Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population

Matthew Connolly

ISBN 10: 0674034600 / ISBN 13: 9780674034600

Published by Belknap Harvard, USA, 2010

About this Item

1st EDITION, This copy is NEW; the text is clear, bright, and unmarked; binding is tight. First edition, unstated but earliest appearance of book. The jacket is also new: absolutely intact, including perfect color and design. We have a five star rating because of our fulfilment success and because our descriptions are accurate. All shipments within U.S. sent with Tracking. On foreign sales, because of the heavy weight of this book, we have to charge extra for shipping: however, we will only charge the difference between our regular shipping rate and the extra charge that the U.S.Post Office asks to ship the book. We guarantee: NO NASTY SURPRISES.

Seller Inventory # 770396

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fatal Misconception: The Struggle to Control World Population
• Publisher: Belknap Harvard, USA
• Publication Date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674034600
• ISBN 13: 9780674034600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition
• Condition: New
• Dust Jacket Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Fatal Misconception is the disturbing story of our quest to remake humanity 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 paying poor people to be sterilized.

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.

About the Author

Matthew Connelly is Professor of History, Columbia University.