Population and Society

Dudley L. Poston, Jr., Emeritus Professor of Sociology, held positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Cornell University and, most recently, Texas A & M University. Here, he held the Abell Endowed Professor of Liberal Arts. He was also an adjunct professor at three universities in China. He has coauthored or edited twnety-four books and has authored or coauthored more than 400 journal articles, book chapters and opinion pieces on various sociological and demographic topics. Teresa A. Sullivan taught demography courses at the University of Chicago, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Michigan, and the University of Virginia. She was President of the University of Virginia, Provost of the University of Michigan, and Vice President and Graduate Dean at the University of Texas-Austin. She chaired the National Academies panel on the accuracy of the 2020 Census, publishing a separate book on the 2020 Census. Her demographic specialty is labor force and related issues, and she has applied her knowledge in books analyzing consumer bankruptcy, work and labor force, and underemployment.

'An excellent introduction to the scientific study of human populations. Poston and Sullivan are eminent scholars who know how to communicate big ideas and the intricacies of measurement with clear logic and style. Students will learn that the headlines of today – the impact of immigration, sexual orientation and gender identity, partnering and parenting, ethnic and racial blending, pandemics, and the future of work – can be measured and studied with demographic data and analysis. The book addresses the policy implications of demographic research, but cautions against simple-minded policies designed to affect demographic behavior that have been tried in the past and have failed. Students and instructors will be informed by the rich review of classical topics and up-to-date research findings in an unusually comprehensive bibliography. Although primarily focused on social demography, it would be an excellent introduction to demography in any social or biological science course.' Charles Hirschman, University of Washington

• 1. An Introduction to Demography; 2. Theories of Population; 3. The Sources of Demographic Information; 4. Fertility; 5. Mortality; 6. Internal Migration; 7. International Migration; 8. The Family; 9. Sexual Orientation; 10. Sex Structure and Gender Identity; 11. Contraception and Birth Control; 12. Epidemics and Pandemics; 13. Age Composition and Aging Societies; 14. Labor Force; 15. Race and Ethnic Relations; 16. World Population Change over Time; 17. Population Change in the US; 18. Population Distribution; 19. Population Policy; 20. The Earth in the 21st and 22nd Centuries.