Death by Demography: A Theory of the Politics of State Collapse

About

Every day news is littered with stories about the implications of profound demographic shifts faced by the world's states and regions. From the ending of China's one-child policy, to concern about an aging Europe (despite waves of relatively young immigrants from the East and South), and a quickly urbanizing Africa, academics and policymakers' understanding of the broader dynamics at play is woefully underdeveloped both in academic research and policy circles.

Academics seem reluctant to pursue a "demographic" line of inquiry for fear of not having a direct, causal story to tell; while policymakers, working under short time frames, often fail to appreciate the longer-term consequences of natural shifts or state-driven demographic engineering until it is too late. What remains is a series of conjectures driven by ideology, emotion, and ignorance. By researching the political dimensions of demographic dynamics in key states during critical historical periods, this project will facilitate a better understanding of demographic politics; and one that is both theoretically and practically informative.

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