Ideological currents and the interpretation of demographic trends: The case of Francis Amasa Walker

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1992

Abstract

Late nineteenth‐century influences on American population thought are highlighted by focusing on Francis Amasa Walker's theory of native American fertility decline. Malthusianism, Darwinism, and racism combined to produce a new biological Malthu‐sianism that identified a population calamity more harmful than overpopulation‐biological deterioration. The plausibility of Walker's theory is examined with respect to contemporary demographic theory and demographic fact. Its reception by American social scientists is described: acceptance of biological Malthusianism was widespread, and scrutiny of an ideologically useful but empirically untenable theory proved difficult when the social scientific community shared a particular value position.

Comments

Copyright 1992 Wiley

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Publication Title

Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences

Published Citation

Hodgson, Dennis. "Ideological currents and the interpretation of demographic trends: The case of Francis Amasa Walker." Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 28, no. 1 (1992): 28-44. doi:10.1002/1520-6696(199201)28:1<28::AID-JHBS2300280103>3.0.CO;2-L.

DOI

10.1002/1520-6696(199201)28:1<28::AID-JHBS2300280103>3.0.CO;2-L

Peer Reviewed

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