Contenu du sommaire : Démographie historique

Y.-G. Paillard — Demographie Research on Madagascar at the Beginning of the Colonial Period and AMI Documents. According to the estimates made at the end of the igth century, the population of Madagascar was then varying between two and eight million. When the island became part of the French territory in 1896, the colonial authorities proved most anxious to know the number of native taxpayers and the supply of labour force they could reasonably reckon on. Difficulties of ail kind, however, did not permit for a long time to collect reliable statistical data, and only that questionable information is available to historians. It is yet certain that the island was really sparsely populated, which considerably hampered its 'exploitation'. Hence a series of steps with a view to increasing the population as soon as Gallieni (1896-1905) came into power; the main initiative was the creation in 1899 of the AMI (Native Medical Assistance), a pioneering undertaking which was then repeated in other places, and the results of which proved quite significant. Thanks to these efforts, a large quantity of reports and publications is now available, the systematic exploitation of which, together with that of other sources of various kinds, should permit to have a better idea of the actual population of the island at the beginning of the 2oth century (between two and a half and three million?), to study its distribution, the changes in birth and death rates, the effects of epidemie diseases such as malaria, etc. The particularly large amount of documents on the capital, Tananarive, permits an in-depth analysis.

J.-P. Chretien— Demography and Ecology in East Africa at the End of the icth Century : An Exceptional Crisis? Recent publications on East Africa in the 19th century and surveys on the history of the plains bordering lake Tanganyika in Burundi permit to critieize the stereo-typed opinion opposing a 'traditional' demographie standstill to a progress due to colonization. A relative prosperity is, indeed, broken off by a both demographie and economie crisis which reaches its peak between 1890 and 1930: the insecurity created by the Arab slave trade and European expeditions combines with droughts, locust invasion, cattle-plague, smallpox and sleeping sickness. It might be that the population of some regions then decreased by at least fifty per cent. Other crises probably affected East Africa (in about 1830 and 1870-1880), but their importance and impact can only be assessed through a cautious interpretation of scattered and indirect sources (hydrographical data, oral traditions...) which should be system-atically put back in their geographical and ecological setting. The history of societies and that of landscapes are closely linked.

C. Thibon — A Century of Demographie Growth in Burundi (1850-1950). From 1850 to 1950, Burundi population developed in three very clear-cut stages. Not affected by disturbances due to exogenous factors, epidemie diseases and the slave trade, the country experienced a noticeable growth during the igth century, as evidenced by the population pressure and expansion indexes. The ending of isolation and colonization coincided at the turn of our century with a demographie crisis, the imbalances brought about by colonization delayed the reconstitution of the population, and the first stage of the transition period, which started rather late, is marked by such after-effects. The article analyses the respective impact of natural and biological conditions as well as of precolonial and colonial policies; it demonstrates that such factors developed independently and present conflicting characteristics.

B. Jewsiewicki — Towards a Historical Sociology of Population in Zaire : Proposals for the Analysis of the Demographie Regime. The author asserts that it is unthinkable to separate phenomena which are biological, such as birth or mortality, from the social, cultural, political and economie ones. To speak of a demographie regime characteristic of Africa is an abuse of language. At present, the empirical data necessary to document the variety of African demographie regimes and their transformations are limited. However, historical information is ample enough to reject the idea of stagnation. The readiness of local institutions to manipulate the demographie regime is beginning to be documented. Political regulation of the social status of dependents was one way to manipulate socio-economic and demographie behavior. The demographie model of very high fertility results from a reorganization of power relations within colonial Society. To carry out research successfully, we must begin by analysing the transformation of units of reproduction, production and consumption.

J.-P. Chauveau — The Baule Share. Total Population and Ethnie Domination: An Historical Perspective. Demographie estimates and censuses do not only provide quantified information and an opportunity to engage in statistical criticism, whether in the field of demog-raphy or of historiography. They can be subjected to a 'quantitative' analysis. With regard to the population figures ascribed to 'ethnie groups', they can provide insights on the real meaning of ethnie identity on the basis of the social history of a regional unit seen by census officiais as constituting a discrete entity. The case of the 'Baule' country and ethnie group presents an additional interest in that this population is, rightly or wrongly, considered as having a significant 'political' weight. Rather than its 'historical demography', its 'demographie history' reveals the weakness of conventional wisdom, which is essentially based upon an analysis in tribal terms, on this domination.

C.-H. Perrot — The Influence of Demographie Fluctuations on the Akan Societies of South-Eastern Ivory Coast. Should oral sources be abandonned in the seareh for information on population history, despite the lack of numerical data before the 20th century? The way in which African societies are nowadays affected by demographie fluctuations encourages to look for the traces left by those of the past. In the case of the Anyi-Ndenye (Ivory Coast), ritual practice and the 'reign names' given to the 'men's gatherers' and to the authors of a settlement policy refer to periods of demographie growth. The traces left by demographie crises are however the most significant. Confronted to such crises, the society turned to anti-witcheraft practices (and this long before contemporary movements of a similar nature) or even adopted foreign cuits—as local customs proved unable to fulfill their role in protecting society and consoli-dating the lineage human strength. On the other hand, it is essential to carefully integrate into the historical corpus and interpret magieo-religious events referring to corrupted spirits entering into an alliance with the witches and killing villagers during the night without being seen. Indications of this type make it possible to draw the demographie pieture of Ndenye during the i8th and igth centuries and to trace the main Unes of its transformation.