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More, June 2008
Hardcover
Population, Nature, and What Women Want
Island Books
June 2008
On Sale: May 8, 2008
320 pages
ISBN: 1597260193
EAN: 9781597260190
Hardcover
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Self-Help Health
In the capital of Ghana, a teenager nicknamed “Condom
Sister” trolls the streets to educate other young people
about contraception. Her work and her own aspirations point
to a remarkable shift not only in the West African nation,
where just a few decades ago women had nearly seven
children on average, but around the globe. While world
population continues to grow, family size keeps dropping in
countries as diverse as Switzerland and South Africa.
The phenomenon has some lamenting the imminent extinction
of humanity, while others warn that our numbers will soon
outgrow the planet’s resources. Robert Engelman offers a
decidedly different vision—one that celebrates women’s
widespread desire for smaller families. Mothers aren’t
seeking more children, he argues, but more for their
children. If they’re able to realize their intentions, we
just might suffer less climate change, hunger, and disease,
not to mention sky-high housing costs and infuriating
traffic jams.
In More, Engelman shows that this three-way dance between
population, women’s autonomy, and the natural world is as
old as humanity itself. He traces pivotal developments in
our history that set population—and society—on its current
trajectory, from hominids’ first steps on two feet to the
persecution of “witches” in Europe to the creation of
modern contraception. Both personal and sweeping, More
explores how population growth has shaped modern
civilization—and humanity as we know it. The result is a mind-stretching exploration of parenthood,
sex, and culture through the ages. Yet for all its
fascinating historical detail, More is primarily about the
choices we face today. Whether society supports women to
have children when and only when they choose to will not
only shape their lives, but the world all our children will
inherit.
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