Why Demography Matters (eBook)

Danny Dorling is Halford Mackinder Professor of Geography at the University of Oxford. His website can be found at www.dannydorling.org. Stuart Gietel-Basten is Associate Professor of Social Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

* 1. Introduction

* 2. Measuring Populations

* 3. Destiny and Determination

* 4. Population 'Explosion'

* 5. Why No Children?

* 6. Population Ageing

* 7. Population and the Global Economy

* 8. Population and Politics

* 9. Conclusion

"Demographers threaten us with a world population explosion, an unsupportable burden of pensioners, migration run wild, even a eugenic threat! But Dorling and Gietel-Basten give us heart. Some threats turned into blessings while other proved as hopelessly inaccurate as economic forecast."
Richard Wilkinson, co-author of The Spirit Level

"Dorling and Gietel-Basten demonstrate how much we don't know when it comes to demographics. With encyclopedic incision, the authors enjoin readers to consider the meaning, measurement, and manipulation of demographics, eschewing hyperbole for common sense. Rejecting demographic fear mongering and cloudy statistical thinking, Why Demography Matters provides a critical assessment of who counts and why, and the meaning of one of the world's most important drivers of change."
Amy Glasmeier, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"As authors Danny Dorling and Stuart Gietel-Basten remind us in their excellent text, [the] misinterpretation of demographic work is not uncommon. They remind us that the work of demographers is inherently political. [...] Ultimately, Dorling and Gietel-Basten ask, can demography be optimistic and personal? And their convincing response is yes. This is why I think this book should be a required supplemental text to any demography class as well as an essential read for anyone involved in demographic work."
Canadian Studies in Population