Can Economics Mediate the Relationship Between Anthropology and Demography
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4119978 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vyjayanthi Rao (0000-0002-6725-8984, corresponding author), Vijayendra Rao |
| Year | 1997 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 833 |
| Publication date | 1997-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Population and Development Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2137384 |
| OpenAlex | W2334189745 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
| References cited | 5 |
CONTEMPORARY DEMOGRAPHERS have increasingly begun to use qualitative methods, traditionally the province of anthropology, and an increasing number of anthropologists study demographic phenomena. Yet, demographic analysis rarely makes use of anthropological theory, while anthropologists who focus on population issues rarely use quantitative demographic data.' Thus, in fundamental ways, anthropology and demography are not yet connected. I will argue that this is because the natures of the disciplines make such a link difficult to forge.2 I will further argue that economics may be able to play a mediating role between the two disciplines. Roland Pressat (1972: 1) defines demography as 'the discipline that seeks a statistical description of human populations with respect to (1) their demographic structure ... at a given date, and (2) the demographic events ... that take place in them.' As in any statistical enterprise, human beings are then only analyzable insofar as they can be grouped and categorized into countable entities, which can be manipulated using life-table or statistical techniques to search for quantitative patterns and relationships. How on earth can such a macro-statistical enterprise be informed by anthropology with its focus on rich micro-detail and its current emphasis on human agency? Microdemography is a possible route. Microdemography, while certainly a valuable addition to traditional survey-based demography, may borrow some qualitative tools from anthropology, but it cannot adequately incorporate anthropological theory because of the nature of the demographic enterprise.3 This explains demography's relative inability to deal
Agency (philosophy) · Epistemology · Focus (optics) · Population · Social science · Sociology · Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences · Demography · Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics · Income, Poverty, and Inequality
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| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,28 |
| Citation span | 2001 - 2022 (22) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |