Demographic Transitions and Modernity

Posted: 6 Jun 2008

See all articles by Jennifer Johnson-Hanks

Jennifer Johnson-Hanks

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Demography

Abstract

Much contemporary anthropology is concerned with the origin, character, and consequences of late modernity. Surprisingly absent in this literature is the importance of population size, structure, and process. In particular, the demographic transition - or historical change from a high to a low equilibrium of birth and death rates - is an important component of modernity that deserves greater anthropological engagement. This review outlines demographic transition and how it has been theorized, then discusses two ways in which transition intersects with literatures on modernity: through individual rationality and through governmentality. Confronting both the material of population and theories about it has the potential to significantly refigure anthropologies of the present.

Suggested Citation

Johnson-Hanks, Jennifer, Demographic Transitions and Modernity. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 37, October 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1141296

Jennifer Johnson-Hanks (Contact Author)

University of California, Berkeley - Department of Demography ( email )

2232 Piedmont Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94720-2120
United States

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