POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT: The Demographic Transition

The demographic transition and its related effects of population growth, fertility decline and ageing populations are fraught with problems and controversy. When discussed in relation to the global south and the modern project of development, the questions and answers become more problematic.

Population and Development expertly guides the reader through the demographic transition’s origins in the Enlightenment and Europe, through to the rest of the world. Whilst the phenomenon continues to cause unsustainable population growth with disastrous economic and environmental implications, the author examines how its processes have underlain previous periods of sustained economic growth; helped to liberate women from the domestic domain; and contributed greatly to the rise of modern democracy. This accessible and expert analysis will enable any student or expert in development studies to understand complex and vital demographic theory.

Tim Dyson is professor of population studies at the London School of Economics. He was educated in England and Canada, and has held visiting positions at the Australian National University in Canberra, the International Institute for Population Sciences in Mumbai, and the American University of Beirut. His research interests include world food and agricultural prospects, the causes and consequences of famines, the demographic basis of urban growth and urbanization, climate change and global warming, the demography and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, and the past, present and future population of the Indian subcontinent. He is a past president of the British Society for Population Studies and was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2001.