Changes

</ref> contrast the fertility of a Catholic rural area (Pays de Herve) and a working center, secularized and with left-wing tendencies (Tilleur), paying attention both to the pre-transitional period and to the beginning of the so-called demographic transition. Located in eastern Belgium, these communities are analyzed from three points of view: their economic and social history; rates of marriage, illegitimacy, and premarital conception, measures regarded as indicators of social control and religiosity; and fertility patterns. Results indicate important contrasts: traditional social controls persisted in Pays de Herve but not in Tilleur. Yet, the beginning of the transition did not appear as a revolution. In these very different populations, fertility strategies centered on the number of desired children and on their sex composition both before and after the transition. When birth control appeared, such cultural decisionmaking was enhanced; thus the fertility decline was in keeping with the family culture and was not, at least initially, a radical change.

</ref> contrast the fertility of a Catholic rural area (Pays de Herve) and a working center, secularized and with left-wing tendencies (Tilleur), paying attention both to the pre-transitional period and to the beginning of the so-called demographic transition. Located in eastern Belgium, these communities are analyzed from three points of view: their economic and social history; rates of marriage, illegitimacy, and premarital conception, measures regarded as indicators of social control and religiosity; and fertility patterns. Results indicate important contrasts: traditional social controls persisted in Pays de Herve but not in Tilleur. Yet, the beginning of the transition did not appear as a revolution. In these very different populations, fertility strategies centered on the number of desired children and on their sex composition both before and after the transition. When birth control appeared, such cultural decisionmaking was enhanced; thus the fertility decline was in keeping with the family culture and was not, at least initially, a radical change.

Szreter et al. (2003) show that despite the advent of improved methods of contraception, especially after the invention of synthetic prophylactics, traditional methods of birth control, such as coitus interruptus and abortion, continued to be used in 19th- and 20th-century France, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland. Fertility fell during this period at different times in different countries. Preference for one method over another was determined by ideologies of sexual and gender relations

Szreter et al. (2003) show that despite the advent of improved methods of contraception, especially after the invention of synthetic prophylactics, traditional methods of birth control, such as coitus interruptus and abortion, continued to be used in 19th- and 20th century France, Canada, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland. Fertility fell during this period at different times in different countries. Preference for one method over another was determined by ideologies of sexual and gender relations

==Regional studies==

==Regional studies==

===Africa===

===Africa===

Campbell has studied the demography of 19th-century Madagascar in the light of demographic transition theory. Both supporters and critics of the theory hold to an intrinsic opposition between human and "natural" factors, such as climate, famine, and disease, influencing demography. They also suppose a sharp chronological divide between the precolonial and colonial eras, arguing that whereas "natural" demographic influences were of greater importance in the former period, human factors predominated thereafter. Campbell argues that in 19th-century Madagascar the human factor, in the form of the Merina state, was the predominant demographic influence. However, the impact of the state was felt through natural forces, and it varied over time. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Merina state policies stimulated agricultural production, which helped to create a larger and healthier population and laid the foundation for Merina military and economic expansion within Madagascar. From 1820, the cost of such expansionism led the state to increase its exploitation of forced labor at the expense of agricultural production and thus transformed it into a negative demographic force. Infertility and infant mortality, which were probably more significant influences on overall population levels than the adult mortality rate, increased from 1820 due to disease, malnutrition, and stress, all of which stemmed from state forced labor policies. Available estimates indicate little if any population growth for Madagascar between 1820 and 1895. The demographic "crisis" in Africa, ascribed by critics of the demographic transition theory to the colonial era, stemmed in Madagascar from the policies of the imperial Merina regime, which in this sense formed a link to the French regime of the colonial era. Campbell thus questions the underlying assumptions governing the debate about historical demography in Africa and suggests that the demographic impact of political forces be reevaluated in terms of their changing interaction with "natural" demographic influences.<ref>Gwyn Campbell, "State and Pre-colonial Demographic History: the Case of Nineteenth-century Madagascar." ''Journal of African History'' 1991 32(3): 415-445. Issn: 0021-8537 Fulltext: in Jstor</ref>

Campbell has studied the demography of 19th century Madagascar in the light of demographic transition theory. Both supporters and critics of the theory hold to an intrinsic opposition between human and "natural" factors, such as climate, famine, and disease, influencing demography. They also suppose a sharp chronological divide between the precolonial and colonial eras, arguing that whereas "natural" demographic influences were of greater importance in the former period, human factors predominated thereafter. Campbell argues that in 19th century Madagascar the human factor, in the form of the Merina state, was the predominant demographic influence. However, the impact of the state was felt through natural forces, and it varied over time. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries Merina state policies stimulated agricultural production, which helped to create a larger and healthier population and laid the foundation for Merina military and economic expansion within Madagascar. From 1820, the cost of such expansionism led the state to increase its exploitation of forced labor at the expense of agricultural production and thus transformed it into a negative demographic force. Infertility and infant mortality, which were probably more significant influences on overall population levels than the adult mortality rate, increased from 1820 due to disease, malnutrition, and stress, all of which stemmed from state forced labor policies. Available estimates indicate little if any population growth for Madagascar between 1820 and 1895. The demographic "crisis" in Africa, ascribed by critics of the demographic transition theory to the colonial era, stemmed in Madagascar from the policies of the imperial Merina regime, which in this sense formed a link to the French regime of the colonial era. Campbell thus questions the underlying assumptions governing the debate about historical demography in Africa and suggests that the demographic impact of political forces be reevaluated in terms of their changing interaction with "natural" demographic influences.<ref>Gwyn Campbell, "State and Pre-colonial Demographic History: the Case of Nineteenth-century Madagascar." ''Journal of African History'' 1991 32(3): 415-445. Issn: 0021-8537 Fulltext: in Jstor</ref>

===Russia===

===Russia===