PMID: 16612991Apr 15, 2006Paper

On the politics and practice of Muslim fertility: comparative evidence from West Africa

Medical Anthropology Quarterly
Jennifer Johnson-Hanks

Abstract

Recent popular works have represented Muslim fertility as dangerously high, both a cause and consequence of religious fundamentalism. This article uses comparative, statistical methods to show that this representation is empirically wrong, at least in West Africa. Although religion strongly inflects reproductive practice, its effects are not constant across different communities. In West African countries with Muslim majorities, Muslim fertility is lower than that of their non-Muslim conationals; in countries where Muslims are in the minority, their apparently higher reproductive rates converge to those of the majority when levels of education and urban residence are taken into account. A similar pattern holds for infant mortality. By contrast, in all seven countries, Muslim women are more likely to report that their most recent child was wanted. The article concludes with a discussion of the relationship between autonomy and fertility desires.

References

Nov 18, 1998·Journal of Biosocial Science·A Bankole, C F Westoff
Feb 16, 2000·Studies in Family Planning·M Säävälä
Jul 25, 2000·Studies in Family Planning·C StantonK Hill
Jan 1, 1991·Annual Review of Anthropology·F Ginsburg, R Rapp
Jul 9, 2003·Demography·Michael A KoenigA B Khorshed Alam Mozumder
Mar 18, 2005·Nature·Mark T RossDavid R Bentley

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Citations

Apr 4, 2012·Culture, Health & Sexuality·Biswamitra Sahu, Inge Hutter
Oct 27, 2015·Population Research and Policy Review·Victor Agadjanian, Scott T Yabiku
Nov 7, 2015·Best Practice & Research. Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology·Jonna Arousell, Aje Carlbom
Apr 27, 2012·American Sociological Review·Jenny Trinitapoli, Sara Yeatman
Oct 9, 2013·Anthropology & Medicine·Erica van der Sijpt
Mar 16, 2021·Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters·Batula AbdiMarleen Temmerman

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