The Dictionary of Human Geography

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populations, the field could integrate liveli-

hood (or environmental and economic possi-

bilities for production) with a concern for

norms, values and cultural change. This inte-

grative account of population andnature–

societylinks resisted the compartmentaliza-

tion of population issues as separate from eco-

nomic or cultural concerns, took for granted

who or what constituted a population and

continues to prove difficult to apply (compare

Bruhnes’ 1910 treatment of settlement geog-

raphy with contemporary work onglobal

cities).

After the Second World War, population

geography became institutionalized as a sub-

discipline concerned with empiricist and

positiviststatements about spatial variations

in the distribution, composition and growth of

populations. The call to arms had been issued

by Trewartha (1953), who saw a synthetic

geography that existed for, and began with,

people (populations) and their geographical

organization. Trewartha made his case as

spatial sciencegained prominence, ensuring

that a view of space as a container through

which the order of population phenomena

could be both described and, through the

development oftheory, explained and modi-

fied (seelocation theory) permeated the

field. Inspired by new data and international

collaborations, and drawing on the contribu-

tions ofdemographyin general, anddemo-

graphic transition and stable population

theorymore specifically, population geography

contributed work on thediffusionof vital

transitions (notably Zelinsky’s pioneering

1971 hypothesis of the mobilitytransition), spa-

tial variations in the components of population

change (fertility, mortality,migration)

and composition (particularly on ageing),

and the development of more accurate and

sub-national population projections and

life tablemethods (Jones, 1981; Woods,

1982). Interest grew in the disaggregated

behaviour of individuals with, for example,

rational choice theoryandsocial physics

frameworks extended to model migration

decisions at residential and regional scales

(see alsobehavioural geography;regional

science). The growth of studies inmedical

geographyon morbidity, mortality and geo-

graphical variations in accessibility tohealth

care combined with the relative neglect of fer-

tility to leave commentators both bemoaning

the migration-centred foci of much work and

debating the need for continued disciplinary

border-crossing to rejuvenate the field. While

links with demography remain strong, the

consolidation of fields such asspatial demog-

raphyandgeodemographics(Woods, 1982;

Wachter, 2005) have occurred alongside, but

not to the exclusion of, alternative treatments

ofspace(White andJackson,1995).

The well-known critiques of Enlightenment

knowledge that had taken root inhuman

geographyin the 1980s impacted upon the

field in at least two ways. In methodological

terms, greater emphasis was placed upon

qualitative methodsand ‘mixed’ methods

of approaching human subjects, and taking

feelings, aspirations anddiscoursesmore ser-

iously.life courseframeworks extendedlife-

cycleexplanations of, for example,house-

holdformation, location and dissolution pat-

terns to take account of interdependent spatial

and temporal contexts, and better integrate

accounts of structure and agency alongstruc-

turationistlines (Van Wissen and Dykstra,

1999). The rapid development ofmicrosimu-

lation,agent-based modelling andgeo-

graphic information science in general

further exploited new data products, deepened

the field’s already strong engagement with

public policyand business planning, and fur-

ther extended (some have argued, democra-

tized) how population groups are defined, by

whom, and for what purpose.

Indeed, the question of how knowledge

about the geographical organization of popu-

lation reflects and reinforces the circulation of

power in society continues to shape the direc-

tion of the field. In particular, a number of

commentators have questioned the categories

used in the study of populations and, most

poignantly, the question of how populations

are classified, named and legitimized as

objects of study and policy.post-structural

views argue that populations are socially con-

structed institutions that both enable and

counter inequality and oppression in society.

Drawing on Michel Foucault, research has

examined the use ofpolitical technology and

discourse by states to create inferiorothers

that legitimize political projects. Examples

include the deployment ofrace-based classifi-

cations to underwriteethnic cleansingand

genocide, including the Naziholocaust, and

the exploitation of gender andsexuality

norms against civilians andrefugeesinwars.

post-colonialresearch has investigated the

link between population classifications,cen-

susand registry systems, and the mapping of

ethnicpopulations to furthercolonialends,

and the neo-colonial use of discourses of

migrancy to legitimize development agen-

das including structural adjustment

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POPULATION GEOGRAPHY