One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, 1700-2000 - Paperback

One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, 1700-2000 - Paperback

SKU: 9780674007093
Categories : History
In Stock
Regular price$80.80

by James Z. Lee (Author), Wang Feng (Author)

This book presents evidence about historical and contemporary Chinese population behavior that overturns much of the received wisdom about the differences between China and the West first voiced by Malthus. Malthus described a China in which early and universal marriage ensured high fertility and therefore high mortality. He contrasted this with Western Europe, where marriage occurred late and was far from universal, resulting in lower fertility and higher demographic responsiveness to economic circumstances. The result in China was thought to be mass misery as part of the population teetered on the brink of a Malthusian precipice, whereas in the West conditions were less severe.

In reality, James Lee and Wang Feng argue, there has been effective regulation of population growth in China through a variety of practices that depressed marital fertility to levels far below European standards, and through the widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. Moreover, in China, population behavior has long been primarily a consequence of collective intervention. This collective culture underlies four distinctive features of the Chinese demographic pattern--high rates of female infanticide, low rates of male marriage, low rates of marital fertility, and high rates of adoption--that Lee and Wang trace from 1700 to today. These and other distinctive features of the Chinese demographic and social system, they argue, led to a different demographic transition in China from the one that took place in the West.

Front Jacket

This book presents new evidence about historical and contemporary Chinese population behavior that overturns much of the received wisdom about the differences between China and the West first voiced by Malthus. Malthus described a China in which early and universal marriage ensured high fertility and therefore high mortality. He contrasted this with Western Europe, where marriage was late and far from universal, resulting in lower fertility and higher demographic responsiveness to economic circumstances. The result in China was thought to be mass misery as part of the population teetered on the brink of a Malthusian precipice, whereas in the West conditions were less severe.

In reality, James Lee and Wang Feng argue, there has been effective regulation of population growth in China within marriage through a variety of practices that depressed marital fertility to levels far below European standards and through the widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. Moreover, in China population control has long been primarily a consequence of collective intervention. This collective culture underlies the four distinctive features of the Chinese demographic pattern -- high rates of female infanticide, low rates of male marriage, low rates of marital fertility, and high rates of adoption -- that Lee and Wang trace from 1700 to today. These and other distinctive features of the Chinese demographic and social system, they argue, led to a different demographic transition in China from the one that took place in the West.

Number of Pages: 268
Dimensions: 0.57 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: December 21, 2001
Quantity
Add to wishlist
Add to compare
Delivery time: 2-7 business days
Free 30 days return
Payment Options
Categories : History

Help

If you have any questions, you are always welcome to contact us. We'll get back to you as soon as possible, withing 24 hours on weekdays.

Customer service

All questions about your order, return and delivery must be sent to our customer service team by e-mail at yourstore@yourdomain.com

Sale & Press

If you are interested in selling our products, need more information about our brand or wish to make a collaboration, please contact us at press@yourdomain.com

by James Z. Lee (Author), Wang Feng (Author)

This book presents evidence about historical and contemporary Chinese population behavior that overturns much of the received wisdom about the differences between China and the West first voiced by Malthus. Malthus described a China in which early and universal marriage ensured high fertility and therefore high mortality. He contrasted this with Western Europe, where marriage occurred late and was far from universal, resulting in lower fertility and higher demographic responsiveness to economic circumstances. The result in China was thought to be mass misery as part of the population teetered on the brink of a Malthusian precipice, whereas in the West conditions were less severe.

In reality, James Lee and Wang Feng argue, there has been effective regulation of population growth in China through a variety of practices that depressed marital fertility to levels far below European standards, and through the widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. Moreover, in China, population behavior has long been primarily a consequence of collective intervention. This collective culture underlies four distinctive features of the Chinese demographic pattern--high rates of female infanticide, low rates of male marriage, low rates of marital fertility, and high rates of adoption--that Lee and Wang trace from 1700 to today. These and other distinctive features of the Chinese demographic and social system, they argue, led to a different demographic transition in China from the one that took place in the West.

Front Jacket

This book presents new evidence about historical and contemporary Chinese population behavior that overturns much of the received wisdom about the differences between China and the West first voiced by Malthus. Malthus described a China in which early and universal marriage ensured high fertility and therefore high mortality. He contrasted this with Western Europe, where marriage was late and far from universal, resulting in lower fertility and higher demographic responsiveness to economic circumstances. The result in China was thought to be mass misery as part of the population teetered on the brink of a Malthusian precipice, whereas in the West conditions were less severe.

In reality, James Lee and Wang Feng argue, there has been effective regulation of population growth in China within marriage through a variety of practices that depressed marital fertility to levels far below European standards and through the widespread practices of infanticide and abortion. Moreover, in China population control has long been primarily a consequence of collective intervention. This collective culture underlies the four distinctive features of the Chinese demographic pattern -- high rates of female infanticide, low rates of male marriage, low rates of marital fertility, and high rates of adoption -- that Lee and Wang trace from 1700 to today. These and other distinctive features of the Chinese demographic and social system, they argue, led to a different demographic transition in China from the one that took place in the West.

Number of Pages: 268
Dimensions: 0.57 x 9.21 x 6.14 IN
Illustrated: Yes
Publication Date: December 21, 2001

Shipping & Returns

Shipping
We deliver your parcel within 2–3 working days. As soon as your package has left our warehouse, you will receive a confirmation by email. This confirmation contains a tracking number that you can use to find out where your package is.

Returns
We offer free returns within 30 days. All you have to do is fill out the return slip that you received in your package and stick the prepaid label on the package.Please note that it can take 2 weeks for us to process your return. We will do our best to complete this process as soon as possible.

Shipping & Returns

Shipping
We deliver your parcel within 2–3 working days. As soon as your package has left our warehouse, you will receive a confirmation by email. This confirmation contains a tracking number that you can use to find out where your package is.

Returns
We offer free returns within 30 days. All you have to do is fill out the return slip that you received in your package and stick the prepaid label on the package.Please note that it can take 2 weeks for us to process your return. We will do our best to complete this process as soon as possible.

Warranty

We provide a 2-year limited warranty, from the date of purchase for all our products.

If you believe you have received a defective product, or are experiencing any problems with your product, please contact us.

This warranty strictly does not cover damages that arose from negligence, misuse, wear and tear, or not in accordance with product instructions (dropping the product, etc.).

Warranty

We provide a 2-year limited warranty, from the date of purchase for all our products.

If you believe you have received a defective product, or are experiencing any problems with your product, please contact us.

This warranty strictly does not cover damages that arose from negligence, misuse, wear and tear, or not in accordance with product instructions (dropping the product, etc.).

Secure Payment

Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.

We accept payments with :
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Paypal, Diners Club, Discover and more.

Secure Payment

Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.

We accept payments with :
Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Paypal, Diners Club, Discover and more.

Related Products

You may also like