Document Type
Article
Abstract
In 2024, Taiwan and South Korea had the lowest fertility rates in the world. Instead of solving this demographic conundrum, this paper examines the ways in which women, family and fertility have been described, measured, and discussed across time and space in East Asia and introduces the role of US Christian ideology in propagating population control. US Christian missionaries and networks forged in China and Korea in the nineteenth century built a foundation for the social sciences of the family in early twentieth century China that developed into US modernization theory-led demography in the Republic of China on Taiwan and the Republic of Korea during the Cold War. Missionary attempts to liberate women from the shackles of the East Asian family informed research, policy and political systems that continue to make her the political target of population policies today.
Citation Information
LaCouture, Elizabeth. "Controlling Women’s Bodies and Controlling the Population in China, Korea, and Taiwan." Asia Pacific Perspectives 18, No. 2 (2025)
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