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Classical Foundations of Past and Present Population Policies

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International Handbook of Population Policies

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 11))

Abstract

This chapter reviews the fundamental historical paradigms that have shaped population policies and programs not only in the past but also up to the present day. To do so, the chapter first discusses the emergence of population issues, in particular the concept of population and political power. Then, the chapter analyzes the revolution about population thinking that was brought about by Rev. Thomas Robert Malthus. Thereafter, the chapter turns to the bourgeois model of demographic behavior developed in the nineteenth century. The chapter examines the repercussions of these intellectual contributions and of the debates on the design and implementation of modern population policies and programs, including the past and present socioeconomic dimensions of population policies. The discussion is illustrated with several concrete examples, demonstrating how past intellectual contributions and debates impinge on current population policies and programs. Overall, this chapter provides the intellectual and historical foundations which still determine, to a large extent, contemporary population policies and programs.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    From the eighteenth century onwards, Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, Frédéric Bastiat, Jean-Baptiste Say, Michel Chevalier, Nassau William Senior, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, etc., were among the most important figures. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the main economic theorists, such as Knut Wicksell, Alfred Marshall, and Léon Walras, showed little interest in population issues. This chapter draws some of its historical information on doctrines and theories from Charbit (2009, 2010), where the reader will find a useful historiography, not included here for lack of space.

  2. 2.

    Excluding, among others, the World Bank’s Multisectoral AIDS Projects (MAP) of the late 1990s.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Professor Emeritus, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

    Yves Charbit

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  1. Yves Charbit
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Correspondence to Yves Charbit .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    John F. May

  2. Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, Arlington, VA, USA

    Jack A. Goldstone

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Charbit, Y. (2022). Classical Foundations of Past and Present Population Policies. In: May, J.F., Goldstone, J.A. (eds) International Handbook of Population Policies. International Handbooks of Population, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02040-7_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-02040-7_3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-01998-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-02040-7

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