Proximate Determinants Of Fertility Decline In Japan After World War Ii

Why has postwar Japanese abortion policy been relatively progressive, while contraception policy has been relatively conservative? The Japanese government legalized abortion in 1948 but did not approve the pill until 1999. In this carefully researched study, Tiana Norgren argues that these contradictory policies flowed from very different historical circumstances and interest group configurations. Doctors and family planners used a small window of opportunity during the Occupation to legalize abortion, and afterwards, doctors and women battled religious groups to uphold the law. The pill, on the other hand, first appeared at an inauspicious moment in history. Until circumstances began to change in the mid-1980s, the pharmaceutical industry was the pill's lone champion: doctors, midwives, family planners, and women all opposed the pill as a potential threat to their livelihoods, abortion rights, and women's health. Clearly written and interwoven with often surprising facts about Japanese history and politics, Norgren's book fills vital gaps in the cross-national literature on the politics of reproduction, a subject that has received more attention in the European and American contexts. Abortion Before Birth Control will be a valuable resource for those interested in abortion and contraception policies, gender studies, modern Japanese history, political science, and public policy. This is a major contribution to the literature on reproductive rights and the role of civil society in a country usually discussed in the context of its industrial might.

DIV The world's population has grown by five billion people over the past century, an astounding 300 percent increase. Yet it is actually the decline in family size and population growth that is the issue attracting greatest concern in many countries. This eye-opening book looks at demographic trends in Europe, North America, and Asia—areas that now have low fertility rates—and argues that there is an essential yet often neglected political dimension to a full assessment of these trends. Political decisions that promote or discourage marriage and childbearing, facilitate or discourage contraception and abortion, and stimulate or restrain immigration all have played significant roles in recent trends. /div

Aus dem Inhalt: Reinder J. van Duinen, Science and the Future James W. Vaupel, Demographic Imbalance John F. B. Mitchell, Detection and Prediction of Anthropogenic Climate Change Winfried von Urff, Ernahrung fur die Welt von morgen Reinhard Margreiter, Homo faber- homo ludens Gert G. Wagner, Vollbeschaftigung aus der Sicht der Volkswirtschaftslehre Guy Kirsch, Arbeit und Civil Society Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Long-Term Energy Perspectives and Economic Development Vincenz Timmermann, Political Rights and Economic Liberties Herbert C. Kelman, International Conflict Resolution

This Handbook explores the challenges population change poses to today’s Japan. Bringing together a roster of internationally renowned scholars, it is the first publication in English that deals with Japan’s demographic crisis in a comprehensive way, addressing social, economic, political, social security and cultural aspects of Japan’s transition.

The authors examine the striking decline in Japan's birthrate in light of the rapid urbanization, industrialization, and socioeconomic development experienced by the nation since World War II.