Resources and Population
A Study of the Gurungs of Nepal

This book, first published in 1976, utilises the tools of social anthropology and population studies to examine the causes and consequences of populations growth.

Alan MacFarlane (Author)

9781107406865, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 August 2012

384 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.56 kg

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC]