Avant-propos

Abstract

Population celebrates its seventieth anniversary this year. To mark the occasion, we will take a look back at some of the very first articles published by the journal in 1946, the year of its creation.In 1946, Population was the scientific showcase of the Institut national d'etudes demographiques (the French Institute for Demographic Studies, INED) founded some months earlier, in October 1945. Each issue was introduced by an editorial penned by Alfred Sauvy, INED's new director, under the title Faits et problemes du jour (Topical facts and problems). Most authors were INED researchers, and practically all were men. Since then, the journal has become increasingly independent of its host institution. Recognized by the international research community, it is now a scientific journal open to all, welcoming authors from INED and elsewhere. Population is now available in both French and English (for 13 years, an annual selection of articles was published in English, but since 2002, all articles have been published in both languages), and authors now come from institutions across the world, with men and women equally represented.While developing its editorial independence, Population still retains some of its original features. In its early years, each issue of the journal - already a quarterly publication - included eight or nine research articles, three to five shorter papers under the heading Note et Documents along with reviews of recently published books. All in all, the current version is not so very different. Each quarterly issue now comprises four or five articles, one or two short papers and a series of book reviews. Today's articles are fewer in number, but more lengthy, reflecting changing methods and higher levels of technicity. The vocabulary of demography has also evolved: some of the expressions in the articles of 1946 may seem outdated, or even inappropriate for a scientific journal. The first articles published in Population provided a highly instructive overview of specific topics, revealing an ambition to mark out a discipline that was gaining new recognition through the creation of INED. The goal of Population was - and still is - to disseminate demographic knowledge to a wide audience.As one might expect, the articles in these first four issues of 1946 cover the three major themes of demography: fertility (several articles on large families), child and adult mortality, and migration, often examined in relation to employment. Inevitably, the demographic impact of the Second World War is a central topic in that year (Progres technique, destructions de guerre et optimum de [Technical progress, war destruction and optimal population size] by Georges Letinier, Consequences de six annees de guerre sur la population francaise [Impact of six years of war on the French population] by Paul Vincent). Economic questions are also a central concern during this period of reconstruction. The article titles speak for themselves: Plein emploi et pleine [Full employment and full population] by Alfred Sauvy, or Richesses minieres et peuplement : Lorraine, Sarre et Ruhr [Mineral wealth and settlement: Lorraine, Sarre and Ruhr]. The link with public policy in France and abroad is already clearly visible, with articles looking at family allowances, social and population policy in Denmark or social insurance in Canada. …