An Object Called Population

Abstract

Demography is generally and exclusively defined as the study of population or human populations, based on methods analysing the structure and dynamics of populations and their key demographic events (births, marriages, deaths, migration). This appears to be the common objective of all members of the demographic community. Against the grain of the standard definition of demography, a closer examination of how the notion of population was conceived significantly complicates the matter: firstly, the notion itself is not univocal