Family Planning Communication in India : The Actors and the Acts

This book is the first systematic study on the historiography of the family planning communication process in India. It traces the history of the development of a highly technical health communication process. It discusses how the discourse on India’s population problem was at the heart of the development dialogue which was being promoted by the British colonial administration. The book examines the role of the censuses and the Five-Year plans in the development of the discussion on the population ‘explosion’ in India. Also, it critically discusses the role of the Ford Foundation’s leadership in institutionalising the communication process in India. The book essentially argues that population control communication enabled the ideas of a homogenised nation, an ‘ideal’ Indian woman and an ‘ideal’ Indian family. This, in turn, led to the obliteration of cultural, ethnic, geographical and economic specificities of India as a country. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of public policy, media and communication studies, Indian politics, modern Indian history and South Asian Studies. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Foreword Note Introduction Chapter Outline Notes References Chapter 1: Malthusian Heritage and Family Planning in India: A Historiography The Background: The Malthus Effect Indian Economy and Malthusian Explanation Pre-Independence Census and Its Impact on the Idea of Population The Indian Birth Control Movement and the Upper-Caste Males Indian Eugenics and Population Control Committees and Population Control Family Planning: Malthusianism, Neo-Malthusianism and Eugenics Post-Independence Family Planning Efforts: The Neo-Malthusian Discourse Family Planning Programme in the Time of Emergency Post Emergency Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Development Communication: Theory and Practice Development: Just Modernisation Development Communication: History and Theory The Bretton Woods School Development Communication Development Communication Based on Theory of Modernisation Diffusionism Conclusion Notes References Chapter 3: Family Planning Communication: The Actors and the Acts Introduction Development Communication: Initiation Development Communication Policy: Implications on Family Planning in India Five-Year Plans and Family Planning Communication Surveys, Studies and Findings SITE and Family Planning Communication Emergency and Family Planning Communication Role of Ford Foundation in the Family Planning Communication in India Post-Emergency Family Planning Communication Notes References Chapter 4: Family Planning Communication through the Intersection of Nationalism, Religion, Caste, Class and Gender Introduction Nation as an Idea India as a Nation: Construction and Continuation Indian National Congress: Nationalism versus Secularism The Recipe of Nationalism: Religion, Gender, Caste and Class Post-Independence Indian Nation The Ideal Indian Family The Indian Woman Gendering the Nation Family Planning and Religion Hindu Nationalism and Saffron Demography Caste Discourse and Family Planning Intersectionality of Caste and Gender Ancient Hindu Texts and Women Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: Conclusion: Is There One? Notes References Index "This book is the first systematic study on the historiography of the family planning communication process in India. It traces the history of the development of a highly technical health communication process. It discusses how the discourse on India's population problem was at the heart of the development dialogue which was being promoted by the British colonial administration. The book examines the role of the censuses and the Five-Year plans in the development of the discussion on the population 'explosion' in India"-- Provided by publisher