The Sterilization Movement and Global Fertility in the Twentieth Century

Why have birth rates plunged to all-time lows in the last half century? Why are societies aging so rapidly in the early twenty-first century? Where have all the babies gone? In The Sterilization Movement and Global Fertility in the Twentieth Century, historian Ian Dowbiggin reveals for the first time how these revolutionary events can be traced to the efforts of a small group of twentieth-century activists who tried mightily to convince governments that birth rates needed to be cut drastically and that sterilization was the best way to do it. Drawing on a wide variety of archival records, Dowbiggin's thesis that the world needs to radically reassess its approach to reproductive health issues in the new century is bound to spark controversy and stimulate debate for years to come. Book jacket.