Book contents
- Population Control as a Human Right
- Human Rights in History
- Population Control as a Human Right
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Maps, and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Overpopulation Discourse and the Post-1945 Order
- 3 Interventionist Population Policies of the 1950s
- 4 Breakthrough of a Human Rights Framework in the 1960s
- 5 Interpretive Struggles in the 1960s and 1970s
- 6 Crisis and Expansion of Human Rights in the 1970s
- 7 Domestic Interpretations of the Human Right to Family Planning
- 8 Conflicts over Reproductive Rights since the 1980s
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
6 - Crisis and Expansion of Human Rights in the 1970s
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 October 2025
Book contents
- Population Control as a Human Right
- Human Rights in History
- Population Control as a Human Right
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures, Maps, and Tables
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Overpopulation Discourse and the Post-1945 Order
- 3 Interventionist Population Policies of the 1950s
- 4 Breakthrough of a Human Rights Framework in the 1960s
- 5 Interpretive Struggles in the 1960s and 1970s
- 6 Crisis and Expansion of Human Rights in the 1970s
- 7 Domestic Interpretations of the Human Right to Family Planning
- 8 Conflicts over Reproductive Rights since the 1980s
- 9 Conclusion
- References
- Index
Summary
The chapter analyzes the crisis and expansion of human rights in the 1970s as a dual phenomenon of the population control movement. It explores the disillusionment among population control activists due to the failure to achieve desired fertility rate reductions despite international efforts. The chapter highlights the shift in perspectives on the human rights framework for population control, with criticisms emerging from various actors including demographers, sociologists, and international organizations. The chapter also discusses the emergence of new actors such as the women’s movement in advocating for human rights in family planning. It argues that UN reports on family planning were shaped by conflicting political imaginaries between UN member states along Cold War and North–South divides. Furthermore, it delves into the debates among international lawyers regarding coercion, national sovereignty, and the role of international law in addressing population growth. It argues that international lawyers saw the legal regulation of population control as a test of the effectivness of international law as such.
Information
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- Chapter
- Information
- Population Control as a Human RightInternational Law and the Global Quest to Curb Overpopulation, pp. 110 - 128Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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