Pronatalism, Overpopulation, and the Planet

Course Overview

The decision to have children or not is arguably one of the most important choices we make in our lives. It is largely regarded as a personal and isolated decision and a natural rite of passage into adulthood. But how personal really is our decision about whether, when and with whom to have a child. Pronatalism—a set of socio-cultural, ethno-political, religious, and patriarchal pressures that encourage, incentivize, or coerce reproduction—remains largely absent from our ‘family planning’ discourse. Human population has doubled in the last 50 years, growing from approximately four billion in 1970 to eight billion currently. There is rising public awareness that overpopulation and rampant overconsumption are driving climate change, resource scarcity, and biodiversity collapse, yet it is a challenging issue to discuss. In this course, we will examine a range of cultural narratives and national policies used to manipulate fertility rates, and their implications for human rights and reproductive autonomy. There will be a special focus on the pervasive influence on pronatalism and human supremacy as drivers of population growth, as well as reproductive and ecological injustice. We will also examine the implications of the current reluctance in the international conservation and development community to address population directly as a driver of multiple social and ecological crises. Participants will develop techniques for learning and teaching about these issues in a way that invites dialogue and positive solutions.

Course Materials: Students should contact the course instructor and review the course syllabus for information related to course materials/texts.