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Culture and Demography: From Reluctant Bedfellows to Committed Partners

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  • Christine Bachrach

Abstract

Demography and culture have had a long but ambivalent relationship. Cultural influences are widely recognized as important for demographic outcomes but are often “backgrounded” in demographic research. I argue that progress toward a more successful integration is feasible and suggest a network model of culture as a potential tool. The network model bridges both traditional (holistic and institutional) and contemporary (tool kit) models of culture used in the social sciences and offers a simple vocabulary for a diverse set of cultural concepts, such as attitudes, beliefs, and norms, as well as quantitative measures of how culture is organized. The proposed model conceptualizes culture as a nested network of meanings represented by schemas that range in complexity from simple concepts to multifaceted cultural models. I illustrate the potential value of a model using accounts of the cultural changes underpinning the transformation of marriage in the United States and point to developments in the social, cognitive, and computational sciences that could facilitate the application of the model in empirical demographic research. Copyright Population Association of America 2014

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  • Christine Bachrach, 2014. "Culture and Demography: From Reluctant Bedfellows to Committed Partners," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 51(1), pages 3-25, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:demogr:v:51:y:2014:i:1:p:3-25
    DOI: 10.1007/s13524-013-0257-6
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    3. Alessandra Minello & Gianpiero Dalla Zuanna & Guido Alfani, 2021. "The growing number of given names as a clue to the beginning of the demographic transition in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 45(6), pages 187-220.
    4. Vida Maralani & Samuel Stabler, 2018. "Intensive Parenting: Fertility and Breastfeeding Duration in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1681-1704, October.
    5. Heather M. Rackin & Christine A. Bachrach, 2016. "Assessing the Predictive Value of Fertility Expectations Through a Cognitive–Social Model," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 35(4), pages 527-551, August.
    6. Seik Kim & Sam-Ho Lee, 2020. "Son Preference and Fertility Decisions: Evidence From Spatiotemporal Variation in Korea," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 927-951, June.
    7. Sen Ma & Fangqi Wen, 2016. "Who Coresides With Parents? An Analysis Based on Sibling Comparative Advantage," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(3), pages 623-647, June.
    8. Etienne Breton, 2021. "A Tale of Two Villages: Development and Household Change in India," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(2), pages 347-375, June.
    9. Arland Thornton & Prem Bhandari & Jeffrey Swindle & Nathalie Williams & Linda Young-DeMarco & Cathy Sun & Christina Hughes, 2020. "Fatalistic Beliefs and Migration Behaviors: A Study of Ideational Demography in Nepal," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(4), pages 643-670, August.
    10. Marc Luy & Bernhard Köppen, 2018. "“Express transitioning” as a special case of the demographic transition," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 16(1), pages 235-257.
    11. Arland Thornton & Nathalie E. Williams & Prem Bhandari & Linda Young-DeMarco & Cathy Sun & Jeffrey Swindle & Christina Hughes & Yu Xie, 2019. "Influences of Material Aspirations on Migration," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(1), pages 75-102, February.
    12. Keera Allendorf & Arland Thornton & Dirgha J. Ghimire & Linda Young-DeMarco & Colter Mitchell, 2021. "A Good Age to Marry? An Intergenerational Model of the Influence of Timing Attitudes on Entrance into Marriage," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 37(1), pages 179-209, March.
    13. Anning Hu & Felicia Tian, 2018. "Still under the ancestors' shadow? Ancestor worship and family formation in contemporary China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 38(1), pages 1-26.
    14. Hanna Grol-Prokopczyk, 2018. "Celebrity culture and demographic change: The case of celebrity nonmarital fertility, 1974–2014," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(8), pages 251-284.
    15. Colleen Ray & Sela Harcey & Arthur Greil & Stacy Tiemeyer & Julia McQuillan, 2018. "Stability and change in personal fertility ideals among U.S. women in heterosexual relationships," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(16), pages 459-486.

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