Las múltiples causas de la catástrofe: consideraciones teóricas y empíricas

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to the analysis of the indigenous population decline, namely the weight, role and function of every one of the causes that originated it. It is argued that the attention given to epidemies and pathologies has entailed a simplification that may seriously distort the historical interpretation of the demographic catastrophe, and that other contributing factors must be analyzed. Special attention is given to two of these factors which weigh on reproductivity and, therefore, on the capacity of reaction to crisis and mortality, namely the «displacement effect» and the «substraction effect» –social displacement and taking away of the reproductive heritage.