Figuring the Population Bomb : Gender and Demography in the Mid-Twentieth Century

327 Pages·2017·2.083 MB·English

by  Carole R. McCann

Feminist Technosciences
Rebecca Herzig and Banu Subramaniam, Series Editors
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Figuring the
Population
Bomb
GENDER and
DEMOGRAPHY
in the
MID-TWENTIETH
CENTURY
CAROLE R. McCANN
University of Washington Press
Seattle and London
Earlier versions of chapters 2 and 5 originally appeared in Carole McCann, “Malthu-
sian Men and Demographic Transitions: A Case Study of Hegemonic Masculinity in
Mid-Twentieth Century Population Theory,” special issue, Frontiers 30, no. 1 (May
2009): 142–171. They are included here with the permission of the University of
Nebraska Press.
© 2017 by the University of Washington Press
Printed and bound in the United States of America
Design by Thomas Eykemans
Composed in Chaparral, typeface designed by Carol Twombly
21 20 19 18 17 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording,
or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publisher.
University of Washington Press
www.washington.edu/uwpress
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: McCann, Carole R. (Carole Ruth), 1955– author.
Title: Figuring the population bomb : gender and demography in the mid-twentieth
century / Carole McCann.
Description: 1st Edition. | Seattle : University of Washington Press, 2016. |
Series: Feminist technosciences | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016014273| ISBN 9780295999098 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780295999104 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Population. | Population policy. | Population—Social Aspects. |
Birth control—History—20th century. | Birth control—Political aspects.
Classification: LCC HB851 .M296 2016 | DDC 304.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016014273
The paper used in this publication is acid-free and meets the minimum require-
ments of American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of
Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1984. ∞
For Mel Holden
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
List of Abbreviations xi
1 Matters of Vital Importance: Demography and the
Mid-Twentieth-Century Population Imaginary 3
2 Rereading Malthus: Population and Masculine Modernity 23
3 Narratives of Exclusion, Mechanisms of Inclusion:
Demographic Boundary Work 43
4 Remaking Malthusian Couplings for the Contraceptive Age 79
5 Demographic Transitions and Modern Masculinities 119
6 “Second Sight” and “Fictitious Accuracy to the Numbers” 156
Conclusion: Demographic Convictions and Sound Knowledge 199
Notes 219
References 281
Index 299
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Acknowledgments
I have many people to thank for their support and encouragement during
the years I worked on this project. First and foremost I wish to acknowl-
edge the valuable support provided by two faculty fellowships from the
University of Maryland, Baltimore County: the Provost Research Fel-
lowship, which supported a yearlong sabbatical at the beginning of this
project, and the Dresher Center of the Humanities 2014 Faculty Fellow-
ship, which arrived at a crucial juncture near the end of the project. The
Dresher Fellowship, and the well-lit office it provided, gave me the time
and space to complete the research for chapter 6. I also extend my thanks
to the Rockefeller Archive Center for access to and permission to cite re-
cords of the Population Council.
I am grateful to the vital intellectual community in and around Gen-
der and Women’s Studies at UMBC. Their continued commitment to
our collective intellectual enterprise makes my scholarly work possible.
Thanks to Rebecca Adelman, Jessica Berman, Bev Bickel, Dawn Biehler,
Gloria Chuku, Amy Froide, Marjoleine Kars, Christine Mallinson, Susan
McCully, Patrice McDermott, Susan McDonough, Michelle Scott, Ori-
anne Smith, Lisa Pace Vetter, Shelly Wiechelt, and especially the core
GWST faculty: Amy Bhatt, Kate Drabinski, and Viviana MacManus. I also
extend my special thanks to two dear friends: Tulay Adali, with whom I
have shared many adventures and hours of thoughtful conversation; and
my collaborator, Seung-kyung Kim, with whom I have worked closely on
the several editions of Feminist Theory Reader. Our ongoing conversations
about life, theory, research, and the joys of university life have been a
continued source of encouragement and good humor.
The intellectual exchange with students is another important source
IX