BASU, Alaka Malwade 1949(?)-

PERSONAL: Born c. 1949; married; children: one daughter. Education: University of Bombay, B.S. (microbiology, with honors), 1971; University College, London, M.S. (biochemistry), 1973; Centre for Population Studies, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, M.S. (medical demography), 1975; University of Bombay, post-graduate degree (journalism).

ADDRESSES: Offıce—Cornell University, 352 Uris Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853-7601. E-mail—ab54@cornell. edu.

CAREER: Author, educator, and researcher. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, associate professor sociology. Population Council, New York, NY, member of board of trustees; National Research Council, member, 1998-99; International Union for the Scientific Study of Population, member of governing council.

MEMBER: Indian Association for the Study of Population.

WRITINGS:

Culture, the Status of Women, and Demographic Behavior, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1992.

(Editor, with Roger Jeffery) Girls' Schooling, Women'sAutonomy, and Fertility Change in South Asia, Sage Publications (Thousand Oaks, CA), 1996.

(Editor, with Peter Aaby) The Methods and Uses ofAnthropological Demography, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1998.

(Editor) The Sociocultural and Political Aspects ofAbortion: Global Perspectives, Praeger (Westport, CT), 2003.

Author of numerous scholarly papers on women's health in South Asia, demography, reproductive education, and population. Member of editorial advisory board, International Family Planning Perspectives and Health Transition Review.

SIDELIGHTS: Author and educator Alaka Malwade Basu has interests in demography, development, gender inequality, and culture. Educated in India and England, she holds degrees in microbiology, biochemistry, and medical demography. Basu's work and writings focus on population policy, reproductive health issues, child health and mortality, and women's studies.

Basu coedited Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy, and Fertility Changes in South Asia with Roger Jeffery. The volume addresses the theory that educating women raises their autonomy and thereby lowers fertility, questioning just what the role of education should be for women. Heidi Ross, in a review for Comparative Education Review, remarked that the contributors "succeed in writing a genuinely collaborative volume, in part because their primary goal is much more narrowly focused on the critical reevaluation of the correlation between female schooling and fertility change." She went on to note that "the authors conclude that autonomy generally derives from rather than precedes family planning services." Population and Development Review writer Geoffrey McNicoll observed that while stressing the importance of continuing education programs, "the editors caution against any simple presumption that such measures will necessarily bring about fertility (or mortality) reductions."

In her book Culture, the Status of Women, and Demographic Behavior, Basu examines regional cultures, looking for links between the demographic behavior and a woman's social and economic status. She focuses on the relation between independence and increased gender equality and lowering of fertility. Reviewing the book in Choice, D. A. Chekki remarked, "well written and well organized, this work makes an important contribution to social demography and women's studies."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, July-August, 1993, D. A. Chekki, review of Culture, the Status of Women, and Demographic Behavior, p. 1844.

Comparative Education Review, February, 1999, Heidi Ross, review of Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy, and Fertility Change in South Asia, p. 110.

Journal Record (Oklahoma City, OK), November 27, 2000, Lisa Belkin, "Guiltless Pleasures of Room Service and a Quiet Night, Blissfully Alone," p. 1.

Population and Development Review, March, 1997, Geoffrey McNicoll, review of Girls' Schooling, Women's Autonomy, and Fertility Change in South Asia, p. 198.

ONLINE

Cornell University Web site,http://www.cornell.edu/ (August 30, 2004), "Alaka Basu."

Population Council Web site,http://www.popcouncil.org/ (August 30, 2004), "Alaka Basu."*