Faces of Migration in Discussions about Fer tility

The paper discusses the persistence of the essentialist understanding of national populations whenconsidering their demography. Such debates have emerged in response to the evidence on below-replacementfertility. Academic and political discussions about its negative socio-economic consequencesand likely resolution scenarios, particularly through migration, have revealed various understandingsof the notion of national populations. The paper elucidates the main background of such debates,and discusses the move away from the essentialist comprehension of national populations through ananalysis of the fertility/migration debate in the Slovenian print media.
KEY WORDS: migration, fertility, Slovenian print media, national population, essentialism