Fatal Misconception
The Struggle to Control World Population
Matthew Connelly(Author)
The Belknap Press
Published on 1. March 2008
Book
Hardback
448 pages
978-0-674-02423-6 (ISBN)
Description
"Fatal Misconception" is the disturbing story of our quest to remake ourselves by policing national borders and breeding better people. As the population of the world doubled once, and then again, well-meaning people concluded that only population control could preserve the "quality of life." This movement eventually spanned the globe and carried out a series of astonishing experiments, from banning Asian immigration to compensating the poor who accepted sterilization.Supported by affluent countries, foundations, and non-governmental organizations, the population control movement experimented with ways to limit population growth. But it had to contend with the Catholic Church's ban on contraception and nationalist leaders who warned of "race suicide." The ensuing struggle caused untold suffering for those caught in the middle-particularly women and children. It culminated in the horrors of sterilization camps in India and the one-child policy in China.Matthew Connelly offers the first global history of a movement that changed how people regard their children and ultimately the face of humankind.
It was the most ambitious social engineering project of the twentieth century, one that continues to alarm the global community. Though promoted as a way to lift people out of poverty - perhaps even to save the earth-family planning became a means to plan other people's families.With its transnational scope and exhaustive research into such archives as Planned Parenthood and the newly opened Vatican Secret Archives, Connelly's withering critique uncovers the cost inflicted by a humanitarian movement gone terribly awry and urges renewed commitment to the reproductive rights of all people.
It was the most ambitious social engineering project of the twentieth century, one that continues to alarm the global community. Though promoted as a way to lift people out of poverty - perhaps even to save the earth-family planning became a means to plan other people's families.With its transnational scope and exhaustive research into such archives as Planned Parenthood and the newly opened Vatican Secret Archives, Connelly's withering critique uncovers the cost inflicted by a humanitarian movement gone terribly awry and urges renewed commitment to the reproductive rights of all people.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass.
United States
Publishing group
Harvard University Press
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
16 halftones, 6 line illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 243 mm
Width: 169 mm
Weight
940 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-674-02423-6 (9780674024236)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Matthew Connelly is Associate Professor of History, Columbia University.