Full Description
In many areas of the world destruction of natural resources and the rapid growth of populaton are among the most important problems facing individuals and governments. This book, first published in 1976, utilises the tools of social anthropology and population studies in an attempt to see some of the causes and consequences of populations growth and some of the effects of change on natural resources. It analyses a particular 'community' in the Annapurna range of the central Himalayas during this century, and investigates how the destruction of forests and the growth of settled rice cultivation have occurred, and some of the consequences. The Gurungs are famous as recruits to the Gurkha regiments of the British and Indian armies, and the demographic and economic effects of foreign mercenary labour are among the topics examined.
Contents
List of tables; List of figures; Preface and acknowledgements; Abbreviations and conventions; Weights, measures, and conversion factors; 1. Demography and anthropology; 2. The Gurungs of Nepal; Part I. Resources: 3. Long-term change in the Gurung economy; 4. Forest and land resources; 5. Changes in the distribution of arable land; 6. Capital assets excluding land and forest; 7. The application of capital; input-output data; 8. Income, consumption and expenditure; 9. Surpluses, deficits and the accumulation of capital; Part II. Population: 10. Population growth in Nepal; 11. Social structure and fertility I: intercourse variables; 12. Social structure and fertility II: conception and gestation variables; 13. The demographic consequences of social structure: fertility statistics; 14. Social structure and mortality; 15. The age and sex structure of the Gurung population; 16. Resources and population: some general models; Appendices: 1. Census schedule utilized; 2. Production and consumption units per household; 3. Growth in the number of houses in Thak and Mohoriya; 4. Population and the price of land and other goods; 5. Household and family structure among the Gurungs; 6. Marriage, inheritance and death of parents in Thak; 7. Estimates of relative wealth by three Gurungs; Notes; Select bibliography; Index.
