Answer to Question 1
Modernization Theory (Structural-Functional Analysis): Differences in culture and technology are the major reasons for global inequality: While some countries have shown eagerness to change and adopt new technology, others remain more traditional. The United States and other rich countries are part of the solution to global poverty because they help lower-income countries develop economically.
World System Theory (Social-Conflict Analysis): Colonialism created inequality, and the world capitalist system, dominated by multinational corporations, continues to enrich some nations at the expense of others. The United States and other rich countries are part of the problem because they benefit from the capitalist world economy while making other nations poor.
Answer to Question 2
Most population experts agree that a key element in controlling world population growth is raising the standing of women.
Making birth control technology more widely available is important, but the population will continue to increase as long as a culture defines women's primary responsibility as raising children.
Dr. Nafis Sadik noted: Give a woman more choices about how to live, and she will have fewer children. A woman who has access to schooling and jobs can decide when and whether she wants to marry, and she will bear children as a matter of choice, not because it is the only option open to her. Under these conditions, evidence shows, women have fewer children.
In countries where contraception is widespread, women have about two children; in countries where it is not, women have five or more children