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Accepted Paper:
Non-reproduction in the time of anti-natalist policy: Taiwanese women’s contraceptive experiences in the 1970s and 1980s
Kuo-Ing Lai
(National Taiwan University, Taiwan)
This presentation examines how demographic expertise contributed to the formation of birth control policy in Taiwan and women’s (non)reproductive experiences with the intrauterine device and other contraceptive methods during the 1970s and 1980s.
Long abstract:
Drawing on the concept of performativity proposed by the French sociologist Michel Callon, this presentation examines how the demographic transition model was utilized as a frame of reference in the initiation of the family planning policy in Taiwan as a means to modernize the country. To curb the rising birth rate, the policy constructed a network promoting the use of intrauterine devices (IUD) and other contraceptive methods (pills, condoms, and sterilization) to elicit women’s interest in limiting births. This presentation details the policy’s efforts to encourage women to use state-subsidized contraceptive methods, including specific strategies such as mass media advertisement, door-to-door visits by the family planning field workers, and coupons--a marketing device that intended to motivate women to use the IUD and simultaneously collect their personal information for evaluating the policy’s impact on birth control. This presentation also focuses on women’s actual experiences using the IUD and other contraceptive methods to avoid pregnancies during the 1970s and 1980s to understand how the policy had affected women’s (non)reproductive experiences. To conclude, this presentation will reflect on the current pro-natalist policy in Taiwan, where a new “birth control” network featuring the use of assisted reproductive technology is emerging.