Abstract
Because of dissatisfaction with the overwhelmingly dominant theory of the demographic transition (TDT), this chapter proposes the theory of change and response (TCR). It was first put forward by Kingsley Davis in a brief paper published in 1963 but it was solely focused on industrialized countries. Based on thirty years experience of research on reproductive health in sub-Saharan Africa, this introduction briefly recalls Davis’ seminal contribution, and sketches possible improvements, such as elaborating concepts more adapted to the reality of developing countries, especially in Africa. It then briefly describes the contents of the following chapters.
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Notes
- 1.
McNicoll criticises the closeted approach of current research, insofar as it takes demographic transition for granted: “The bankclerkly and backroom activities that now constitute most population studies are worthy enough contributions to the quantitative understanding of demographic change, but they are increasingly divorced from any larger, cumulative social scientific enterprise” (McNicoll 1992: 400).
- 2.
As is known Bongaarts’ major breakthrough was made possible by Blake’s and Davis’ seminal paper of 1956 who used the category of intermediate variables.
References
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Davis, K. (1963). The Theory of change and response in modern demographic history. Population Index, 29(4), 345–366.
Freedman, R. (1986). Theories of fertility decline. In K. Mahadevan (Ed.), Fertility and mortality, theory, methodology, and empirical issues (pp. 30–36). Delhi: Sage.
Léridon, H. (1987). Deux siècles de régulation des naissances. In Léridon, H., Charbit, Y., Collomb, P., & Sardon, J.-P. (éds.), La seconde révolution contraceptive: la régulation des naissances en France de 1950 à 1985. Paris: INED-PUF, 7-16.
McNicoll, G. (1992). The agenda of population studies: A commentary and a complaint. Population and Development Review, 18(3), 399–420.
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Petit, V. (2018). A Theory and Its Application. In: Petit, V. (eds) Population Studies and Development from Theory to Fieldwork. Demographic Transformation and Socio-Economic Development, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61774-9_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-61774-9_1
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