Women’s Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Development

Dennis Hodgson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Fairfield University where he taught from 1976 until 2014. He was on the editorial committee of Population and Development Review from 2010 through 2021. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from Cornell University where he was a student in its International Population Program from 1969 until 1976. Hodgson's research has focused on understanding the relationship of population trends to the development of population theory and policy. He has published a number of articles analyzing the post-WWII period when most demographers came to see the rapid growth of population in the developing world as a crisis in need of policy intervention. He is coauthor with John Bongaarts of Fertility Transition in the Developing World (2022). He has published several articles on the role played by abortion in the fertility transition, and on the complex interaction between a government's abortion policy and its population policy especially as it relates to reproductive rights. He was a consultant to the National Academy of Sciences consensus study of Women's Empowerment, Population Dynamics, and Socioeconomic Development (2024). He has also published articles on the role that population concerns have played at various times in US history, from the 18th century through the early 20th century.

• 1. Introduction.- 2. The Mid-Century Origins of an International Population Control Movement, 1950-1970.- 3. Fertility Transitions and Reproductive Rights, 1970–2000.- 4. 21st Century Diversity in Fertility, Development, and Women’s Empowerment.- 5. Development and Women’s Empowerment Challenges of the High Fertility Population.- 6. Very Low Fertility, Concerns over Development and Women’s Reproductive Rights.- 7. Conclusions.