Contraceptive Regimes

There is a lot of history and historiography around birth control. From feminists to demographers to economists and theorists of power and 'race'; and from politicians and demagogues to the spokespeople of global religion and medical science, the topic of who (doesn't) have babies and how they (don't) conceive has been nothing if not controversial. But how does it fit into the human pursuit of perfection? Last week we began to think about this in relation to technologies that separate sexual intercourse from reproduction. This week we will first explore the forces and innovations that militated for and against that division in the name of creating perfect babies, perfect families and perfect individual lives.

Weekly Questions:

• What drove the emergence of (reasonably) effective fertility control -- and for whom?
• Why is fertility control so controversial? Where and when do controversies emerge, and where and when do they decline?
• What does a 'perfect' family look like, and to whom?
• Whose reproductivity is laudable, and whose should be controlled? By whom and when?
• Should humanity strive to perfect itself? What would 'perfect' conceptions/contraception look like?

For Mini-Lecture and readings, see Talis.

And for fun, check out the data on global human population on the 'Our World In Data' Website, here!