Fertility in the History of the 20th Century: Trends, theories, policies, discourses

Abstract

In this special issue, a pluridisciplinary group of scholars discuss the complex interrelationship among fertility trends, population theories, policies and public discourses. Whereas the three former fields have been intensely studied in demography and its neighboring disciplines, there is still little work on population discourses, and even less that link them to the trends, theories and policies of population. The editors hope to stimulate the scientific debate on this topic, to raise awareness of these interconnections, and to contribute to more theoretical integration. The special issue is organized in three sections: The first one discusses approaches to the study of fertility across historical periods. The second section focuses on discourses and politics and their practical impact on reproductive behavior. The third section concentrates on recent trends in fertility, mainly in Europe and East Asia.