Johann Peter Süssmilch: A German Prophet in Foreign Countries

The clergyman Johann Peter Süssmilch (1707–1767), chaplain to King Frederick II of Prussia, deserves to be called the father of German demography and was recognized as such in his own lifetime in his country of origin and throughout Europe, except possibly in France and Italy. In his Göttliche Ordnung (1741 and 1761–2), he attempted to explain the regularity of vital phenomena as being due to divine intervention. His conception of a ‘divine’ order soon gave way to that of a ‘natural’ order. His life tables, though incorrect, continued to be used by insurance offices well into the nineteenth century. His views about the relationships between mortality on one hand, and fertility and nuptiality on the other led to controversies between Malthus, Sadler and other scholars. Later, his ideas were given a broader economic and social interpretation. Whether as the last representative of ‘primitive’ demography, or the first scientific scholar of the subject, he contributed to the triumph of political arithmetic throughout Europe.     

Trends in socioeconomic inequalities in mortality in developing countries: The case of child Survival in São Paulo,Brazil*

I examined trends in socioeconomic inequalities in under-five mortality for the state of São Paulo, Brazil, over a 21-year period from 1970 to 1991, during which much of the mortality transition unfolded. During this time, there was a decline in inequality in under-five mortality by household wealth but a substantial increase by mother’s education. Improvements in infrastructure and economic development were associated with lower levels of socioeconomic inequality in under-five mortality. Mother’s education emerged as the key factor underlying socioeconomic inequalities in under-five mortality even as levels of education for women increased and inequality in schooling fell.     

Men’s condom use in higher-risk sex: Trends in five sub-Saharan African countries

This paper analyses trends in men’s condom use at last higher-risk sex (i.e., with a non-marital, non-cohabiting partner) using the two most recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) in five sub-Saharan African countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Burkina Faso. Condom use is an important method of preventing HIV transmission. Encouragingly, higher-risk sex has declined in four of the five countries, while condom use rose substantially in Cameroon, Tanzania and Burkina Faso but only had a minor increase in Kenya and Zambia, where use at last higher-risk sex remains below 50 per cent. There are no clear patterns of change across countries in the predictive strength of the explanatory variables between the two most recent surveys, although evidence of a widening gap in use by education in Cameroon is identified. In each country, lack of education remains a strong barrier to condom use in higher-risk sex.     

Economic status proxies in studies of fertility in developing countries: Does the measure matter?

This paper investigates the consequences of using different economic status proxies on the estimated impact of economic status and other determinants of fertility. Using micro survey data from Ghana and Peru, we find that the proxies for income that best predict fertility are a principal components score of the ownership of consumer durable goods and a simple sum of ownership of these durable goods. Furthermore, the choice of the proxy generally has a minor influence on the predicted effects of the control variables. We compare the results from using a restricted set of proxies, such as those available in the Demographic and Health Surveys, with the results obtained using a lengthier set of proxies. Our results suggest implications beyond fertility analyses by providing researchers with an awareness of the sensitivity of microanalyses to the treatment of economic status. Our results also suggest practical recommendations for the collection of survey data.     

Demographic trends in less and least developed countries: Convergence or divergence?

Journal of Population Research - Many scholars share the assumption that demographic patterns in the world are converging over time. The present study analyses the temporal trends of specific...     

Measuring socioeconomic status in health research in developing countries: Should we be focusing on households,communities or both?

Research on the effects of socioeconomic well-being on health is important for policy makers in developing countries, where limited resources make it crucial to use existing health care resources to the best advantage. This paper develops and tests a set of measures of socioeconomic status indicators for predicting health status in developing countries. We construct socioeconomic indexes that capture both household and community attributes so as to allow us to separate the social from the purely economic dimensions of the socioeconomic status within a cross-national perspective, with applications to data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) fielded in five African countries in the 1990s. This study demonstrates the distinctive contributions of socioeconomic indexes measured at the household vs. community level in understanding inequalities in health and survival and underlines the importance of going beyond the purely economic view of socioeconomic status to cover the multidimensional as well as multilevel concept of economic and social inequality.     

Women’s experiences of care and support following perinatal death in high burden countries: A metasynthesis

ProblemThe experiences of women in low and middle-income countries following perinatal death remains difficult and challenging, thereby increasing their susceptibility to negative psychological impact particularly with insufficient bereavement care and support.BackgroundPerinatal death invariably brings intense grief which significantly impacts women, and requires adequate bereavement care to limit negative outcomes in the short and long-term.AimTo develop deeper understanding of women’s experience of care and support following perinatal death in high burden settings.MethodsSix electronic databases were searched with relevant terms established using the SPIDER tool, supplemented by hand search of reference lists. Studies were independently screened for inclusion by all authors. Meta-ethnography (Noblit and Hare,1988) was used to synthesise existing qualitative studies.FindingsEight studies conducted in Sub-Saharan African and South Asian countries namely South Africa, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, India and Malawi were included, and three main themes were identified; mothers’ reaction to their baby’s death, care and support after perinatal death, and coping strategies in the absence of care and support. Perinatal death was not appropriately acknowledged therefore care and support was inadequate and, in some cases, non-existent. Consequently, mothers resorted to adopting coping strategies as they were unable to express their grief.DiscussionThere is insufficient care and support for women following perinatal death in high burden settings.ConclusionsFurther research is required into the care and support being given by healthcare professionals and families in high burden settings, thereby ultimately aiding the development of guidance on perinatal bereavement care.     

Levels of urbanization in the world’s countries: testing consistency of estimates based on national definitions

Estimates of urbanization levels for all countries, as published in the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects, are not comparable across countries because they are based on national definitions of urbanization, which vary greatly across countries. We construct alternative estimates of urbanization that are comparable across countries, to use these estimates to point out definitional problems or outlying countries with interesting urban characteristics. The alternative estimates are constructed using variables that are associated with urbanization, as well as a categorical variable that summarizes the urban definition used in the country. We find that among the 181 countries included in the analysis, 21 % have a restrictive definition, and 31 % a generous definition of urbanization. In 2000, the difference between the alternative estimate and the UN estimate was more than 10 % for 67 countries. An examination of six countries with surprisingly low or high reported levels of urbanization, as compared the alternative estimates, highlights issues with the plausibility of the official estimate. We conclude that comparison of urbanization estimates across countries should be treated with care, given the wide range of definitions used. To produce more informative estimates of urbanization, several countries would need to clarify or rethink their definition of urban.     

On high fertility rates in developing countries: birth limits, birth taxes, or education subsidies?

In this paper, we consider two types of population policies observed in practice: birth limits and birth taxes. We find that both achieve very similar equilibrium solutions if tax revenue finances lump-sum transfers. By reducing fertility and promoting growth, both birth policies may achieve higher welfare than conventional education subsidies financed by income taxes. A birth tax for education subsidies can achieve the first-best solution. The welfare gain of the first-best policy may be equivalent to a massive 10–50% rise in income, depending on the degree of human capital externalities and the elasticity of intertemporal substitution.      

Women’s autonomy and child survival: A comparison of muslims and non-muslims in four Asian countries

In this article, I evaluate the hypothesis that higher infant and child mortality among Muslim populations is related to the lower autonomy of Muslim women using data from 15 pairs of Muslim and non-Muslim communities in India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Women's autonomy in various spheres is not consistently lower in Muslim than in non-Muslim settings. Both across and within communities, the association between women's autonomy and mortality is weak, and measures of autonomy or socioeconomic status are generally of limited import for understanding the Muslim disadvantage in children's survival.     

Accountability in a state of liminality: Iranian students’ experiences in American airports

This paper studies the lived experience of Iranian students upon arrival at American airports. By using two concepts of liminality and accountability, I examine how Iranian students walk the gauntlet of US airports, and study the influences of the treatment they receive at airports on their perceptions of the US. Empirically, I draw on 15 in-depth qualitative interviews with eight Iranian students at a Southern university in the US. The paper posits that multiple layers of liminality surface and intensify in airports as a threshold where international travelers can see both ways, behind and before them, while belonging to neither one. The requirement to be an ‘accountable other’ adds up to the contingencies of the situation. Theoretically, this paper puts the politics of mobility in the colonial context and claims that legal recognition will not result in integration when negative discourses around the civilizational other regards their mobility as a threat and challenges their social recognition.     

Assessment of the Living Conditions in Polish and German Transborder Regions in the Context of Strengthening Territorial Cohesion in the European Union: Competitiveness or Complementation?

Social Indicators Research - The European Union's regional policy aims to strengthen economic, social, and territorial cohesion and equal space development opportunities. It is an action...     

From #aufschrei to hatr.org: digital–material entanglements in the context of German digital feminist activisms

Abstract

This article delivers a snapshot of what digital feminisms can mean today. It argues that a commonality of current digital feminisms is a stance against digital dualism and that it is digital–material assemblages that shape certain forms of digital feminisms. In particular, two relatively recent examples of digital feminist activisms are analyzed, and I suggest ways of understanding the interplay of materialities within them: Germany’s Twitter campaign #aufschrei and the German anti-trolling website hatr.org. Finally, I suggest a typology of digital feminisms with varying degrees of digital–material entanglements.     

Kooperationen in der Landwirtschaft kontextualisiert: Ethnografische Fallstudie von der Mühlviertler Alm

Rapid agricultural change is often conceptualized in connection with the transformation of socially-embedded peasants into self-interested, individualized farmers. In this ethnographic case study I describe the complex co-operation between farmers that involve local coping strategies in the face of technological challenges and globalization. Furthermore, I want to engage with the argument that suggests that in rural areas the processes of pluralizing life worlds are disconnected from processes of individualization. Lastly, the example I use of an ensiling team acts to explore the relationship between commodification and non-market co-operation.     

The use of survey data to study migration–environment relationships in developing countries: alternative approaches to data collection

Growing interest in the environmental aspects of migration is not matched by research on their interrelationships, due partly to the lack of adequate data sets on the two together. Focusing on the microlevel, we describe the data required to effectively investigate these interrelationships. Data sources are discussed, including information that should be collected, focusing on household surveys and remote sensing. The main section of the paper describes three alternative approaches to data collection: (a) using existing population and environmental data from different sources, illustrated by Burkina Faso; (b) adding questions to a survey developed for another purpose, illustrated for Guatemala using a DHS survey; and (c) designing a new survey specifically to collect both migration and environmental data to investigate interrelationships, illustrated by Ecuador. Methods used and summary findings are described, followed by a discussion of their advantages and limitations. We conclude with recommendations as to effective use of each approach as research on migration?Cenvironment linkages moves forward.