Canada's Population in a Global Context - Recently Published by Dr. Frank Trovato

Canada's Population in a Global Context - an Introduction to Social Demography (Oxford University Press, 2009). Since the early 1970s, generations of students across Canadian universities and college

4 December 2008

Canada's Population in a Global Context - an Introduction to Social Demography (Oxford University Press, 2009).

Since the early 1970s, generations of students across Canadian universities and colleges have been taught the demography of this country from a select number of excellent textbooks. Among the more notable are the several editions produced by the late Warren Kalbach and his collaborator Wayne McVey (Kalbach and McVey, 1971, 1979; McVey and Kalbach, 1995). Other competent Canadian works in this area are by Beaujot and McQuillan (1983); and Beaujot and Kerr (2004). The authors of these introductory texts have provided a foundational understanding of the demographic trends and patterns of Canadian society. However, as their principle scope has been the demography of Canada, one finds limited attention in these textbooks on the broader global aspects of population as a field of study and as a comparative discipline. Therefore, it was felt that a text was needed that would on the one hand complement these fine existing textbooks on Canadian population, and on the other would also incorporate a more global or international approach, all the while devoting coverage of the fundamental concepts, theories and perspectives of demography and population studies. The present textbook shares many of the same features as its predecessors in Canada but differs in this respect.

This new textbook situates Canada's population in a global context, providing Canadian students with a balanced picture of population dynamics in Canada and the world. Each chapter identifies and explores core issues and concerns in population analysis, including basic demographic methods, with a strong emphasis on conceptual and theoretical frameworks for the analysis of population phenomena. Age and sex compositions are thoroughly profiled in a global context, as is mortality change in historical perspective, epidemiological transition of the West versus that of developing nations, inequalities in mortality and health, and the future course of mortality and longevity. Also discussed in detail are fertility and its social biological determinants; theories of fertility change in both Western and developing nations; and the cost and values of children to parents. Theories of nuptiality change are explored alongside historical and contemporary patterns of marriage, divorce, and cohabitation in developing nations and the Western world. Other central topics covered in the textbook include mobility and migration, internal migration and its relationship to urbanization, cities and their components of growth, urban systems in developing and industrialized nations, and theoretical models of migration. International migration issues are covered extensively, including human migration in historical perspective; social, economic, and political interrelationships in international migration; theories of international migration and immigrant adaptation and integration in host nations. Lastly, the book provides an overview of population policy issues and challenges confronting Canada and the rest of the industrialized world (e.g., persistence of sub-replacement fertility and the rising demand for immigration); and problems associated with rapid urbanization and population growth in the developing world.