The ethno-demographic context of declining birth rates and birth control in Eastern Serbia - an example of an atypical demographic transition

Abstract

The restrictive reproductive model in Eastern Serbia, which appeared in pre- industrial rural society and without of sufficient development potential that would lead to the redefinition of ethical and general social norms, was in many ways similar to industrialized and urbanized societies. The expansive spread of the restricted model of reproduction was atypical in relation to the verme, place and conditions in which it appeared, and beyond all the theoretical postulates of the demographic transition. The paper analyzes the dynamics of change in both components of the natural population movement at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century and considers the ethnodemographic, ecocultural and socioeconomic context of birth and mortality, which interrelationship indicates the stages of the demographic transition. In addition to objective problems related to the quality of statistical data, the regional demographic differentiation of changes in birth mortality rates indicates a certain correlation between the intensity of the decline in birth and the ethnic structure of the population.

Keywords

• birth control
• birth transition
• village
• eastern serbia
• vlachs