Tag: population history

Writing Population History in a Time of Planetary Crisis – Call for Papers

Published on by CIGH Exeter

2nd-3rd June 2025, University of Exeter

The present moment is suffused with demographic anxieties. Reaching the milestone of 8 billion people in the global population in 2022 has reinvigorated debate about the impact of a growing global population—particularly, though not exclusively, on planetary ecology; this in turn has renewed calls in some quarters for population control measures. At the same time, policymakers have expressed concern about aging populations and declining national birth rates or, in other locations, about the impact of so-called ‘youth bulges’ on security and labour. Meanwhile, actors on the far right have leant upon racialised narratives of migration and demographic change to mobilize support.

History has a particular place in current demographic debates. Natalia Kanem, the Executive Director of the UN Population Fund, has cautioned against ‘population alarmism,’ warning that historic population control measures have been ‘ineffective and even dangerous.’ This 2-day, hybrid workshop will explore the challenges and possibilities of writing population history at this current historical moment. How might population history-writing engage with contemporary demographic anxieties, and how might the concerns of our present moment shape the development of the scholarly field?

We are thrilled to welcome Professor Alison Bashford, Scientia Professor in History and Director of the Laureate Centre for History & Population at the University of New South Wales, as our keynote speaker.

We welcome papers that present traditional historical studies as well as more informal think-pieces on the relationship between the past and present of population, demographic anxiety, and ecological and political crises, including work related to activism in these sectors. We welcome participation from non-historians and non-academics. Student and early-career speakers who are SSHM members may be eligible for SSHM travel bursaries. Further details can be found at https://sshm.org/bursaries/.

Paper topics may include, but are not limited to:

  • Population control
  • Fertility and population decline
  • Ageing, youth and demographic profiles
  • Reproductive justice
  • Migration
  • Eugenics

Please submit an abstract of c.250 words to R.Williams2@Exeter.ac.uk by 25th March 2025. Decisions on submitted abstracts will be made by 2nd April.