Main trends of research in the social and human ... - unesdoc - Unesco

XXXVIII Samy Friedman
is that of the factors in, and conditions for, economic growth - this being of
general importance both for the developed countries and for others which also
have to face the questions of growth rates and the increase of resources. The
problem is approached dynamically in the context of global society. Problems of
distribution, initially restricted to an analysis of the determinants fixing the
unit remuneration of production factors, are now being extended to include
political and institutional systems. Finally, the gradual acceptance of planning
is the direct consequence of the changes which have occurred in political and
social systems after what Myrdal has called ‘the laissez-faire interlude’.
After all the ups and downs it has been through, the chapter on economics
may well be partial in the sense of incomplete, if not partial in its initial inspira-
tion, but this is mainly because it has been deliberately directed to problems
which are regarded as essential for the future. Its most novel feature perhaps
lies in the emphasis laid on the place of economics within the system of the social
sciences and on its close and indispensable relations not only with cybernetics,
decision theory and mathematical methods, but with the whole field of soci-
ology, political science, psychology, demography and indeed social and cultural
anthropology.
Demography, which is discussed by Mr. Bourgeois-Pichat, is in the happy
position of dealing with a small number of easily-definable facts, such as birth,
life (and reproduction) and death, which are eminently quantifiable. The com-
plexity and richness of this branch of study derive from the fact that demogra-
phic phenomena relate to individuals living in groups; hence it has inter-rela-
tionships with all the social sciences, so that demographic research is naturally
inclined to the interdisciplinary approach.
From this standpoint, the author has endeavoured to describe problems, as
yet unsolved, which are of considerable importance for the future of the human
race. For, although each human being depends, so to speak, on the luck of the
draw amongst all the possible genetic combinations, there is nevertheless a
common genetic inheritance which the individual can influence by his behaviour.
His actual or potential control over his natural fertility raises problems which
the demographer can solve only with the aid of biology, especially as regards,
for example, effective contraceptive methods, the choice of sex, or the control of
senescence. There are many connections between demography and economics,
whether authoritarian or indicative planning be involved. The assessment of the
needs of a population, and the distribution of money, always depend on the
composition of the community, its age-structure, as well as the recorded fertility
and mortality rates. Moreover man lives in natural surroundings on which he
has an influence just as he is himself affected by them. In this respect, migration
and urbanization pose both demographic and ecological problems.
Many more illustrations of these links could easily be given, for which
the reader is advised to refer to the chapter itself. Here we shall simply emphasize,
on the one hand, the considerable contribution of sociology, which endeavours
to deal not only with how things happen but why they happen - in practical
terms, the variations in matrimonial habits, marriage as affected by social class,
religion, development, etc. - and, on the other, the remarkable improvement in