One Child Policy, China Lost Girls - Lecture Notes | GEOG 1003, Study notes of Geography

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Southeast Asia One Child Policy  1.3 billion people concentrated in half its territory  Founded by Deng Xiaoping in 1979  Average fertility rate is 1.6  Population growth is 0.6% per year  It’s not as enforced in rural areas; if you have a girl or disabled child the first time, you are allowed to have another child  Ratio of males to female 114 males to 100 females—a natural ratio is 105 males to 100 females  Problems o Labor shortages o Aging populations—when countries begin to have less children, you see an imbalance where you have more elderly that this young population must support o Gender imbalance—lineage through male line; there has become a preference for boys rather than girls o Gender selection—leads to abortion o Abandoned baby girls o Twins considered to be one child o After 20 years, its population was reduced by 300 million China’s Lost Girls  World’s largest population  1 in every 5 people are born here  Government limits how many child people can have  Many people prefer boys so they abort, hide or abandon baby girls  Girls are being adopted by United States citizens  Adopting process is very expensive and takes a long time to approve by the Chinese government  Although China’s population is slowly becoming under control, there are many consequences o Couple feel they must have a boy to carry on the family name, for labor and because boys will stay with the family (providing social security)  Around 100,000 baby girls are abandon every year in China  1 in 4 adapted babies by overseas couples come from China  Male population is raising out of proportion  More boys in schools than girls  If couples have more than 1 child, they have to pay a fine  Boys stay where they are from and work; while girls will marry and leave  If you don’t have a son, people will look down on you  13 million more young boys than girls  In 10 years, not all boys will have a girl to marry—will lead to a huge social problem o Could cause outbreaks and even war in China o Women are being kidnapped and sold as wives 1  Chinese government realizes that the gender unbalanced is a problem so that have set up clinics around the country to teach families about family planning  Doctors will not tell mothers the gender of the baby because they fear that may have an abortion  Doctors go city to city teaching women about birth control and about having girls  Boys are becoming very spoiled and overweight  Parents want their boys to have everything they want because they are their only child  Unsure what the future holds for China and girls living there Environmental Degradation  Air Pollution o Urban Smog: fast growing cities cause extremely unhealthy levels of pollution o Smoke from burning trees (clearing forests) o Tinder-dry forest due to drought caused by El Nino o Peat bogs: dried out and burned for months  Mining  Deforestation o Export-Oriented Logging: in loss of trees that far exceeds the loss caused by indigenous peoples or colonizers o Japan 1960s—first country to globalize the forest industry; other Asian countries have followed suit o Denuded landscapes, damaged watersheds, reduced biodiversity o Malaysia will be completely deforested in the near future o National parks and protected areas – “paper parks” The Karen  Tribal people of the upland areas of Burma(Myanmar)  Never fully incorporated into the Burmese kingdom  Found favor with British—special government position  Never integrated into Burma—resented these special positions; when Burma got independence, the Karen lost their favored position and soon grew to resent what they saw as Burman cultural and economic domination  Managed to establish a semi-independent state (insurgent state)  Agreed to give Thailand access to Burmese Teak forests—resulted in tremendous pressures on Burmese forests Three Types of Agricultural Practices  Swidden o Shifting cultivation o “Slash-and-burn” agriculture o Practiced throughout the rugged uplands of both mainland and island Southeast Asia o Sustainable when population densities remain relatively low and when upland people control enough territory o When swidden can no longer support the local population, upland people often adapt by switching to a cash crop 2 o Oppression yielded revolution as indigenous peoples shared little in profits —great landholdings went to Spanish civil servants and men of church o Major uprising broke out during the Spanish-American in 1898  Filipino Independence o Filipinos took up arms o In 1905, American forces put down the insurrection o U.S. Administration more progressive and in 1934 Congress passed the Philippine Independence Law, providing a 10-year transition to sovereignty o WWII broke out and Japan conquered the islands o U.S. Forces returned in 1944 and defeated with the help of Filipinos the Japanese in 1945 o Agenda for independence resumed and in 1946 sovereign Republic of the Philippines was proclaimed Urban Southeast Asia  The overall urbanization rate in Southeast Asia is still relatively low but cities in the region are growing rapidly  Primate cities are common in Southeast Asia; examples include Bangkok, Manila, Jakarta  Thailand, Philippines, and Indonesia are all trying to encourage growth of secondary cities by decentralizing economic functions  Singapore is a city-state, where space is at a premium; Singapore has no squatter settlements, and most of its buildings are new (mostly high-rises) Economic Development  The Philippines o In the 1960s, it is a highly developed country o In the 1980s, the economy starts to decline  Corruption  Crony Capitalism: occurs when the leader’s friends are granted huge sectors of the economy, while those perceived as enemies have property expropriated  Kleptocracy (government of thieves)  Investment elsewhere  Emigration—well-educated Filipinos are leaving the country and investing their talents elsewhere  Singapore o Began as entrepot port city—place where goods are imported, stored, and shipped o Became the communications and financial hub of Southeast Asia o Mild recession in 1990s, however, economy is healthy o Government is repressive and generally undemocratic  Malaysia’s Insecure Boom o Rapid growth o Economy based on extraction of resources (hardwoods, palm oil, rubber, tin) 5 o Ethnic tensions (with minority Chinese) o Affirmation action for Bumiputra (“Sons of the Soil”)—in hopes that they will eventually have 30% of the wealth of the country  Thailand’s Ups and Downs o Industrialization climbed rapidly in the 1980s o Japanese firms were the leading players in the Thai boon of the 1980s  Relocated their factories to Thailand o Thailand has a well-educated workforce, and it is politically stable, with a democratic government and a free press o Many did not benefit from the boom o Historical core (Bangkok) benefited most o Lao-speaking peoples in the northeast were left out o Prostitution is a problem  Indonesian’s Economy Development o Economy expanded in the 1970s  Oil exports  Logging o Attracts foreign investment  Low wages  Abundant resources o Government nurtured an indigenous, technologically oriented business center o Indonesia was the hardest hit by the 1990s recession o Uneven social and economic development; Jakarta and Sumatra doing well, while elsewhere, poverty abounds  Divergent Paths: Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam o Vietnam – free market capitalism and communism  Upsurge in economic activity o Laos and Cambodia both have  Low population densities, natural resources, subsistence agriculture o Laos  Building dams and roads  Repressive government not attractive to investors o Cambodia  Integrated with Thailand  Boom in textiles  Elites taking land from peasants  Burma’s Troubled Economy o Abundant natural resources (oil, minerals, water, timber, fertile farmland) o Moderate population density, reasonably well educated people o Economy stagnant since 1948 o “Buddhist Socialism”: advocates socialism based on the principles of Buddhism 6  Calls for state provisions of the Buddhist requisites of food, shelter, clothing and medicine; the abolishment of class distinctions o Political instability and human rights violations deter investment o Attempting to isolate itself to achieve self sufficiency under Buddhist Socialism Genetic Boundary Classification System  Boundaries can be classified genetically, as their evolution relates to the cultural landscape  Richard Hartshorne (1899-1992)—Political Geographer o Antecedent Boundaries: boundary defined and delimited before the present-day human landscape developed; boundary that has been around for centuries (example: Island of Borneo) o Subsequent Boundaries: evolved as the cultural landscape of an area took shape and part of the ongoing accommodation between several states (example: boundary between China and Vietnam) o Relict Boundaries: a border that has ceased to function but whose imprints, and sometimes influence, are still evident on the cultural landscape (example: North and South Vietnam) o Superimposed Boundaries: boundaries drawn forcibly across a unified or at least homogenous cultural landscape (example: Island of New Guinea) Domino Theory  A United States geopolitical policy of the 1970s that stemmed from the assumption that is Vietnam fell to the communists, the rest of Southeast Asia would soon follow ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)  A supranational geopolitical group linking together the 10 different states of Southeast Asia  At first, it was an alliance of non-communist countries that feared the communist regimes that had come to power  In 1995, Vietnam joined  Prevents other countries (U.S. and China) and international organizations (International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organization) from gaining undue control over them o Get involved in territorial conflicts o Dealing with the rise of piracy in SE Asian seas Case Study East Timor  Northwest of Darwin, Australia  400 years of colonial rule by the Dutch and Portuguese  After the collapse of Portugal’s Salazar-Caetano regime in 1974, the Portuguese colony declared its independence  Population: 1 million  Total Fertility Rate: 7.0  Percent under age 15: 45%  Percent over age 65: 3%  Net Migration: 19.2 7 o Majority of Indians o 1% of Pakistanis are Hindu o Minority religion in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka o Early religious complex o Complicated faith o Incorporates diverse forms of worship o Recognize various deities, but all are manifestations of a single divine entity o Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism o Hindus believe in the transmigration of souls from being to being through reincarnation o Caste system  Complex division of South Asian society into different hierarchically ranked hereditary groups  Most explicit in Hindu society  Emerged through gradual social and cultural process  Buddhism o Challenged caste system from within o Prince Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha)  Born in 563 BCE  Rejected the life of wealth and power that was his birthright and sought enlightenment or nirvana  Path to nirvana was open to anyone, regardless of their social class o Spread under the Mauryan Empire of South Asia o Did not replace Hinduism in India o Expanded through most of East, Southeast, and Central Asia o Tibetan Buddhism (or Lamaism) survived as the majority religion in the high valleys of the Himalayas and in Bhutan and a portion of Kashmir  Islam o Bangladesh and Pakistan are overwhelmingly Muslim o 15% of Indians are Muslim (about 150 million—more than the total population of any Muslim heartland of Southwest Asia and North Africa) o Sri Lanka 9% Muslim o Maldives nearly all Muslim o Arab invaders and later Turkish-speaking Muslims settled in the region o In the 16th and 17th centuries, India’s Islamic Mughal Empire dominated o Hindus from the lower castes were especially attracted to Islam o Areas known as Pakistan and Bangladesh became predominantly Muslim o Hindus and Muslims coexisted amicably until the 20th century  Sikhism o Originated in the late 1400s in the Punjab—near the modern boundary of India and Pakistan o Combines elements of Hinduism and Islam o Periodic persecution bred militarism 10 o Carved kingdom for themselves in the early 1800s  Jainism o Emerged as a protest against orthodox Hinduism o Stressed nonviolence o Not permitted to farm o Trade for their livelihood o One of the wealthiest groups in India o Concentrated in northwest India Urban Southeast Asia  Mumbai (Bombay) o Largest South Asian city—16 million people o India’s financial, industrial, and commercial center o Major port on the Arabian Sea o City has enormous contrasts in wealth and poverty, but the city is relatively orderly and crime-free o 2008 Terrorist attacks  Delhi o India’s capital city—11 million people o Old Delhi, a former Muslim capital, is a congested town of tight neighborhoods o Wide boulevards, monuments, parks, and expansive residential areas o Began as British colonial capital o Worst air pollution in the world  Kolkata (Calcutta) o Exceeds 14 million people o Typical problems of rapidly growing cities in developing countries  Water, sewage, power, flooding during the wet season, pollution, and congestion; industry is in decline o Culturally vibrant  Fine schools, theaters, and publishing firms  Dhaka, Bangladesh o Capital and major city—11 million people o Country’s largest industrial concentration o Global center for clothing, shoe, and sports equipment manufacturing  Karachi o Port city—7 million people o Former capital of Pakistan until 1963 o Largest urban area and its commercial core o Political and ethnic tensions  Islamabad o A planned city o Forward Capital—signals, both symbolically and geographically, the intentions of the country o Reaffirmed Pakistan’s political interest in Kashmir 11 Tibetans in India  Dharamsala—small town in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh is the seat of Tibet’s government-in-exile and of its spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama  Dalai Lama—fled Tibet in 1959 after an unsuccessful revolt  Emily Yeh o Some Tibetans have begun to see Dharamsala, rather than Lhasa, as the locus of authentic Tibetan culture o Being from Dharamsala, not Lhasa is a measure of one’s Tibetan-ness o Contemporary Tibet, being influenced by Han Chinese cannot be the sight of Tibetan authenticity o Tibet of 1959 is no longer accurate o Speaking Chinese is no different than being influenced by Indian or Western way of life Caste System  Characteristics o Not uniformly distributed across South Asia o Caste has a Portuguese origin (meaning race or breed) o Combines two distinct local concepts  Varna: the ancient fourfold hierarchy of the Hindu world  Brahmins: members of the traditional priestly caste (intellectual elite of India)  Kshatriyas: members of the warrior or princely caste  Vaishyas: members of the traditional merchant caste  Mohandas Gandhi, the founder of modern India, was a member of this group  Sudra: members of the occupational group (peasant farming, barbers, smiths and potters)  Dalits: members of unclean occupations  Not traditionally allowed to enter Hindu temples  Peoples whose touch (even shadow) was considered ritually polluting to the Brahmins  Religious conversions—Islam and Buddhism are very attractive alternatives  Jati: the hundreds of local groups that exist at each Varna level; corresponds with occupation  Kutcha vs. Pukka o Caste system is entrenched in culture; how can you tell? – homes o Kutcha: poorly thatched, no electricity; member of lower caste o Pukka: well built brick house British Rule and Partitioning  The British East India Company: private trade organization that acted as arms of colonial Britain—backed by the British army—in monopolizing trade in South Asia until 1947, when it was abolished and replaced by full governmental control  Following Britain’s decision to leave South Asia, violence and bloodshed broke out between Hindus and Muslims in much of the region 12 o By 2006, the economy was expanding at a healthy rate of 6.8% but was also growing politically instable  Sir Lanka and Maldives o Sri Lanka  Economy is the second most highly developed in South Asia  Primary exports are textiles, rubber, and tea  Still a very poor country  Hampered by ongoing civil war o Maldives  The most prosperous South Asian country based on per capita GNI  Its total economy and population is very small  Most of its revenues are gained from fishing and international tourism  Money generated from tourism flows mainly to the country’s small elite population—resulting in large-scale public discontent and political repression  Pakistan o Well-developed urban infrastructure o Has a productive agricultural sector o Higher PPP and GNP o High military spending o Best farmlands controlled by a small powerful landlord class that does not pay taxes  India o Punjab and Haryana  Green Revolution  Economies rest largely on agriculture o Gujarat and Maharashtra  Industrial and financial clout  Agriculturally productive  Indian Diaspora: the migration of large numbers of Indians to foreign countries  Cash remittances from these emigrants help to bolster the state’s economy  Maharashtra is usually viewed as India’s economic pacesetter  Mumbai (Bombay) has long been the financial center, media capital and manufacturing powerhouse of India People in South Asia  King Jigme Singye Wangchuck o Fourth ruler in the Wangchuck dynasty in Bhutan o Gave high priority to the economic development of Bhutan, and his government took steps to decentralize development planning and increase the role of private enterprise o Initiated a program to expand and modernize the educational system 15 o Introduced a package of reforms in an effort to modernize Bhutan’s political system o Issued a decree setting up a committee to draft Bhutan’s first constitution, which would establish a democratic system of government  Prince Siddhartha Gautama o Buddha, ‘the Enlightened One’ o Required his followers to isolate themselves from worldly life o Sees four signs: an old man, a sick man, a dead man and a monk o Discovery of the middle way—embarked on a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification o The Four Noble Truths  All of life is suffering  Suffering is caused by desire  Suffering can be overcome  By following the Eight Fold Path  Mahatma Gandhi o Founder of modern India—nationalist leader o Member of the Vaishyas (merchant group) o Established his country's freedom through a nonviolent revolution o Struggled for elementary rights for Indians o Taught a policy of passive resistance o Leader of the movement in India dedicated to eliminating the unjust social and economic aspects of the caste system  Benazir Bhutto o Sworn in as Prime Minister of Pakistan—first woman to head the government of an Islamic State o Pledged to transform Pakistani society by focusing attention on programs for health, social welfare and education for the underprivileged o Emphasized the need to heal past wounds and to put an end to the divisions in Pakistani society - including reducing discrimination between men and women o Launched a nationwide program of health and education reform 16