Programme
Coordinator
Encarnación Aracil, Universidad Complutense, Spain, enaracil@cps.ucm.es
This call for papers has a deadline for receipt of abstracts by 15 December 2007. Abstracts of a maximum of 250 words should be sent by electronic mail to sessions organisers listed below and cc’ed to the Chair of the Programme Committee, Encarnacion Aracil, Universidad Complutense, Spain, enaracil@cps.ucm.es
Submissions of proposed papers must include:
Invited speakers only
Panel Convenor: D Sundaram, Center for Research on New International Economic
Order (CReNIEO), India, dsundaram@hotmail.com
The industrialized and non–industrialized countries have different profile of
the changing population age structures warranting scholarly scrutiny as a
demographic concern with a scope to look into the socio-legal perspectives of
Governance policy.
The framework of Governmentality and its policy as a socio–legal regime on the
issue of the Changing Population Age Structure, the related issues of
education and employment of the young and working population and social
security like pensions, employment, health care towards the older population
besides the emerging international migration phenomenon as shaped by changing
population age structure are yet to be scrutinized.
Thus, the changing population age structures need to be analysed as demography
of any society not only in their conditioning and consequential factors of
economic, cultural and technological development but also of the influence of
the prevailing “power relationship” within the society THROUGH Governance, its
legislative agenda and public and political policy. This is considered as a
kind of “subjectification” of the population issues under the fashion of
Social modernity through “GOVERNMENTALITY and the LEGAL FACTS” totally
different from the “SOCIAL FACTS” –an external social composition- and thus
the population issues including the changing population age structure appear
that they are not the subject of homosapiens but also of the State and Law of
the land and public policy.
Accordingly, the Panel Discussion, by recognising the existing scholarship on
the role of population science in general in constructing population issues in
working with institutionalized political power to govern population issues,
will look into the socio-legal modernity of the legislative policies and
related praxis of the governmentality within the framework of socio-legal
conceptualization and within the Critical theory of modernity of STATE AND
GOVERNANCE ON THE CHANGING POPULATION AGE STRUCTURE AND ITS IMPACT through a
case study of one developing and another of a developed country.
Organiser: Bali Ram, Statistics Canada, Canada, bali.ram@statcan.ca
The age structure of a country’s population is largely determined by changes
in its fertility level. Today, there are about sixty countries where fertility
has reached the replacement level or lower, with about forty of them having
had it this way for several decades. Although subreplacement level fertility
is generally a characteristic of industrialized countries, in recent years
several less industrialized countries have made the transition to low
fertility, with some doing it in a very short period of time. These varying
fertility trends and pace of declines have different effects on the age
structure of the population. This session will focus on different policy
options to cope with the effects of subreplacement level fertility on age
structure and related social and economic issues. Some questions to be
addressed are as follows: What needs to be done to reverse the trends in
fertility declines? What are the effects of changes in age structure on social
security and health care in low fertility countries? Can the existing age
structure sustain economic development in these countries? How useful is
immigration as an option to cope with the expected declines in the proportion
of working-age population?
Organiser: Elena Bastida, The University of Texas PanAmerican, USA, bastida@utpa.edu
Despite the importance attributed to global migration in the sociological
literature and related disciplines, its impact on the family structure has
received less attention. Surprisingly little is known about migration and
marital dissolution, the persistence of old and the acquisition of new
intimate ties, kinship network fragmentation and the reconfiguration of
earlier norms on filial piety that structured the relationship between old and
young family members. This session will examine changes in family structure
resulting from late twentieth century migratory patterns. Papers exploring
these topics, specifically as they unfold within the sending family and their
reconfiguration in the receiving society are especially welcomed.
Organiser: Rosa María Camarena, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México,
Mexico, rcamaren@servidor.unam.mx
The population’s age-structural change has become a central issue in
contemporary societies as it affects multiple aspects of a country’s life
(economic, social, political, demographic) at both the macro and micro levels.
The changing age structures produce new challenges, pressures and burdens for
facing the differential needs and demands of the distinct age groups, but may
also open opportunities to meet them.
Although change in the balance of population’s age composition affects all age
groups, its repercussions may be different for each group, depending on the
characteristics and dynamics of the change by itself, the context and
circumstances in which it occurs, the specific needs and demands of each age
group and the society’s policy response to face and/or exploit it.
In particular, for the young, who are immerse in a period of life plenty of
events and critical shifts of life-status, the age-structural change may have
important implications that will be reflected not only in their current living
conditions and life chances, but also in those of their families and
communities and, in the medium and long terms, in their characteristics and
conditions of life as adults and aged people, as present young move through
the different stages of life.
The session attempts to address the implications of population’s
age-structural changes over young people’s lives in realms such as education,
employment, housing, health -including sexual and reproductive health-, as
well as at the level of young’s relations and interactions with their families
and older generations, and the policy implications of all that. It looks to
address questions such as: How do age structure changes impact on young’s
needs and demands satisfaction? What do those changes mean in terms of age
group’s competition for resources, goods and services, both at the macro and
micro levels? How does the changing balance of the age groups affect
intergenerational/intra-family relationships relative to mutual support
(material, affective, organizational)? In particular, what does population
ageing mean for young in terms of duties, burdens, responsibilities, but also
in terms of changing life styles and individual behaviours? Which are the
policy implications towards youth arising from shifts in age composition of
population?
Organiser: Joseph Troisi, University of Malta, Malta, joseph.troisi@um.edu.mt
The world of the twenty-first century is experiencing an extraordinary
revolution in longevity. During the latter part of the 20th century, life
expectancy has increased by about 20 years, and is expected to extend a
further 10 years by 2050. Population ageing poses unique challenges to every
society because, unlike other population growth variables such as the
fertility and mortality rates which, to a considerable extent can be
influenced by government policies, the process of population ageing is in
actual fact irreversible.
Moreover, one cannot ignore the fact that the approach to these issues should
not be treated in isolation. It should rather form an integral part of an
over-all national development planning programme of each country. In the
Western world, our ageing populations are becoming victims of professional
models of care. Older persons are often viewed as making excessive demands on
government expenditure. On their part, governments are encountering increasing
difficulties in paying for the care of older persons.
The welfare programmes adopted by various governments were aimed more at
protecting and caring for the older members. They were based upon the
assumption that "society has a major responsibility to provide basic social
welfare and support for all persons". This preoccupation has led to the
creation of a relatively passive and disenchanted sector of the population.
This session provides a forum for outlining important contributions to this
debate and present empirical data in support of these contributions. The
papers presented are aimed at highlighting policies, programmes, and practices
prevalent in different countries and regions of the world, for meeting the
challenges of population ageing. It will also allow for an awareness of the
existing cultural influences and insights.
Organiser: Gloria L. Nelson, The University of Philippines at Los Banos,
The Philippines, glmnelson2001@yahoo.com.hk
In a disaster situation, a significant number of vulnerable people experience
hazard and suffer severe damage and disruption of their livelihood system.
Many of this vulnerable population have their lives shortened by natural
hazardous events such as earthquakes, flashfloods , landslides and
catastrophic events such as, epidemics and hunger that occur in many parts of
the world especially in (but not only) the third world. This session will
include papers that will bring about a crucial point in the understanding why
disasters occur and to understand that “natural” and the “ human” are bond
together in almost all disaster situation. The papers hope to shed light that
disasters are not only cause by natural events but they are also product of
the social, political, and economic environment as distinct from natural
environment because disasters tend to structure the lives of different groups
of people. Disaster are events that deserve special focus in the study of
population .
Organiser: Ofra Anson, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, ofra@bgu.ac.il
The fourth stage of epidemiological transition brought about some changes in
the patterns of health and illness, of which the most unexpected is the
returning of infectious diseases. Health and illness patterns in our era are
characterized with two main epidemics: syndrome X and AIDS/HIV. Moreover, the
aetiology and the control of these conditions are far more related to social
behaviour than to sanitation or medical intervention. Due to both conditions
we are now dealing with long-term chronic and infectious diseases which change
the care needs of the population. In this session we would like to present and
discuss data regarding these changing patterns of health and illness and its
pace. We would also like to deal with the social consequences of these
epidemics: are intra- and inter-societal health inequalities increasing? What
are the implications for health care needs and what should be the new targets
of health care policies? Who carries the major burden of care?
Organiser: E. Aracil, Universidad Complutense, Spain, enaracil@cps.ucm.es
Paper proposals that do not fit to the topic of any of the planned sessions
may be submitted to the RC41 Programme Coordinator for integration in this
open session or alternative arrangements. Spanish speaking young scientists
are welcomed to present their papers in this session.