近40年来的中国人口地理学——一个跨学科研究领域的进展①

本文对20世纪80年代以来中国人口地理学的发展进行了全面综述。尽管近年来中国人口地理学在地理学科领域给人留下的是萧条、甚至被边缘化的印象,但从跨学科的角度看,该学科还是取得了巨大进展。人口地理学者在复兴中国的人口学研究中发挥了不可或缺的作用,并在这一跨学科研究领域中占据了重要地位。人口地理学者从地理学的视角出发,在人口迁移流动、城镇化、人口分布、人口与资源和环境之间的关系、老龄化、婚姻模式和移民犯罪等众多人口问题的研究上作出了重要贡献,尤其是在人口迁移流动研究和人口城镇化若干问题的研究中占据着领先地位。中国人口地理学者自20世纪80年代以来与社会科学领域学者间的交流互动不断增加,在促进学科发展的同时,也出现了一种逐渐偏离主流人文地理学的倾向;今后,中国人口地理学应更多地回归地理学领域,在人口学和人文地理学两个领域间寻求健康、平衡的定位,以促进其在跨学科领域中获得进一步发展。

Research progress on population geography in China in recent 40 years: A cross-disciplinary perspective

This article reviews the progress of population geography in China since the 1980s. The review results suggest that contrary to the common perception of its decline and marginalization in the field of geography, tremendous progress has been made in population geography in China since the 1980s. Population geographers have made significant contributions to the understanding of a wide range of population issues from geographical perspectives, including migration, urbanization, population distribution, the relationships between population, environment and resources, aging, marriage patterns, and migrants' crimes, although such contributions often did not become visible in the geographical circle. Furthermore, population geographers have played an indispensable role in revitalizing population studies in China and forging its links to human geography, occupying an important position in this multi-disciplinary field. Population geographers' contribution to the areas of migration and urbanization research has been particularly significant, reflected in their leading roles in these research areas. This review demonstrates that as latecomers in the field of population studies, population geographers in China have gone through a process of catching up and increasing engagement with developments in social sciences and increasing interaction with social scientists since the 1980s, and have benefited greatly from this process. However, there is a tendency for population geography to be increasingly alienated from the main stream human geography, a phenomenon similar to but not exactly the same as Anglo-American geography in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The article argues that population geography is only half way in the course to forge the links between population studies and human geography, and it needs to return to geographical sciences to create a healthy and balanced identity between population studies and human geography, and promote its further development in a multi-disciplinary field.