Alfred Sauvy (31 October 1898 – 30 October 1990) was a
demographer
Demography () is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.
Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as ed ...
,
anthropologist and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the st ...
of the French economy. Sauvy coined the term
Third World
The term "Third World" arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either NATO or the Warsaw Pact. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Western European nations and their allies represented the " First ...
("Tiers Monde") in reference to countries that were unaligned with either the Communist Soviet bloc or the Capitalist NATO bloc during the Cold War.
Biography
Sauvy was born in
Villeneuve-de-la-Raho (
Pyrénées-Orientales) in 1898 to a family of
Catalan
Catalan may refer to:
Catalonia
From, or related to Catalonia:
* Catalan language, a Romance language
* Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia
Places
* 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...
wine-growers, and educated at the
École Polytechnique
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
. After graduating, he worked at
Statistique Générale de France until 1937. He took part in the
X-Crise Group. From 1938, he was economic advisor to Minister of Finance
Paul Reynaud
Paul Reynaud (; 15 October 1878 – 21 September 1966) was a French politician and lawyer prominent in the interwar period, noted for his stances on economic liberalism and militant opposition to Germany.
Reynaud opposed the Munich Agreement of ...
until the second world war broke out in 1939.
Under the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
occupation, Sauvy contributed to the ''Bulletins rouge-brique'', a government-sanctioned periodical. After the war,
Charles de Gaulle offered to appoint him to the position of General Secretary for Family and Population, but Sauvy preferred to devote himself to demographics.
From 1940-1959, he taught at the
Institut d’études politiques (IEP) and was Professor of Social Demography at the
Collège de France
The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...
.
He became director of
INED (National Institute of Demographic Studies) and simultaneously represented France at the commission of Statistics and Population of the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
. He was a member of the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...
(1973) and the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communit ...
(1974). He wrote for ''
Le Monde
''Le Monde'' (; ) is a French daily afternoon newspaper. It is the main publication of Le Monde Group and reported an average circulation of 323,039 copies per issue in 2009, about 40,000 of which were sold abroad. It has had its own website si ...
'' until his death in October 1990.
Key ideas
Writing in 1949, Sauvy described potential overpopulation as a 'false problem' and argued against attempts at global population control. He suggested examining countries on a case-by-case basis to determine whether they lack the raw materials and natural resources that can support a larger population. Otherwise, he thought that we run the risk of underpopulating a country that could support a much larger population
Sauvy coined the term 'Third World' in an article published in the French magazine, ''
L'Obs
(), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...
ervateur'' on August 14, 1952. He wrote:
:"...car enfin, ce Tiers Monde ignoré, exploité, méprisé comme le Tiers Etat, veut lui aussi, être quelque chose"
:"...because at the end, this ignored, exploited, scorned Third World, like the Third Estate, wants also, to become something".
Sauvy coined Third World by analogy with the
Third Estate
The estates of the realm, or three estates, were the broad orders of social hierarchy used in Christendom (Christian Europe) from the Middle Ages to early modern Europe. Different systems for dividing society members into estates developed and ...
and the above quote is a paraphrase of
Sieyès's famous sentence about the Third Estate during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...
.
Works
*1958 ''De Malthus à Mao-Tsé-Toung'' (Collection Thémis -Sciences sociales)
*1977 ''Coût et valeur de la vie humaine''—Paris : Hermann, 210 p.
*1980 ''La machine et le chômage : les progrès techniques et l'emploi''—Paris : Dunod/Bordas, 320 p.
*1984 ''Le travail noir et l'économie de demain''—Paris : Calmann-Lévy, 304 p.
*1985 ''De la rumeur à l'histoire''—Paris : Dunod, 304 p.
*1990 ''La terre et les hommes : le monde où il va, le monde d'où il vient''—Paris : Economica, 187 p.
Legacy
The Prix Alfred Sauvy (Alfred Sauvy Prize) is awarded annually to startup projects and social enterprises in the
Pyrénées-Orientales region.
There are streets named after Sauvy in
Pollestres
Pollestres (; ca, Pollestres) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Pollestres is located in the canton of Les Aspres and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Population
See also
*Communes ...
,
Rivesaltes
Rivesaltes (; ca, Ribesaltes, which means the ''high shores'') is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Rivesaltes is in the canton of La Vallée de l'Agly and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
...
, and
Villemolaque
Villemolaque (; ca, Vilamulaca) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France.
Geography
Villemolaque is located in the canton of Les Aspres and in the arrondissement of Perpignan.
Population
See also
*Commu ...
in France.
References
*Martínez Coll, Juan Carlos (2001): Grandes Economistas
Economistas - Enciclopedia EMVI , eumed.netFebruary 22, 2004
*Tepperman, Lorne (2007): Social Problems: A Canadian Perspective
December 11, 2010
*The
ttp://www.homme-moderne.org/societe/demo/sauvy/3mondes.html original articlepublished ''
L'Obs
(), previously known as (1964–2014), is a weekly French news magazine. Based in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, it is the most prominent French general information magazine in terms of audience and circulation. Its current editor is Cécil ...
ervateur'' on August 14, 1952.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauvy, Alfred
1898 births
1990 deaths
People from Pyrénées-Orientales
École Polytechnique alumni
Grand Officiers of the Légion d'honneur
20th-century French historians
French male non-fiction writers
20th-century French male writers
French demographers
Members of the American Philosophical Society