The Critique of Antidemographic Reason
Population Theory After Marx and Malthus
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32387/prokla.v55i219.2157Keywords:
Feminism, Historical Demography, Marx, Natural Limits, Population ControlAbstract
Starting from the ongoing polarization between Malthusian pessimism and techno-optimistic faith in progress, I analyze key ideological fault lines in population theory. While ecological warnings about planetary boundaries confront a liberal belief in the innovative potential of growing populations, feminist critiques have foregrounded the social consequences of population policies. Yet this perspective often leaves the structural causes of population growth unaddressed. Therefore I call for a critical return to the Marxist critique of Malthus, which interprets demographic dynamics as expressions of historically specific relations of production and reproduction.
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