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Dossier

Vol. 27 No. 2 (2023): The fear of big numbers. Politics and politicisation of African demographic change

Introduction. The fear of big numbers: the politics and politicisation of African demographic change

  • Luca Ciabarri
  • Édouard Conte
  • Valentina Fusari
Submitted
November 21, 2024
Published
2024-12-10

Abstract

 Since the beginning of the 2000s, scientific research and studies by international organi
sations have converged in identifying new major trends in African demography for the de
cades to come, contributing to reshape the public representations of Africa from a low pop
ulation continent to one of rampant growth. At the same time, the public discourse emerged 
in the West regarding these changes occurred under the sign of a dramatised politicisation 
rather than a scientifically based debate. Under the pressure of the recent “migration crisis” 
in Europe, this politicised Euro-African demography has set itself at the centre of public 
and media debates in many European nations, based on alarming demographic predictions 
that oppose a succumbing “old Europe” to an emerging “young Africa”.  Against this back
ground, the goal of this introduction is twofold: outlining a history of concepts and ideas 
pertaining to African demography in its political dimension; identifying spaces for dialogue 
and cooperation between different disciplines and reconsider epistemological and method
ological conventions with the goal of responding to the challenges of the politicization of 
African demographic dynamics.