Joel W. Gregory

Historical Demography and Demographic History in Africa: Theoretical and Methodological Considerations*

The authors examine the nature of African historical demography with respect to the objectives of demography and the reasons for studying African demography in particular. The variety of available data sources and the methods for African historical demography are reviewed (SUMMARY IN FRE) (ANNOTATION)

Inequality and Mortality: Demographic Hypotheses regarding Advanced and Peripheral Capitalism

This paper analyzes mortality differences between social classes and between advanced and peripheral regions of the world economy. The demographic analysis of mortality is integrated with the study of political economy, which emphasizes the entire process of social reproduction. As part of this dialectic model, both the struggle of the working class to improve health and the interest of capital in maximizing profits are examined. Data from Quebec and Upper Volta are used to illustrate the hypothesis that substantially higher mortality rates exist for the working class compared with the bourgeoisie and in the less developed peripheral regions compared with the more developed regions.

La mobilisation de la main-d'oeuvre burkinabé, 1900–1974: Une vision retrospective

AbstractThe history of Burkinabe migration since 1900 has been reconstructed mainly from colonial administration documents. This article endeavours to recreate that history from retrospective infor...

Migrants and Proletarians

First, the importance of the transformation of agriculture as a cause of migration must be stressed. The plantations set up by colonizers in certain regions of Africa required a substantial labour force and since this was not always locally available immigration was necessary. During the colonial period, and especially before the 1950s, this movement of population was often brought about by force. Commercial peasant agriculture was another important element in the colonial transformation of agriculture and also led to migration. With the advent of individual cash incomes, socio-economic inequality was created and some peasants were able to extend their land while those at the bottom of the ladder were dispossessed of theirs; at the same time peasants who had been successful in acquiring more land, hired agricultural labourers.

A Note on the Migration Survey in Upper Volta

The Government of Upper Volta is currently conducting a national migration survey. Data collection is being done in two phases: the first, in 1974, covers the principal urban areas (except Ouagadougou, the capital); the second, in 1975, covers rural areas (plus Ouagadougou). The survey is a joint project of the Centre Voltaique de la Recherche Scientifique (C.V.R.S.) and the National Statistics and Demographic Institute (I.N.S.D.). The project is being financed by the Government of Upper Volta and the International Development Research Centre of Canada. This is the first nation-wide study of both internal and international migration. Also, for the first time, the study will furnish data on a regional as well as a national basis. These data will permit the measure? ment of the volume and direction of migration as well as the greater understanding of its causes and effects. The limited nature of previous studies means that information concerning these aspects of migration is very incomplete; the present study will permit the confirmation or the rejection of various hypotheses concerning Voltaic migration.