Biological living standards and inequality:
new approaches, Spain 18th-21st centuries
Summary
In this coordinated project: 1. We propose new elements of analysis to better evaluate: a) the demographic and epidemiological nutritional transition, which have been observed in Europe since the end of the 18th century; b) the different relationships that were established between those processes, and the different phases of contemporary economic growth; and c) the inequality (geographical and social) that coexisted in those processes. With these objectives, we will focus on the case of Spain, taking into account other experiences of Western Europe (especially Italy and Portugal), and act in two directions; 1.1. We will propose new indicators of living standards in Spain, particularly biological, for different periods between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 21st century, and which can be classified into: specific (fertility, mortality and morbidity, height, weight, robustness and body mass indices), with different levels of aggregation; and global (synthetic (HDI) and composite (Multicriteria)); 1.2. We will analyze the incidence of economic growth and income levels in the chosen indicators of living standards, but taking into special consideration the incidence that they had, in turn, over time, on a geographical scale, and/or different groups of individuals. population (rural / urban, military or hospital groups), two groups of variables, on which we will also propose new indicators in different cases: (a) Intermediation variables: the availability of food and health services. (b) Environment variables, because they condition the availability and use of those resources/services: environmental conditions; technologies available in the agri-food sector and in households; scientific progress in nutrition and health; and public hygiene policies. 2. On these statistical and documentary bases, the project will also advance new considerations and results, on: 2.1. The situations of inequality that coexisted with the improvement in long-term living standards, with special reference to nutritional poverty and malnutrition, in the most vulnerable population groups. 2.2. The unequal effects on nutrition, between the end of the Old Regime and the 1930s, of: mortality and subsistence crises, moments of armed conflict, and economic crises. 2.3. The conditions of sustainability (institutional, technological and environmental) of the new standards of living, which were defined in the second half of the 20th century.
Research team
Anna Maria Aubanell
Esmeralda Ballesteros
Rafael Barquín
Josep Bernabeu-Mestre
Josep Lluís Barona
Salvador Calatayud Giner
Antonio David Cámara
Xavier Cussó
Antonio Escudero
Emeteri Fabregat
Pedro Fatjó
Emanuele Felice
Manuel González de Molina
Gonzalo Gamboa Jiménez
Hector García
Ramon Garrabou
Ismael Hernández
Fernando Hernández Fradejas
Ricardo Hernández
Juan Infante
Fernando Largo
Montserrat Llonch Casanovas
Enrique Llopis
Pablo Martinelli
José Miguel Martínez Carrión
Francisco J. Medina Albaladejo
Giuseppe Munda
Francesc Muñoz
Roser Nicolau Nos
Enrique Perdiguero
Pedro M. Pérez Castroviejo
Javier Puche
Josep Pujol
Josep Maria Ramon
Jesús Ramos
Jordi Rossell
Gloria Sanz
David Soto
Jordi Viader
Enric Vicedo
Lourdes Viladomiu
Grupo Gadea