Is this the end of French rural depopulation ?

• Hervé LE BRAS
  Research director, INED (Institut National d'Etudes Démographiques : national institute for demographic studies)
  Laboratory director of historical demography, EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales : school for advanced studies in the social sciences)
  

Summary

Demographers in the mid-twentieth century predicted French rural depopulation resulting in an increase in the Parisian population. Recent censuses have shown the opposite, namely that there has been a marked tendency in the growth of the smallest towns and villages. Hervé Le Bras has studied this phenomenon in detail and he shows us a reconstruction of the difference between rural and urban life based on political rather than demographic factors. Above all, he presents a scathing analysis of the errors made in demography. These mistakes are numerous and frequent as a certain number of examples prove. It is as if, despite recognised scientific probity and reasonable observations, demographers were influenced unintentionally by their generation's way of thinking.

Summary translated from French by Rachel MARLIN.

• The entire article was written by Loïc VIEILLARD-BARON.

To obtain this article, you can :

• download it for free in French (PDF help) or contact ecopar@paris.ensmp.fr (Reference EV091105).