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Conditioning Factors for Fertility Decline in Bengal: History, Language Identity, and Openness to Innovations

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  • Alaka Malwade Basu
  • Sajeda Amin

Abstract

This article argues that looking solely for the immediate causes of reproductive change may distort our understanding of policy options by failing to take into account the historical and cultural factors that affect not only the impact of policies and programs but their very nature and existence. The article examines the historical origins and spread of “modern” ideas in Bangladesh and the state of West Bengal in India. It concludes that a colonial history in which education and modernization processes took hold very early among the elites in the larger Bengal region was paradoxically accompanied by a strong allegiance to the Bengali language. This strong sense of language identity has facilitated and reinforced the diffusion of modern ideas both within and between the two Bengali‐speaking regions. Thus, to understand the fertility decline in Bangladesh, for example, one needs to look also at cultural boundaries. In this case, the cultural commonality through language facilitates the spread of new ideas across the two Bengals. In turn, the strong sense of language identity has facilitated mass mobilization more easily and intensely within the two Bengals. Shaped by these processes, Bangladesh and West Bengal today are more amenable to social change than many other parts of South Asia and the Middle East.

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  • Alaka Malwade Basu & Sajeda Amin, 2000. "Conditioning Factors for Fertility Decline in Bengal: History, Language Identity, and Openness to Innovations," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 26(4), pages 761-794, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:26:y:2000:i:4:p:761-794
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2000.00761.x
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    1. Basu, Kaushik, 2003. "Prelude to Political Economy: A Study of the Social and Political Foundations of Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199261857.
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    1. Unnati Rani Saha & Aparajita Chattapadhayay & Jan Hendrik Richardus, 2019. "Trends, prevalence and determinants of childhood chronic undernutrition in regional divisions of Bangladesh: Evidence from demographic health surveys, 2011 and 2014," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(8), pages 1-18, August.
    2. Arup Maharatna, 2008. "How can electoral success be sustained by a ‘lagging development’ regime?," Working Papers id:1505, eSocialSciences.
    3. Arabinda Ghosh & Daniel J. Corsi & S. V. Subramanian, 2016. "A Tale of Two Bengals: A Comparative Analysis of 23 Indicators of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health," Journal of Development Policy and Practice, , vol. 1(1), pages 1-17, January.
    4. Sajeda Amin & Alaka Basu & Rob Stephenson, 2002. "Spatial variation in contraceptive use in Bangladesh: Looking Beyond the borders," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 39(2), pages 251-267, May.
    5. Md. Burhan Uddin & Sonia Akter, 2024. "Revisiting Women`s Agency in the Pre-Colonial Social Structure of Bengal; A Comparative Study," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 8(5), pages 2046-2059, May.
    6. Michael Clemens, 2004. "The Long Walk to School: International Education Goals in Historical Perspective," Working Papers 37, Center for Global Development.
    7. Gupta, Gautam & Mahmud, Minhaj & Maitra, Pushkar & Mitra, Santanu & Neelim, Ananta, 2018. "Religion, minority status, and trust: Evidence from a field experiment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 180-205.
    8. Sajida Amin, 2008. "Popular Perceptions of Emerging Influences on Mortality and Longevity in Bangladesh and West Bengal," Working Papers id:1454, eSocialSciences.
    9. Dasgupta, A. & Dasgupta, P., 2017. "Socially Embedded Preferences, Environmental Externalities, and Reproductive Rights," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1724, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    10. Abhishek Singh & Praveen Kumar Pathak & Rajesh Kumar Chauhan & William Pan, 2011. "Infant and Child Mortality in India in the Last Two Decades: A Geospatial Analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(11), pages 1-19, November.
    11. Gebremariam Woldemicael, 2008. "Recent fertility decline in Eritrea," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 18(2), pages 27-58.
    12. chatterjee, susmita, 2017. "Empowerment translated to transition," MPRA Paper 80067, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Aart Liefbroer & Edith Dourleijn, 2006. "Unmarried cohabitation and union stability: Testing the role of diffusion using data from 16 European countries," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 43(2), pages 203-221, May.
    14. Saswata Ghosh & Aparajita Chattopadhyay, 2017. "Religion, Contraceptive Method Mix, and Son Preference Among Bengali-Speaking Community of Indian Subcontinent," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(6), pages 929-959, December.

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