Toward critical population anthropology

Handwerker, W. Penn, ed. Births and Power: Social Change and the Politics of Reproduction. Boulder: Westview Press, 1990. 227 pp. including chapter references. $27.50 paper.

Landers, John, and Vernon Reynolds, ed. Fertility and Resources. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. vii + 199 pp. including chapter references and index. $59.50 cloth.     

Computer programs for population projections

A review of recent computer programs that have become available for making population projections is presented. The review concentrates on the two programs DEMO-GRAPHICS, developed by the Population Dynamics Group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and FIVFIV/SINSIN, developed by the Population Council of New York.     

The challenge facing population geography

The current status of the study of population geography is examined, with some reference to the situation in the United Kingdom. The authors note that whereas the volume of studies in this area indicate its healthy growth, the subdiscipline has become increasingly distant from mainstream geography and runs the risk of being absorbed into general demography. The authors suggest that "population geographers, while taking a serious interest in the methods and philosophy of the neighbouring discipline of demography, should look elsewhere to find direction for their subdiscipline."     

Africa's population and family planning dynamics

The historical and current demography of Africa in this discussion focuses on the context of population policy, contraceptive use, reproductive behavior, polygamy, and economic impacts. Sub-Saharan Africa countries have the highest rate of population growth in the world. 50% are aged under 20 years, and 20% are aged under five years. Urban areas are growing at the fastest rates in the world (5-6% annually). Population density remains low, except for areas where there is high soil fertility. Many African countries recognize the need for population policies. The most important donor to Africa, the World Bank, has pressured African governments to adopt family planning (FP) programs. A major World Bank study has shown that more FP services are desired by African women. Family expenditures for the 1980s for FP were estimated at $100 million annually, of which $53 million was provided by donors. Further expansion in the program is needed. The World Bank targeted contraceptive use at 25% of African married couples. Except for Egypt and North African countries, contraceptive use is around 3-4%. Another perspective on population reduction is to expand programs for child spacing and postnatal nutrition of mothers and infants. There has been a failure to turn health systems around to low-cost preventive health, particularly in rural areas. Infant mortality must be reduced before fertility will decline. Population growth can be slowed by changing the status of African women (high social status and recognition are associated with high fertility), age of marriage, child spacing, agricultural productivity, and nutrition. Demographic data on Africa have only become available during the past 25 years. African demographers are in short supply and require training abroad. Demographic data gaps and reliability problems are offset by the recent availability and quantity of survey data. Historical demography has produced conflicting results. Although some investigators, such as Ester Boserup, argue that population pressure results in agricultural innovations, Africa has yet to experience this phenomena. The youthful composition of the population guarantees continued population momentum. Fertility is enhanced by the cultural emphasis on perpetuating lineage and high fertility. Changes in reproductive behavior will depend on major social changes for women.     

The dejuvenation of the Italian population

Abstract

In recent decades, a process of structural reduction of the weight of new generations in overall population (dejuvenation) has been observed. In Italy, this process started in the 1970s and accelerated in the 1990s. We present here its main consequences for Italian society and economy. The number of Italian young people (aged 0–29) was reduced from 24.5 million in 1951 (51.6% of the population) to 17.5 million in 2016 (28.8%). What is more, many young Italians are becoming a wasted resource and a social cost, facing high rates of unemployment, long economic dependence on the family of origin, renunciation of full achievement of their life plans, distrust of institutions, low social and political participation, and increasing emigration flow. We analyze, using multivariate models, the data of the Rapporto Giovani survey held by the Toniolo Institute in 2015. Our main finding is that generational disadvantages not only hamper economic growth but, in a familistic context, also exacerbate social inequalities.     

Prehistoric population history in eastern Fennoscandia

In this article, prehistoric population history in eastern Fennoscandia is modelled using summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates. In addition, radiocarbon date distribution is compared with other proxy data. Different proxies seem to produce similar distributions, which enhances the overall reliability of the pattern. The results indicate that there was a very pronounced peak in the hunter–gatherer population slightly after 4000 cal BC. This peak seems to be linked to increased environmental productivity. The subsequent population decline culminated just before the local appearance of farming economies in different sub-areas, which is an interesting result in the wider northern and central European context. Along with the adoption of agriculture, new population growth began in eastern Fennoscandia.     

Mapping population data from zone centroid locations

The author describes the difficulties associated with the use of maps to represent census data. "A review of the problems associated with population mapping is followed by a discussion of [an alternative method known as] a raster method for handling census data, based on population-weighted centroids, and its implications for GIS "[geographic information systems]." The geographical scope is worldwide, with an example provided using data for Wales.     

Fridtjof Nansen and the Aegean population exchange

This article examines Fridtjof Nansen’s role in elaborating the compulsory Greco-Turkish population exchange of 1923–1924. Thrust into a spiralling crisis, the League’s High Commissioner took on humanitarian, representational and negotiating roles having long-term as well as immediate impact, while the Norwegian’s emergence at Lausanne as chief spokesman for an agreement widely considered reprehensible invites scrutiny of his interventions. Drawing on recent publications and key archival sources, the analysis presses four strands of argument. First, while Nansen helped articulate the exchange idea along with Greece’s Eleftherios Venizelos, he neither originated it nor provided the essential political impetus. Second, Nansen’s oft-cited ‘first mention’ of making it compulsory assigns him a misleadingly strong role in a solution chiefly engineered by Kemal’s Turkey. Third, his impact on the agreement’s scope, involving exemptions for minority populations in Western Thrace and Constantinople, was limited. Fourth, Nansen’s ultimate push for a lasting settlement blended pragmatism with strategic vision. Subsequent delays and wider political failure not of his making to secure equitable property exchange highlighted the harsher aspects of a deal all the main parties in fact favoured, Nansen recognized as necessary and which thwarted a still worse calamity.     

Women endangered,says world population report

This report highlights key points from the UN Population Fund's "State of World Population 1997," which focused on women's right to choose in matters relating to reproductive health. The report documents global progress toward achieving reproductive rights for women and recommends more funding for reproductive health care and family planning and increased efforts to promote gender equality and individual rights. International agreements protect: the right to reproductive and sexual health throughout the life cycle; voluntary choice in marriage and childbearing and the means to determine when to have children; equality and equity in all spheres for men and women; and freedom from sexual violence and coercion. When these rights are denied, the result is maternal mortality (a death every minute). There is a lack of access to contraceptive services that affect 350 million women. Unsafe abortions are performed on 20 million women, of whom 70,000 die. There is a lack of access to sex education and services for teenagers that results in HIV infections and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). 1.5 million die from HIV/AIDS related causes, and another 1 million die from reproductive tract infections and STDs. Teenagers represent about 50% of the 333 million new cases of HIV and STDs that occur each year. Female genital mutilation is performed on 120 million girls and women, and 2 million are at risk each year. 2 million girls aged 5-15 years enter the commercial sex trade each year. The report documents the suffering from anemia and malnutrition and complications from pregnancy.     

Age-dependent cortical bone loss in a medieval population

Age-dependent cortical bone loss was studied in a skeletal assemblage from a British medieval site using metacarpal radiogrammetry. Significant loss of bone was found in the females but not in the males. The magnitude of bone loss in the older females relative to their younger counterparts was found to be similar to that reported for modern European subjects. Low cortical bone was associated with healed fractures of the highly trabecular bone of the axial skeleton, and this observation is suggestive that weakening of the skeleton due to loss of bone substance precipitated such fractures, as it does in modern Western women. The broad similarities between the medieval and modern data may call into question the importance of lifestyle factors in influencing the severity of osteoporosis, at least as far as loss of cortical bone is concerned.