Fertility Transition in the Sultanate of Oman: Anthropological Approaches to Demographic Dynamics

20世纪80年代，阿曼的生育率是世界上最高的之一。然而，自20世纪90年代中期以来，这个伊斯兰国家的出生率出现了戏剧性的、独特的下降。尽管人口结构发生了快速变化，但我们仍然对阿曼和邻近海湾国家的生育率转变知之甚少，因为该地区的人口调查仍然很少，关于这个话题的人类学研究几乎不存在。在此背景下，该项目力求在地方一级调查阿曼生育率下降的原因、后果和文化意义。我们的目的是通过人种学的重新研究来描述和解释阿曼北部的绿洲城镇al-Hamra从20世纪80年代到今天的生育率变化。该项目侧重于不同世代已婚夫妇在怀孕、生育和计划生育方面的愿望、决定和行动。在过去的35年里，生殖决策发生了怎样的变化？这些变化背后的因素是什么？我们认为，关于亲属关系和婚姻的新观念起着重要作用。该项目采用综合办法，考虑了社会文化和宗教变化以及地方和国家两级的人口、经济和政治变革。我们的方法建立在人类学人口学跨学科领域内的方法论和理论工作之上。因此，人类学家和人口学家都会对我们的发现感兴趣。

In the 1980s, the fertility rate in Oman was among the highest in the world. However, since the mid-1990s the Islamic nation has witnessed a dramatic and unique decline in its birth rates. Despite these rapid demographic transformations, we still know very little about the fertility transition in Oman and the neighboring Gulf states, as demographic investigations within the region remain sparse and anthropological studies concerning the topic virtually nonexistent. Against this background the project seeks to investigate the causes, consequences and cultural meanings of fertility decline in Oman on the local level. Our aim is to describe and explain, through an ethnographic re-study, the fertility change in al-Hamra, an oasis town in Northern Oman, from the 1980s until today. The project focuses on the desires, decisions and actions of married couples of different generations, concerning pregnancy, birth and family planning. How have reproductive decisions changed during the past thirty-five years, and what are the factors underlying these changes? We assume that new ideas about kinship and marriage play an important role. The project follows a holistic approach and considers socio-cultural and religious changes as well as demographic, economic and political transformations on the local and national level. Our approach builds on methodological and theoretical work within the interdisciplinary field of anthropological demography. Thus, our findings will be of interest for both anthropologists and demographers.