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IUSSP Scientific Panel on Historical Demography
Call for papers
International seminar on Socio-economic Stratification and Fertility before, during and after
the Demographic Transition
Alghero (Sardinia), Italy, 27-29 September 2012
This seminar is organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Historical Demography and the University of Sassari
The decline of fertility in the demographic transition has for a long time been a major theme in historical demography. Much research has focused on the demographic aspects of the decline aiming to chart the process without actually explaining it. Other research has offered explanations to the decline mainly at the macro level making distinctions between innovation and adjustment processes as causal agents in the decline. Much less attention has been given to disaggregated patterns and micro level analyses.
One of the issues of great relevance for understanding the fertility decline is the differences in fertility according to socio-economic status, and how these differences evolved over the fertility transition. There appears to be a generally accepted view that higher social status was associated with high fertility in pre-transitional society but that this situation reversed during the transition, or even before. This change has been explained by the higher social groups acting as forerunners in the decline but it remains unclear whether the change happened because new incentives were affecting the elite groups first (adjustment) or if it had to do with a diffusion of new ideas first adopted in these high-status groups (innovation). Moreover it is also unclear if the other groups followed (diffusion) or if they changed behaviors for reasons of their own (adaptation). And recently, theories of social learning and social interactions called for the identification of socioeconomic groups who potentially acted as cultural intermediaries, like the urban servants.
In contemporary societies the role of education and income in relation to fertility has received considerable attention. Lack of appropriate data has, however, hampered a rigorous assessment of the impact of socio-economic status on fertility in longer-term perspective. Only in more recent times, with the development of longitudinal databases which include information on occupation, income, education and other social indicators, has historical research in this field been given a fresh impetus. Similarly, large scale digitization of micro-level census data (e.g. IPUMS) has also contributed to this.
The aim of this seminar is to bring together researchers from various disciplines interested in the relationship and interaction between socio-economic stratification and fertility. More specifically, the objective is to bring forward new empirical evidence on the impact of socio-economic status on various fertility outcomes before, during and after the demographic transition in a range of different countries.
The seminar will explore processes of social stratification and their relationship to fertility in a variety of contexts. Important indicators of social stratification include social class, income and education. We welcome contributions dealing with different parts of the world that exemplify different demographic transitions, using different kinds of micro-level data and methods of analysis. Examples include longitudinal historical population registers, micro-level censuses, and contemporary surveys in the developing world. Although most papers are expected to make empirical contributions, more theoretical or methodological papers are also welcome, as long as they deal with the main topic of the seminar in the context of the demographic transition.
Online Submissions
Researchers interested in presenting their work at the seminar are invited to submit a proposal on the IUSSP website by 15 March 2012. Submissions must include a short 200-word abstract and an extended abstract (2 to 4 pages, including tables) or a full paper.
Papers submitted should be unpublished. The Panel plans to publish a set of the papers presented at the seminar as a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal or in an edited volume.
Submission should be made by the author who will attend the seminar. If the paper is co-authored, please indicate the names and affiliations of co-authors at the end of the abstract.
The working language at the seminar will be English. Abstracts and final papers should therefore be submitted and presented in English.
Authors will be notified by 1 April 2012 on the acceptance of their paper. In the case of acceptance on the basis of an abstract, the completed paper must be uploaded on the IUSSP website by 31 August 2012.
No travel funding will be available for this seminar. Participants must seek their own funding to cover their travel and accommodation costs. The meeting will take place in Alghero (Sardinia) Italy, which is easy to reach by air from mainland Italy and selected international airports. Participants will be advised of a selection of hotels nearby the venue.
For additional information, please contact one of the following Panel members:
Martin Dribe (Martin.Dribe@ekh.lu.se),
Lucia Pozzi (lpozzi@uniss.it),
Michel Oris (Michel.Oris@unige.ch).