The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens

The demographic revolution (demographic transition) is changing the reproductive strategy of the species Homo sapiens. The whole evolution of life on Earth, including social evolution since the beginning of human society, has led to this triumph of theK-strategy of reproduction. This universal rev...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Anatoly Vishnevsky
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE) 2017-02-01
Series:Демографическое обозрение
Subjects:
Online Access:https://demreview.hse.ru/article/view/3155
_version_ 1811329646640234496
author Anatoly Vishnevsky
author_facet Anatoly Vishnevsky
author_sort Anatoly Vishnevsky
collection DOAJ
description The demographic revolution (demographic transition) is changing the reproductive strategy of the species Homo sapiens. The whole evolution of life on Earth, including social evolution since the beginning of human society, has led to this triumph of theK-strategy of reproduction. This universal revolution has a crucial importance for the present stage of human history. The cause-and-effect relationship between economic, social and demographic changes is discussed, the interpretation of changes in the mass reproductive or family behavior as primarily a direct consequence of economic, social or cultural shifts is contested.  Such explanations are redundant since the main changes in demographic behavior are a response to the necessity of restoring the demographic equilibrium upset by an unprecedented decline in mortality. At the same time, such explanations lead to an underestimation of the impact of demographic change on economic, social and cultural dimensions of the development of modern societies. The demographic transition theory in its present form hinders the vision of this transition as an integral stand-alone process that has its own internal determinants and at the same time has a powerful impact on all social processes, including processes at the global level. The global logic of demographic transition theory is opposed to the widespread local logic, according to which this theory must be justified by the experience of each state. An attempt is made to overcome the current fragmentation in the description of the demographic transition and its splitting into multiple “transitions” and “revolutions”, and to consider it as a cohesive process, that is, a sequence of inevitable major stages of a single global “chain reaction” initiated by an enormous decline in mortality.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T15:47:28Z
format Article
id doaj.art-5995cc213dc442159b18b3b5d7655ff6
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2409-2274
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T15:47:28Z
publishDate 2017-02-01
publisher National Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)
record_format Article
series Демографическое обозрение
spelling doaj.art-5995cc213dc442159b18b3b5d7655ff62022-12-22T02:40:55ZengNational Research University Higher School of Economics (HSE)Демографическое обозрение2409-22742017-02-011510.17323/demreview.v1i5.31553155The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiensAnatoly Vishnevsky0National Research University Higher School of Economics, 20 Myasnitskaya Str., Moscow, 101000, Russian Federation The demographic revolution (demographic transition) is changing the reproductive strategy of the species Homo sapiens. The whole evolution of life on Earth, including social evolution since the beginning of human society, has led to this triumph of theK-strategy of reproduction. This universal revolution has a crucial importance for the present stage of human history. The cause-and-effect relationship between economic, social and demographic changes is discussed, the interpretation of changes in the mass reproductive or family behavior as primarily a direct consequence of economic, social or cultural shifts is contested.  Such explanations are redundant since the main changes in demographic behavior are a response to the necessity of restoring the demographic equilibrium upset by an unprecedented decline in mortality. At the same time, such explanations lead to an underestimation of the impact of demographic change on economic, social and cultural dimensions of the development of modern societies. The demographic transition theory in its present form hinders the vision of this transition as an integral stand-alone process that has its own internal determinants and at the same time has a powerful impact on all social processes, including processes at the global level. The global logic of demographic transition theory is opposed to the widespread local logic, according to which this theory must be justified by the experience of each state. An attempt is made to overcome the current fragmentation in the description of the demographic transition and its splitting into multiple “transitions” and “revolutions”, and to consider it as a cohesive process, that is, a sequence of inevitable major stages of a single global “chain reaction” initiated by an enormous decline in mortality. https://demreview.hse.ru/article/view/3155demographic revolutiondemographic transitionsecond demographic transitionthird demographic transitionepidemiologic transitionfertility
spellingShingle Anatoly Vishnevsky
The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
Демографическое обозрение
demographic revolution
demographic transition
second demographic transition
third demographic transition
epidemiologic transition
fertility
title The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
title_full The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
title_fullStr The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
title_full_unstemmed The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
title_short The demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of Homo sapiens
title_sort demographic revolution is changing the reproductive strategy of homo sapiens
topic demographic revolution
demographic transition
second demographic transition
third demographic transition
epidemiologic transition
fertility
url https://demreview.hse.ru/article/view/3155
work_keys_str_mv AT anatolyvishnevsky thedemographicrevolutionischangingthereproductivestrategyofhomosapiens
AT anatolyvishnevsky demographicrevolutionischangingthereproductivestrategyofhomosapiens