Ideological currents and the interpretation of demographic trends: the case of Francis Amasa Walker
Hodgson, D.; Walker, F.A.
Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences 28(1): 28-44
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-5061 PMID: 11612656 DOI: 10.1002/1520-6696(199201)28:1<28::aid-jhbs2300280103>3.0.co;2-lDocument Number: 322854
Late nineteenth-century influences on American population thought are highlighted by focusing on Francis Amasa Walker's theory of native American fertility decline. Malthusianism, Darwinism, and racism combined to produce a new biological Malthu-sianism that identified a population calamity more harmful than overpopulation-biological deterioration. The plausibility of Walker's theory is examined with respect to contemporary demographic theory and demographic fact. Its reception by American social scientists is described: acceptance of biological Malthusianism was widespread, and scrutiny of an ideologically useful but empirically untenable theory proved difficult when the social scientific community shared a particular value position.