Change and Continuity in American Demographic Behaviors:
The five centuries' Experience
October 27-29, 1998
Call for Papers
The IUSSP Committee on Historical Demography and the National University of Cordoba, Argentina, will co-sponsor a Seminar on "Change and continuity in American demographic behaviors: the five centuries' experience." This Seminar will examine a wide range of issues related to population and socio-economic changes in the history of the American regions.
The Seminar will take place 27-29 October 1998 in Cordoba. Scholars interested in presenting a paper on one of the following topics are requested to write directly to the respective session organizer.
1. Changes in nuptiality types and standards in the long term and their repercussions on fertility: age at first union (by type of union), entry speed, socio-ethnic and regional nuances, formal marriage or lack thereof, etc. Coordinator: Robert McCaa. University of Minnesota Department of History, 614 Social Sciences Building, 267-19th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA. Fax: 1-612-624-7096. rmccaa@tc.umn.edu
2. Illegitimacy. The topic will be studied in two aspects: a) cultural, demographic and social meanings of consensual links; b) observation of illegitimate birthrates through the years, comparing levels and trends at regional or national levels. Coordinator: Héctor Pérez Brignoli. Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica. Fax: 506 2 -34-6701. hperez@cariari.ucr.ac.cr
3. Family and social changes. Topics include: comparative analysis of the family in Latin America, the transformations of family systems with the perspective of socio-economic changes at the regional level, and population structure by sex and its repercussions on family organization, particularly in the process of urbanization. Coordinator: Eni de Mesquita Samara, Av Prof. Linen Prestes 338, Ciudad Universitaria (05508-900) San Pablo. Brasil. Tel. (55 11) 818 3745 Fax: (55 11) 815-5273 CEDHAL@org.usp.br
4. Children in demographic history: living arrangements and child labor. The objective of this session is to inquire into the changes which have taken place both in the social concept of childhood and in the living conditions of children from the colonial period until the beginning of the twentieth century. Two important aspects impinging on children are the family group and child labor. Special consideration should be given to gendered differences in children's life experiences. Coord.: Cecilia Rabell FLACSO. Camino al Ajusco 377 - Colonia Héroes de Padlema- 14200 México DF - Fax: 52 5 631-6609 - flacso@servidor.unam.mx
5. European migrations to the Americas, XIX and XX centuries. Continuities and discontinuities in social and demographic and reproductive behavior ("reproduction standards") of migrants by countries of origin and destination. Role of premigrants' social networks in emigration mechanisms, movement and integration of inmigrants. Coordinator: Hernán Otero. Instituto de Estudios Histórico-Sociales - Pinto 399, 2 piso - 7000 Tandil - Prov. de Buenos Aires - Argentina - Fax: 54 293 21928 gotero@cpsarg.com
6. Spatial variation of American populations. The objective of this session is to exploit systematically population censuses carried out between the mid-nineteenth century and 1930-50s. This will allow step-by-step elaboration of cartography at a national, regional and continental scale, as well as to sketch explanatory frameworks for the observed geographic patterns. Coordinator: David Reher. Jordan 23 - 28010 Madrid - España - soso203@emducms1.sis.ucm.es Fax: 34 1 394-2646
7. Historical mortality in the Americas. This session considers levels and trends of mortality in American societies, with special emphasis on differences by ethnic or social groups. Changes in causes of death prevailing in the past and at present, with attention to mortality due to violence, will also be considered. Coordinator: Eduardo Arriaga. 4621 Wakefield Chapel Rd, Annandale, DA 22003-4449 USA TEL: 1 301 457-1467 Fax:1 301 457-3034 earriaga@census.gov
Organizer: Dora Celton. Centro de Estudios Avanzados, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Avda. Vélez Sársfield 153, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina. Fax: 54 51 33-2087/33-4072/33-4078 celton@famaf.uncor.edu
Scientific Commission for the Seminar: Jose Alberto Magno de Carvalho, Dora Celton, Massimo Livi Bacci, Carmen Miró, Sergio Odilon Nadalin, Nicolas Sánchez Albornoz, Osamu Saito, Jorge Somoza, the members of the Commission on Historical Demography: Osamu Saito (Chairman), Cem Behar, Alain Blum, Marco Breschi, James Lee, Cormac O'Grada, and the meeting organizers.
Dates:
Feb 28, 1998: Deadline for receipt of abstracts
Mar 30, 1998: Organizers select among contributed abstracts and notify authors of acceptance
June 15, 1998: Deadline for receipt of papers by the organizers
October 27-29, 1998: Seminar
Family/Demography Network
Palmer House Hilton, Chicago,
Social Science History Association
19-22 November 1998
Network Representative: Richard Wall, Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA
1. Images of the family: paternal authority and husband/wife relationships in literature, photographs and postcards. Richard Wall Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA, UK
2. Sickness and mortality across the generations. Anders Brandstrom Historical Demography, Umea University, Umea S-901 87, Sweden
3. The Malthus bicentenary. Roger Schofield Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA, UK
4. The economics of childhood: welfare and family investment. Sylvie Perrier, 51 B2 rue de Gaspe, Montreal, Canada H3T 1Z9
5. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of fertility decline. Danielle Gauvreau Sociology and Anthropology, Concordia University, 1400 De Maisonneuve O., Montreal, Canada H4G 1M8
6. Effectiveness of government policies on the decline of mortality. Bruce Fetter History Department, University of Wisconsin, PO Box 413, Milwaukee, WI 53201 USA
7. The demography of institutional populations. Dan Scott Smith History Department, University of Illinois, 913 University Hall, 601 S. Morgan Street, Chicago, Il 60607-7109 USA
8. Family conflict and the legal system. Lloyd Bonfield Tulane Law School, John Giffen Weinmann Hall, 6329 Freret Street Suite 259, New Orleans, Louisiana 70118-5670 USA
9. The effect of public policy on marriage patterns. Richard Wall Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA, UK
10. Variations in mortality by marital status. Jan Sundin Health and society, University of Linkoping, S-58183 Linkoping, Sweden
11. The Latino-American family. Charles Wetherell History, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0204 USA
12. Geographical information systems and demographic analysis. Humphrey Southall Geography, Queen Mary and Westfield College, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK
13. The religious influences on family formation and household structure. Stephanie Siegmund, University of Florida, 405 East 54th Street #6J, New York, NY 10022 USA
14. Comparative studies of age at leaving home in rural societies. Beatrice Moring Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA UK
15. Aetiology of specific diseases. Sheila Johanssen Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge CB2 1QA, UK
16. The impact of family values on census taking. Sheila Anderson Data Archive, University of Essex, Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 3SQ, UK
17. The demography of warfare. Richard Wall Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QA UK
18. Families and borderlands. Lisa Dillon 614 Social Sciences Tower, University of Minnesota, 267 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
19. Family budget surveys. Richard Wall Cambridge Group, 27 Trumpington Street, Cambridge, CB2 1QA. UK
20. Determinants of marriage patterns. Steve Ruggles; History, University of Minnesota, 267 South 19th Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
21. Boarding and lodging. Steve Ruggles; History, University of Minnesota, 267 South 19th Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55455 USA
22. Family and property law in medieval England. Lloyd Bonfield Tulane Law School, John Giffen Weinmann Hall, 6328 Freret Street, Suite 259, New Orleans, Lousiana 70118-5670 USA
23. The backbone of history: nutritional studies from skeletal remains. Richard Steckel Economics, Ohio State University, 1945 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43210 USA
24. The demography of disabled people. Jan Sundin; Health and society, University of Linkoping, S-58183 Linkoping, Sweden
25. Pastoralism and family structure. Karl Kaser; History, University of Graz, Mozartgasse 3, Graz 8010 Austria
American Historical Association
1999 Annual Meeting
January 7-10, 1999
Washington DC
Migrations and Diasporas in History
The Program Committee seeks proposals for panels in ALL fields in order to have a program of interest to all members of the AHA. We also suggest submission of proposals on "migrations and diasporas in history".The deadline of submission of proposals for panels is 15 February 1998. Proposals should be complete. The cover sheet and check list of items needed in proposals was printed in AHA Perspectives (September 1997).
Four copies of proposals should be sent to: John Voll, Chair, 1999 AHA Program Committee, Department of History, Georgetown University, 37th and O Streets, NW, Washington, DC 20057.
The LAPH Bulletin is now on the web. Visit the LAPHB homepage to obtain:
To post items on the LAPHB homepage, please clip your them to an e-mail message indicating the nature of the submission and send to rmccaa@tc.umn.edu.
If approved by the editor, text submissions already in HTML will be posted directly to the LAPHB homepage. Submissions in word-processor formats may be converted to HTML prior to posting or linked to the page for down-loading to be read off-line. Images should be in GIF or JPEG formats.
Submissions remain the property of the author, but the editor reserves the right to edit submissions. Footnotes and endnotes will not normally be posted because they are not automatically transcribed to HTLM by conventional conversion programs.
Links are checked for accuracy and suitability.
H-DEMOG, the international electronic discussion group for scholars and teachers of demographic history, is now accepting subscribers. H-DEMOG is one of the lists of H-NET, published by the University of Illinois, Chicago with additional funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. H-NET is a broad initiative to establish electronic communications among historians and to educate historians in the use of electronic media.
H-DEMOG is intended to provide scholars of all disciplines addressing historical populations and population change with a forum to discuss new (and old) theories, teaching and research methods, and findings. H-DEMOG enables population scholars to easily communicate current research and teaching interests; to discuss new articles, books, papers, approaches, methods and tools of analysis; to explore new ideas and share comments and tips on teaching.
Discussions and annuncements of a more general nature provide opportunities for comparative perspectives on contemporary issues in light of historical experiences. Reports on archival or bibliographic sources, new software, datasets or CD-ROMS are welcome.
To subscribe, send an e-mail with the following message to: listserv@h-net.msu.edu. Replace the angle brackets and their contents with the requested information (note the placement of the comma):
sub h-demog <firstname> <lastname>, <institution>
Recent (and not so recent) Happenings
Annual Report of the Population and Quantitative History Committee
January 7, 1995Donald Stevens, chair (stevens@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu)
Approximately twenty Latin Americanists attended the annual meeting of ComPAQH. During the brief business portion of the meeting the committee chair, Donald Stevens (Drexel University), reported on the continuing activities of the committee.
The committee's invited speaker, Richard Salvucci (Trinity University), entitled his remarks "I Don't Like What You're Saying and I Don't Like The Way You Say It: Why Almost No One Likes Quantitative History and Why I Frankly Don't Give A Damn."
Salvucci began with a review of trends in quantification in Latin American history which he measured as the average annual number of tables in articles in the Hispanic American Historical Review (HAHR) at five year intervals and by counting the number of quantitative monographs that appeared annually.
Prior to the early 1970s, the HAHR published few articles with tables. The average number was well below one per article and peaked at 0.59 in 1943. During the early 1970s there was an explosion of tables in articles, an average of 2.35. Although the average number of tables in articles and quantitative monographs per year fell in the late 1970s and early 1980s, both indexes picked up in the late 1980s and remain at historically high levels. Salvucci concluded that rather than disappearing after an initial explosion, quantitative methods have become a routine part of Latin American history.
Having established that quantitative research is not disappearing, Salvucci discussed some of the reasons why its critics perhaps wish it would. These were: (1) that quantitative research is boring, (2) that it is obscure, (3) that it is impersonal, (4) that the data is all nonsense, and (5) that it is politically retrograde. After refuting these objections with an astute analysis enlivened by colorful anecdotes, Salvucci concluded that neither critics nor practitioners of this approach should regard quantitative research as definitive, objective, or value-free. He affirmed his conviction that quantification is an appropriate and useful approach to historical study. A genial discussion followed.
| Begin | Top | Next |