Critical masses : the global population challenge /

Moffett's short, clearly written, and basically optimistic look at "the population problem" combines demographic and economic research with compelling personal stories. The solutions it identifies--international public awareness; improved access to family planning services; education and income-producing opportunities for women--are hardly earthshaking, especially after the recent International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo, the outcome of which this book anticipates. Although containing no startling new revelations, the book does succinctly and cogently express the most important conclusions to emanate from Cairo, and they bear repeating. There are chapters on the impact of population growth on cities, on food production, and on the environment; several chapters (of course) on family planning (the basic model put forward is to reduce the demand for large families by overcoming gender inequalities); and a concise history of US population policy. Along the way, voices from Kenya, Guatemala, Thailand, and Mexico humanize the issues. The author concludes that "the task of attaining population stabilization is both affordable and achievable." All levels. M. A. Gwynne; SUNY at Stony Brook

Texts on world demography risk being every bit as dry as the numbers underlying explosive population growth. Moffett, diplomatic correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, avoids that pitfall by placing this critical global quandary within the context of individual lives. From the slums of Mexico City to villages of Bangladesh, he brings into stark relief the effects of overpopulation on the lives of ``real people'' he has interviewed. He demonstrates that family planning initiatives will be successful only when implemented within a holistic social setting, including broad improvements in women's health care and an increase in women's social status and economic options. In locales where this has been largely accomplished, such as Thailand and South Korea, birthrates have fallen. Yet Moffett also stresses that the actual number of births each year has been steadily rising worldwide. We are, he argues convincingly, at a crossroads where appropriate action must be taken. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

A thoughtful, evenhanded, and accessible mix of reporting and analysis concerning population control, by the diplomatic correspondent of the Christian Science Monitor. Acknowledging the complexities of population growth, Moffett finds cause for both trepidation and hope. He ranges widely to illustrate the issues involved. Considering Cairo as a case of third-world urban overcrowding, he describes the political effects (including the resurgence of radical Islam among the poor) and the economic effects (such as urban encroachment on farmlands). Drawing on successful examples elsewhere, he suggests decentralization, housing deregulation, increased farm output, and a stronger private sector as solutions. Considering countries like Kenya, which can no longer feed their people, he proposes such nation-specific strategies as water conservation and replenishing the soil with nutrients, noting that biotechnological research has seldom focused on Third World agricultural problems. Still, if developing countries are to lower their rate of population growth, their citizens must begin to want smaller families, a change in attitude that will require improving the education and status of women in societies that are often patriarchal. While Moffett observes that religious belief does not preclude contraception in many Catholic countries, he is critical of the Church's population policies and its power at the United Nations. Though the Reagan and Bush administrations, influenced by laissez-faire economics and opposition to abortion, retarded world population control, Moffett thinks much can still be done. He may be pollyannish about the peace ushered in by the end of the Cold War, but he's right in observing that favorable conditions exist for wealthy nations and international organizations to address the world demographic explosion. The book could use more edge, both in its prose and its attitude toward experts, but it should aid anybody engaged with this vital issue. (Author tour)