Among the most famous theories of demography is the one associated with the English political economist Thomas Robert Malthus (1766-1834). Malthus’s theory of population growth – outlined in his Essay on Population (1798) – was rather pessimistic.

What is the Marxist critique of Malthusian theory?

Malthus failed to understand that unequal distribution of wealth is the main reason for poverty, not population growth.

Malthus was also criticised by liberal and Marxist scholars for asserting that poverty was caused by population growth. The critics argued that problems like poverty and starvation were caused by the unequal distribution of economic resources rather than by population growth.