Fertility, Fecundity, + Population (Lec 12)

Lecture 12

Khanna District

-brebasket of India, -Punjab state, Manupur

Punjab state

20% higher density than the rest of India

Manupur

75% higher density than the rest of Punjab, --village population: 8000, --village are: 4 sq km

Khanna Research Project

-harvard school of public health initiative, 1953-1960, -1 mil dollars over 6 years, -goal

goal of Khanna Research Project

implement birth control, reduce fertility + control population growth

Outcome

-total failure: no significant decrease in the fertility rate -why: was it flawed?

Population + Scales of Consciousness

-national + global consciousness, -individual + household consciousness, -trying to get individuals to act in the interest of nations, -trying to get nations to act in the interest of all people

-national + global consciousness

-population policy + family planning, -future orientation

-individual + household consciousness

-economic needs, -concern for the present

Understanding population growth in Khanna District

-must take history into account, -must understand significant changes in the political economy, -must understand changing dynamics in the allocation and purpose of labor

History

-pre british-1400 to 1800 (subsistence based mode of production), -british- 1800 to 1947 (capitalist mode of production), -socialist India- 1947-1984, -free market India- 1984 to present

resource distribution

Jajmani system

land

controlled by a small minority but not considered property to be bought + sold

-british- 1800 to 1947 (capitalist mode of production)

-crop taxation, -LAND TURNED INTO A COMMODITY

-socialist India- 1947-1984

-land reform, -preference given to small farmers

The Jajmani System

-an economic system of redistribution based on the reciprocal exchange of goods + services through a division of labor, -caste-based division of labor: -jats: peasant farmers, -brahmins: ritual priests, -kamins: artisans

Jats 1400-1800

-large land holding, -land controlled BUT NOT OWNED, -”kamins” work the land + also exchange services for a share of the crops, -rigid inequality, -benevolent dependency

british land reform

-land revenue systems: -⅓ of gross yearly estimated yield must be paid as tac to the state, -tax must be paid in cash, -LAND TURNED INTO A COMMODITY

Change in Political Economy

-A small percentage of Jat farmers become very wealth landlords with enormous estates

-The vast majority of Jats sell all or some of their land + are in chronic debt to very wealthy moneylenders

-Kamins work as indentured servants + are pain in kind

Reform after Independence example 1:

-land redistributed to Jats + all other caste groups

Reform after Independence example 2:

-land remains a commodity

Reform after Independence example 3:

-subsidies for small farmers

Reform after Independence example 4:

-taxes reduced or removed

The problem 1947-1984

-not enough land to go around, -to many mouths to feed, -high fertility rate + lower morbidity due to better health care + improved nutrition, -government projection, -need for family planning

government projection

rate of population growth can’t be sustained

Khanna Project Philosophy

-overpopulation is a disease that can be understood by using epidemiological methods + solved by implementing public health based family planning methods of contraception

-Overpopulation in more depth

is a malady of society that produces wasted bodies, minds + spirits just as surely as have other familiar scourges-leprosy, tuberculosis, cancer..The problem in India is of epidemic proportions. Family planning lack the spectacular elements of penicillin

The Khanna Research Project assumptions

-people are poor because they have large families, -people will choose to have fewer children when they realize that more are surviving

people want small families because 1:

-the problem of land fragmentation

people want small families because 2:

-fewer children means less expenditure + greater wealth

people want small families because 3:

-having fewer children reduces the inherent risk of childbirth to women

-people want small families because 4:

-better care can be given to fewer children

The Infant Mortality Hypothesis

-people have more children than they want or need because they miscalculate, -rapid decreased in infant mortality rate-as happened between 1940 + 1970-increases the degree of miscalculation

Khanna Study

-very little “cultural” bias, but..-presumed that the villagers would think like family planning workers + policy makers

the villagers would think like family planning workers + policy makers examples:

-population growth is a “disease” and intrinsically a problem, -if you give them condoms they will use them, -if you explain that infant mortality has declined then people with have fewer children

Why Khanna Study failed

-profound misunderstand of the problem, -”people are poor because they have too many children..” if they have fewer children they will have fewer mouths to feed

Large families = labor

-people are not poor because they have large families, “They have large families because they are poor”

Jat farmer-darbar singh

-”You told me that I was a poor man and could not support a large family. Now you see, because of my large family, I am a rich man. They are grown up and bring me money.”