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Cognitive Models of Fertility Decline in Oaxaca City, Mexico

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Abstract

This paper presents a systematic analysis of the “culture of natality.” In the first section, I present an extended definition of culture informed by cognitive anthropology and evolutionary biology. I argue that culture is an adaptation and a virtual environment with which humans must interact in order to survive and reproduce in a given physical environment. In the second section, I present a qualitative and quantitative analysis of qualitative interview data collected in Oaxaca City, Mexico, on reproductive behavior. The analysis examines evidence of cultural differences and similarities. I conclude by discussing implications for a theory of fertility decline.

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  1. Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, CB# 8120, University Square, 123 West Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC, 27516-2524

    David P. Kennedy

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Kennedy, D.P. Cognitive Models of Fertility Decline in Oaxaca City, Mexico. Population and Environment 25, 243–274 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:POEN.0000032323.39780.eb

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