Читать книгу Demographic Dynamics and Development - Yves Charbit - Страница 28

The story of the demographic transition in Europe and its subsequent generalization in the world is part of a common demographic framework, despite great economic, social and cultural differences among different regions and periods. Challenging the concept of a universal theory is based on the diversity of stages and factors which provoke it, as well as on the lack of evidence for the hypothesis of population convergence and stabilization (Vallin 2003).

Furthermore, beyond the analyses at a global scale, if one takes into account social and territorial inequalities, migrations, as well as cultural and religious dimensions, different models of demographic transition arise, depending on historical, economic, social and institutional contexts.

We can indeed conclude:

That there is no single model of demographic transition, since the conditions under which it occurs are under the influence of temporal and spatial variables, the values and standards of each society, of its economic and social organization. (Unesco 1996, p. 8)

And therefore, it is necessary to study the social, regional and cultural dimensions of demographic trends in more depth. This is what has led to a considerable number of works on the subject, for decades and still nowadays.

It is in fact paradoxical and stimulating that the concept of demographic transition has been criticized from all sides, but that it is at the origin of fundamental investigations to understand the common history and the possible future of demographic changes worldwide.