Demography, the study of population processes – i.e., fertility, migration, and mortality, is a highly interdisciplinary field that forms the backbone of many other social sciences. Economists, sociologists, public health researchers and political scientists among others rely on knowledge of basic concepts (like cohorts), substantial trends in current and past populations (like below replacement fertility and aging population), and the various data sources (like the population census) that are the basis of demographic research. In this course, we will examine three main population processes, the major trends in these sub-fields of research, while focusing on what the data used to examine these processes are (i.e., where do they come from, who designed the data collection, what is not being measured), the methods used to analyze these data (e.g., proportions, life tables, projections), but also, importantly, the political dimensions of the processes demographers aim to explain. Demography is not just a technical discipline. It is also a political process that is itself enmeshed with issues of power. From its inception, demography has been interlinked with processes of state-building and important institutions, like the church and companies’ marketing departments, are heavily invested in them. We will examine demography from this historical angle as well, as we review some major concepts pertaining to births, mobility/migration, sickness, and death.
- Kursleiter*in: Alejandra Rodriguez Sánchez