Demographic transition in a Punjab village.

TLDR: The Myth of Population Control as discussed by the authors, based on a micro-demographic study of this village in the early 1970s, has had a strong influence on thinking about population policy in India as well as internationally.

Abstract: Manupur, one of the more than a half-million villages of India, has acquired a special place in the field of population. Mahmood Mamdani's 1972 book, The Myth of Population Control, ' based on a microdemographic study of this village in the early 1970s, has had a strong influence on thinking about population policy in India as well as internationally. It expressed forcefully the fashionable view of the early 1 970s that family planning programs are of little use to the villagers of developing countries. Mamdani interviewed Manupur men of all castes and occupational classes and quotes their views copiously in the book. All, rich and poor, landholder and landless alike, conveyed the same message: because children, particularly sons, are economically valuable as a source of household and paid labor, as insurance against various risks and old-age disability, and as providers of remittances from outside the village, Manupur villagers want as many children as possible, and, hence, family planning does not make sense to them. Using data collected in 1982 from the same village, this paper shows that the family planning attitudes and behavior of villagers are now significantly different from those documented by Mamdani, and seeks to relate these differences to socioeconomic changes that have occurred in the village. Manupur is located in Punjab, which was the pioneer and most successful among Indian states in implementing the agricultural technology of the green revolution. At the time of Mamdani's investigation, Manupur farmers, all of whom are Jat by caste,2 were already benefiting from improved varieties of wheat and mechanization of some agricultural activities. Mamdani found, however, that benefits actually increased the demand for agricultural laborand, consequently, the labor value of children-among both landholders and landless laborers. He also cited examples to show that introduction of new technology-for example, the sewing machine-deprived many artisans of