Deconstructing the Population Problem: Beyond Demographics and Reproductive Rights

Abstract

Mainstream academic literature published on the burgeoning human population suffers from binary discourse and dichotomies that prevent any real understanding, and therefore, solution, to what has been dubbed as the “population problem.” The debate is often reduced to North versus South, Malthusians versus Marxists, feminists versus the religious right, and other dualistic oppositions that do not adequately capture the complexities of the problem at hand. In this paper, I will examine the complex and ever-changing coalitions that have formed around different theoretical approaches to global population policy, namely neo-Malthusians, neo-liberal developmentalist and redistributionist. The role and impact of liberal feminists and the religious right at various population conferences will also be evaluated. And finally, I will explore whether the problems associated with population growth, including consumption, can be resolved within the present economic superstructure.

Keywords: population, environment, population control, consumption