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ID134641
Title ProperBarbarian hordes
Other Title Informationthe overpopulation scapegoat in international development discourse
LanguageENG
AuthorFletcher, Robert ;  Breitling, Jan ;  Puleo, Valerie
Summary / Abstract (Note)Despite sustained critique of a neo-Malthusian focus on ‘overpopulation’, the issue continues to resurface regularly within international development discourse, particularly with respect to ‘sustainable’ development in relation to growing environmental security concerns. This suggests that the issue defies purely rational evaluation, operating on a deeper psychodynamic register. In this paper we therefore analyse the population question as a ‘scapegoat’, in the psychoanalytic sense of a fantasmatic construction concealing the gap between the symbolic order of international development and its persistent failure in practice. By conjuring the age-old image of animalistic barbarian hordes breeding inexorably and therefore overflowing their Third World confines to threaten the security – and enjoyment – of wealthier nations, the overpopulation bogeyman helps to displace attention from systemic issues within the political economy of development, namely, the futility of pursuing sustainable development within the context of a neoliberal capitalism that characteristically exacerbates both economic inequality and environmental degradation.
`In' analytical NoteThird World Quarterly Vol.35, No.7; 2014: p.1195-1215
Journal SourceThird World Quarterly Vol: 35 No 7
Standard NumberPopulation


 
 
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