Couldn't agree more, Betsey!
To me overpopulation is in no way the key to the whole mess. One of the
elements, OK, but I think it really pales as a problem in comparison with
"The world's three richest people have assets that exceed the combined
wealth of the 48 least developed countries, according to a recent United
Nations report on global inequality."
Viviane
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Betsey Brada
> Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 5:40 AM
> To: STUDIES IN WOMEN AND ENVIRONMENT
> Subject: Re: Society for Human Population Control
>
>
> > 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/depo
> pulating.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]
>
>
