Definition
Youth bulge refers to the phenomenon of rapid growth of the young population of a country relative to its general population, causing considerable impact on its economy and politics. While youth bulge is characterized as a negative development for its potential to cause upsurge in social unrest, violence, and conflict, it is also viewed positively as an opportunity for economic growth, captured by the associated term “demographic dividend,” a situation where a country sees expansion of its young working-age population accompanied by the relative decline in the dependent population (i.e., people above 65 and below 14 years old) due to low rates of fertility and mortality.
Introduction
The idea of youth bulge was first proposed by French sociologist Gaston Bouthoul (1896–1980), who looked at the demographic causes of war and aggression. Bouthoul saw war as deferred...
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Ganie, M.T. (2020). Youth Bulge and Conflict. In: The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_113-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-11795-5_113-1
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