ABSTRACT
Concerns about Western involvement in population programs in developing countries are sometimes expressed in terms of national self-determination: the idea that nations have the right to determine their own destiny without interference or domination by foreign elements. This chapter suggests that the relationship in international population programs consists of two parties, "foreign initiator" and "domestic target". And second, it implies that each of these parties possesses a distinct and unified set of interests. The accusation of genocide has been made against population programs in some African countries. To alter existing population trends in a country often means abandoning traditional practices and thus changing the way of life of its people. Critics have argued, for instance, that population programs in some countries have employed a top-down bureaucratic style that does not adequately involve indigenous people in the processes of decision-making. The chapter examines whether and how men and women fare differently in cultures where large families are the norm.
