I Book Review: Global Population Policy. From Population Control to Reproductive Rights
| Published date | 01 September 2005 |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410502300316 |
| Date | 01 September 2005 |
| Subject Matter | Part D: DocumentationI Book Review |
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obedience, humiliation, de-individualisation) and the initiation phase to torture.
Not only the individual characteristics of the perpetrator – initial revulsion etc.–to
act and to continue are dealt with, but also the processes of rationalisation and
justification are taken into account. These are often based on ideology and blaming
the victim plus habituation, routinisation and dehumanising the victim. When he or
she in this job as a torturer is confronted with a person from his private life (an
Indonesian torturer for instance had to torture his own doctor) the two worlds may
clash and the torturer may end these activities. Her conclusion is that under certain
specific circumstances it – i.e. to become a torturer – can happen to anyone.
In short the book Understanding Human Rights Violations is very interesting and
rather diverse. It presents the results of the last decade research of political scientists
and shows at the same time the frontiers of knowledge. This book can be a starting
point for social and political scientists to develop and test approaches to understand
gross human rights violations. The world is in need of such scholars who can
contribute to the prevention of gross human rights violations, because better
academic knowledge is a prerequisite for early warning and action in this field.
Paige Whaley Eager,
Global Population Policy. From Population Control to
Reproductive Rights
, Ashgate, Aldershot, 2004, 242 p., ISBN 0-7546 4162 7*
Until relatively recently, a growing population was generally seen as vital to a
society’s survival and future prosperity. This explains, in a nutshell, why political
leaders around the world encouraged the foundation of large families and praised
the role of women as procreators and caregivers.
The assumptions with respect to the beneficial effect of large populations on
society became strongly contested as from the second half of the 19th century.
Growing populations were primarily seen as an impediment to, instead of a
prerequisite for economic growth and sustainable development. As a corollary,
measures were advocated, and subsequently introduced, to control population
growth (and women’s fertility). In a later stage, notably after 1994, it was increasingly
acknowledged that population policies touch upon various human rights. Gradually,
emphasis was placed on (the recognition of) women’s reproductive and sexual
health rights.
This book analyses and describes this fascinating process of normative change.
The author, a political scientist affiliated with the University of Delaware, USA, was
particularly intrigued by the results of the 1994 International Conference on
Population and Development in Cairo. It was in the Egyptian capital that – for the
first time in human history and for many outsiders as a complete surprise – UN,
government and NGO representatives extensively discussed the importance of
women’s health and sexual rights, leading to the inclusion of a chapter on
‘Reproductive Health and Rights’ in the Cairo Programme of Action. The
population control norm has since then been completely discredited and
delegitimised.
The approach of the book is constructivist, a multidimensional approach to
study human behaviour. The qualitative research methodology adopted by the
author entails data collection on the basis of interviews with key informants, primary
Documentation
* Aart Hendriks, Professor of Health Law, Leiden University, The Netherlands.
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