Culture and Demographic Change

Demographic change is reshaping societies across the globe. Declining fertility, population aging, migration, urbanization, family transformation, and changing patterns of social integration generate significant challenges for societies. While demographic research has traditionally emphasized economic, institutional, and policy explanations, a growing body of scholarship highlights the importance of culture in shaping population dynamics.

This session explores the relationship between culture and demographic change. We welcome theoretical, methodological, and empirical contributions that examine how values, norms, identities, beliefs, cultural practices, and systems of meaning influence demographic behaviors and outcomes. Likewise, we encourage research investigating how demographic transformations themselves contribute to cultural change, creating dynamic feedback processes between population and culture.

Possible questions include, but are not limited to:

• How do cultural values influence fertility intentions, family formation, and reproductive behavior?
• What role do individualism, collectivism, gender norms, religiosity, or intergenerational values play in demographic outcomes?
• How do cultural factors shape migration aspirations, migration decisions, and destination preferences?
• How do demographic transitions influence cultural values, identities, and social norms?
• What is the relationship between culture and population aging?
• How do cultural narratives shape attitudes toward demographic challenges such as low fertility, population decline, or immigration?
• What can cross-national and longitudinal research tell us about the interaction between cultural change and demographic change?

We welcome contributions employing quantitative, qualitative, experimental, comparative, historical, or mixed-method approaches, as well as theoretical and methodological papers advancing the study of culture and population dynamics.