Barren States: The Population "Implosion" in Europe

ISBN-13: 9781845200497 / Angielski / Miękka / 2005 / 270 str.

Carrie B. Douglass

Opis

The fertility rate has dramatically declined across Europe in recent years. Globally over 64 countries have fallen below generation replacement levels and countries in eastern and southern Europe are registering the lowest birth rates in history. These developments could have serious repercussions for society and public policy--from a projected drastic loss of national population numbers to labor shortages and a swelling population of people over 65. This timely book investigates how people experience what is called "low fertility." How do people understand their choices and the perceived limitations on their lives? What is the meaning of motherhood for women today? And what does this tendency toward fewer births mean those who ultimately become demographic statistics?

Spis treści

List of Illustrations, Notes on Contributors, 1. Introduction, 2. A Matter of Free Choice? Some Structural and Cultural Influences on the Decision to Have or Not to Have Children in Norway, 3. "Now It is Completely the Other Way Around": Political Economics of Fertility in Re-unified Germany, 4. "Our Nation is Dying": Interpreting Patterns of Childbearing in Post-Soviet Russia, 5. The Economy of Birthrates in the Czech Republic, 6. A Quest for Belonging: The Bulgarian Demographic Crisis, Emigration and the Postsocialist Generations, 7. Underfertility's Challenge to Family and Gender Relations in Urban Greece, 8. "Toys and Perfumes": Imploding Italy's Population Paradox and Motherly Myths, 9. "We're Fine at Home": Young People, Family and Low Fertility in Spain, 10. Making Family: Depopulation and Social Crisis in France, 11. Bodies Coming and Going: Women and Fertility in Postmodern Ireland, 12. A Reflection on Barren States: The Demographic Paradoxes of Consumer Capitalism, Index

O autorze

Carrie B. Douglass is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Spanish at the Mary Baldwin College, USA