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Date Permissions Signed
11-11-2011
Date of Award
2011
Document Type
Masters Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
First Advisor
Leonard, Kevin Allen, 1964-
Second Advisor
Helfgott, Leonard Michael, 1937-
Third Advisor
Thompson, Roger R.
Abstract
The history of the United States Government's international population policy is examined according to a theoretical framework invented by the philosopher-historian Michel Foucault. "The population crisis" of the 1960s and 1970s is analyzed as a discourse involving the production of knowledge and the transmission of power in terms of Foucault's original conceptions of powerknowledge and governmentality. Two major pieces of evidence are considered: United States Senate hearings from 1965 titled "Population Crisis," and a 1974 National Security Council study memorandum titled "Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests." Conclusions about the meaning and nature of the population crisis as a discourse are drawn from an analysis of the metaphors and narratives that these sources reflect, and the operation of this discourse upon individuals and populations in the developing world is interpreted in relation to Foucault's bio-politics.
Type
Text
DOI
https://doi.org/10.25710/14cw-b132
Publisher
Western Washington University
OCLC Number
768770909
Subject – LCSH
Overpopulation--Political aspects--United States--History; United States--Population--History; Developing countries--Population--History
Geographic Coverage
United States; Developing countries
Format
application/pdf
Genre/Form
masters theses
Language
English
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Recommended Citation
Poechlauer, Karl, "Governmentality and the population crisis: bio-political interpretations of American international population control" (2011). WWU Graduate School Collection. 179.
https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/179