Showing papers in "Review of Sociology in 2003"
TL;DR: The authors provide an overview of recent empirical research on racial, ethnic, and immigrant differences in educational achievement and attainment, and examine some current theories that attempt to explain these differences. But, they also summarize key theoretical explanations used to explain persist...
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Understanding racial, ethnic, and immigrant variation in educational achievement and attainment is more important than ever as the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse. The Census Bureau estimates that in 2000, 34% of all youth aged 15–19 were from minority groups; it estimates that by 2025, this will increase to 46% (U.S. Census Bureau 2000). In addition, approximately one in five school-age children reside in an immigrant family (Zhou 1997, Suarez-Orozco & Suarez-Orozco 2001). We provide an overview of recent empirical research on racial, ethnic, and immigrant differences in educational achievement and attainment, and we examine some current theories that attempt to explain these differences. We explore group differences in grades, test scores, course taking, and tracking, especially throughout secondary schooling, and then discuss variation in high school completion, transitions to college, and college completion. We also summarize key theoretical explanations used to explain persist...
1,290 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed the development of the political opportunity or political process perspective, which has animated a great deal of research on social movements and found that the context in which a movement emerges influences its development and potential impact.
Abstract: I review the development of the political opportunity or political process perspective, which has animated a great deal of research on social movements. The essential insight—that the context in which a movement emerges influences its development and potential impact—provides a fruitful analytic orientation for addressing numerous questions about social movements. Reviewing the development of the literature, however, I note that conceptualizations of political opportunity vary greatly, and scholars disagree on basic theories of how political opportunities affect movements. The relatively small number of studies testing political opportunity hypotheses against other explanations have generated mixed results, owing in part to the articulation of the theory and the specifications of variables employed. I examine conflicting specifications of the theory by considering the range of outcomes scholars address. By disaggregating outcomes and actors, I argue, we can reconcile some of the apparent contradictions an...
1,105 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review examines trends in the residential segregation of blacks, Hispanics, and Asians and recent research focused on understanding the causes of persisting segregation, including spatial assimilation and place stratification.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract The publication of American Apartheid (Massey & Denton 1993) was influential in shifting public discourse back toward racial residential segregation as fundamental to persisting racial inequality. At the end of the twentieth century, the majority of blacks remained severely segregated from whites in major metropolitan areas. Due to the persistence of high-volume immigration, Hispanic and Asian segregation from whites has increased, although it is still best characterized as moderate. This review examines trends in the residential segregation of blacks, Hispanics, and Asians and recent research focused on understanding the causes of persisting segregation. This discussion is organized around two broad theoretical perspectives—spatial assimilation and place stratification. After detailing the consequences of segregation for affected groups, I identify gaps in our understanding and goals for future research.
1,087 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the intersection of race and gender in the U.S. labor market and find evidence of intersectionality in three central domains of research on labor market inequality: wage inequality, discrimination and stereotyping, and immigration and domestic labor.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract This review investigates scholarship on the intersection of race and gender, with a particular focus on the U.S. labor market. We ask the following questions: What assumptions underlie intersectional perspectives in sociology? Is there any evidence to demonstrate that race and gender intersect in the labor market? We begin by discussing the core assumptions within Black and multiracial feminist theories, which represent the most fully articulated treatments of “intersectionality.” We then broaden our theoretical overview by identifying fundamental differences in the way that sociologists conceptualize intersectionality. We look for evidence of intersectionality in three central domains of research on labor market inequality: (a) wage inequality, (b) discrimination and stereotyping, and (c) immigration and domestic labor. We find that race and gender do intersect in the labor market under certain conditions. Finally, we consider how an intersectional approach enriches labor market research and t...
852 citations
TL;DR: This article discussed approaches to detecting bias, as well as ways to factor knowledge about bias into interpretations of protest event data, and found that a newspaper's decision to cover an event at all is influenced by the type of event, the news agency, and the issue involved.
Abstract: Studying collective action with newspaper accounts of protest events, rare only 20 years ago, has become commonplace in the past decade. A critical literature has accompanied the growth of protest event analysis. The literature has focused on selection bias—particularly which subset of events are covered—and description bias—notably, the veracity of the coverage. The “hard news” of the event, if it is reported, tends to be relatively accurate. However, a newspaper's decision to cover an event at all is influenced by the type of event, the news agency, and the issue involved. In this review, we discuss approaches to detecting bias, as well as ways to factor knowledge about bias into interpretations of protest event data.
843 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors focus on the problem of prisoner reentry, which is the process of leaving prison and returning to free society, and focus solely on recidivism and ignore the reality that recidivity is directly affected by post-prison reintegration and adjustment, which, in turn, depends on four sets of factors: personal and situational characteri...
Abstract: ▪ Abstract In 2002, over 600,000 individuals left state and federal prisons, four times as many as were released in 1975. However, according to a national study, within 3 years, almost 7 in 10 will have been rearrested and half will be back in prison, either for a new crime or for violating conditions of their release. Clearly, an individual's transition from prison back into a home and into a community is difficult, and avoiding crime can be the least of his or her problems. Understanding these pathways and the reasons for and the dimensions of an individual's success or failure is the focus of recent scholarly attention to the problem of “prisoner reentry,” the process of leaving prison and returning to free society. However, most of the existing research on prisoners' lives after release focuses solely on recidivism and ignores the reality that recidivism is directly affected by postprison reintegration and adjustment, which, in turn, depends on four sets of factors: personal and situational characteri...
772 citations
TL;DR: The authors reviewed studies of the roles played by cognitive skills and noncognitive traits and behaviors in stratification processes and found that non-cognitive trait and behaviors are more important than cognitive skills in determining schooling and employment outcomes.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract I review studies of the roles played by cognitive skills and noncognitive traits and behaviors in stratification processes. Bowles & Gintis (1976) were among the first to argue that noncognitive traits and behaviors are more important than cognitive skills in determining schooling and employment outcomes. Now, 25 years later, these authors (Bowles & Gintis 2002) claim that the ensuing literature vindicates their position. There is much evidence for this claim, although it remains unresolved. I locate their discussion within the larger literature that has appeared during this time period. This literature provides an emerging interdisciplinary paradigm for the study of socioeconomic attainment, including differentials by social class, race, and ethnic background.
548 citations
TL;DR: This article reviewed the decisions that must be made for two common types of inquiries: questions about events or behaviors and questions that ask for evaluations or attitudes, and reviewed procedures for question testing and evaluation.
Abstract: ■ Abstract Survey methodologists have drawn on and contributed to research by cognitive psychologists, conversation analysts, and others to lay a foundation for the science of asking questions. Our discussion of this work is structured around the decisions that must be made for two common types of inquiries: questions about events or behaviors and questions that ask for evaluations or attitudes. The issues we review for behaviors include definitions, reference periods, response dimensions, and response categories. The issues we review for attitudes include bipolar versus unipolar scales, number of categories, category labels, don’t know filters, and acquiescence. We also review procedures for question testing and evaluation.
486 citations
TL;DR: A review on the nature, meaning, and impact of extrafamilial relationships during adolescence can be found in this paper, where the authors use findings of quantitative and qualitative studies to develop the idea that close friendships, wider networks of peers, and romantic relationships have distinct meanings and significance for the developing adolescent.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract In this chapter I review recent research on the nature, meaning, and impact of extrafamilial relationships during adolescence. I use findings of quantitative and qualitative studies to develop the idea that close friendships, wider networks of peers, and romantic relationships have distinct meanings and significance for the developing adolescent. Sociologists' work inevitably focuses attention on the ways in which the adolescent's social addresses and locations (gender, race, social class) influence many aspects of these early relationships. The review also highlights some limitations of the dominant perspective on adolescent relationships, attachment theory, and provides suggestions for future research (particularly in the area of romantic relationships, where the literature is growing but still relatively undeveloped).
475 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a review suggests how consumption bridges economic and cultural institutions, large-scale changes in social structure, and discourses of the self, while individual men and women experience consumption as a project of forming, and expressing, identity.
Abstract: Consumption is a social, cultural, and economic process of choosing goods, and this process reflects the opportunities and constraints of modernity. Viewing consumption as an “institutional field,” the review suggests how consumption bridges economic and cultural institutions, large-scale changes in social structure, and discourses of the self. New technologies, ideologies, and delivery systems create consumption spaces in an institutional framework shaped by key social groups, while individual men and women experience consumption as a project of forming, and expressing, identity. Studying the institutional field requires research on consumer products, industries, and sites; on the role of consumption in constructing both the consuming subject and collective identity; and on historical transitions to a consumer society. Ethnography, interviews, and historical analysis show a global consumer culture fostered by media and marketing professionals yet subject to different local interpretations.
400 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the role and influence of advocacy organizations in the U.S. political process is examined, focusing on five dimensions of the policy process: agenda setting, access to decision-making arenas, achieving favorable policies, monitoring and shaping implementation, and shifting the long-term priorities and resources of political institutions.
Abstract: We examine scholarship on the role and influence of advocacy organizations in the U.S. political process. We identify common theoretical questions in the disconnected literatures on social movements, interest groups, and nonprofits, and we propose a unifying conceptual framework for examining advocacy organizations. Focusing on the post-1960s growth in advocacy organizations, we examine major organizational characteristics including organizational structures, membership and participation, resources, and interorganizational networks and coalitions. Our analysis of organizational influence focuses on five dimensions of the policy process: (a) agenda setting, (b) access to decision-making arenas, (c) achieving favorable policies, (d) monitoring and shaping implementation, and (e) shifting the long-term priorities and resources of political institutions. Finally, we identify recurrent theoretical and methodological problems, including the compartmentalization of research within disciplines, an overreliance on...
TL;DR: This paper explored the sociological context of self-construction, the social resources employed in the construction process, and the growing importance of nonhuman objects in selfconstruction and provided a pragmatic foundation for understanding agency and political action missing from much of the new scholarship.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract An emerging sociological approach to the self reflects new emphases on power, reflexivity, and social constructionism. The significance of power in shaping the self is central to a new scholarship associated with Foucault. This body of work offers an important corrective to traditional sociological orientations associated with Mead and symbolic interactionism. The principle of reflexivity is at the core of the Meadian tradition and provides a pragmatic foundation for understanding agency and political action missing from much of the new scholarship. The principle of social construction is common to both new and traditional sociological approaches to the self and guides most recent empirical analyses. Promising avenues of research are evident in work that explores the sociological context of self-construction, the social resources employed in the construction process, and the growing importance of nonhuman objects in self-construction. The limitation of scholarship that overemphasizes the psycho...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors divide the question of associative contributions to democracy into four component parts: what contributions do different kinds of associations make to advance the ideals of democratic governance in various political contexts?
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of interest and research into the connections between associations and democracy. This article divides the question of associative contributions to democracy into four component parts: What (a) contributions do (b) different kinds of associations make to advance (c) contesting ideals of democratic governance in various (d) political contexts? Associations enhance democracy in at least six ways: through the intrinsic value of associative life, fostering civic virtues and teaching political skills, offering resistance to power and checking government, improving the quality and equality of representation, facilitating public deliberation, and creating opportunities for citizens and groups to participate directly in governance. These contributions are not all mutually consonant with one another, and different forms of associations are better suited to advance some contributions than others. Furthermore, those who propose bolstering associations as a...
TL;DR: In this article, a model can be developed that combines the advantages of rational choice theory (mainly providing self-sufficient explanations), without falling victim to its shortcomings, which is implicitly used in classical and modern sociological works that are considered to be illuminating and valid.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Skepticism toward sociology has grown over recent years. The attention granted to rational choice theory (RCT) is, to a large extent, a reaction against this situation. Without doubt, RCT is a productive instrument, but it fails signally in explaining positive nontrivial beliefs as well as normative nonconsequential beliefs. RCT's failures are due to its move to use too narrow a definition of rationality. A model can be developed that combines the advantages of the RCT (mainly providing self-sufficient explanations), without falling victim to its shortcomings. This model is implicitly used in classical and modern sociological works that are considered to be illuminating and valid.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe theories of market order, show how convention theory and related approaches represent a novel alternative, and suggest how convention theories can supplement network theory and institutional approaches to understand market order.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Economic sociology and economics have tried to explain the organization and stability of market capitalism mostly by arguing for the effects of social structure on the patterning of relations, or for the role of the price system in balancing the demands of individual economic actors. In North America, the primary alternative to structural and individualist theories of market order has been network theory, a meso-level attempt to bridge over- and undersocialized views of actors. In Europe, the primary attempt to develop more realistic economics has centered on the role of conventions in shaping economic activity. We describe theories of market order, show how convention theory and related approaches represent a novel alternative, and suggest how convention theory can supplement network theory and institutional approaches to understanding market order.
TL;DR: In this paper, a review synthesizes research on gender equality in paid and unpaid work in East versus West Germany during the decades immediately preceding and following reunification, concluding that the two parts of the country converged toward the gendered arrangement in which men are employed full-time and their female partners hold part-time jobs.
Abstract: New state and market arrangements were twice imposed on the residents of the eastern part of Germany, once when Germany was divided in 1949 and again when it was reunified in 1990; these changes produced a unique natural experiment concerning the effect of policies and institutions on the gendered nature of work. This review synthesizes research on gender equality in paid and unpaid work in East versus West Germany during the decades immediately preceding and following reunification. We consider empirical evidence on gender equality in five major dimensions of work: the prevalence of labor market attachment, time spent in paid work, wages, employment sector and occupation, and time spent in unpaid work in the home. Taken together, developments across these dimensions suggest that, following reunification, the two parts of the country converged toward the gendered arrangement in which men are employed full-time and their female partners hold part-time jobs—with some evidence of continuing differences betwe...
TL;DR: In this paper, African Americans participated in one of the most significant demographic events in U.S. history, the "great migration" from the South to the North, which contributed to profound social, economic, demographic, and cultural changes in northern cities.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract During the twentieth century, African Americans participated in one of the most significant demographic events in U.S. history. Their “Great Migration” from the South to the North contributed to profound social, economic, demographic, and cultural changes in northern cities. After the Great Migration, blacks continued to move in search of opportunity as some returned to the South, while others moved to suburbs or better neighborhoods within the North. My review focuses on the Great Migration by discussing research that has examined its causes, the characteristics of the participants, the adaptation of migrants to northern society, and their impact on northern cities. I also briefly review research on return migration to the South and residential mobility by African Americans. Finally, I identify key issues and discuss possible data sources for future research.
TL;DR: The authors in this paper define a set of common elements characterizing social structures on that continent, suggest some lines for analysis and theorizing, and support the integration of regional studies into broader discussions of stratification.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Latin America has the most unbalanced distribution of resources of all regions in the world. This review defines a set of common elements characterizing social structures on that continent, suggests some lines for analysis and theorizing, and supports the integration of regional studies into broader discussions of stratification. We begin with an overview of the situation on the continent as a whole, including a short discussion of the relationship between poverty and inequality, where we also address some concerns with data availability. We then devote a section each to class, gender, and race. We conclude by identifying three critical factors that explain Latin American inequality: its position within a global economic system, internal colonialism with maintenance of racial categories, and the underdevelopment of state structures.
TL;DR: In this paper, covert political conflict encompasses four interrelated elements: contestation of institutionalized power and authority, perceptions of collective injury, social occlusion, and officially forbidden forms of dissent.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract This review considers a class of political activity that has largely been ignored by researchers extending social movement theory into organizations: covert political conflict. Although much of the literature we discuss focuses on contemporary corporations where the bulk of research on covert conflict has occurred, we also explore studies of covert conflict in a range of historical and organizational contexts that fall outside the contemporary work world. As we define it, covert political conflict encompasses four interrelated elements: contestation of institutionalized power and authority, perceptions of collective injury, social occlusion, and officially forbidden forms of dissent. Beyond these elements, covert conflict varies in its material and symbolic forms, collective dimensions, social visibility, and outcomes. We also examine explanatory approaches for covert conflict at the micro, organizational, field, and macro levels of analysis. Finally, we suggest a number of areas for future res...
TL;DR: In this article, a new-politics perspective derives welfare state retrenchment from postindustrial changes generating budget deficits and government attempts to benefit cuts, attempts largely resisted by powerful new groups of welfare-state clients.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract The “new-politics” perspective derives welfare state retrenchment from postindustrial changes generating budget deficits and government attempts to benefit cuts, attempts largely resisted by powerful new groups of welfare-state clients. Comparative studies based on social expenditures show little or no role of class-based parties in the retrenchment process. In the power-resources perspective, focusing on the role of distributive conflicts between major interest groups, the post-war European welfare state included full employment in the “Keynesian welfare state,” based on a social contract markedly differing from the one in the United States. The return of mass unemployment in Europe constitutes a major welfare state regress and generates government budget deficits. Analyses based on social citizenship rights indicate major retrenchment in some countries, with political parties and welfare state institutions playing significant roles. The return of mass unemployment and cuts in social rights ap...
TL;DR: The sociology of terrorism has been understudied, even though considerable literatures on various forms of social conflict and violence have been produced over the years as discussed by the authors, and the aim here is to note what has been learned about the social origins and dynamics of terrorism in order to suggest agendas for future research.
Abstract: The sociology of terrorism has been understudied, even though considerable literatures on various forms of social conflict and violence have been produced over the years. The aim here is to note what has been learned about the social origins and dynamics of terrorism in order to suggest agendas for future research. Arguably the main foci of sociological studies of terrorism should be (a) the social construction of terrorism, (b) terrorism as political violence, (c) terrorism as communication, (d) organizing terrorism, (e) socializing terrorists, (f) social control of terrorism, and (g) theorizing terrorism. For each issue, I provide a brief summary of current knowledge, with bibliographic leads to more detailed information, as well as identify research issues.
[...]
TL;DR: A review of the emerging research on day labor, including the market's origins, its contemporary development, and its hiring and wage practices, can be found in this article, where the authors also discuss the legal issues and public policies that structure, to a large degree, worker and employer relations in this industry.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Day labor, the practice of searching for work in open-air, informal markets such as street corners or in formal temp agencies, has become an increasingly visible and important means of securing employment for a broad segment of immigrant, primarily male, displaced workers. Our understanding of day labor has been limited by regionally focused or city-based case studies, poorly constructed methodological approaches, inconsistent definitions, and little comparative research. This review discusses the emerging research on day labor, paying particular attention to the practice of day labor, including the market's origins, its contemporary development, and its hiring and wage practices. The review also provides a synopsis of informal, open-air and formal temp agency day labor practices, their spatial and organizational configurations, and an outline of the legal issues and public policies that structure, to a large degree, worker and employer relations in this industry. The review emphasizes the mult...
TL;DR: A review of the available empirical literature on who adopts children and why, and on who relinquishes children for adoption, and why is provided in this paper, which suggests that adoption may still have a stigma attached to it, and if so, what the causes and consequences of that stigma might be.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Despite the fact that adoption is a common practice in the United States and in much of the world today, sociologists have devoted remarkably little attention to it. This review provides a rationale for much more extensive sociological research on adoption. It then summarizes the available empirical literature on who adopts children, and why, and on who relinquishes children for adoption, and why. Most adoptions have favorable outcomes for the members of the adoption triad (birth parents, adoptive parents, and adoptees). Yet the number of adoptions by nonrelatives has declined sharply since 1970, and only a small minority of women who have been treated for infertility have ever sought to adopt. These facts suggest that adoption may still have a stigma attached to it. Sociological research could illuminate whether such a stigma exists, and if so, what the causes and consequences of that stigma might be.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors chronicle the history of the issue of early childbearing and their contributions to this field of study, concluding that the intensity and topics of the discussion over this period have corresponded poorly with research on the rates and consequences of teenage childbearing.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Teenage childbearing has been a topic of sociological research, public discourse, and political discussion since the mid-1960s. It is surprising that the intensity and topics of the discussion over this period have corresponded poorly with research on the rates and consequences of teenage childbearing. This essay chronicles the history of the issue of early childbearing and my contributions to this field of study.
TL;DR: This paper found that the work-related skills of the labor force do not match the requirements of jobs and that this explains a large part of the growth of wage inequality in the United States in the past 20 years.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Researchers across a wide range of fields, policy makers, and large segments of the public believe that the work-related skills of the labor force do not match the requirements of jobs and that this explains a large part of the growth of wage inequality in the United States in the past 20 years. Opinions are divided on whether the trend is driven by workforce developments, such as an absolute decline or declining growth of human capital due to changes in educational attainment or test scores, or employer-side changes, such as accelerating growth of job skill requirements due to the spread of computers and employee involvement techniques. Some believe the problem has grown worse over time. However, the evidence is often more ambiguous and fragmentary than recognized, and the argument overlooks the roles of institutional changes and management's policies toward labor in workers' changing fortunes. Evidence suggests that the growth in educational attainment has decelerated, cognitive skill levels ...
TL;DR: In 1997, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a revised version of this classification in which small changes may profoundly affect the way policymakers and the American public think about race as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract In 1977, the federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) established an official classification standard for the measurement of race in the American population. In so doing, the OMB authorities created what amounted to a racial cosmology that spread throughout American society, affecting public perceptions about the racial hierarchy of American society. In 1997, the OMB issued a revised version of this classification in which small changes may profoundly affect the way policymakers and the American public think about race. At the very least, these revisions present significant challenges to social scientists who study race and ethnicity. This review begins with a brief historical overview of racial data collected by the federal government. It subsequently examines the circumstances leading up to the 1997 revisions of OMB Directive No. 15 and discusses how these revisions may affect social scientific research on the subject of race and ethnicity.
TL;DR: A review organized in terms of some of the distinct ways that the biological can be asserted to be relevant to the conduct of social inquiry can be found in this paper, where the relevance of the human evolutionary past for understanding the character of human nature is discussed.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Sociologists often react with hostility to explanations that evoke biology, and some critics of the discipline contend that this “biophobia” undermines the credibility of sociology and makes it seem increasingly irrelevant in larger public debates. The negative reactions are many times diffuse and undiscerning of the different endeavors lumped together whenever one speaks broadly of biological (or “biosocial”) explanations. We seek to introduce greater awareness of these distinctions with a review organized in terms of some of the distinct ways that the biological can be asserted to be relevant to the conduct of social inquiry. The review has three sections. First, we discuss assertions of the relevance of the human evolutionary past for understanding the character of human nature, for which evolutionary psychology currently receives the most attention. Second, we consider the work of behavioral genetics and the assertion of the relevance of genetic differences between persons for understanding...
TL;DR: In this paper, a review discusses research on the urban street gang after the 1960s, the period in which social scientists began to conceptualize the gang outside of the social-problems framework, including developments in gender studies, economic sociology, and race and ethnic relations.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract This review discusses research on the urban street gang after the 1960s, the period in which social scientists began to conceptualize the gang outside of the social-problems framework Street-gang research has changed dramatically in the past three decades in accordance with general shifts in sociological research, including developments in gender studies, economic sociology, and race and ethnic relations This review addresses these major trends and debates and highlights suggestions for areas of future inquiry that build on innovations of contemporary scholars
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the traditional picture of Weber's sociology has begun to change and that one important factor in this change has to do with the perception of the role that the theme of the economy plays in Weber's life and work.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Over the years the secondary literature on Max Weber's sociology has grown enormously, and it is time to raise the following question: Is the picture of his sociology the same today as it was yesterday? In this review I argue that the traditional picture of Weber's sociology has begun to change and that one important factor in this change has to do with the perception of the role that the theme of the economy plays in Weber's life and work. Special attention has recently been paid to Weber's relationship to economics, his economic sociology, and the fact that Weber came from a background of wealthy merchants that he strongly identified with. Several new topics in Weber's sociology are explored that are related to the changing picture of his work. Special attention is also paid to interpretations of Weber that draw on rational choice sociology and an interest-based type of analysis.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an empirical profile describing population growth and constraints to this growth and the improvement in the quality of life in sub-Saharan Africa, and suggest that more attention needs to be placed on the structural aspects of population dynamics.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract African society is quite distinct in both its relationship to the rest of the world and its history. Africa seems beset by a myriad of crises, from famines, to civil wars, to economic meltdowns. In addition to these crises, profound population and social change has occurred. These changes are having extraordinary socioeconomic, political, and cultural consequences. Africa's demographic regimes have also been profoundly affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, urbanization processes, and environmental change. This review focuses on how African population growth and urbanization are clashing with constraints unique to the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We provide an empirical profile describing population growth and constraints to this growth and the improvement in the quality of life in Africa. We suggest that more attention needs to be placed on the structural aspects of population dynamics. Although this review makes some reference to North Africa, the focus is sub-Saharan Africa.