Ester
Boserup
and Boserupian Theory
By Spencer Gifford
Who is Esther
Boserup?
> Born in 1910 in Copenhagen Denmark
> Died in 1999
> Studied Economics and Agricultural
Development at the University of Copenhagen
> Made important contributions to early
feminism, and worked at the United Nations
Why is she relevant in
Human Geography?
> Related to Population (Chapter 2, pages 66-68)
> She made important adjustments to Malthusian Theory
> She adapted the theory to adapt more to societal changes
and advancements
> Her model is more advanced than Malthus’s
> She wrote the book
“The Conditions of Agricultural Growth: The Economics of Agrarian
Change under Population Pressure.”
The Boserupian Model
How does it apply?
> She looked at things with more nuance than Malthus
> She took a more sociological approach
> Considers societal & sociological advances
Her Model compared
to Malthus’s
What about LDC’s?
> Boserup’s theory applies to them too!
> In LDC’s, basic technologies such as Land Fallowing, and
fire use allow for the necessary amounts of food to be
produced to keep the population fed
Works Cited
Wikipedia contributors, . N.p.. Web. 18 Sep 2013.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ester_Boserup>.
N.p.. Web. 19 Sep 2013.
<http://www.yorku.ca/anderson/population/boserup.htm>.
N.p.. Web. 20 Sep 2013.
<http://occ.crescentschool.org/geography/Human/UnitVAgric
ultural/esterboserup.htm>.