A World of Populations: Transnational Perspectives on Demography in the Twentieth Century

Published by Berghahn Books 2014

A World of Populations

Transnational Perspectives on Demography in the Twentieth Century

Edited by: Heinrich Hartmann and Corinna R. Unger

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781782384281

Overview
Contents

About this book

Demographic study and the idea of a “population” was developed and modified over the course of the twentieth century, mirroring the political, social, and cultural situations and aspirations of different societies. This growing field adapted itself to specific policy concerns and was therefore never apolitical, despite the protestations of practitioners that demography was “natural.” Demographics were transformed into public policies that shaped family planning, population growth, medical practice, and environmental conservation. While covering a variety of regions and time periods, the essays in this book share an interest in the transnational dynamics of emerging demographic discourses and practices. Together, they present a global picture of the history of demographic knowledge.

Author / Editor information

Heinrich Hartmann is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Basel, Switzerland. His book, Der Volkskörper bei der Musterung. Militärstatistik und Demographie in Europa vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg (Wallstein 2011) received the Henry E. Sigerist Award in 2012. His research focuses on the history of nineteenth and twentieth century demography in Europe and on the history of Turkish modernization in a transnational perspective.

Corinna R. Unger is Professor of Global and Colonial History (19th and 20th centuries) at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Heinrich Hartmann is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Basel, Switzerland. His book, Der Volkskörper bei der Musterung. Militärstatistik und Demographie in Europa vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg (Wallstein 2011) received the Henry E. Sigerist Award in 2012. His research focuses on the history of nineteenth and twentieth century demography in Europe and on the history of Turkish modernization in a transnational perspective.

Reviews

“…an important step in writing global or transnational histories of demographic ideas and discourses… The volume offers insights into global and local interactions, covers major aspects of global family planning programmes and "overpopulation" debates, as well as contains case studies on the United States, Poland, Chile, South Korea, Turkey, Kenya, and Melanesia.” · H-Soz-Kult

“I learned something new on almost every page of A World of Populations, despite having worked very closely in this field. The case studies herein are surprising and fascinating, offering new geographies and perspectives. This book has made me intrigued and curious about demography and world population all over again.” · Alison Bashford, University of Cambridge, author of Global Population

“Overall, this is a compelling, well-researched set of essays..[that] show us the nuanced, place-specific negotiations between international institutions and experts, national political entities, and local actors… Both the overall picture and the specific stories provided in this text are important contributions to the emerging literature on the history and social studies of demography and population policy.” · Saul Halfon, Virginia Tech

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	v
List of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction. Counting, Constructing, and Controlling Populations The History of Demography, Population Studies, and Family Planning in the Twentieth Century Corinna R. Unger and Heinrich Hartmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I. Producing Demographic Subjects: Transnational Discourses
1 The View From Below and the View From Above What U.S. Census-Taking Reveals about Social Representations in the Era of Jim Crow and Immigration Restriction Paul Schor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2 “Reproduction” as a New Demographic Issue in Interwar Poland Morgane Labbé Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	36
3 Family Planning—A Rational Choice? The Influence of Systems Approaches, Behavioralism, and Rational Choice Thinking on Mid-Twentieth- Century Family Planning Programs Corinna R. Unger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	58
4 “Overpopulation” and the Politics of Family Planning in Chile and Peru Negotiating National Interests and Global Paradigms in a Cold War World Jadwiga E. Pieper Mooney Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
5 Revisiting the Early 1970s Commoner-Ehrlich Debate about Population and Environment Dueling Critiques of Production and Consumption in a Global Age Thomas Robertson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
Part II. Demographic Knowledge in Practice: Transfers and Transformations
6 Counting People The Emerging Field of Demography and the Mobilization of the Social Sciences in the Formation of State Policy in South Korea since 1948 John P. DiMoia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
7 Laparoscopy as a Technology of Population Control A Use-Centered History of Surgical Sterilization Jesse Olszynko-Gryn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
8 A Twofold Discovery of Population Assessing the Turkish Population by its “Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices,” 1962–1980 Heinrich Hartmann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	178
9 Seeing Population as a Problem Influences of the Construction of Population Knowledge on Kenyan Politics (1940s to 1980s) Maria Dörnemann Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
10 Filtering Demography and Biomedical Technologies Melanesian Nurses and Global Population Concerns Alexandra Widmer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	222
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	243
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	247

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 264
Keywords: History: 20th Century to Present; Sociology

eBook

Published: September 1, 2014
ISBN: 9781782384281