- Testing Evolutionary Hypotheses with Demographic Data
Alice L. Clarke, Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies Department, Florida International University, Miami
Bobbi S. Low, Professor and Chair, Resource Ecology Concentration, School of Natural Resources and Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor An ecological evolutionary viewpoint offers new perspectives on contemporary demographic problems in general and on population-environment issues in particular. In turn, rich and detailed human demographic data can help solve problems of interest in evolutionary theory. Such data have been analyzed in greatest detail in studies of traditional and historical societies. Evolutionary approaches using historical data go beyond small-sample anthropological studies to the application of the evolutionary approach to large datasets, and illuminate important similarities between small-scale traditional societies and large modern populations living in evolutionarily novel environments. This article provides a concise update of the breadth of questions and hypotheses of likely interest to demographers and others that evolutionary theorists address using a variety of traditional and historical datasets. It suggests opportunities for additional collaborative work between evolutionary theorists and historical demographers and highlights topics relevant to modern demography. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 633–660]
- Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended Consequences of US Immigration Control Policy
Wayne A. Cornelius, Director, Center for Comparative Immigration Studies and Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies, University of California at San Diego This article assesses the efficacy of the strategy of immigration control implemented by the US government since 1993 in reducing illegal entry attempts, and documents some of the unintended consequences of this strategy, especially a sharp increase in mortality among unauthorized migrants along certain segments of the Mexico–US border. The available data suggest that the current strategy of border enforcement has resulted in rechanneling flows of unauthorized migrants to more hazardous areas, raising fees charged by people-smugglers, and discouraging unauthorized migrants already in the US from returning to their places of origin. However, there is no evidence that the strategy is deterring or preventing significant numbers of new illegal entries, particularly given the absence of a serious effort to curtail employment of unauthorized migrants through worksite enforcement. An expanded temporary worker program, selective legalization of unauthorized Mexican workers residing in the United States, and other proposals under consideration by the US and Mexican governments are unlikely to reduce migrant deaths resulting from the current strategy of border enforcement. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 661–685]
- Women's Autonomy in India and Pakistan: The Influence of Religion and Region (PDF)
Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, Scientist, UNDP/UNFPA/WHO/World Bank Special Programme of Research, Development and Research Training in Human Reproduction, Department of Reproductive Health and Research, WHO, Geneva
Zeba A. Sathar, interim Country Director, Population Council, Pakistan This article compares the lives of women and explores dimensions of their autonomy in different regions of South Asia—Punjab in Pakistan, and Uttar Pradesh in north India and Tamil Nadu in south India. It explores the contextual factors underlying observed differences and assesses the extent to which these differences could be attributed to religion, nationality, or north-south cultural distinctions. Findings suggest that while women's autonomy—in terms of decisionmaking, mobility, freedom from threatening relations with husband, and access to and control over economic resources—is constrained in all three settings, women in Tamil Nadu fare considerably better than other women, irrespective of religion. Findings lend little support to the suggestion that women in Pakistan have less autonomy or control over their lives than do Indian women. Nor do Muslim women—be they Indian or Pakistani—exercise less autonomy in their own lives than do Hindu women in the subcontinent. Rather, findings suggest that in the patriarchal and gender-stratified structures governing the northern portion of the subcontinent, women's control over their lives is more constrained than in the southern region. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 686–712]
- Spatial Patterns of Fertility Transition in Indian Districts
Christophe Z. Guilmoto, Fellow, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Paris, and is currently based at the French Institute, Pondicherry, India
S. Irudaya Rajan, Associate Fellow, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India The article explores the dynamics of Indian fertility at the district level using a child-woman index developed from the four Indian censuses, 1961 to 1991. It employs statistical and geostatistical techniques to assess fertility change across districts and periods. Fertility decline is evident in every region, but sizable regional differentials exist. A cluster analysis of fertility profiles indicates that a clear spatial pattern of fertility in India has emerged and the pattern intensified because of the process of fertility decline. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 713–738]
Notes and Commentary - On Population and Resources: A Comment
D. Gale Johnson
- On Population and Resources: Reply
Partha Dasgupta
Data and Perspectives - First Impressions from the 2000 Census of China
William Lavely, Associate Professor of International Studies and Sociology, University of Washington The 2000 census of China has several notable innovations, including a sample long form containing detailed items on migration, housing, and employment. Preliminary data indicate rapid urbanization and continued rapid social change in the 1990s, and apparent success in the government's drive to curtail population growth. Although a post-enumeration survey indicates that overall data quality is good, the rise of a mobile "floating population" and pressures of the birth planning program caused problems for the enumeration of migrants and infants. Data released to date have been silent on two important issues, fertility and rising sex ratios. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 755–769]
- The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Adult Mortality in Zimbabwe
Griffith Feeney, Adjunct Fellow, East-West Center, Honolulu In June 2000, an estimated 25 percent of adults in Zimbabwe were living with HIV/AIDS. Statistical data on the impact of the epidemic, though problematic in many ways, are better for Zimbabwe than for many other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. This analysis presents estimates of adult mortality in Zimbabwe based on multiple sources, including registered deaths adjusted for incomplete reporting, estimated at approximately 50 percent. Comparison of estimates from different data sources shows that they are subject to substantial errors. At the same time, the estimates leave no doubt that adult mortality risks in Zimbabwe more than doubled between 1982 and 1997. The evidence that this rise is due to AIDS deaths is circumstantial, but very strong; there is no credible competing explanation. [27, no. 4 (Dec 01): 771–780]
Archives - R. F. Harrod on Reviving the Birth Rate
Book Reviews - Jay S. Olshansky and Bruce A. Carnes, The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging. How Long Can We Live? A Review Essay by John R. Wilmoth
- Bjørn Lomborg, The Skeptical Environmentalist: Measuring the Real State of the World, reviewed by Geoffrey McNicoll
- Andrew Mason and Georges Tapinos (eds.), Sharing the Wealth: Demographic Change and Economic Transfers between Generations, reviewed by F. Landis MacKellar
- Nancy Foner, Rubén G. Rumbaut, and Steven J. Gold (eds.), Immigration Research for a New Century: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, reviewed by Thomas J. Espenshade
Short Reviews - Lourdes Benería with Savitri Bisnath (eds.), Gender and Development: Theoretical, Empirical and Practical Approaches
- Margaret Jolly and Kalpana Ram (eds.), Borders of Being: Citizenship, Fertility, and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific
- John Loxley, Interdependence, Disequilibrium and Growth: Reflections on the Political Economy of North-South Relations at the Turn of the Century
- William Petersen, From Birth to Death: A Consumer's Guide to Population Studies
- Zeba Ayesha Sathar and James F. Phillips (eds.), Fertility Transition in South Asia
- M. A. B. Siddique (ed.), International Migration into the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Reginald Appleyard
- Ewa Tabeau, Anneke van den Berg Jeths, and Christopher Heathcote (eds.), Forecasting Mortality in Developed Countries: Insights from a Statistical, Demographic and Epidemiological Perspective
- Arne Tostensen, Inge Tvedten, and Mariken Vaa (eds.), Associational Life in African Cities: Popular Responses to the Urban Crisis
- United Nations Population Fund, The State of World Population 2001. Footprints and Milestones: Population and Environmental Change
Documents - The US National Intelligence Council on Growing Global Migration
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