Description
Book SynopsisExplains how the leaders China decided to limit all couples to one child. This book focuses on the historic period 1978-80 and documents the manner in which a handful of leading aerospace engineers hijacked the population policymaking process and formulated a strategy that treated people like missiles.
Trade Review"Compelling... Masterfully crafted... Just One Child is a bold, brilliant book." -- Ruth Rogaski, Vanderbilt University Historical Stds In The Natural Sciences "Greenhalgh is our most surefooted guide to China's adventure in mass birth planning ... As a study of scientific policy-making in China, Just One Child is without peer." Science (AAAS) "The first step in questioning the one-child policy will be an open and truthful exploration of its origins and history. This book is an admirable leap towards that goal." Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "Fascinating." The Lancet "Highly engaging." -- Siumi Maria Tam Chinese Cross Currents "Greenhalgh finds the missing pieces of the puzzle." Signs "Penetrating analysis." Nature
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xix 1. Introduction: An Anthropology of Science Making and Policymaking 1 2. History: The "Ideology" Before the "Science" 45 making population science 79 3. A Chinese Marxian Statistics of Population 81 4. A Sinified Cybernetics of Population 125 5. A Chinese Marxian Humanism of Population 169 making population policy 191 6. The Scientific Revolution in Chengdu 193 7. Ally Recruitment in Beijing 232 8. Scientific Policymaking in Zhongnanhai 271 9. Conclusion: Why an Epistemic Approach Matters 307 Notes 345 List of Interviews 361 References 371 Index 395
