Author

Publication

2000-03-24 - Cornell University Press

Language

English

Word Count

72,000 words, Guess

Page Count

288 pages

Physical Format

Hardcover

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number99046229
  • LibraryThing2628143
  • Goodreads818006

Classifications

  • LCCHB3593.C614 2000

Description

"In this work of cultural history, Joshua Cole examines the course of French thinking and policymaking on population issues from the 1780s until the outbreak of the Great War. During these decades increasingly sophisticated statistical methods for describing and analyzing such topics as fertility, family size, and longevity made new kinds of aggregate knowledge available to social scientists and government officials. Cole recounts how this information heavily influenced the outcome of debates over the scope and range of public welfare legislation. In particular, as the fear of depopulation grew, the state wielded statistical data to justify increasing intervention in family life and continued restrictions on the autonomy of women."--BOOK JACKET.

First Sentence

The belief that a strong and vigorous nation requires a large population has a peculiar history in modern France.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • The Power of Large Numbers: Population, Politics, and Gender in Nineteenth-Century FranceHardcoverCornell University Press2000-03-24

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