Thinking ahead about population change – so that we can overcome it.

What can demographic change theories tell us about our future? A prominent international scientific panel discusses this at an online event.

Politicians are intensively debating how we as a society can deal with demographic change. The goal: to develop and implement policies that prevent overburdening the social systems. To be able to develop such effective policies, decision-makers need knowledge about how population ageing will develop during this time period. But to what extent can we already make reliable statements about its dimensions?

Demographic theories deal, for example, with the question of the degree to which the negative consequences of population shrinking and ageing are compensated for by higher productivity. They describe the dynamics of change that result from generational change alone – because no two birth cohorts are ever identical to one another. And perhaps it can even be said that societies with decreasing birth rates and rising life expectancy are not historical anomalies but typical of the development of modern societies. In any case, if we want to master the demographic future, we need more such theoretical approaches with high predictive power, as Wolfgang Lutz, one of the world's most influential demographers, argues in a forthcoming introduction to demography.

At the online event, the author will present the textbook, which is not only aimed at students, but at anyone interested in science. Afterwards, he will discuss his theses with five internationally renowned researchers working at the universities of Berkeley, Bocconi, Stanford, Singapore and the Collegio de Mexico, as well as with the audience.

Date: 5 November 2021 (15:00-16:00 CET).

Please note that the event will be held in English.

Link to the event: https://population-europe.eu/events/demographic-theories-repositioning-discipline-core-social-sciences

Link to registration: https://population-europe.eu/book-launch-wolfgang-lutz

Organizers: You are invited to this event by the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), the European research network Population Europe and the Wittgenstein Centre for Demography and Global Human Capital (IIASA, Austrian Academy of Sciences, University of Vienna).

Wissenschaftlicher Ansprechpartner:
Please send interview requests to edel@demogr.mpg.de.

Originalpublikation:
Publication: Wolfgang Lutz, “Advanced Introduction to Demography” (Elgar Advanced Introductions series), Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, Northampton, Massachusetts 2021
https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/advanced-introduction-to-demography-9781789901481.html