as the first country in the world granting all women the right to vote. As a part of the British Empire, the country was made a commonwealth nation in 1947 and has been functioning independently ever since.
Key Takeaways
• Australia is an island continent that was home to aboriginal people who have lived there for tens of thousands of years. The British colonized Australia by first creating prison colonies for convicts from Great Britain.
• New Zealand has two main islands and is home to the Maori, who were originally from Polynesia. The British colonized New Zealand and often were in conflict with the Maori.
• Australia is relatively flat with low elevation highlands and an extensive dry interior, while New Zealand has high mountains and receives adequate rainfall.
• The Austral realm was isolated by physical geography. Weber’s Line and the Wallace Line were attempts to distinguish the location of the separation between biological environments.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. For what purpose was Australia first colonized? What European country colonized Australia and New Zealand?
2. How did the colonial activity impact the indigenous people?
3. How is the Austral realm isolated from the rest of the world?
4. Who are the main indigenous people of New Zealand and where did they originally come from?
5. Explain how the colonial development of Australia was similar to the colonial development of the United States.
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Arafura Sea
• Cape York
• Coral Sea
• Great Australian Bight
• Great Barrier Reef
• Gulf of Carpentaria
• New South Wales
• Sydney
• Tasman Sea
• Tasmania
• Timor Sea
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the colonial exploitation and development of Australia.
2. Understand the basic characteristics of Australia’s physical geography.
3. Outline how the core-periphery spatial relationship applies to Australia.
4. Describe the country’s general cultural attributes.
5. Summarize the methods used for the country to gain national wealth.
Physical Geography
There is an international attraction to the island continent of Australia, and the attraction has grown in intensity in the past few decades. Tourism is now the number one economic activity in Australia. Just slightly smaller in physical area than the continental United States, Australia is a large country with many resources but few people relative to its size. The Tropic of Capricorn runs right through the middle of this country. Australia hosts many unique species of plants and animals, including marsupials and a host of poisonous snakes and insects. With the advent of European colonialism, new species were introduced to the country, which regrettably caused the extinction of some of the native species but also gave Australia a wide diversity of organisms and natural conditions.
Australia is a relatively low-lying island with low relief. It is the flattest of all the continents. The various highland ranges are pronounced, but are not high in elevation. The Great Dividing Range is a mountain chain extending from Melbourne in the south to Cape York in the north. This low-lying range of highlands averages about four thousand feet and reaches an elevation of just over seven thousand feet at its highest peaks in the south. The largest river in Australia is the Darling-Murray River system that starts in the highland of the Great Dividing Range and flows inward through New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and South Australia.
The great interior of the country is home to the massive outback. Extending west from the Great Dividing Range, the outback encompasses most of the interior. This region receives less rainfall than along the coast and its terrain consists of deserts and semiarid plateaus with rough grasses and scrublands. The outback is sparsely populated, but is home to a number of aboriginal groups. Many of the school-age children in the outback have traditionally received their school lessons through television or radio broadcasts because of their isolation. Mining and some agricultural activities can be found in the outback. Alice Springs is located in the center of the continent and has been given the designation of the middle of nowhere, or the center of everything.
The deserts of Australia’s interior make up a large portion of the continent. Western Australia has three large deserts: the Gibson Desert, Great Victoria Desert, and Great Sandy Desert. The Simpson Desert is located in the border region between the Northern Territory, Queensland, and South Australia. These deserts are not all sand; course grasses and various species of spinifex, a short plant that grows in sandy soil, also grow in the deserts. The Great Artesian Basin on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range receives very little rainfall. It would be classified as a desert but for its underground water resources, which support extensive farming operations. Large livestock businesses exist in Australia’s interior with massive herds of cattle and sheep. The grassy plateaus and scrublands provide grazing for domesticated livestock and even wild camels.
The Great Barrier Reef, the largest barrier reef in the world, extends for 1,600 miles off the northeastern coast of Australia. It is home to a host of sea creatures and fish that draw millions of tourists each year. The reef attracts scuba divers and water enthusiasts from around the world. The reef is a main tourism attraction and brings income to the Australian economy. The Great Barrier Reef has been designated as a United Nations World Heritage Site. Brisbane is located on the Gold Coast, which gets its name from the beautiful sandy beaches. The beaches attract an important tourism market for the country.
A couple of large physical features of interest and significance to Australia are the two largest monoliths in the world. In western Australia, more than five hundred miles to the northeast of Perth, is Mt. Augustus National Park, which features the rock known as Mt. Augustus. It is considered to be the largest single rock in the world. Mt. Augustus rises 2,352 feet above the desert landscape. The single structure is about five miles long. Mt. Augustus is more than twice the size of the most famous Australian monolith of Uluru (Ayers Rock). Uluru is located about two hundred miles southwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory and is a well-known tourist attraction. Uluru rises 1,142 feet above the outback and is about 2.2 miles long. Both rocks hold significant cultural value to the aboriginal populations in Australia. They both have ancient petroglyphs, and both are considered sacred sites. Uluru has been more popularized through tourism promotions.
Climate Regions
Central and western Australia are sparsely populated. Large areas of the Northern Territory and the desert regions are uninhabited. Approximately 40 percent of Australia’s interior is desert, where Type B climates dominate. The large land mass can heat up during the summer months, triggering high temperatures. Low humidity allows heat to escape into the atmosphere after the sun goes down, so there is wide temperature variation between day and night.
Along the northern coastal region there are more tropical Type A climates. Closer to the equator and with the sea to moderate temperatures, the northern areas around Darwin and Cape York have little temperature variation. Temperatures in Darwin average about 90 °F in the summer and 86 °F in the winter. Spring monsoons bring additional rainfall from February to March.
Tasmania, Victoria, and the core region of the southeast have a more moderate and temperate Type C climate. The main cities, such as Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, are within this area. It is not surprising that there is a direct correlation between Type C climates and the major population areas. The Tropic of Capricorn cuts across the continent, indicating that the cities are not that far south of the tropics. Average winter temperatures in June and July do not usually fall below 50 °F and average summer temperatures in January and February remain around 70 °F. Since the seasons are reversed from that of the Northern Hemisphere, many Australians go to the beach for Christmas.
Population, Urbanization, and the Core-Periphery Spatial Relationship
Australia is divided politically into six states and two territories. They are the Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia, Tasmania, South Australia, Queensland, and New South Wales. Australian protectorates are composed of a number of small islands around Australia. Australian core areas are conducive to large human populations. To locate the core population areas in Australia, simply find the moderate Type C climates. Australia has two core regions. There is a small core region in the west, anchored by the city of Perth. Most of Australia’s people live in the large core region in the east along the coast. This region extends from Brisbane to Adelaide and holds most of the country’s population.
The total population of Australia in 2010 was only about twenty-two million. There are more people living in Mexico City than in all of Australia. More than 90 percent of this population has European heritage; most of this percentage is from the British Isles. English is the dominant language. Christianity is the dominant religion of choice. The makeup of the people is a product of European colonialism and immigration.
Only about 2 percent of the current population consists of Aboriginal people, the original people of Australia. Australia’s population has seen periodic growth spurts as waves of immigrants responded to national policies encouraging immigration. This was especially true after World War II. About 24 percent of the current population was born outside Australia; most come from the United Kingdom, and another large percentage comes from New Zealand. Asian countries have also contributed to the Australian population, with measurable numbers of immigrants from China, Vietnam, and the Philippines. And lastly, people from Italy and India also make up a notable proportion of Australia’s immigrant population.
Australia’s population is not spread evenly across the landscape, since a large portion of the country is desert. The population is concentrated mostly in the urban areas. About 90 percent of the population inhabits the cities, which are mostly in coastal areas. The largest city, Sydney, is often referred to as the New York of Australia. Sydney is positioned at the heart of the main core area, the state of New South Wales. To the south of Sydney is the Australian Capital Territory, home to the capital city of Canberra. Other major Australian cities include Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide, and Brisbane. Hobart is the largest city on the island of Tasmania and Darwin is the largest city in the Northern Territory.
All the large cities of Australia—with except the planned capital city of Canberra—are located on the coast. This pattern of urban distribution was a product of European colonial development. Most of Australia’s population lives in the two economic core regions, so Australia exhibits a distinct core-periphery spatial pattern. The core areas hold the power, wealth, and influence while the periphery region supplies all the food, raw materials, and goods needed in the core. Australia has never had a majority rural population since its Aboriginal times. There has been little rural-to-urban shift in Australia’s population. This is similar to Japan’s urban development pattern.
English is the first language of the vast majority of the population. Recently enacted policies and changing attitudes toward multiculturalism have spurred growth in the number of immigrants and their descendants who speak two languages fluently—English and the language of their birthplace or national heritage. Indigenous languages have not fared so well. As many as three hundred indigenous languages were spoken by Aborigines before the Europeans arrived, and just a few hundred years later, that number now stands at about seventy. Most aboriginal languages are in danger of dying out.
Culture and Immigration
Until 1973, Australia had a collection of laws and policies known as the White Australia policy, which served to limit the immigration of nonwhite persons to Australia. While the White Australia policies limited immigration from some areas, other policies sought to expand immigration from the United Kingdom. Subsidies were offered to British citizens to relocate to Australia. Between 1830 and 1940, more than a million British citizens took advantage of the offer.
Recent census data indicate that about a quarter of the population identifies itself as Roman Catholic and another 20 percent self-identifies as Anglican (the national religion of the United Kingdom). An additional 20 percent self-identify as Protestant, other than Anglican, and about 15 percent as having no religion. Regular church attendance is claimed by at about 7.5 percent of the population. Despite modern Australia having been settled by the British, Australian law decrees that Australia will have no national religion and guarantees freedom of religion.
Sports are an important part of Australian culture, perhaps owing to a climate that allows for year-round outdoor activity. About a fourth of the population is involved in some kind of organized sports team. Football (soccer) is popular, as is true in most European countries, and rugby and cricket are popular as well. The most popular spectator sport in Australia is Australian Rules Football, also known as Aussie Rules Football, or simply “footy.” This uniquely Australian game has codified rules that date back to 1858 and is a variant of football and rugby. Other forms of entertainment include television, film, and live performances of every kind. Although Australia has a number of its own television stations, there are concerns that popular culture is beginning to be dominated by American influences. Australia’s large cities have extensive programs in the arts. Sydney is becoming a center for world-class performances in dance, opera, music, and theatre.
Education is well funded and internationally respected. School attendance is compulsory between the ages of six and fifteen, and the adult literacy rate has held steady at about 99 percent. Most students attend publicly funded schools, which are secular. Private schools, which charge tuition fees, do exist and are typically run by religious organizations, predominantly the Catholic Church.
Economic Geography
Most of Australia—especially the wide expanse of the arid interior known as the outback—has immense open spaces, agricultural potential or excellent resource extraction possibilities. The extensive grasslands support tens of millions of domesticated animals—mainly cattle and sheep—which accounts for up to one-fifth of the world’s wool production. Large agricultural businesses include thousands of acres under one operation. The western sector of the Great Dividing Range in New South Wales is an excellent region for commercial grain operations. The coastal region in Queensland, since it is warmer and receives more rainfall, is good for sugarcane and similar crops. Sheep and cattle ranches are common in central Queensland and Western Australia. Various regions of southern Australia are excellent for grape and fruit production. Australian wine production has risen to compete with the US and European markets. Only the dry central desert regions in the center of the continent are not favorable for agriculture. In the early portion of the twentieth century, Australia gained enormous wealth by exporting food products to the rest of the world. This is still true, but the profit margin on food goods is no longer what it used to be. The country has had to look elsewhere to gain wealth.
The agricultural region of the Barossa Valley in South Australia grows grapes and produces wine. Agricultural production is a major source of economic wealth for Australia even though only 11 percent of the population lives in rural areas. Australia’s wine production is expanding to compete in the global marketplace, with France and California as major competitors.
Australia has excellent food production capabilities. It also has an excellent mineral resource base. Different types of minerals can be found in different regions throughout Australia. Western Australia has iron ore mines. The eastern region of Queensland and New South Wales has abundant coal reserves. Minerals such as zinc, copper, gold, silver, tungsten, and nickel can be found in various parts of the country, including Tasmania. Oil and gas fields can be found in the northwestern coastal waters and in the Tasman Sea east of Melbourne. The country is self-sufficient in natural gas but does have to import some petroleum products.
Are any Australian-manufactured products available where you live? What products can you think of? Australia does not export many manufactured goods. Its main exports are food and raw materials. If you remember how countries gain wealth, the method with the highest valued-added profit is manufacturing. Think about Japan and the four Asian economic tigers, and how they have gained their wealth. The economic tigers have few raw materials. Where do you suppose the economic tigers and Japan get their raw materials? With Japan’s enormous manufacturing capacity, it has a high demand for imported iron ore, minerals, and raw materials. Though Australia is a former British colony, Great Britain is not considered Australia’s largest trading partner. Australia is closer geographically to the Asian economic community than to the European Union. Japan has become Australia’s biggest trading partner. When Australia is viewed in the news, in television programs, and in Hollywood movies, it is portrayed as a country with a similar standard of living to the United States or Europe. How do Australians have such a high standard of living if they don’t manufacture anything for export? To evaluate this, think about the size of the population of Australia and consider the distribution of wealth. They export an immense amount of raw materials and have a relatively small population to share the wealth.
Australia is an attractive place to visit. The environment, the animals, and the culture make it inviting for tourism. As of the year 2002, tourism has become Australia’s number one means of economic income. From the Great Barrier Reef and the Gold Coast to the vast expanse of the outback, Australia has been marketing itself as an attractive place to visit with great success. Tourism from Japan provides a large percentage of the tourist activity. Australia has moved through the initial stages of the index of economic development to become a society that is about 90 percent urban with small families and high incomes.
Mining and Aboriginal Lands
Territorial control of Australian lands has become a major issue in recent years. Large portions of western Australia and the outback have traditionally been Aboriginal lands. European colonialism on the Australian continent displaced many of the native people. Large sections of land once used by the Aborigines were taken over by the government or by private interests. Large agricultural operations and mining operations have used the lands without adequate compensation to the Aboriginal people who once controlled them. Court rulings aimed at reparation for native people have had mixed results.
There are as many as four hundred different groups of Aborigines currently in Australia that make up a total population of about four hundred fifty thousand. This is a small percentage of Australia’s population but involves a large part of the physical area of the country. Their land claims include all of the Northern Territory, a large portion of western Australia, and parts of South Australia and Queensland. This is in addition to claims located within many urban areas, such as the largest city, Sydney. Mining operations on Aboriginal lands have become highly regulated. Concerns have arisen that Australia’s extractive industries will diminish, causing a decline in the economy. The concern for the Aboriginal population has increased in the past few decades and the government has made attempts to mediate their political and economic issues as well as strengthen programs that address their social welfare.
Australia’s Future
The economic future of Australia is complex. Though tourism has become a viable means of providing income, Australia must import manufactured products that it does not produce locally, including electronic goods, computers, and automobiles. Import dependence has increased its trade deficit. Trade agreements and protectionism have become a part of the economic puzzle of how to sustain a competitive standard of living. Australia is located next to the Asian realm. Its economy, culture, and future are becoming more Asian. Immigration has been an issue in that the government has always restricted immigration to ensure a European majority. Millions of Asian people would like to migrate to Australia to seek greater opportunities and advantages, but they are legally restricted. It is becoming more difficult for Australians to hold to their European connections with such an Asian presence. How the country will handle this situation in the future will prove interesting.
Key Takeaways
• Australia is an island continent that was home to aboriginal people before the British colonized it by first creating prison colonies for convicts from Great Britain.
• Australia is a relatively flat continent with low elevation highlands, including the Great Dividing Range along its eastern coast. The interior outback lacks precipitation and has numerous deserts.
• Two main core areas exist where Type C climates prevail and where most of the population lives: a large core area on the southeastern coast and a small core area around Perth on the western coast. The sparsely populated outback makes up the vast periphery, which has large amounts of mineral and agricultural resources.
• Aboriginal people were in Australia for forty thousand years. The British colonial activity didn’t heat up until the late 1700s. Today, most of the twenty-two million people are from the British Isles and Europe. Only about four hundred fifty thousand Aborigines remain.
• Australia has few manufacturing enterprises for export profits. Tourism has become the number one method of gaining wealth, with the export of raw materials the second-largest method.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Name the European country that colonized Australia. What was the original reason for colonizing Australia?
2. What are Australia’s main political divisions? What is the vast interior called?
3. What are some of Australia’s main physical features? How are they developed for tourism?
4. What are the main climate types in Australia? How does climate relate to population?
5. What type of government does Australia have? What is its capital city? Who is head of state?
6. Outline the core-periphery relationship in Australia. What distinguishes the core areas?
7. How does Australia compare with the Asian economic tigers? How do they support each other?
8. How does Australia maintain a high standard of living when it exports few manufactured products?
9. What are Australia’s main exports? Who is their main trading partner?
10. What stage is the country in with regard to the index of economic development?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Adelaide
• Arafura Sea
• Australian Capital Territory
• Brisbane
• Canberra
• Cape York
• Coral Sea
• Darling-Murray River
• Darwin
• Gibson Desert
• Gold Coast
• Great Artesian Basin
• Great Australian Bight
• Great Barrier Reef
• Great Dividing Range
• Great Sandy Desert
• Great Victoria Desert
• Gulf of Carpentaria
• Hobart
• Melbourne
• New South Wales
• Northern Territory
• Outback
• Perth
• Queensland
• Sydney
• Simpson Desert
• South Australia
• Tasman Sea
• Tasmania
• Timor Sea
• Victoria
• Western Australia
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/12%3A_Australia_and_New_Zealand/12.02%3A_Australia.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline New Zealand’s main physical features. Understand how the North Island is different from the South Island.
2. Understand how tectonic plate activity has helped to isolate New Zealand from the rest of the world and still affects the island today.
3. Summarize the situation of the Maori in New Zealand. Learn about the Maoris’ relationship with the dominant culture in New Zealand.
4. Describe the economic geography of New Zealand and how the country gains wealth.
Physical Geography
To the east of Australia across the Tasman Sea is the country of New Zealand. New Zealand is one of a number of sets of islands that make up Oceania, also referred to as the Pacific Islands, a region occupying the western and central Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Islands region is generally divided into three subregions: Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia, with New Zealand being part of Polynesia. The Pacific Island region includes more than twenty-five thousand individual small islands representing twenty-five nations and territories. Most of these islands are very small. The South and North islands of New Zealand are the second- and third-largest islands, respectively. The North and South Islands of New Zealand are separated by a body of water known as the Cook Straight, which is only about thirteen miles wide at its narrowest point. The North and South Islands together are about the same size as the US state of Colorado. New Zealand also includes a number of smaller nearby islands.
New Zealand, like Australia, is in the Southern Hemisphere, which means that its seasons are expressed at the opposite times of the seasons in North America. In other words, the warmest summer months are January and February and the cooler winter months are June and July. New Zealand lies within the Temperate Zone. There are only very moderate seasonal differences, which are slightly more pronounced in the inland areas because the inland areas lack the moderating influence of the ocean. In general, the North Island has somewhat warmer average temperatures than the South Island. In summer, average low temperatures are about 50 °F, with daytime highs around 75 °F. In the winter months, low temperatures average about 35 °F and high temperatures are about 50 °F. The occurrence of more extreme temperatures is limited to the mountainous peaks of the Southern Alps. Snow is common in these mountainous regions but rarely occurs in coastal regions.
Rainfall is heaviest on the western coasts of both islands, but especially on the South Island. The prevailing westerly winds, carrying moisture from the ocean, come in contact with the mountains of the Southern Alps and high precipitation results. The mountains also have the opposite effect. On the eastern side of the mountains is a rain shadow where the westerly winds blow hot, dry air and the eastern coasts are therefore substantially drier than the western coasts. Therefore, average precipitation rates vary widely across the country. The average annual rainfall in Christchurch, which is on the eastern coast of the South Island, is about twenty-five inches per year. Auckland, in the midportion of the North Island, receives twice that amount and areas on the wetter western coast receive as much as one hundred fifteen inches per year.
As an island nation, New Zealand’s coastlines and oceans are some of its most important geographic features. New Zealand has one of the world’s largest exclusive economic zones, an oceanic zone over which a nation has exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation of marine resources. New Zealand’s exclusive economic zone covers more than one million square miles. The dramatic nature of New Zealand’s landscape is well known to many moviegoers as the landscape of Middle Earth, as depicted in New Zealand film director Peter Jackson’s version of J. R. R. Tolkein’s Lord of the Rings.
Tectonic Plates and Gondwanaland
The North Island of New Zealand features a rather rugged coastline with numerous harbors, bays, and inlets. The port cities of Auckland and Wellington are located on two of the largest bays. The coastline of the South Island is somewhat more regular, except along the southern portion of the eastern coastline, which has deep fjords. Though the North Island has lower relief than its southern counterpart, its few mountains are volcanic in origin. The two main islands are accompanied by smaller islands around their shores. The North Island’s highest peak is Mt. Ruapehu, which reaches almost 9,175 feet and is an active cone volcano. It is located in the south central part of the island. A range of highlands runs along its eastern side. The volcanism associated with Mt. Ruapehu results from New Zealand’s location atop two tectonic plates: the Pacific Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate. The boundary of these two plates forms a subduction zone under the North Island; consequently, New Zealand experiences tens of thousands of earthquakes per year. Though most of the earthquakes do not greatly disrupt human activity, some have registered higher than 7 on the Richter scale. New Zealanders have made use of the geothermal power generated by this and the tectonic features of this area and hence, New Zealand is home to several hydrothermal power plants.
A range of mountains, the Southern Alps, divides the South Island lengthwise. Many of the peaks reach over ten thousand feet. The highest peak is Mt. Cook, which reaches higher than twelve thousand feet. These mountains are also formed by the area’s tectonic situation. However, the two plates meet in a different way under the South Island. Rather than creating a subduction zone, the plates move laterally. The lateral movement created the South Alps. New Zealand’s location places it along one of the edges of the so-called Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean basin. The positions and activity of the tectonic plates in this zone cause most of the world’s earthquakes and have formed more than 75 percent of the world’s volcanoes.
New Zealand has a fascinating ecological history. New Zealand was once part of Gondwana, also known as Gondwanaland. About two hundred to five hundred million years ago, Gondwana was the southern portion of the supercontinent of Pangaea. Gondwana included most of the land in what is the Southern Hemisphere today, including Australia and New Zealand. Over time, through various forms of tectonic activity, the earth’s plates shifted and the supercontinent of Gondwana broke apart, leaving New Zealand geographically isolated for millennia. The species of flora and fauna found in New Zealand either descended from the species found on Gondwana, flew there, floated there via the ocean, or were brought by people.
Biodiversity in New Zealand
New Zealand’s geological history has laid the groundwork for more than 2,000 indigenous plant species, about 1,500 of which are found nowhere else in the world. The biomes of the North Island include a subtropical area, including mangrove swamps, an evergreen forest with dense undergrowth of mosses and ferns, and a small grasslands area in the central volcanic plain. The South Island biomes include extensive grasslands in the east, which are excellent for agricultural pursuits; forest areas, dominated by native beech trees in the west; and an alpine vegetation zone in the Southern Alps.
In terms of fauna, the most influential factor may be the relative absence of predatory mammals, again related to New Zealand’s geological history. With few ground predators and a favorable climate, bats, small reptiles, and birds were able to thrive and flourish. Without predators, many species of birds became flightless, such as the noted Kiwi. New Zealand’s most famous bird, the moa, was similar to the ostrich but is now extinct. Moa could grow to more than twelve feet high and weigh more than five hundred pounds. New Zealand is known for its large number of species of wild birds. The Kiwi is the most noted and is often used to refer to people from New Zealand, as it is the national symbol of the country.
Figure 12.14
The flightless Kiwi bird is the national symbol of New Zealand. All five species of Kiwi are endangered.
New Zealand has a variety of landscapes that have been attractive for economic activity and tourism. The South Island is larger than the North Island and is more mountainous. The snowcapped peaks of the Southern Alps run the western length of the South Island. Large livestock-raising operations and agricultural activities can be found on the vast grasslands of the South Island. Millions of sheep and cattle are raised on the grassy highlands and the valley pasturelands. The North Island has more low-lying terrain, which is also good for agriculture and is home to a large dairy industry. The central highlands of the north offer some rugged relief and provide for a diverse physical landscape.
Cultural Dynamics and the Maori
New Zealand is home to many Polynesian groups. Its original inhabitants were the Maori, who came to the islands around the tenth century. They grew crops of gourds and sweet potatoes. Fur seals were hunted regularly, as were moa, which were hunted to extinction before the Europeans arrived. The Maori had created extensive trading networks with other island groups and developed a heritage of traditional rituals and cultural ways. The Maori culture thrived for hundreds of years and was well established in New Zealand before the arrival of the colonial ships from Europe.
Britain was the main colonizer of the islands. The British settled in to establish their presence and gain control. In 1840, the British colonizers and the Maori signed the Treaty of Waitangi, which granted British sovereignty over the islands but allowed the Maori certain rights over tribal lands. The actual language in this treaty has been debated between the English version and the Maori version. Over time the tribal lands were codified into legal arrangements by the European colonizers. Since the Treaty of Waitangi, the situation has evolved, with subsequent land exchanges, some legal and others questionable. The Maori have complained about unfair treatment and the loss of land and rights in the process. These issues have finally reached a point of negotiation in the past couple of decades. Starting in the 1990s, treaty settlements have been made to help correct the actions of the colonial activity and compensate the Maori for the conditions they were subjugated to.
Most of the Maori have lived on the North Island. They were a real concern for the European colonizers. Claimed by Great Britain in their colonial empire, the country of New Zealand became independent of Britain in 1901. In 2010, the estimate of the population of the country was at about 4.3 million, with Europeans making up 60 percent of the population and the Maori making up about 8 percent. There are also many people who are of mixed ethnic background, including Maori and other groups. Asians, Polynesians, and other ethnic minorities make up the rest. New Zealand’s main religion is Christianity and English is the official language.
The Maori have not been integrated into New Zealand society to the same extent as Europeans have. The Maori now join the ranks of other Pacific Islanders that have moved to New Zealand from Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, and many other places in the South Pacific. New Zealand’s urban areas reflect diversity in the various cultural landscapes and ethnic communities that have established themselves in specific neighborhoods within the main cities. A common dilemma with all peoples is the draw to return to their heritage and roots, which typically results in a more traditional lifestyle with stronger cultural ways. At the same time, the modern world pulls people toward a more global and cosmopolitan culture that is steeped in modernity with changing fashions. The Maori and other ethnic groups in New Zealand find themselves facing this dichotomy of societal dynamics.
Economic Conditions
Land and climate could be said to be New Zealand’s most important natural resources. Fertile soils and a mild climate, complete with thousands of hours of sunshine annually, create ideal conditions for agriculture. Grass continues to grow throughout the year, which means that sheep and other livestock can be well grazed. Wool and other agricultural products, notably meat and butter, are important exports for New Zealand’s economy. Healthy forests produce timber products, which are important to the economy as well. Some of New Zealand’s natural resources are found underground, including coal, natural gas, gold, and other minerals.
Wellington is the capital of the country and is located on the southern end of the North Island. Wellington is one-fourth the size of the primary city, Auckland, which has 1.2 million people and is located in the north. The major cities are located along the coastal regions and provide a connection to sea transportation. Christchurch is the largest city of the South Island and is located along the eastern seaboard on the productive Canterbury Plain. The soils and conditions on the Canterbury Plain are excellent for productive agriculture of all types. Coastal plains also provide access to building transportation systems of highways and railroads that are more costly to construct in the mountainous regions of the Southern Alps or the northern highlands.
The modern cities are home to a multitude of processing centers preparing the abundant agricultural products for domestic consumption and for export products. The ever-growing populations of Asia and the rest of the world continue to place a high demand on food products and welcome New Zealand’s agricultural exports. In relation to how countries gain wealth, agricultural profits are usually quite competitive and normally provide a low profit margin. New Zealand does not gain a large part of its national income from mining or manufacturing, though these industries do exist. The high standard of living that exists in New Zealand is similar to that of Australia in that the population is not very large, so that the national wealth can be distributed via the private sector economy to accommodate a relatively good lifestyle and provide for a comfortable standard of living.
New Zealand has a market economy. The mainstay of the economy is, and has been for many years, a productive agricultural sector that has been geared toward export profits. New Zealand’s climate and soils help give it a place in the economy of the region through agricultural exports. A “wool boom” in the 1950s furthered the emphasis on agricultural products as tremendous profits accrued in the wool production and export industry. Today, New Zealand’s economy is still heavily focused on the export of agricultural products, though the economy has diversified into other areas such as tourism and exploitation of natural resources, especially natural gas. The development of hydroelectricity generation in recent years has been important to the economy.
Key Takeaways
• New Zealand has been isolated by the separation of continents through tectonic plate action. Shifting plates continue to create earthquakes and volcanic activity in the region.
• New Zealand has high mountains, with the Southern Alps along the western coast of the South Island and highlands along the eastern side of the North Island. Adequate rainfall and good soils provide for excellent agricultural production, which has been the traditional economic activity.
• The Maori were established in New Zealand before the British colonized it. Various agreements were made to work out common arrangements, with varying degrees of success. The Maori continue to be a minority population and have not acculturated into the mainstream society of the country.
• New Zealand has historically relied on agricultural exports for national income. Shifting global markets and changes in government policies and structures have highly affected the economy of New Zealand. The country continues to work its way through the transition to a more global economy.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the main physical features of the South Island and North Island of New Zealand?
2. How is the North Island different from the South Island in population and economic activities?
3. How has physical geography been helpful in the economic development of New Zealand?
4. Where are the main cities of New Zealand? What are the capital and the largest cities on each island?
5. Who were the inhabitants of New Zealand before the colonial era? Where did they come from?
6. What issues do these inhabitants of New Zealand have with the current government?
7. How are the dynamics with the Maori similar to those with the Aborigines in Australia?
8. What are the main methods that New Zealand has used to gain national wealth?
9. How has the economic situation in New Zealand changed over the past few decades?
10. How is New Zealand different in physical and human geography from Australia?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Auckland
• Canterbury Plain
• Cook Strait
• Christchurch
• Mt. Cook
• Mt. Ruapehu
• Southern Alps
• Wellington
12.04: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
1. Australia is an independent country and a relatively low-elevation island continent that is distinguished by its large semiarid interior region called the outback. Two core areas with moderate Type C climates along the eastern and western coasts hold most of the modest population of about twenty-two million.
2. Great Britain colonized Australia and first used it as a prison colony. European traditions and heritage prevail, with English as the main language and Christianity as the main religion. The Aborigines had been there for tens of thousands of years before the Europeans arrived but only about four hundred fifty thousand remain.
3. The traditional method of gaining wealth in Australia has been through agricultural production. In the latter half of the twentieth century, the export of minerals and raw materials became a major method of gaining wealth. In the past decade, tourism has risen to Australia’s number one means of gaining wealth. Physical features such as the Great Barrier Reef, the outback, and the many unique animals make Australia a destination for world travelers.
4. New Zealand is about 1,500 miles to the east of Australia across the Tasman Sea. The two main islands of New Zealand have high relief, with the Southern Alps located on the South Island. Moderate climate conditions and adequate rainfall make New Zealand an appealing place for agriculture and tourism. The remote locations create an element of isolation that is a cost consideration for travel and trade.
5. The Maori people from Polynesia inhabited New Zealand before the British colonized it. The Maori had conflicts with the British and, later, the government over the loss of lands and legal arrangements. The Maori make up less than 10 percent of the 4.3 million people in New Zealand. The Maori situation has common ground with the situation with the Aborigines in Australia, who also have been working to regain land rights and legal settlements.
6. New Zealand’s economic situation has evolved to accommodate international market prices and demands as well as the internal business and political climate of the country. The main economic activity has been agricultural exports, but the country has been diversifying into industrial processes and tourism. Natural gas development has also been expanding.
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/12%3A_Australia_and_New_Zealand/12.03%3A_New_Zealand.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Outline the three main areas of the South Pacific: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia.
2. Distinguish between low islands and high islands.
3. Determine which islands remain under the auspices of France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, or the United States.
4. Describe the primary economic activities of the islands in the realm.
5. Summarize the main environmental concerns of the islands in each region.
Introducing the Realm
The Pacific realm is home to many islands and island groups. The largest island is New Guinea, which is home to most of the realm’s population. Many of the Pacific islands have become independent countries, while others remain under the auspices of their colonial controllers. The Pacific Theater of World War II was a battleground between the Japanese and American forces and had a large impact on the current conditions of many of the islands. The United States has been a major player in the post–World War II domination and control of various island groups. The Hawaiian Islands became the fiftieth US state in 1959.
The many islands can be divided into three main groups based on physical geography, local inhabitants, and location: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Indigenous cultural heritage remains strong in the South Pacific, but Western culture has made deep inroads into people’s lives. The globalization process bears heavily on the economic conditions that influence the cultural dynamics of the Pacific. Islands or island groups that remain under outside political jurisdiction are the most influenced by European or American cultural forces. Western trends in fast food, pop music, clothing styles, and social customs often dominate television, radio, and the cinema. Invasive Western cultural forces take the focus away from the traditional indigenous culture and heritage of the people who inhabited these isolated islands for centuries.
Traditionally, the islands were economically self-sufficient. Fishing and growing crops were the main economic activities, and nearby islands often established trade and exchanged natural resources. Fishing has been one of the most common ways of supporting the economy. There have been changes in the national boundaries to protect offshore fishing rights around each sovereign entity. Many waters have been overfished, consequently reducing the islands’ ability to provide food for their people or to gain national wealth. An increase in population and the introduction of modern technologies has brought about a dependency on the world’s core areas for economic support.
The Pacific is an extreme peripheral realm with little to offer to the core areas for economic exploitation. In recent decades, some national wealth has been gained from the mining of substances such as phosphates on a few of the islands. The main resources available are a pleasant climate, beautiful beaches, and tropical island terrain, all of which can be attractive to tourists and people from other places. Tourism is a growing sector of the service industry and a major means of gaining wealth for various island groups. To attract tourism, the islands must invest in the necessary infrastructure, such as airports, hotels, and supporting services. Long distances between islands and remote locations make tourism transportation expensive. Not every island has the funding to support these expenditures to draw tourists to their location.
Melanesia
The region of the Pacific north of Australia that borders Indonesia to the east is called Melanesia. The name originally referred to people with darker skin but does not adequately describe the region’s current ethnic diversity. The main island groups include Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea. All are independent countries except New Caledonia, which is under the French government. The island of New Guinea is shared between Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Many islands on the eastern side of Indonesia share similar characteristics but are not generally included in the region of Melanesia.
Independent Countries of Melanesia
• Fiji
• Papua New Guinea
• Solomon Islands
• Vanuatu
Other Island Groups
• New Caledonia (France)
Figure 13.2 The Region of Melanesia
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is the largest country in the Pacific realm and therefore the largest in Melanesia. It is diverse in both physical terrain and human geography. The high mountains of the interior reach 14,793 feet. Snow has been known to fall in the higher elevations even though they are located near the equator. Many local groups inhabit the island, and more than seven hundred separate languages are spoken, more than in any other country in the world. Indigenous traditions create strong centripetal forces. Many islands of Melanesia are recently independent of their European controllers; Papua New Guinea received independence in 1975 and is working toward fitting into the global community.
Papua New Guinea is a diverse country that still has many mysteries to be revealed in its little-explored interior. The country’s large physical area provides greater opportunities for the exploitation of natural resources for economic gain. The interior of the island has large areas that have not been exploited by large-scale development projects. In the past few decades, oil was discovered and makes up its largest export item. Gold, copper, silver, and other minerals are being extracted in extensive mining operations, often by outside multinational corporations. Subsistence agriculture is the main economic activity of most of the people. Coffee and cocoa are examples of agricultural exports.
A number of islands off Papua New Guinea’s eastern coast—including Bougainville—have valuable mineral deposits. Bougainville and the islands under its jurisdiction are physically a part of the Solomon Island archipelago but are politically an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea. Volcanic vents deep under the sea continue to bring hot magma and minerals to the surface of the ocean floor, creating valuable exploitable resources. Papua New Guinea has laid claim to these islands and the underwater resources within their maritime boundaries. Rebel movements have pushed for the independence of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville but have been unsuccessful. The islands remain under the government of Papua New Guinea.
Solomon Islands
To the east of the island of Guinea are the Solomon Islands, a group of more than one thousand islands. About eighty of them hold most of the population of more than a half a million. The island of Guadalcanal was the site of some of the fiercest fighting in World War II between Japan and the United States. Honiara, the capital city, is on Guadalcanal. The Solomon Islands were a colony of Great Britain but gained independence in 1978. Colonialism, World War II, and ethnic conflict on the islands created serious centrifugal cultural forces, divisions, and political tensions over the past few decades. In 2003, military and police troops from other islands and Australia intervened to restore order after ethnic tension erupted into civil unrest.
Shifting tectonic plates are the source of environmental problems. Active seismic activity has created earthquakes and tsunami conditions that have brought devastation to the region. An earthquake of 8.1 magnitude hit the Solomon Islands in 2007, bringing high waves and many aftershocks. The tsunami killed at least fifty-two people, and as many as one thousand homes were destroyed. The islands contain several active and dormant volcanoes. Tropical rain forests cover a number of the islands and are home to rare orchids and other organisms. There is concern that these resources might be harmed by deforestation and the exploitation of resources for economic gain.
Vanuatu
The country of Vanuatu was inhabited by a large number of South Pacific groups; as a result, many languages are spoken within a relatively small population. The French and the British both colonized the island archipelago. It was called the New Hebrides before independence in 1980, when the name was changed to Vanuatu. These small volcanic islands have an active volcano and have experienced earthquakes in recent years. One of Vanuatu’s means of bringing in business has been to establish offshore banking and financial services, similar to what is found in the Caribbean. Many shipping firms register their ships there because of the advantages of lower taxes and flexible labor laws.
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is still a colony of France and was once a French prison colony. Under a current agreement, sovereignty is slowly being turned over to the local island government. Periodic reevaluations of the local government will be conducted to see if independence can be granted.
New Caledonia has historically relied on subsistence agriculture and fishing for its livelihood. About 25 percent of the world’s known nickel resources are located here. Nickel resources will substantially affect the economy, bring in foreign investments, and raise the standard of living.
Fiji
Fiji is located in the eastern sector of Melanesia and has almost one million people. The country includes more than one hundred inhabitable islands, but two are home to most of the population. Colonialism heavily impacted the population’s ethnic makeup. During British colonial rule, thousands of workers from South Asia were brought in by the British to work on the sugar plantations. After a century of British rule, Fiji became independent in 1970. The people of South Asian descent remained in Fiji and now make up more than one-third of the population. Ethnic conflicts erupted on the political scene between the Melanesian majority and the South Asian minority. Political coups and coalition governments have attempted to work out political solutions with limited success. Fiji is quite well developed and has a substantial tourism industry that augments the other agricultural and mining activities.
Micronesia
North of the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea is the large region of Micronesia. The “micro” portion of the name refers to the fact that the islands are small in size—often only one square mile or so in physical area. The region has more than two thousand islands. Most of the islands are composed of coral and do not extend above sea level to any large extent. These low islands dominate the high islands. The high islands are usually of volcanic origin and reach elevations in the thousands of feet.
Guam
The largest island in Micronesia is Guam. It is only 210 square miles in area and reaches an elevation of 1,335 feet at its highest point. Coral reefs surround Guam’s volcanic center. Guam is not an independent country but a US possession. The island was a strategic location during World War II, and the United States has major military installations located on the island.
Guam is a US possession. This photo shows the front of the University of Guam’s School of Nursing. The university has more than three thousand students and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in the United States.
Northern Mariana Islands
The Northern Mariana Islands are next to Guam and are current US possessions, along with Wake Island in the northeast. The US administers the United Nations Trust Territory of the Federated States of Micronesia. Implemented in 1986 and renewed again in 2004, the islands entered into the Compact of Free Association with the United States and established an independent status.
Nauru
The independent island country of Nauru is only about eight square miles in physical area, but its large phosphate deposits created enormous wealth for its small population. Once the phosphates had been mined, however, there was little means to gain wealth on such a small island with a devastated landscape. Many on Nauru are trying to live off the investments from their mining wealth or have moved to find a livelihood elsewhere.
Independent Countries of Micronesia
• Federated States of Micronesia
• Kiribati (Western)
• Marshall Islands
• Nauru
• Palau
Other Island Groups
• Guam (US)
• Gilbert Islands (Kiribati)
• Northern Mariana Islands (US)
• Wake Island (US)
Figure 13.6
The majority of islands in Micronesia are low islands composed of coral.
Palau
Palau, located in western Micronesia, has a population of about twenty thousand people and an area of about 177 square miles. Its early inhabitants included people from Asia and from the Pacific realm. British explorers arrived early on the island, but Spain dominated it during the colonial era. After losing the Spanish-American War, Spain sold the island to Germany, which implemented mining operations on the island. After its defeat in World War I, Germany lost the island to Japan. Japan used it as a strategic outpost but was defeated in World War II and had to give up all its external possessions. After 1945, Palau was held by the United States and the UN. In 1994, the island opted for independence and retained an agreement of free association with the United States. The United States has held strategic military installations on Palau and other islands in Micronesia. Palau’s economic and geopolitical dynamics are highly reflective of US activities in the region.
Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands, on the eastern side of Micronesia, experienced serious devastation from the conflict between Japan and the United States during World War II. The Marshall Islands became a testing ground for US nuclear weapons. Atomic bombs were tested on various atolls, rendering them uninhabitable. An atoll is a coral island that surrounds a lagoon. From 1946 to 1958, the United States conducted sixty-seven atmospheric nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands. The largest was known as the Bravo test, which included the detonation of a nuclear device over Bikini Atoll that was one thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. There are concerns about radioactive fallout that may still affect the people who inhabit nearby atolls. The Marshall Islands were granted independence in 1986 with an agreement with the United States to provide aid and protection in exchange for the use of US military bases on the islands.
Polynesia
The largest region of the Pacific is Polynesia, a land of many island groups with large distances between them. The root word poly means “many.” Numerous groups of islands have come together under separate political arrangements. The region includes the Hawaiian Islands in the north and the Pitcairn Islands and Easter Island to the east. New Zealand is now studied as a part of the Austral realm, but the Maori living there are originally from Polynesia. Polynesia has a mixture of island types ranging from the high mountains of Hawaii, which are more than 13,800 feet, to low-lying coral atolls that are only a few feet above sea level. Islands that have enough elevation to condense moisture from the clouds receive adequate precipitation, but many islands with low elevations have a shortage of fresh water, making habitation or human development difficult.
Polynesian culture stems from island resources. Fishing, farming, and an understanding of the seas created a way of life that gave Polynesia its identity. Polynesians created innovative maps that provided a means of sailing across large expanses of open seas to connect with distant islands. Their lifestyle revolved around natural resources and the creative use of natural materials. Polynesian art, music, and language reflect a diversity of cultural trends derived from a common heritage. The warm climate and beautiful islands contrast with violent destructive storms and a lack of fresh water or resources, which can make life difficult.
Figure 13.7
The region of Polynesia has island groups that are high islands with mountainous interiors.
Independent Countries of Polynesia
• Kiribati (eastern)
• Samoa
• Tonga
• Tuvalu
Main Island Possessions
• American Samoa (US)
• Cook Islands (NZ)
• Hawaiian Islands (US)
• Pitcairn Islands (UK)
• French Polynesia (FR)
• Austral Islands
• The Marquesas
• Society Islands and Tahiti
• Tuamotu Islands
Hawaii
At the beginning of the twenty-first century, Polynesia only had four independent island groups: Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu. The rest of the many islands and island groups in Polynesia are claimed by or under the control or jurisdiction of other countries: mainly the United States, France, Great Britain, or New Zealand. Hawaii was a sovereign and independent kingdom from 1810 to 1893, when the monarchy was overthrown and the islands became a republic that was annexed as a US territory. Hawaii became the fiftieth US state in 1959. Hawaii’s development pattern is modern, based on tourism from the continental United States and the US military base on Pearl Harbor. According to the US Census, Hawaii had a population of 1.3 million in 2010. More than one-third of the people are of Asian descent, and at least 10 percent are native Hawaiians or Pacific Islanders. The United States has a number of additional possessions in Polynesia that include various small islands, atolls, or uninhabited reefs.
The Hawaiian Islands include more islands than the few usually listed in tourist brochures. Approximately 137 islands and atolls are in the Hawaiian chain, which extends about 1,500 miles. Hawaii is one of the most remote island groups in the Pacific. The islands of the Hawaiian archipelago are a product of volcanic activity from an undersea magma source called a hotspot, which remains stationary as the tectonic plate over it continues to shift creating new volcanoes. Mt. Kilauea, an active volcano on Hawaii, the largest island in the Hawaiian chain, is considered by geologists to be one of the most active volcanoes in the world. The active volcano of Mauna Loa and two dormant volcanoes, Mauna Kea and Hualālai, are on the same island. Mauna Kea is Hawaii’s tallest mountain at 13,796 feet above sea level, which is taller than Mt. Everest if measured from its base on the ocean floor.
Hawaii, like most islands of the Pacific realm, has a tropical type A climate, but snow can be found on the tops of its highest mountains during the winter months. The island of Kauai receives more than 460 inches of rain per year and is one of the wettest places on Earth. The rain shadow effect created by Mt. Wai’ale’ale is the reason for the high level of precipitation. All the rain falls on the windward side of the mountain, creating a rain shadow on the leeward side of the mountain, which is a semidesert.
Kiribati
Kiribati includes three sets of islands located in both Micronesia and Polynesia. The main component of Kiribati is the Gilbert Island chain in Micronesia, where the capital city and most of the population are located. The other two minor island chains are the Phoenix Islands and the Line Islands in Polynesia. Both island chains were US possessions before being annexed with the Gilbert Islands to become Kiribati. The Line Islands were used for testing of British hydrogen bombs starting in 1957. Three atmospheric nuclear tests were conducted by the British on Malden Island, and six were conducted on Christmas Island. There is concern about how radiation affected people present during the tests and thereafter. The Phoenix Islands have few inhabitants. In 2008, Kiribati declared the entire island group a protected environmental area, which made it the largest protected marine habitat in the world. Kiribati is the only country with land in all four hemispheres: north and south of the equator and on both sides of the 180° meridian.
Samoa
After the colonial era, Samoa was divided into Western Samoa and Eastern Samoa. The United States controlled the eastern islands, which are referred to as American Samoa. Before World War I, Germany gained control of the larger, more extensive western islands only to lose them to New Zealand after the war. Western Samoa was under the New Zealand government until 1962, when it gained independence. The name was officially changed from Western Samoa to Samoa in 1997.
The Samoan Islands are volcanic, and the most active volcano last erupted in 1906. In Samoa, three-quarters of the nearly two hundred thousand people live on the larger of the two main islands. Colonialism has had a major impact on the culture, especially in the case of religion. Christianity became widespread once it was introduced and is now the religion of about 99 percent of the population. American music and societal trends are also a major influence on the islands because of migration between Hawaii and the US mainland. Many Samoans have moved to the United States and established communities. Cultural traditions have been preserved and are often integrated into modern society. Samoa has some of the oldest history and traditions of Polynesia. For many years, the United States has held an extensive naval station in the bay of Pago Pago on American Samoa. During World War II, there were more US military personnel on the islands than Samoans. American Samoa became a key military post for the United States. American Samoa remains a US possession; however, Samoans are not US citizens unless one of their parents is a US citizen.
Tonga
South of Samoa is an archipelago that is home to the Kingdom of Tonga. Only about 36 of the 169 islands are inhabited by a total population of about one hundred twenty thousand people. Tonga is ruled by a monarchy that never lost its governance powers throughout the colonial era. Tonga is the only monarchy in the Pacific. The two main methods of gaining wealth are by remittances from citizens working abroad and tourism.
Tuvalu
The island nation of Tuvalu comprises four reef islands and five atolls for a total land area of about ten square miles. In 2008, it had a population of about twelve thousand people. These statistics indicate that Tuvalu is one of the four smallest countries in the world. Nauru is only about eight square miles in area. Only the Vatican and Monaco are smaller. The low elevation of the islands of Tuvalu make them susceptible to damage from rising sea levels. The highest point is only fifteen feet in elevation. Any increase in ocean levels as a result of climate change could threaten the existence of this country.
French Polynesia
The South Pacific is home to many islands and island groups that are not independent countries. The biggest and most significant group in the southern region is French Polynesia. France colonized a large number of islands in the South Pacific and has continued to hold them in its control or possession as external departments or colonies. In western Polynesia, the French maintain control over the islands of Wallis and Futuna. French Polynesia consists of four main island groups: the Society Islands, the Austral Islands, the Tuamotu Islands, and the Marquesas. There are around 130 islands in French Polynesia, and many are too small or lack resources to be inhabited.
Tahiti, located in the Society Islands, is the central hub of French Polynesia. Papeete is the capital and main city with a population of almost thirty thousand. Tahiti is a major tourist destination with a mild climate that stays at 75 °F to 85 °F year-round and receives adequate rainfall to sustain tropical forests. Most of the people live along the coastal areas; the interior is almost uninhabited. The Society Islands include the island of Bora Bora, which is considered by many to be a tropical paradise and one of the most exotic tourist destinations in the world.
The volcanic Marquesas Islands to the northeast are the second-most remote islands in the world after the Hawaiian Islands. The weather pattern in the Pacific does not bring enormous amounts of precipitation to the Marquesas, a reality that restricts human expansion in the archipelago. The higher elevations in the mountains—the highest is 4,035 feet—draw some precipitation from the rain shadow effect, giving rise to lush rain forests on portions of the islands. With less than ten thousand people, the Marquesas do not have a large population to support and rely on financial support from outside to sustain them. French painter Paul Gauguin is buried there, and the islands are remembered as his home during the last years of his life.
The Austral Islands are the southernmost group of islands in French Polynesia and are home to only about 6,500 people. French Polynesia also includes the Tuamotu Archipelago, between the Society Islands and the Marquesas, which comprises about 75 atolls and an uncounted number of coral reefs that extend for about nine hundred miles. The islands have a population of fewer than twenty thousand people, and the main economic activity is the cultivation of black pearls and coconuts.
The French government used islands in the Tuamotu Archipelago as test sites for nuclear weapons. From 1966 to 1974, the French tested 41 atomic devices above ground in the atmosphere, and from 1974 to 1996, they tested 137 atomic devices below ground. Radiation concerns are the same here as they are on the Marshall Islands, where the United States tested atomic weapons. Scientific testing monitored by the World Health Organization has determined the humans living closest to the atolls are not presently in danger of radioactive materials either in the environment or in their food supply. The long-term effects of the underground tests continue to be monitored.
The Pitcairn Islands, Easter Island, and the Cook Islands
To the east of French Polynesia are the four Pitcairn Islands, controlled by Great Britain. The main island, Pitcairn, is the only inhabited island in this chain and is one of the least inhabited islands in the world; the total population is fewer than fifty people. Mutineers from the HMS Bounty escaped to Pitcairn in 1790 after taking various Tahitians with them.
Even farther east than Pitcairn, on the edge of Polynesia, is Easter Island. Now under the government of Chile, Easter Island was historically inhabited by Polynesians who built large stone heads that remain somewhat of a mystery. At the center of Polynesia are the fifteen small Cook Islands, which are controlled by New Zealand and are home to about twenty thousand people, many of whom claim Maori ethnicity.
Key Takeaways
• Melanesia includes the islands from Papua New Guinea to Fiji. Micronesia includes small islands located north of Melanesia. Polynesia includes island groups from the Hawaiian Islands to the Pitcairn Islands. Papua New Guinea is the largest country in the Pacific, approximately seven hundred languages are spoken by the many local groups that live there.
• Low islands in this region are usually composed of coral and low in elevation. High islands are usually volcanic in origin and mountainous with high elevations. Micronesia consists mainly of low islands, while Polynesia consists of many high islands, such as Hawaii.
• Tourism is the main economic activity in the Pacific, but minerals and fossil fuels provide some islands with additional wealth. Fishing and subsistence agriculture have been the traditional livelihoods. Offshore banking has also been established in the region.
• The United States, the United Kingdom, and France used various islands for nuclear testing. Radiation fallout continues to be an environmental concern. Typhoons, tsunamis, volcanic activity, earthquakes, and flooding create devastation on the islands. Fresh water can be a valuable resource, as it is in short supply on many islands.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. What are the three main regions of islands in the Pacific? What island nations belong to each?
2. What are the traditional methods of making a living on the Pacific islands?
3. What is the difference between a low island and a high island? Give examples of each.
4. Why are so many islands in the Pacific governed by the United States?
5. Name three major environmental concerns of these islands.
6. What has been a growing sector of the economy for many of the Pacific islands?
7. Which island group is the largest protected environmental marine habitat in the world?
8. What islands did the United States, Great Britain, and France use for testing nuclear weapons?
9. On which island are more than seven hundred separate languages spoken? Why are so many languages spoken?
10. What main factors have determined the economic activities of the Pacific?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• American Samoa
• Austral Islands
• Bora Bora
• Cook Islands
• Easter Island
• Fiji
• French Polynesia
• Gilbert Islands
• Guadalcanal
• Guam
• Hawaiian Islands
• Kiribati
• Marquesas
• Marshall Islands
• Melanesia
• Micronesia
• Nauru
• Northern Mariana Islands
• Palau
• Papua New Guinea
• Pitcairn Islands
• Polynesia
• Samoa
• Society Islands
• Solomon Islands
• Tahiti
• Tonga
• Tuamotu Islands
• Tuvalu
• Vanuatu
• Wake Island
• Western Samoa
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/Book%3A_World_Regional_Geography_-_People_Places_and_Globalization/13%3A_The_Pacific_and_Antarctica/13.01%3A_The_Pacific_Islands.txt
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Learning Objectives
1. Summarize the layout of the continent’s main physical features, including the ice shelves and volcanic activity.
2. Understand the political nature of the various claims held on sections of Antarctica and how the continent is managed by the international community.
3. Outline the dynamics of the principle of global warming and describe what changes would occur in Antarctica and the rest of the world if the ice sheet covering Antarctica were to melt.
4. Describe how good ozone is depleted and understand the role Antarctica plays in the seasonal cycle of changes in the amount of ozone in the atmosphere above the South Pole.
The Southern Ocean
The Southern Ocean, which surrounds the continent of Antarctica, is often misunderstood or not included on many maps of the Southern Hemisphere. The cold waters off the coast of Antarctica move from west to east in a clockwise rotation around the continent in a movement called the West Wind Drift, or the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. The Southern Ocean’s northern boundary does not border a land mass but meets up with the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Most geographers accept the northern boundary of the Southern Ocean to be located south of 60° latitude even though the actual limit has not yet been firmly agreed upon.
The Southern Ocean’s northern boundary has more to do with the marine conditions of the realm. There is a transition called the Subtropical Convergence in which the cold, dense waters of the Southern Ocean meet up with the warmer waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. The cold, dense water from the south sinks below the warm waters from the north to create a zone of upwelling and mixing that is conducive to high levels of productivity for organisms such as phytoplankton and krill. The zone of Subtropical Convergence can be visually observed by the grayish, cold southern waters meeting up with the bluish-green, warm northern waters. The krill, which thrive on phytoplankton, are an important link in the food chain for marine organism such as fish, penguins, seals, albatrosses, and whales in the Southern Ocean.
Physical Geography
The world has seven focal continents. Rated by physical area from the largest to the smallest, they are Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Australia, and Europe. Antarctica, which is larger than Australia and 1.3 times larger than Europe, is located entirely south of 60° latitude and is surrounded by the Southern Ocean. Antarctica has the highest average elevation of any continent; there are many mountain ranges. The two-thousand-mile-long Transantarctic Mountain range divides Antarctica into a small western region and a larger eastern region. At both ends of the Transantarctic Mountains are the two main ice shelves: the Ross Ice Shelf and the Ronne Ice Shelf. The Ellsworth Mountains are located in the western region and are home to Mt. Vinson (or the Vinson Massif), which is the highest peak on the continent, reaching an elevation of 16,050 feet. This is higher than any mountain in the contiguous, continental United States, Europe, or Australia.
The Antarctic Peninsula is actually an extension of the Andes Mountains of South America and is home to active volcanoes. The peninsula is the location of a volcano on Deception Island that erupted in the late 1960s and destroyed research stations in the area. There was an additional large eruption in 1970. The volcano continues to show activity, and sightings of lava flow continue to be reported. There may be more volcanic activity than what has been recorded. An underwater volcano in the Antarctic Peninsula was discovered in 2004. Mt. Erebus (12,448 feet), located on Ross Island on the other side of Antarctica from the Antarctic Peninsula, is the world’s southernmost active volcano. Mt. Erebus has been active since 1972 and has a large lava lake in its inner crater.
About 98 percent of Antarctica is covered by an ice sheet that is, on average, up to a mile deep. In some areas, it is nearly three miles deep. In the winter season, the ice sheet’s area might double as it extends out from the coastline. The Antarctic ice sheet holds about 70 percent of the earth’s fresh water. If the ice sheet were to melt, the sea level could rise considerably and cover many of the earth’s low-lying islands, peninsulas, and coastal regions with low elevations. Antarctica is considered a desert because it usually averages fewer than ten inches of precipitation per year. Coastal regions annually receive as much as four feet of snow, while the interior near the South Pole might only receive a few inches.
Mt. Erebus (12,448 feet), located on Ross Island, is Antarctica’s most active volcano and has a lava lake in its inner crater.
There are areas in Antarctica that are not covered with ice but have a landscape of bare ground. This nonice portion of the continent protrudes above the ice sheet and only covers a combined physical area equivalent to about half the US state of Kentucky. The only plant life that exists here are the many different mosses and lichens that grow during short periods of the year. Below the giant ice sheet are dozens of subglacial lakes. Lake Vostok, the largest lake discovered in the Antarctic so far, was found two miles below the ice sheet and is the size of Lake Ontario. It is unknown what aquatic life might exist in these lakes. If all the ice and snow were removed from the continent, the total land area would be considerably smaller and would consist mainly of mountain ranges and islands. Some estimate that this land area altogether would only equate to about one hundred thousand square miles, roughly equivalent to the physical area of the US state of Colorado. This does not account for the fact that if all the ice were to melt, the sea level would rise and cover more land area. The land portion of the continent would also expand upward because of the loss of the weight of the ice, which has been compressing the continent.
Not only is Antarctica the driest continent with the least average annual precipitation and the highest continent in average elevation; it is also the coldest of the continents. The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was −128 °F in 1983 at a Russian research station in Antarctica. Temperatures reach a minimum of less than −110 °F in winter in the interior and greater than 55 °F near the coast in summer. No permanent human settlements exist in Antarctica other than research stations from a number of countries.
The Antarctic Treaty
The continent is not politically controlled by any one government. Early seafaring explorers sailed in these waters, and various countries laid claim to sections of the continent. The continent was first sighted by explorers in 1820, and the South Pole was first reached in 1911. Land claims to the continent were established by the home countries of early explorers. Forty-six countries are now included in the Antarctic Treaty, which was originally signed by twelve countries in 1959. The treaty, designed to protect the environment and encourage scientific research, prohibits military activities, mineral mining, and the disposal of waste products. All land claims were suspended when the Antarctic Treaty was initiated, but the claims are not without political ramifications. Antarctica is divided into pie-shaped sections, and each of the original claimant countries is allocated a portion, according to their claim. The countries with original claims are Norway, New Zealand, France, Chile, Australia, and Argentina. Other countries, including Brazil, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Spain, and the United States, have reserved their right to submit claims on the continent in the future if the issue of territorial claims becomes significant. A large sector of West Antarctica called Marie Byrd Land remains unclaimed.
Research stations account for the entire human population in Antarctica. Approximately one thousand people live in Antarctica year-round, and up to five thousand or more live there during the summer months. Many of the research stations rotate their personnel, and tours of duty last anywhere from a few months to a year or more. Various family groups have worked there as well as other service workers, including Russian Orthodox priests, who have rotated every year at one of the Russian research stations.
Figure 13.13 Emperor Penguins, Ross Sea, Antarctica
Tourism brings the largest number of additional people to the continent. Tourists come for short-term visits to experience the conditions or see the many species of penguins or fauna that exist here. More than forty-five thousand tourists visit the Antarctic Treaty area yearly. Most arrive on commercial ships that specialize in tours of the region. Tours only last one or two weeks.
Research has revealed that mineral resources are to be found under the ice in Antarctica, and oil and natural gas are found in offshore deposits. Antarctica is a frontier for economic development that is not under the jurisdiction of any one government. The Antarctic Treaty has been the determinant of the level of human activity. The current treaty restricts any extractive activity. Fishing is also regulated within the treaty, but without enforcement procedures, there have been questions about its effectiveness. Whaling was once a major industry in this realm. Whaling stations were established on the Antarctic Peninsula and nearby South Georgia Island. However, the increased use and extraction of petroleum reduced the need for whale oil and the industry collapsed. Some whaling continues in the waters of the Southern Ocean, which has led to questions about how to manage these natural resources. In 1998, negotiations between interested countries met in Madrid, Spain, and created the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (known as the Madrid Protocol). The protocol designates Antarctica as a natural reserve that can only be used for peaceful purposes and for science. All mining or economic activity is banned.
Climate Change
Climactic conditions on Earth have varied widely during the planet’s history. There have been long periods of heating or cooling. The last ice age, which ended about ten thousand years ago, created large ice sheets that covered much of the Northern Hemisphere. The earth then entered into the current interglacial period with warmer temperatures that melted the ice sheets; the polar regions have the last remaining ice on the planet. The earth has experienced large fluctuations in its temperature at various times in its past. Natural changes in the conditions that affect climate can include but are not limited to the dynamics of the sun, changes in the earth’s orbit, and volcanic eruptions.
Human activity has impacted conditions both locally and globally. Since the Industrial Revolution, humans have been pumping enormous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which affects the planet’s climate and temperature. The Industrial Revolution introduced the burning of coal as a fuel to boil water to operate steam engines. This allowed power to become more versatile and mobile. The introduction of the automobile increased the burning of petroleum, which released carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the form of engine exhaust.
Large-scale deforestation and the burning of fossil fuels have increased the quantity of heat-trapping “greenhouse gases” in the atmosphere. Nitrous oxide, methane, carbon dioxide, and similar gases act like the glass panels of a greenhouse that allow short-wave radiation from the sun to enter but do not allow the long-wave radiation of heat to escape into space. Deforestation reduces the number of trees that use carbon dioxide and store carbon in plant fibers. The burning of wood or carbon-based energy sources such as oil or coal releases the carbon back into the atmosphere. Fossil fuels are created when dead plant and animal life have been under pressure and decay for long periods and have retained their carbon component. This all leads to a rise in the activity of the carbon cycle. Carbon is a key component to the regulation of the earth’s temperature. Life on Earth is dependent on temperature conditions that are regulated by the atmosphere. This natural cycle has been augmented by human activity.
Changing global temperatures are one aspect of climate change that has received attention in recent years. Technically speaking, global warming is an average increase in the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface. Few environmental effects could impact Antarctica as much as the phenomenon of changing temperatures. There would be major ramifications for the entire world if temperatures would increase to the extent that the Antarctic ice sheet would melt and dissolve away. Sea levels would rise, and many areas of the planet with large urban populations would be flooded. For instance, many of the largest urban centers in the world are port cities that rely on the import and export of goods and materials. These cities would be in danger of being under water if the sea level were to rise even a few feet, let alone up to two hundred feet (approximated to be equivalent to the volume of water in the polar ice caps). It should be noted that light-colored surfaces such as snow and ice reflect more radiation than do darker surfaces. If the Antarctic ice sheet were to melt, this would certainly exacerbate global climate change, as more radiation would be absorbed at the surface (land and water). Climate change might also affect agricultural production. Global changes in temperature would alter ecosystems and the habitats of organisms, changing the balance of nature in many biomes.
The scientific community continues to study the dynamics of climate change. In the last decade, some of the warmest annual temperatures in the past century have been documented. Data gathered from both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) indicate that the earth’s surface temperatures have increased by more than one degree in the past one hundred years.
Ozone Depletion
Climate change can have a major impact on atmospheric conditions. It should be noted that good ozone depletion in the stratosphere (the second layer of the earth’s atmosphere) has different causes and conditions than temperature change in the troposphere (the layer just above the earth’s surface). The two concepts have separate and distinct dynamics that are not directly related. Ozone (O3) is a simple molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms. Common oxygen gas molecules have two oxygen atoms (O2). Depending on where ozone is located in the atmosphere, it can be either a protective safeguard from ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun or an element in smog that causes health problems. Good ozone in the stratosphere provides a protective shield preventing harmful UV radiation from reaching the earth. UV rays from the sun are known to cause skin cancers, eye damage, and harm to organisms such as plankton. Bad ozone molecules in the troposphere mix with various chemicals to create smog, which reduces visibility and can cause respiratory health problems. Tropospheric smog might contribute to climate change but does not serve the same function as ozone molecules in the stratosphere. The depletion of good ozone in the stratosphere is a different chemical process than the creation of bad ozone in the troposphere.
Ozone in the stratosphere is vital to the protection of living organisms from damaging UV radiation from the sun. In the stratosphere, UV radiation is absorbed in a continuous cycle in which oxygen molecules are turned into ozone molecules and then back into oxygen molecules. Oxygen molecules (O2) absorb UV radiation in the stratosphere and separate into two oxygen atoms (O2 → 2 O). Each of these oxygen atoms (O) will attach to another oxygen molecule to create an ozone molecule (O + O2 → O3). Each ozone molecule (O3) will absorb UV radiation, which separates it back into an oxygen molecule and an atomic oxygen atom (O3 → O2 + O). The separate oxygen (O) atom will attach to another separate oxygen atom (O) to become an oxygen molecule (O2) again (O + O → O2). This cycle will continue to absorb UV radiation and keep UV radiation from reaching the earth’s surface. It is a chemical reaction that gives off heat and increases the stratosphere’s temperature.
Chemicals such as chlorine and bromine interact with protective ozone molecules in the stratosphere and break them down in a chain reaction that depletes the stratosphere of ozone molecules and stops the cycle that absorbs the UV radiation. One chlorine molecule can destroy one hundred thousand ozone molecules, and bromine atoms can destroy ozone molecules at a rate of many times that of chlorine. Chlorine and bromine enter the stratosphere through the discharge of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HCFCs), and other chemicals that deplete ozone molecules. These chemicals have been mainly used in industrial processes such as refrigeration and air conditioning and in solvents and insulation foam. In the stratosphere, radiation from the sun breaks HCFCs and CFCs apart, releasing chlorine atoms that destroy ozone molecules.
Ozone in the stratosphere protects the earth from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun.
One of the largest ozone holes was observed in 2006 over Antarctica.
This process also occurs naturally when volcanoes erupt and emit sulfur aerosols into the atmosphere. The sulfur aerosols break down CFCs and halon; this results in the release of chlorine and bromine, which deplete ozone molecules. In recent years, nitrous oxide has become a major chemical that can reach the stratosphere to act as an agent in the ozone depletion process. Nitrous oxide can be released into the atmosphere from human activities such as the use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture or from vehicle exhaust from burning fossil fuels. Nitrous oxide is also released naturally from the soil or from ocean water.
Ozone depletion has been especially noticeable over Antarctica. A large area of ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere is often called an ozone hole. The ozone hole over Antarctica is not exactly a total depletion of ozone but a major reduction in the amount of ozone found in the stratosphere over the South Pole. Recent ozone levels in the stratosphere over Antarctica have decreased and are lower than they were in 1975. Polar stratospheric clouds, which sometimes develop over Antarctica during the extremely cold winter months, severely reduce ozone levels. The clouds trap chlorine and nitric acid in their ice crystals. As the circulation of westerly winds starts in the spring, an atmospheric vortex is created over the polar area. The ozone hole increases during the spring when sunlight increases—from September to early December. The sunlight speeds up the chemical reactions that deplete the ozone molecules. During this time, as much as half of the lower stratospheric ozone can be destroyed, creating an ozone hole.
Global Impacts and Organizations
Many governments around the world have established agencies to address environmental issues and have invested resources in continued research and scientific discovery. Many nongovernmental agencies and organizations such as Greenpeace International have also been established to address the development or management of Antarctica and to address environmental concerns. International organizations such as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) have been formed to enhance cooperation between countries and concerned entities. In 1998, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was established by the UNEP and the World Meteorological Organization to address the work of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Through an international treaty, the agency focuses on the harmful effects of climate change. One outcome of the UNFCCC’s work was the Kyoto Protocol developed in 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, which created a legal commitment by participants to reduce greenhouse gases and address climate change issues. As of 2010, 191 countries have signed on to the initiative. The United States has not yet ratified the protocol. Enforcing the Kyoto Protocol is a matter of debate. The 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also referred to as the Copenhagen Summit) was held in Denmark to address some of the same issues that were discussed in the Kyoto Protocol.
Depletion of the stratospheric ozone over the polar regions or the thinning of the ozone layer over the midlatitudes would have worldwide implications for human activity and environmental conditions. Climate change is not restricted to one country or one government; these and other environmental issues affect the whole planet and impact everyone, whether they are contributing to the problem or not. If the sea level were to rise to the level predicted because of global warming, it would affect every country with a coastline in the world. It would not be restricted to any one category of country, developed or undeveloped. Issues of increased UV radiation or climate change are not restricted by political boundaries or economic conditions; they require global thinking and awareness and cannot be solved by one country alone—if they can be solved at all.
Key Takeaways
• Antarctica has the highest average elevation of any continent and has many mountains. The continent includes active volcanoes, high mountains, and the Transantarctic Mountain range. The continent is surrounded by the Southern Ocean.
• The ice sheet that covers Antarctica is more than a mile thick and holds about 70 percent of the earth’s fresh water. Antarctica is still considered a desert because it receives so little precipitation on an average basis. Large bodies of water are also located below the ice sheet.
• The concept of global warming is one aspect of climate change that indicates an increase in greenhouse gasses such as carbon dioxide, which help regulate the temperature of the earth’s atmosphere. The end result is warmer temperatures on the earth’s surface. The burning of fossil fuels is a main source of carbon dioxide that enters the atmosphere. Climate change may result in the melting of the polar ice sheet over Antarctica, which could raise sea levels considerably.
• Ozone in the stratosphere protects the earth from harmful UV radiation from the sun. Various chemicals reduce the amount of protective ozone in the stratosphere, which allows more UV radiation to reach the earth. A seasonal cycle varies the amount of ozone in the stratosphere over the South Pole, causing an ozone hole when ozone is not abundant.
Discussion and Study Questions
1. Where are the main mountain ranges in Antarctica? What is significant about Mt. Erebus?
2. How can Antarctica be considered a desert region with all that ice? How thick is the ice sheet?
3. What percentage of the world’s fresh water is located in Antarctica?
4. What was the Antarctic Treaty designed to accomplish? Who agreed to the treaty?
5. What seven countries have laid claims to the territory of Antarctica?
6. How does the burning of fossil fuels contribute to climate change?
7. How would continued global warming affect Antarctica and the rest of the planet?
8. How does ozone protect the planet? What damage would ozone depletion cause?
9. Why is there an ozone hole over the South Pole during certain months?
10. What does the Kyoto Protocol attempt to accomplish?
Geography Exercise
Identify the following key places on a map:
• Antarctic Peninsula
• East Antarctica
• Ellsworth Mountains
• Lake Vostok
• Mt. Erebus
• Mt. Vinson
• Ronne Ice Shelf
• Ross Ice Shelf
• Southern Ocean
• South Pole
• Transantarctic Mountains
• West Antarctica
13.03: End-of-Chapter Material
Chapter Summary
1. The low coral islands and the high volcanic islands of the South Pacific can be divided into three regional groups: Polynesia, Micronesia, and Melanesia. The Pacific islands cover the world’s largest geographic realm, and there is a great distance between many of the island groups.
2. The Pacific has a high level of ethnic diversity; there are hundreds of different languages and cultural traditions. Papua New Guinea is the largest island and is host to more than seven hundred languages. Various Pacific islands remain possessions of France, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, or the United States.
3. The Pacific islands are subject to natural forces such as typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tsunamis, and tropical storms. Some of the islands have radiation issues because they were used as nuclear test sites by the United States, France, and Great Britain. Other environmental issues relate to deforestation and the lack of fresh water.
4. Antarctica is an ice-covered continent that is larger than the continents of Europe or Australia. The Southern Ocean surrounds Antarctica, which is located entirely south of 60° latitude. Antarctica’s ice sheet is more than a mile thick but does not cover the entire land surface. Extensive mountain ranges exist with volcanic peaks that have erupted in recent years. The only permanent human settlements in Antarctica are research stations.
5. The concept of global warming may impact the continent of Antarctica if temperatures rise and the ice sheet melts rapidly. Temperature increases in the atmosphere might be a result of an increase in greenhouse gases caused by the burning of carbon-based fossil fuels.
6. Ozone in the stratosphere protects the earth from ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Ozone depletion in the stratosphere can be caused by the release of industrial chemicals. A large ozone hole sometime exists above Antarctica during a seasonal increase in ozone depleting elements.
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This chapter focuses on understanding the role and processes of urbanization in the context of BC. In particular, it emphasizes recent understandings of urban sustainability and urban systems thinking. The primary goal, on finishing this chapter, is to have an understanding of the relationality and territoriality of cities; that is, understanding how cities exist in what geographer Doreen Massey calls a “global sense of place.” This will connect with the second goal of the chapter, which is to understand how cities are related to other places, and how cities are at the same time unique places. The concept of a global sense of place has three characteristics:
1. Places have multiple identities and meanings. The meaning is dependent on the people who are experiencing a place.
2. Places are more than physical locations; they are made up of processes.
3. Places are not static, they are ongoing and ever changing because of relationships to other places.
A global sense of place means viewing every city as globalized or worldly precisely because of its relationship to other places, and the mobile processes that are ongoing in places. Likewise, a global sense of place means that the territoriality, or what makes a place unique, can be understood because other places are different.
Cities
A city, in its most basic sense, is a constellation of people and social, political and economic institutions and infrastructures within a physical location. While there is usually no agreed-upon population or socio-economic configuration for most cities, they are nevertheless understood to be discrete locations that are governed by political institutions (e.g., a municipal government with a mayor and city council), and city governments have the power to make laws and collect taxes from the people and businesses that inhabit it. Cities of course, do not exist in isolation from other places. They are connected to places near and far, to other cities and to rural communities and landscapes.
Cities are created through processes of urbanization, which combine various socio-economic, political, technological, and environmental processes that affect the way that cities are made up and how people live in them.
In British Columbia in 2011, there were 49 municipalities designated as cities, with an average population of 59,716 (Census data). The current (2014) total population of BC is 4,606,375, and 2,926,102 of those people live in cities. With more and more people moving to to cities within the province, we can ascertain that BC is undergoing a process of urbanization.
Figure 1.1 Graph of BC’s population from 1851-2011.
Processes that make up cities
Some of the processes that make up cities and contribute to this global sense of place are economic change, demographic change, political change, sociocultural change, technological change and environmental change. As well, local histories and physical landscapes contribute to the uniqueness and differences in cities.
Economic changes are often dynamic and exist on many scales. An economic change may be, for example, the shift from a subsistence-based economy to one of pre-capitalist trade or, in contemporary society, a shift in the form of capitalist accumulation. Cities, as sites of resource agglomeration, are key actors within the network of global economic activity. Cities gather, regulate, produce and redistribute capital in the form of physical resources, money and human labour. As well, cities have their own regional and local economies that are connected to broader economic flows.
Within cities, as well as among cities, capital is unevenly distributed between people, which causes shifting demographic, political and sociocultural changes.
Demographic changes, such as the size, composition and speed of change profoundly affect urban landscapes. For example, in 2011, the city of Surrey was the fastest growing city in Canada. With its large and growing East Asian population, it is also emerging as a multicultural hub within the province, and at the same time it is a place characterized by a growing local economy and a mild climate, placing it as an affordable alternative to Vancouver or Victoria.
Political change at various scales (international, federal, provincial and municipal) also has important effects on cities. Governments have the power to levy taxes and to redistribute resources. They make laws that regulate everything from environmental and economic activity to managing migration. Shifts in political agendas can mean the difference between securing funding for a local health authority versus public transit in the region.
Sociocultural changes affect everything from architectural style to the kinds of amenities that are provided in cities. For example, BC is known for its natural beauty, so cities often highlight local access to outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing or cycling. Sociocultural change is broader than physical attributes, however. Behaviour toward minority groups has also altered drastically within cities over the years. For example, from 1859 to 1923, Canada levied the Chinese head tax, a fee charged to each Chinese person entering Canada. It was abolished in 1923 by the Chinese Immigration Act, which prohibited immigration from China to Canada. Many years later, in 2006, the federal government offered an official apology and financial remuneration to survivors and their spouses who paid the head tax.
Figure 1.2. Residential schoolchildren. St. Paul’s Indian Industrial School, Middlechurch, Manitoba, 1901
Another example of changing attitudes is evident in the story of the Indian residential school system, which was in place from the 1880s until 1996. During much of that time, Aboriginal children were required to attend government- and church-run schools under an ideology of assimilation. There was widespread physical, sexual and mental abuse within the schools, which also separated Aboriginal children from their families and their land. The increasing urbanization of Aboriginal people in BC and in Canada is also attributed to the residential school system. In 2008, the federal government apologized for how Aboriginal people were treated under the system.
Technological changes affect the physical environment and how people live in cities. Economic innovation is often precipitated by technological change. For example, the development of the steam engine was strong enough to power a long-distance railway across much of North America. Today, advances in telecommunications and wireless networks allow people in cities to carry devices that allow mobile Internet access. Cities have also become tech hubs, providing jobs to local economies. For example, Vancouver is the home to HootSuite[1] and Electronic Arts Entertainment. [2]
Environmental changes that affect cities tie into broad networks. For example, air pollution and water quality cannot be governed or contained at the local level; they require cross-jurisdictional management. Increasing CO2 emissions not only raise local health risks in cities, causing higher rates of asthma and other respiratory illness, but also contribute to global climate change.
Understanding the interrelationship of these various urbanization processes helps us to understand the dynamic role of cities.
Attributions
1. HootSuite https://hootsuite.com/
2. Electronic Arts Entertainment http://www.ea.com/ca
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The place we call British Columbia was settled approximately 10,000 years ago by people migrating from Eastern Asia across the Bering Strait. Permanent settlements by First Nations in BC are commonly dated to around 5,000 years ago. These places served as anchors for agriculture and as trade routes along the coast and the rivers reaching further east. This process of urbanization contributed to the formation of complex societies that have existed in BC ever since.
In the early 18th century, First Nations societies living in BC made contact with Spanish and British explorers. It is unknown precisely how many First Nations were living within the territory at the time of contact, but estimates range from 80,000 to 500,000, indicating large social groups living throughout the region.
With the coming of British settlers, so too came processes of deterritorialization and displacement. This happened most directly through the creation of the reserve system, the enactment of the British North American Act (1867) and the Indian Act (1876), processes of reterritorialization settlement, and British occupation that signaled the beginning of colonial dominance in the region.
The Colonial City
A colonial city is a settlement either mapped onto an existing settlement or created to establish economic and military dominance in a colony. The function of the colonial city was to centralize and regulate trade for export back to home countries in England and western Europe, and to expand colonial power over the land.
Victoria was established as a trading and military post on the southern tip of Vancouver Island in 1841. It became the first colonial city in British Columbia to secure British dominance over the Spanish and First Nations in the region. It was established on land settled by the Songhees First Nation and grew to be a lively urban settlement and a strategic military site.
On the mainland, New Westminster and Vancouver were settled by the British in order to establish both a capital of the colony of British Columbia (in the case of New Westminster, 1859) and a new economic centre along the Burrard Inlet (in the case of Vancouver, 1862). Forestry, trapping and fishing were the main economic drivers of these new colonial settlements; however, it was the discovery of gold in Haida Gwaii and the lower Fraser River that led to rapid urbanization in 1858.
Cultural Composition and Trade Activities
Colonial trade activities shaped the landscape of BC over the next 200 years. Throughout this time the cultural composition of Canadian cities was changing through various waves of immigration. Chinese workers came to BC to build the Canadian Pacific Railway, and then settled throughout the province in designated neighbourhoods. The establishment of Chinatowns in BC, as elsewhere in the world, reflected the view that as visible minorities, the Chinese were inferior and should therefore live apart. What is now the second-oldest Chinatown in North America was established in Victoria. Other Chinatowns arose in Vancouver, Richmond, New Westminster, Nanaimo and Penticton. There was also significant Chinese settlement in Hazelton, Boston Bar, Lillooet, Rock Creek, Granite Creek and Fisherville (Wild Horse Creek). As you can see in Figure 1, BC has always been home to significant percentages of immigrants to Canada. Other immigrant groups to British Columbia throughout the past 200 years include Indian, East Asian, Italian, Japanese, Scandanavian and German peoples.
Figure 1.3 Immigrants residing in Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area as a percentage of Canada’s and British Columbia’s immigrant population, by period of immigration, 2001
Railway and Urban Growth
In 1871, British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation over fears of US annexation, and with the promise that the railway would be extended west. With the construction of the railway came a second wave of immigration to the area. According to census data, the population of BC doubled between 1881, when the railway was finished, and 1891. Resource extraction activities, including mining, fishing and forestry, continued during this time, ensuring a steady economy for people moving to the province.
At the beginning of the 20th century, urbanization in BC was focused toward the east, with communities such as Revelstoke and Kamloops gaining population. The railway remained a key route for transporting people and goods across the province during the Great Depression of the 1930s, which saw outward migration from BC urban centres, throughout World War II and the rise in shipbuilding in the Burrard Inlet, and during the postwar economic boom of the 1950s and up through the 1970s.
Rapid growth throughout the province was precipitated by large multinational firms interested in expanding the forestry industry, with pulp and paper mills being built in places such as Prince George, Kitimat, Gold River, Castlegar and Kamloops. During this time the provincial government was also involved in several infrastructure expansion projects. The establishment in 1960 of BC Ferries led to the rapid expansion of the water transport within the province. Airport expansion and road upgrades also transformed the connections between cities. The rapid advances of global transportation technologies, combined with falling energy prices that led to globalization throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s led to the boom in oil and natural gas industries, bolstering many northern BC towns. Simultaneously, the global transport of goods became cheaper, production and manufacturing was moved to countries outside of North America and commodity prices declined. This shifting global production economy affected BC in the early 1980s. In 1982 the BC economy shrank by 2.9%. In response, urban redevelopment efforts were spurred on, such as the development of False Creek in Vancouver in preparation for the World’s Fair, Expo ’86.
Contemporary Urbanization in BC
Contemporary urbanization in BC is characterized by significant population growth in southwestern BC cities, depopulation of northern BC urban centres and housing affordability and security throughout the province. Rapidly changing technologies and resource use, as well as the conflict over whether and how to extract resources in the province mean that the exact form of urbanization in BC cities is impossible to predict. In the following section we explore two case studies that look at more contemporary urban processes in Vancouver and Victoria respectively.
Attributions
• Figure 1.3 Immigrants residing in Vancouver Census Metropolitan Area as a percentage of Canada’s and British Columbia’s immigrant population, by period of immigration, 2001 by the Government of Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/notices.asp#copyright).
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Vancouver: The Greenest City?
Vancouver has developed a reputation as being a leader in urban sustainable development based on the density of the downtown core, its walkability and the integration of the natural landscape into its neighbourhoods. This reputation is built on Vancouver’s history of social and environmental activism on various local and global issues such as migration, economic development and resource extraction. The environmental activist organization Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver, and currently the city is implementing a sustainability framework known as the Greenest City Action Plan.
The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts, which connect East Vancouver to the downtown core, are remnants of a failed plan to bring a freeway through the heart of Vancouver in the 1970s. The viaducts are what architect Aldo Rossi calls urban artifacts – public, material structures that have layers of meaning placed on them by people in the city. Public opposition to the freeway plan is often credited with preserving the city’s historical neighbourhoods such as Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona. It was a defining moment when urbanist and activist Jane Jacobs’ ideas of mixed-use urban spaces populated by socially and culturally diverse communities triumphed over urban planner Robert Moses’s modernist utopia of highways and highrises. Today, the city is exploring options for removing the viaducts completely under the Greenest City Action Plan.
So how is it that a 50-year-old battle about highways in the city helped to make Vancouver environmentally conscious? How does the city implement sustainability policies?
Figure 1.4 The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts
Urban Decay
In the 1950s many cities in North America were undergoing urban decay, which was defined by stagnating economies due to deindustrialization, depopulation, changing and racialized populations moving into the urban centres, a wave of immigration to North America, a growing ideology of home ownership and suburbanization, fears of increased crime, and poverty leading to increased instances of ill health, illicit drug use and decreased property values. This narrative of urban decay was often the impetus behind implementing large-scale urban restructuring projects such as highway construction, public housing projects, and modern highrise office buildings. As a result of these large-scale projects, many historic neighbourhoods were destroyed and poor and marginalized communities were displaced.
The phenomenon of depopulation and stagnant economies was not as severe in most Canadian cities as in the United States, but Canadian urban planners, politicians and those with economic interests still worried about what might happen to their cities. Vancouver, with a pro-development government at the time, advocated for a large rescaling project based on people driving cars. In 1960, the Vancouver Board of Trade put forward a development plan advocating a 45-mile network of freeways linking the metropolitan region. The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts, built in 1972, are the only completed part of this plan. Around the same time, Project 200, a Vancouver waterfront redevelopment, was introduced. It included a freeway running along English Bay and through Gastown, Chinatown and Strathcona. The plan was to build modern highrise towers and a freeway exit leading commuters straight to parking garages on the waterfront.
Luckily, Project 200 also did not come to fruition. In 1971, the federal government stated that money slated for urban redevelopment in British Columbia could not be used for transportation development. The reasons for that decision were not due to a lack of money, or austerity measures but because of the sustained efforts of Strathcona residents organizing against urban renewal projects and the transportation projects that ensued from them.
The Freeway
Why didn’t these freeway plans materialize as they did in so many other North American cities? The two dominant narratives about why Vancouver did not build the freeway are (1) there was not enough regional planning coordination and resources for a freeway to be built in the metro Vancouver region, and (2) people, through community activism and professional groups, rejected the plan. By 1967, the Chinatown Freeway Debates, as they are commonly known, become weekly events, with 500 to 800 citizens crowding city council meetings protesting the destruction of Strathcona.
On November 8, 1967, the federal minister responsible for housing, Paul Hellyer, toured Strathcona with local activist Shirley Chan and city planner Darlene Marzari, two of the main people heading community opposition, along with a lawyer, Mike Harcourt, who later became mayor of Vancouver and then premier of the province. This tour had such an impact on Hellyer that he froze federal funding for urban renewal projects across Canada, including funding that Vancouver city hall was counting on to finance freeway construction.
The Chinatown Freeway Debates were a turning point in Vancouver’s planning processes. From this point on, community consultation became a benchmark for urban planning in Canada. The 1972 municipal elections ensured that this process was jumpstarted. The Non-Partisan Association (NPA), the municipal political party that had been in power for 30 years, was defeated in both mayoral and council races by the newly formed Electors’ Action Movement (TEAM). Two of the councillors elected were Mike Harcourt and Darlene Marzari, who had earlier helped to organize Strathcona residents.
Viaduct Removal?
Forty years after the planning debate, in 2013, Vancouver City Council approved a \$2.4 million final planning phase of the Georgia and Dunsmir Viaduct removal. The viaduct removal will open seven acres of land, which is owned partly by the city and partly by a private developer, Concorde Pacific. It will also allow the city to address traffic calming issues that are a direct result of the viaducts having been built in the first place.
There is general consensus that the removal of the viaducts is environmentally beneficial for Vancouver, but there remain questions about how the development will proceed, who might be displaced, whether this development will be socially just and which business interests will benefit.
It is estimated that about 1,000 housing units could be developed on the land, and 20% or less could be designated as affordable housing (City of Vancouver, 2011), which would help the city address another planning priority, homelessness. The redevelopment is also intended to make way for a “greenway” into the downtown, rerouting the traffic that currently travels along a busy entrance to the downtown core. The concern is that this rerouting will endanger one of Vancouver’s oldest community gardens and the produce warehouses that operate along Malkin Avenue.
Questions about the nature of urban planning, public consultation and social sustainability have come to the forefront of the debates around the viaduct removal. Neighbourhood residents are asking how the city-favoured plan maintains communities, and what the nature of public consultation is. Strathcona’s legacy of community activism and multiculturalism is a part of its identity. But, as the current debate about the viaduct removal shows, the struggle continues.
Attributions
• Figure 1.4 The Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts Photo by Cristina Temenos
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The case of Dockside Green in Victoria, a mixed-use development built in 2011 on an abandoned dockyard, is helpful in illustrating how cities are parts of larger systems, such as environmental, economic and social interactions.
Figure 1.5 Dockside Green, Victoria
Figure 1.6 Wind power, Dockside Green, Victoria
A systems-thinking approach to understanding cities is based on ecological notions of interconnections. With this perspective, cities are as a series of interrelated social, economic and ecological processes that are in constant interaction and motion. Dockside Green, for example, was financed by a local credit union known for innovative and socially conscious investment strategies. This means that it had the dual goal of creating a healthy community and contributing to a healthier environment.
The aim of Dockside Green was to create a community that takes into account environmental, social and economic sustainability, and it is based on new urbanism principles (Figure 1.7). These principles include, connectivity, sustainability, walkability, traditional design, increased density and mixed-use structures.
Figure 1.7 Principles of new urbanism
Before construction could begin, the brownfield site needed extensive environmental remediation at an estimated cost of \$12 million. The surrounding community demanded significant input into the waterfront redevelopment because the Gorge Waterway, a saltwater inlet traveling through the city of Victoria, is ecologically important, containing eelgrass beds which are some of the most diverse and productive ecosystems in the world. The beds provide key salmon habitat, act as a nursery space for thousands of marine species, prevent erosion and are a direct food source for migratory birds. The Gorge Waterway also provides Dockside Green with waterfront real estate, increasing the land value of the development.
LEED Development
The design that was chosen for Dockside Green operates under LEED neighbourhood development principles. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a certification system for green building construction.
Affordability
Housing affordability is a major concern in most Canadian cities, and while Dockside Green has been successful from an environmental sustainability perspective, it has been less so from a housing affordability perspective. Dockside Green is located in Victoria West, a traditionally low-income community in the city. The provision of social housing units was much less that what had been originally proposed in the project, and the main focus on housing affordability was for people making \$30,000 to \$60,000 a year. Many of the units provided were one- and two-bedroom social housing units, which are generally not appropriately sized for low-income families with children. So, while the development has been successful in creating an environmentally high quality of life for its residents, it has been less successful in creating social inclusion.
1.05: Summary
The historical background of urbanization of British Columbia dates back to the first settlements by First Nations communities approximately 5,000 years ago. The establishment of settlements along the coast and rivers of BC served as important agriculture and trade routes. At the start of the 18th century the First Nations landscape began to change as a result of the British occupation and colonial domination in the BC region. Cities such as Victoria became prominent trading and military posts and Victoria was established as the first colonial city in BC. Economic drivers such as forestry, trapping, fishing and gold led to a more rapid urbanization in 1858.
The rise of immigration, as a result of building the Canadian Pacific Railway mostly by Chinese workers, began to change the cultural composition of British Columbia. The rise in Chinese immigration resulted in the establishment of Chinatowns in BC, which reflected the view that as visible minorities, the Chinese were inferior and should therefore live apart. Once the railway was completed in 1881 the population of BC doubled in a 10-year period (1881-1891).
The development of the Canadian Pacific Railway also spurred a transportation boom that resulted in a demographic change in outlying community populations. The urbanization in the 20th century saw Revelstoke and Kamloops gaining population. As the railway was a source for transporting people and goods across British Columbia, there was then an outward migration from BC urban centres through World War II. During the postwar economic boom of the 1950s and up through the 1970s, there was also the rise in shipbuilding in the Burrard Inlet.
The economic and population booms that occurred in interior cities across British Columbia resulted in the need for several infrastructure expansion projects, such as BC Ferries and road and airport expansion. Growing global transportation technologies created a boom in the oil and natural gas industries throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. However, with an economic shrinkage of 2.9% in 1982, BC began to increase its efforts in urban redevelopment, especially with the Expo ’86 in Vancouver.
A “global sense of place” is a way of viewing a city as globalized or worldly precisely because of its relationship to other places and the mobile processes that are ongoing in places. Likewise, a global sense of place means that the territoriality, or what makes a place unique, is able to be understood because other places are different.
A global sense of place characterizes places in three ways:
1. Places have multiple identities and meanings. The meaning is dependent on the people who are experiencing a place.
2. Places are more than physical locations; they are made up of processes.
3. Places are not static; they are ongoing and ever changing because of relationships to other places.
The two case studies highlight the urban processes and considerations involved in sustainable development. The first case study, Vancouver: The Greenest City?questions the true urban sustainable development of Vancouver through the examples of Project 200 and the Georgia and Dunsmuir Viaducts removal. The second case study, Dockside Green, discusses the urban sustainability of developing a LEED neighbourhood and the considerations involved in the development, such as the environmental impact of developing along the Gorge Waterway as well as the socio-economic impact of developing social housing units that have limited social inclusion.
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Key Terms
City: A constellation of people and social, political, and economic institutions and infrastructures within a physical location.
Colonial city: A settlement either mapped onto an existing settlement or created to establish economic and military dominance in a colony.
Deterritorialization: The severing of social, cultural and political ties from a homeland.
Displacement: The coerced movement of a people from their traditional homeland.
Global sense of place: Every city is globalized or worldly precisely because of its relationship to other places, and the mobile processes that are ongoing in places. Likewise, a global sense of place means that the territoriality, or what makes a place unique, is able to be understood because other places are different.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design): A certification system for green building construction.
New urbanism: Connectivity, sustainability, walkability, traditional design, increased density and mixed-use structures.
Reterritorialization: the rebuilding or reconstruction of a previously deterritorialized place.
Systems -thinking: An approach to understanding cities based on ecological notions of interconnections. This perspective sees cities as a series of interrelated social, economic and ecological processes that are in constant interaction and motion.
Urbanization: Combines various socio-economic, political, technological and environmental processes that affect the way that cities are made up and how people live in cities.
Urban artifacts : Public material structures that have layers of meaning placed on them by people in the city.
Urban decay: Processes defined by stagnating economies due to deindustrialization, depopulation of cities, changing and racialized populations moving into the city, immigration, a growing ideology of home ownership and suburbanization, fears of increased crime, and poverty leading to increased instances of ill health, illicit drug use and decreased property values.
1.07: Suggested Activities
Activity 1
Find a local urban issue that you are interested in. Research all sides of the argument.
Activity 2
Write a blog post that explains a local issue of interest to you or your community. Make sure you situate it in the local history, and explain the implications of potential outcomes. Keep a journal about this issue.
Activity 3
Create or add to a Wikipedia entry on this issue (remember to include your sources).
Activity 4
Visit Wikimapia[1] or OpenStreetMaps[2] and find your neighbourhood or the community in which you live. In this chapter we learned that places have multiple identities. Is your understanding of your neighbourhood represented on the map? If not, add volunteered geographic information to the map to represent your understanding of place. Change the lines, add points of interest or of significance to your community on this open source online mapping platforms.
Activity 5
Find a community group that is actively engaged with the issue. Act as a participant observer and volunteer your time and skills to create a product that the group will find useful (e.g., a map, a history, a report, or an infographic).
Activity 6
Ask a family member to create a sketch map of his or her day-to-day experiences. Ask him or her to identify places in the community that have changed over time. Ask questions about areas that have either become more urban or have perhaps experienced urban decay.
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This chapter will focus on the notion of quality-of-life measures, livable cities and some social issues.
In Geography, economic development analysis often focuses on a core-periphery global divide based on advanced technological economies versus less-developed countries (LDCs) or what is sometimes referred to as the Global South or the Third World.
Economic development is measured based on a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), gross national income (GNI) and purchasing power parity (PPP).
Gross domestic product (GDP) is usually used as an estimate of the total value of all materials, foodstuffs, goods and services that a country produces in one year. As GDP is a measure of commodities, the figure for each country is divided by the total population of the country in order to get the per capita GDP.
Gross national income (GNI) is a measure of the income that flows into a country from production no matter where in the world companies from that country may be operating.
Purchasing power parity (PPP) is the third important measurement of economic development. This tool calculates how much the local currency of a country can buy locally (i.e., what can you buy with CAD 20 in Canada compared with its equivalent in Colombia.
There are a number of other tools used to measure economic development and these are available in the resource section.
2.02: Quality-of-Life Measures
Generalizations of the divide between core and periphery, Global South and Global North, and Third World and First World, often lead to representing the different countries as poor and rich countries. This is a very general description with poor countries regarded as ones where the standard of living is lower than those regarded as rich. Usually this means that people in rich countries have higher incomes that allow them access to better living conditions, health and education. GNI in rich and poor countries is therefore a measure of economic performance, but it is also used as a reliable macro measure of social development. However, many believe that these statistics are not a good measure of general social well-being as they do not take into account the spatiality of economic distribution.
And what about the uneven income distribution and different opportunities within the cities of the Global North? For example, Vancouver, as the largest city in British Columbia, is ranked among the top most livable cities in the world. BC, as a province, is a destination for people from all over Canada as well as the world as a very desirable place to live and work. Large numbers of good schools and a comprehensive health-care system, among other factors, make BC an attractive location. But is that all good news for BC and its residents?
Quality of Life
Quality-of-life (QOL) surveys are another tool that are used globally to measure standards of living based on indicators other than economic ones. Introduced as a concept to Geography in the 1970s, quality of life is the general well-being of individuals and societies. It was originally used in studies of territorial spatial indicators (Knox, 1975; Smith, 1973), and is now used as a measurement in many fields including international development, health care, politics and employment.
Today, QOL is used to measure more than GDP or GNI (which are based only on income as discussed abovein the previous paragraph). QOL includes not only wealth and employment but also the built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging.
There are a number of quality-of-life surveys including the OECD Better Life Index[1] and the Mercer Quality of Living Survey[2] In both these surveys Canada rates very highly, with four Canadian cities (Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto), dominating the list of top places to live in North America. The OECD Better Life Survey puts Canada as third overall in the world as the best place to live after Australia and Sweden.
2.03: Homelessness and Poverty in the First World
Homelessness is a complex social problem, and the characteristics of homelessness vary geographically (Gregory, Johnston, Pratt, Watts, & Whatmore, 2009). Homelessness has increased dramatically in the Global North since the 1970s especially among the most vulnerable populations (Takahashi, 1996).
Homelessness, or the threat of homelessness, is not just people living or sleeping on the street. Sometimes homelessness is not visible, but it still exists where people are living in abandoned buildings, living in tenements, using emergency shelters, using family or friends as places to stay or even “couch surfing.” The line between being housed and being homeless is often not clear, as people can find themselves in a cycle of moving between temporary “homes” (e.g., staying with family or friends) and shelters for the homeless. As well, many people live in housing that does not meet health and safety standards (e.g., the presence of mould; inadequate electrical or heating systems). All of these living situations put people at risk of poor physical, mental and emotional health.
Homelessness is usually publicly stigmatized, and government policies that affect homeless people and their rights and access to public space are often harsh (Mitchell, 2003).
Can you imagine that these scenes or situations take place in Canada and specifically in BC?
The Causes of Homelessness
Homelessness is an outcome of the complex interplay of structural factors, systemic failures and individual circumstances (Gaetz, Donaldson, Richter, & Gulliver, 2013):
1. Structural factors are where the cost of living has increased but without an adequate increase in income, particularly for those in the lower income brackets or those on social assistance.
2. Systemic failures occur when people fall between the cracks of a country’s systems of care. For example, when people are discharged from hospitals or correctional facilities into emergency shelters or when youth transition out of the child welfare system.
3. Personal circumstances may come into play when individuals and families experience catastrophic events such as job loss, illness or a house fire. Traumatic events or health problems can add to the risk of becoming homeless when housing or income is in short supply.
4. Family violence and conflict, particularly for women, children and youth, may push individuals to flee their homes in order to protect themselves.
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This case study on homelessness focuses on BC’s capital, Victoria, and on the interior city of Williams Lake.
Figure 2.1. Locations of Victoria and Williams Lake
Victoria
Victoria, the capital of BC, is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. The city’s population stands at approximately 83,000 but serves as a hub for a regional population of 360,000. Known as the “City of Gardens,” Victoria is an attractive, popular tourist destination with a thriving technology sector, which has risen to be the city’s largest revenue-generating private industry. The city’s other main industries are food products, tourism, education, and federal and provincial government administration and services.
Despite Victoria’s reputation as a tourist destination, homelessness is a serious problem in the downtown area, as is drug use. The first homeless count in Victoria took place in January 2005, and was carried out as part of a volunteer study by the Victoria Cool Aid Society. That first count totalled approximately 700 individuals, with 50% of those people identifying themselves as being of First Nations origin (Homeless Count – 2005 Victoria, BC Cool Aid Society). The number of homeless people increased dramatically with the anticipated tourism boom of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Williams Lake
Figure 2.2 Cariboo Regional District showing location of Williams Lake (click for larger)
Williams Lake, is a city in the central interior of BC. Located in the region known as the Cariboo, it is the largest urban centre between Kamloops< and Prince George, with a population of 11,150 in the city limits. The primary industries in Williams Lake are forestry, logging, milling, mining and ranching. Williams Lake is best known for the Williams Lake Stampede. This event, held annually on a weekend on or around Canada Day, features Canadian Professional Rodeo Association action including bull riding, barrel racing, bareback riding, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, team roping and chuck wagon races.
Figure 2.3 Stampede at Williams Lake BC
The indigenous ethnic makeup of Williams Lake makes it an interesting case study in terms of quality of life and homelessness. The Cariboo‐Chilcotin ethnic makeup, of which Williams Lake is a part of, is vastly different from the rest of BC. In the whole of BC, the Aboriginal population is 4.8%, whereas as in Cariboo‐Chilcotin, it is 16.3%. The majority of First Nations people live on the 15 Secwepemc, Carrier and Tsilhqot’in communities in the area, but a growing number are choosing to live in Williams Lake. Census Canada 2011 figures suggest that the Aboriginal population in Williams Lake increased by approximately 130% between 1991 and 2011. Data from 2005 illustrate the difference in income between the Aboriginal population, other visible minorities and non-visible minorities.
Figure 2.4 2005 Williams Lake Median income by ethnic group by Hilda Anggraeni adapted from Statistics Canada, 2007
Labour force participation rates have declined over the past five census periods with the collapse of the forestry industry in the area, partially caused by the mountain pine beetle infestation. Commuting patterns suggest that most Williams Lake residents leave the city to find employment, especially male residents, some of whom commute as far away as Alberta.
According to Census Canada 2011, Williams Lake has a high proportion of renters in the region, who are regarded as an at-risk vulnerable group for living in poverty due to uncertain income and rising costs. In fact, 38% of renters in Williams Lake spent 30% of their income on rent compared with 13% by homeowners.
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The Cost of Real Estate and Access to Housing
Affordability of housing in Canada presents a complex paradox. Canada is considered to be among the more affordable places in the Global North to live, with 80% of Canadians being served by market-based housing, which includes individual home ownership and private rental housing. However BC and specifically Vancouver do not fare well in this national picture of affordability.
The rising inequality gap of affordable housing presents a significant challenge for BC households who are priced out of rental and ownership housing markets. Statistics Canada reported that while Canada’s real GDP) per capita increased by about 50% between 1980 and 2006, and the average earnings among the top 20% of full-time full-year employees grew by 17.9%, among those in the bottom 25% of the distribution average earnings decreased by 13.3% (Statistics Canada, 2006). Lack of affordable housing is one of a number of complex factors that leads to homelessness (Hulchanski, 2009).
Figure 2.5 Housing cost in Vancouver, BC, compared with other cities in Canada (source: Royal Bank of Canada, 2012)
According to the urban planning think tank Demographia (2014), says Metro Vancouver has the second-highest housing prices in the world. The research compared urban areas with over one million residents in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries around the world, and Vancouver came out second when income and cost of housing were compared. Blame has been placed on Vancouver’s strong urban containment policies (Hutton, 2004), which are said to have caused the city’s affordability to deteriorate markedly. The average house price in Metro Vancouver is \$670,300, which would require 80% of the average median household income to service the mortgage.
Vancouver is seen as a very desirable city to live in, and therefore it comes with a cost. This situation is not limited to Greater Vancouver as the Demographia research shows that Victoria, Kelowna and the Fraser Valley are also some of the most unaffordable places in Canada.
Attributions
• Figure 2.5 Housing cost in Vancouver, BC, compared to other cities in Canada by Hilda Aangranni
2.06: Summary
The study of economics and growth in Geography is fundamentally about uneven development: a core-periphery global divide, sometimes referred to as the Global South and Global North or Third World and First World. The rich countries, or those located in the Global North/First World, are expected to have higher incomes that provide residents with greater access to better living conditions, health care and education. However, this representation can be misleading as articulated in the case studies. Figure might be telling us about a minority of rich people in a country in the Global South or neglecting very little on poor populations living in the Global North.
Economic development is often measured by a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), gross national income (GNI) and purchasing power parity (PPP). For additional economic measurement tools, visit the resource section of this chapter. There are other indicators and tools available to measure standards of living, one of which is the quality-of-life (QOL) survey.
2.07: Key Terms
Key Terms
Gross domestic product (GDP): An estimate of the total value of all materials, foodstuffs, goods and services that a country produces in one year. As GDP is a measure of commodities, the figure for each country is divided by the total population of the country in order to get the per capita.
Gross national income (GNI): A measure of the income that flows into a country from production no matter where in the world companies from that country may be operating.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): An international economic organization with the mission to promote policies that will improve the economic and social well-being of people around the world.
Purchasing power parity (PPP): A tool that calculates how much the local currency of a country can buy locally (i.e., what you can buy with CAD 20 Canada compared with its equivalent in Colombia.
Quality of life (QOL): A measure of the general well-being of individuals and societies, using the indicators of income, wealth, employment, the built environment, physical and mental health, education, social belonging and leisure time. QOL is used as a measurement in many fields including international development, healthcare, politics and employment.
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Activity 1
Look at the following images of people living on the streets. Can you identify where in the world the image is from?
Fig 2.6 Homelessness around the world
Activity 2
Watch the video on the quality of life in Williams Lake [1] and with a partner highlight some of the best things about living in Williams Lake. Is homelessness present in your area? Are you aware of any policies by the municipal or local government to deal with homelessness? How does your area compare with either Victoria or Williams Lake?
Activity 3
Watch the short video on the affordability of housing in the Greater Vancouver area.[2] What is most shocking about the information provided in the video? Why do you think Vancouver is such an unaffordable place to buy property?
Activity 4
Look at the fact sheet (figure 2.7) about homelessness in Victoria, BC, and discuss with a partner which figure/fact is most shocking to you and why? Can you relate any of these figures to your local area?
Figure 2.7 Facts on Homelessness in BC by Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness (www.victoriahomelessness.ca)
Activity 5
Calculate the cost of living in BC using the cost-of-living calculator[3] and work out the details for the following scenarios:
1. Peter earns CAD 50,000 a year and Janice earns CAD 45,000. They have two young children both of whom are in school.
2. Edward earns CAD 150,000 CAD a year and his wife Barbara earns CAD 80,000. Their three children are grown up.
3. Polly earns CAD 45,000 a year and is not married; she has one son.
Activity 6
Imagine that you are Polly, the single parent earning CAD 45,000 a year, and you must find assistance with housing. Use the BC Housing website[4] and outline the required steps and procedures you would need to complete in order to receive subsidized housing. Do you qualify? Why or why not?
Activity 7
Relating affordable housing to your context:
• The Mayor of Vancouver promises affordable housing for all, including students.[5] Do you live in student accommodation? Do you have friends who live in off-campus housing? What do you think about the conditions that you and/or your friends are expected to live in? What can be done to change some of these conditions?
• Interview your parents, a relative or a friend who owns their own home. Ask them when they bought their home and if they know the difference in its value today. Ask them what they think of the cost of housing in BC and what options there are for young people planning to purchase their first home.
Activity 8
Take action. The Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness[6] offers many volunteer opportunities that students can engage in. A list of community groups in Williams Lake can be found at Find An Advocate: Williams Lake, Aboriginal and First Nations[7], and Sheway[8] provides emergency housing for women and children and offers volunteer opportunities.
Attributions
1. Quality of Life in Williams Lake video http://www.elocallink.tv/clients3/can/brcolumbia/williamslake2012/tourplay.php?movie=willabccan_qol_rev3_iwd&spon=qualityo
2. World's second least affordable city by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-s-housing-2nd-least-affordable-in-world-1.2505524)
3. Cost of Living calculator www.costofliving.welcomebc.ca/CostOfLiving.aspx
4. BC Housing website http://www.bchousing.org/Initiatives/Providing/Subsidized/Types
5. Affordable housing for all, including student www.mayorofvancouver.ca/tag/housing-affordability
6. Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness http://victoriahomelessness.ca
7. Find An Advocate: Williams Lake, Aboriginal and First Nations www.povnet.org/find-an-advocate/453,73?page=1
8. Sheway sheway.vcn.bc.ca/resources/resources-housing/
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Archeological evidence shows that humans have inhabited the area now known as British Columbia (BC) for at least 10,000 to 12,000 years. The two most widely recognized routes for the migration of humans into the region are along the coast and through an interior ice-free corridor.
The term Aboriginal refers to the ancestors of these inhabitants and includes the distinct subgroups of Inuit, Métis and First Nations peoples.
Pre-contact Aboriginal communities were located throughout BC in three cultural regions identified as the northwest coast, southern Interior, and northern Interior. These three cultural regions had dramatically different ecosystems to which indigenous people adapted. The southern Interior was the most climatically dry, the northern Interior the coldest, and the northwest coast the wettest and richest in terms of animal and plant resources.
Although the pre-contact Aboriginal population may have numbered over 300,000, by 1881 European settlement had reduced Aboriginal population to an estimated 40,000. In fact, increasing European contact and settlement from the 19th century until present has had a major impact on every aspect of Aboriginal life.
The 2011 National Household Survey found that 232,290 people identified as Aboriginal in BC. This represents 16% of the total number of Aboriginal people in Canada (1,400,685) and 5.4% of the entire BC population. The number of people self identifying as Aboriginal has increased significantly since the early 1990s (1996 = 139,655; 2001 = 170,020; 2006 = 196,075; 2011 = 232,290) due to both increases in population and an increasing willingness of people (especially those over 35 and Métis) to identify as Aboriginal. Of the BC Aboriginal population, 66.7% identified as First Nations; 29.9% as Métis; and 3.4% as Inuit, multiple Aboriginal identities or Aboriginal identities not included elsewhere (see the table below). The median age of the Aboriginal population in 2011 was 28.9 years, much lower than the 42.2 years for the non-Aboriginal population in BC. Most of the Aboriginal population live off reserve, with only 44.2% of the 112,400 First Nations people with registered Indian status living on reserve.
Table 3.1. NHS Focus on Geography Series – British Columbia
While the majority of BC Aboriginals self identify as First Nations, the population is exceptionally diverse. For example, it includes 203 First Nations and over 30 spoken languages. According to the First Peoples Culture Council (FPCC), over 60% of all First Nations languages are spoken in BC. However, the FPCC estimates that the percentage of fluent speakers of native languages among Aboriginal populations declined to approximately 5.1% in 2010. The interactive First Nations Language Map of BC[1] shows the historical and contemporary spatial distribution of languages.
Despite recent positive trends of health, employment status and educational attainment indicators for BC’s Aboriginal communities, the same indicators reveal that off-reserve Aboriginal people continue to trail non-Aboriginals. As we will see below, the difference in these indicators is inextricably linked to BC’s colonial history of repressing Aboriginal access to traditional resources, Aboriginal political organization and Aboriginal cultural expression. The historic failure to negotiate treaties with First Nations has led to ongoing, contemporary efforts to negotiate a “new relationship” that respects Aboriginal rights and title as defined by the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the Constitution of Canada and legal jurisprudence.
First Contact
European contact with Aboriginal people in BC occurred later than it did in Eastern Canada. Initial contact occurred along coastal BC in 1774 when Spanish explorers sailed north from San Francisco and stopped at Nookta Sound, where they traded with the Mowachaht, part of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nation. Four years later in 1778, British Captain James Cook stopped in Nootka Sound to repair his ship, staying for the better part of a month, where he initiated trade with the Mowachaht. The motivation for exploration in the region at the time was the fur trade in sea otter pelts, which were highly valued in Europe and many parts of Asia, as well as the establishment of colonial sovereignty over the land.
By the early 1800s, overland European explorers in search of beaver pelts, mostly commissioned by the Montreal-based North West Company, made contact with Aboriginal people living in eastern BC. The routes they travelled followed established Aboriginal trade routes, often called “grease trails,” after the oil produced from oolichan fish, and extending from the coast inland.
Conflict over land arose as contact between Aboriginal peoples and settlers increased. In 1858 the Fraser River gold rush drastically increased European and American migration and settlement to BC, with 25,000 to 30,000 people entering the area. The increase of settlers was matched by increased conflict over trespass and land use. Gold mining destroyed natural habitat, especially in freshwater marine environments, which in turn disturbed key food systems on a broader scale.
Attributions
1. Interactive First Nations Language Map of BC http://maps.fphlcc.ca/
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/British_Columbia_in_a_Global_Context/03%3A_Aboriginal_Issues_in_British_Columbia/3.01%3A_Introduction.txt
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The Constitution Act, 1982 [1] and Canadian court decisions indicate that treaties over land and natural resource use must be negotiated with Aboriginal communities in order to respect Aboriginal title and rights. Yet unlike many of the First Nations in the rest of Canada who have negotiated treaties such as the Numbered Treaties[2] the majority of First Nations in BC have no negotiated treaties. Aboriginal rights and title are thus contentious issues in BC where many lands are sometimes referred to as “unceded territory,” and many seminal constitutional law court cases regarding Aboriginal title and rights have unfolded.
Since there were very few historical or modern treaties within BC, the British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP) [3] began in 1992 involving the provincial government (BC), federal government (Canada), and several First Nations. According to the BC Treaty Commission (2014), a modern treaty is a negotiated agreement that sets out clearly defined rights and responsibilities of First Nations and the federal and provincial governments over far-reaching matters. These include land ownership, governance, wildlife and environmental management, financial benefits and taxation. A treaty is also a full and formal expression of reconciliation between First Nations and government.
In recognition of the need for an orderly framework for negotiation with indigenous communities in 18th century North America, the British Crown issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763[4]. Among its several functions, the proclamation affirmed Aboriginal rights and title. For this reason, it is called the Indian Magna Carta by some scholars. The proclamation is enshrined in the Constitution Act, 1982 in Section 25 (of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) and has bearing on Section 35, which provides constitutional protection for Aboriginal treaty rights. While the proclamation now forms the basis of many Aboriginal claims to land and resources in Canada, the historical implementation of the proclamation may have undermined the sovereignty of existing indigenous communities.
First Treaties in BC
The first treaties created in BC were established by Sir James Douglas (Vancouver Island governor) as the Hudson’s Bay Company moved it’s fur-trading headquarters in 1849 from Fort Vancouver (present-day Vancouver, Washington, at the mouth of the Columbia River) to Fort Victoria (present-day Victoria, BC), and the Colony of Vancouver Island was established. These treaties are called the Douglas Treaties and resulted in land purchases covering some 930 square kilometres on Vancouver Island.
By 1858, thousands of gold prospectors had arrived in the Fraser Canyon gold rush. The influx and dispersion of population from this gold rush and the Cariboo gold rush (1861) strained government resources, led to the establishment of the Colony of British Columbia (1858), and resulted in several conflicts with and failure to negotiate treaties with Aboriginal populations. The Colony of Vancouver Island was merged into the Colony of British Columbia in 1866, and the Colony of British Columbia then joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871. There were no new treaties signed with BC First Nations until the 1899 signing of Treaty 8 by First Nations in the northeast of BC.
The historical political lineage described above is important as the BC provincial government has argued in court that the Royal Proclamation of 1763 does not apply to BC as there was no British settlement in BC at the time and that Aboriginal title was extinguished when Canadian Confederation occurred in 1871 (see Delgamuukw v. British Columbia 1997).
Attempts to create further treaties and to address Aboriginal title and rights have, until relatively recently, been stymied by laws that made First Nations customs illegal (such as the potlatch) and limited political enfranchisement and legal representation. For example, the 1876 Indian Act not only defined status and non-status Indians, it enforced a particular type of governance model within the band and made it a federal crime to prosecute, raise money or organize to pursue First Nations claims in court. Of significance to Aboriginal land claims, this last limitation on litigation was repealed by the revised 1951 Indian Act. A number of court decisions since the 1970s have provided some clarification of aspects of Aboriginal title and rights and a legal framework for pursuing claims. For example, the cumulative impacts of the Calder (1973), Sparrow (1990) and Delgamuukw (1997) legal decisions have traced the contours of Aboriginal claim making.
1. Constitution Act, 1982 http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/CONST/page-15.html#h-38
2. Numbered Treaties, www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1360948213124/1360948312708
3. British Columbia Treaty Process http://www.bctreaty.net
4. Royal Proclomation of 1763 indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/royal-proclamation-1763.html
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/British_Columbia_in_a_Global_Context/03%3A_Aboriginal_Issues_in_British_Columbia/3.02%3A_Territories_Natural_Resources_and_First_Treaties.txt
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There are two types of claims relevant to treaty making: comprehensive claims and specific claims. Comprehensive claims involve unfinished treaty making in Canada where Aboriginal rights are not covered by past treaties. Specific claims are meant to deal with past grievances of First Nations related to historic treaties or management of First Nations resources.
Most modern treaty negotiations in BC occur within the British Columbia Treaty Process (BCTP), although there have been some successful negotiation processes outside of BCTP. The BCTP is a voluntary process, and not all First Nations are interested in participating.
In 1999-2000, both the McLeod Lake Indian Band Treaty No. 8 Adhesion and Settlement Agreement and the Nisga’a Final Agreement were ratified and went into effect. The McLeod Lake agreement rectified the exclusion of the McLeod Lake Indian Band from Treaty 8 by transferring 19,810 hectares of Crown land to the band. It received unanimous support in the BC Legislature. The Nisga’a agreement was hailed as the BC’s first modern-day land treaty. It is a comprehensive agreement that includes surface and subsurface rights, removal of Indian Act application, cash compensation, agreements around wildlife and fisheries, and self-government provisions.
Within the BCTP, 60 First Nations are participating in 49 sets of negotiations, representing about two-thirds of all First Nations people in BC. As a process, the BCTP includes the six stages [1] as outlined in the table.
Table 3.2 6 Stages of Treaty Negotiations
Stage Number Stage Name Description
Stage 1 Statement of Intent to Negotiate A First Nation submits a statement of intent (SOI) stating, among other things, who is claiming, proof that the negotiating party is supported by the community and where the claim will be made.
Stage 2 Readiness to Negotiate Within 45 days of submitting the SOI the parties must sit down and show that all parties have the will and resources to negotiate a treaty.
Stage 3 Negotiation of a Framework Agreement This is basically the “table of contents” of a comprehensive treaty. The three parties agree on the subjects to be negotiated and an estimated time frame for Stage 4 agreement-in-principle negotiations.
Stage 4 Negotiation of an Agreement In Principle The negotiating parties examine in detail the elements outlined in their framework agreement with the goal of solving all the problems and creating a working treaty.
Stage 5 Negotiation to Finalize a Treaty The treaty for all intents and purposes is finished at this stage, but it has to be approved by all parties of the negotiating team.
Stage 6 Implementation of the Treaty The final stage: applying and running the First Nation as set out by the treaty.
As of 2014, a few treaties have been completed, including the Maa-nulth First Nations Treaty and the Tsawwassen First Nation Treaty. Other treaties are pending final ratification by the Canadian government, such as the Tla’amin Nation Treaty and Yale First Nation Treaty. The large majority of First Nations involved in BCTP are in Stage 4.
The status of BC treaty negotiations is outlined on this map [2] from the BC Treaty website.
1. Six stages www.bctreaty.net/files/sixstages.php
2. Status of BC treaty negotiations (map) www.bctreaty.net/nations/nation_maps/Treaty-Negotiations-in-British-Columbia-Map.pdf
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textbooks/socialsci/Geography_(Human)/British_Columbia_in_a_Global_Context/03%3A_Aboriginal_Issues_in_British_Columbia/3.03%3A_Modern_Treaties_and_Claims.txt
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