> On Wed, Dec 01, 1999 at 12:34:28PM -0500, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> > I want to invite ECOFEM members to visit and join the Society for Human
> > Population Control. We are a group which believes that the fundamental
> > problem of the human race is overpopulation, and we want a constitutional
> > amendment to induce the US Government to get involved. Our address is:
I, for one, hardly expected to find the Society for Human Population Control on
the EcoFem list. Here are the SHPC's stated beliefs:
1. The fundamental problem of the human race is overpopulation and uncontrolled
population growth.
2. If we do not solve this problem, we will experience nuclear and biological
war, the extinction of natural species, and general misery.
3. If we solve this problem, mankind can have a glorious future.
-- well, belief is belief, and I doubt I'm alone in disagreeing with these
beliefs. I'd like to think the picture of the 'fundamental problem' is a bit
more complex than something that can be boiled down to sheer numbers of
humans. I will say that I grow suspicious of any person or group who
approaches the problems of the human condition with 'overpopulation' in her
vocabulary. Population Control as a very concept steamrolls over the
engagement in such discussions as distribution of resources, political power in
global and regional sphere, and the power dynamics along such lines as race,
gender and class. Sure, we can lobby congress to 'control' population -- in
which case the plan will probably be to move into some indebted developing
country and round up all the poor, dark women and sterilize them against their
wills. Hell, there's precedent for that. Sure -- 'mankind' -- for what that's
worth -- might have a glorious future. But whose problems do we want to solve?
And perhaps the list can address this: how is it that population policy-makers
and environmentalists come to such logger-heads over so many issues? It seems,
in my experience, that environmentalists tend to view population 'problems'
without taking into account the political power behind reproductive rights and
policies and the 'health as a human right' paradigm, not to mention a
reasonable gendered perspective. Isn't ecofem all about incorporating these
perspectives? Am I on the right list? Maybe those of us who spend our time
reading about reproductive/human rights abuses don't have enough information
from the environmentalists' side of things, but I feel like everywhere I turn,
I see another environmentalist group bent on saving the world by espousing the
kind of population "control" ideas and platforms that hark back to
sterilization camps.
Russell Edwards wrote:
> With respect, I ask this in the hope of stimulating discussion: Isn't it a
> fairly common thread of ecofeminism to feel that "the fundamental problem of
> the human race" is first world (male-dominated/ male-style) exploitation of
> the third world and the planet in general? Isn't lobbying congress just going
> to make them drop a batch of condoms from a helicopter over third world
> countries they are actively grinding into the dust? Put another way, isn't
> the solution going to involve a
> major paradigm shift that can't really happen through lobbying existing
> power structures?
>
> Russell
Hell, Russell, I really wish the helicopter/condom plan were the likely one,
rather than the one I outlined above. If you really want to boil your blood,
try Farida Akhter on for size at
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/grhf/SAsia/watches/popwatch/depop/depopulating.html.
Her book is Depopulating Bangladesh: Essays on the Politics of Fertility, which
analyzes the history and imperatives of the population control movement in
Bangladesh. Akhter is not without her problems, certainly, but perhaps some of
her extremes are appropriate in the face of idealogies espoused by such groups
as SHPC. And I thought ZPG was problematic.... sheesh.
--
Betsey Brada
Webmaster
Global Reproductive Health Forum
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/grhf
Harvard School of Public Health
Tel: (617) 432-2936
Fax: (617) 566-0365
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
