Betsy Hartmann Livres

With a new prologue by the author, this feminist classic is an important gateway into the controversial topic of population for students, activists, researchers and policymakers. It challenges the myth of overpopulation, uncovering the deeper roots of poverty, environmental degradation and gender inequalities. With vivid case studies, it explores how population control programs came to be promoted by powerful governments, foundations and international agencies as an instrument of Cold War development and security policy. Mainly targeting poor women, these programs were designed to drive down birth rates as rapidly and cheaply as possible, with coercion often a matter of course. In the war on population growth, birth control was deployed as a weapon, rather than as a tool of reproductive choice. Threaded throughout Reproductive Rights and Wrongs is the story of how international women's health activists fought to reform population control and promote a new agenda of sexual and reproductive health and rights for all people. While their efforts bore fruit, many obstacles remain. On one side is the anti-choice movement that wants to deny women access not only to abortion, but to most methods of contraception. On the other is a resurgent, well-funded population control lobby that often obscures its motives with the language of women's empowerment. Despite declining birth rates worldwide - average global family size is now 2.5 children - overpopulation alarm is on the rise, tied now to the threats of climate change and terrorism. Reproductive Rights and Wrongs helps readers understand how these contemporary developments are rooted in the longer history and politics of population control. In the pages of this book a new generation of readers will find knowledge, argumentation and inspiration that will help in ongoing struggles to achieve reproductive rights and social, environmental and gender justice

Has apocalyptic thinking contributed to some of our nation's biggest problems—inequality, permanent war, and the despoiling of our natural resources? From the Puritans to the present, historian and public policy advocate Betsy Hartmann sheds light on a pervasive but—until now—invisible theme shaping the American mindset: apocalyptic thinking, or the belief that the end of the world is nigh. Hartmann makes a compelling case that apocalyptic fears are deeply intertwined with the American ethos, to our detriment. In The America Syndrome, she seeks to reclaim human agency and, in so doing, revise the national narrative. By changing the way we think, we just might change the world.

A mysterious suicide in a military prison sets off a chain of events involving a president whose alcoholism threatens his leadership, and a White House advisor who acts outside the law. As the nation's future hangs in the balance, a Supreme Court justice, a young congressional aide, and a grieving mother become embroiled in a struggle for their ideals and survival. This gripping narrative explores themes of intrigue, courage, and the relentless pursuit of power, reflecting contemporary political tensions.

Set against the backdrop of a small New England town grappling with the drug war, a single mother, Laura Everett, faces the challenge of protecting her teenage son from dangerous influences. As she navigates her own feelings of love and the risks surrounding her son and his friends, Laura must confront her fears and step beyond her comfort zone to take decisive action for their safety. The story explores themes of motherhood, resilience, and the quest for hope in a troubled environment.