The Neo-Malthusian Reflex in Climate Politics: Technocratic, Right Wing and Feminist References

Abstract

ABSTRACT A neo-Malthusian reflex can be observed in the climate debate: statistical calculations link climate change to world population growth and suggest strategies for birth control. The undead neo-Malthusian ghost is being revived, with its reference to the category of ‘population’ and its colonial-racist and social-Darwinist legacies. This article discusses this dangerous development, paying particular but not exclusive attention to German constellations, showing that the actors who strengthen this narrative range from ecological mainstream positions to those right-wing forces who do not deny climate change. However, some climate activist and feminist positions have also contributed by advocating a birth strike as a strategy for containing climate change. The article analyses three dimensions of neo-Malthusianism: the abstract statistical construction of an excess population; the historically deeply rooted racist and classist attribution of this excess to ‘others’; and the totalitarian visions of global ‘fertility’ management. The argument is that even if the racist and classist attributions are not directly addressed by the more progressive political actors, the three dimensions of neo-Malthusianism strongly flow together and reinforce each other. In conclusion, the text takes up anti-Malthusian feminist perspectives which place a special emphasis on the concept of reproductive justice.