We are in a state of extreme overshoot, which is driven by too many people on the planet consuming too much. This should not be a controversial statement. And yet, bringing up the population issue, or even the term “overpopulation”, has become so taboo, that many reputable environmental organizations, journalists, and academics will engage in complicated mental gymnastics to deny this biophysical reality. 

I write not to prove that we are overpopulated – there is abundant evidence – scientific and sociological – to show that we are. Rather, my goal is to expose the ideology of population denial, and to show that it undermines the very causes that those who embrace this ideology often stand for: reproductive and children’s rights, environmental conservation, and animal protection.

I was born and raised in India and moved to Canada as a teenager with my family in 1998. When I was born in 1981, India was the second most populous country with 700 million people. Today, with 1.4 billion people, India is the most populous country. Despite the rigid patriarchal norms, my parents raised me with progressive values, a strong education, and the knowledge that I could pursue any career path that I wished. Owing to my love for airplanes and space exploration, I chose to become an aerospace engineer [ironically, today, as a ecocentric minimalist, I no longer fly and reject the techno-colonial mindset surrounding space exploration].

In my late 20s, I met my now-husband (who, for context, is White Canadian), and as we were becoming serious in our relationship, the question about children came up. Specifically, he asked me, “What are your thoughts on having or not having kids?” Confused, I responded, “What do you mean? Don’t we have to?” He smiled and said, “Of course, not. That’s a decision we make together.” I was left in a state of two conflicting emotions – joy and shock. That I could choose to not have children was overwhelmingly liberating. That I, a feminist, an aerospace engineer, and a seemingly independent thinker, didn’t know until I was 28 that I even had the choice, was shocking. 

My husband and I quickly decided that we wouldn’t have children, and that conversation was a pivotal moment that changed the direction of my life forever. 

Why did I think that motherhood was an inevitability? And how many others were there who, like me, didn’t know they had a choice? I learned there was a name for this ideology – pronatalism – the unrelenting cultural and institutional pressures to have children that prevents us all from making liberated and responsible reproductive choices. Whether it’s the parental expectation for grandchildren, the religious commandments to “be fruitful and multiply,” or the political pressures for more labourers, taxpayers, consumers, or soldiers, pronatalism is the oldest form of reproductive control that undermines autonomy. Despite its contemporary resonance in movies, commercials, and magazines that valorize pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood, pronatalism is a very old idea with a long and troubling history. It was institutionalized by men who led early states and empires 5,000 years ago and sought to consolidate their power through population growth.

Pronatalism’s deep roots shape today’s politics. We can see it play out every time a nation’s leader makes concerted efforts to encourage childbirth, restricts voting rights of people with fewer children, or outlaws free speech on the childfree choice. We can see it when religious leaders spread myths about fertility decline. We can see it when men inflict violence on their partners for using contraception.

It wasn’t a coincidence that I was raised to believe that motherhood was my destiny and that India is the most populous country. Pronatalism is a key feature of patriarchal states, and those that continue to uphold oppressive gender norms also happen to have the highest fertility rates.

Seen through a feminist lens, overpopulation is the result of pronatalism, which undermines not only reproductive choice but also the rights of children to be born into conditions conducive to their wellbeing – socially, materially, and ecologically. By countering pronatalism and empowering reproductive choice, we make sure that motherhood (and parenthood) are the result of deliberate and mindful decisions. When women achieve reproductive freedom and the means to regulate their fertility, they tend to have fewer or no children. Empowering girls and women, specifically by confronting harmful patriarchal and pronatalist norms, is the pathway to a smaller global population that can enjoy a high quality of life within an ecologically flourishing biosphere. 

The dismissal of overpopulation as a factor in our social and ecological crises is often rooted in concerns over coercive population control measures of our recent past, especially in the world’s high-fertility poor regions. But we shouldn’t ignore the prevalence and success of voluntary family planning efforts that have benefited both women and the environment. In addition, such denial also entirely misses the millennia-old chokehold of compulsive pronatalism in driving population growth. While we must denounce any top-down coercive policies and perspectives to reduce our population, the scientific and ecological basis of the fact that there are too many of us cannot be denied.

The word “overpopulation” has a longer history as a term used simply to describe organisms that exceed the carrying capacity of their ecosystems. As part of the web of life, humans are not exempt from inclusion in this group. As such, using the term overpopulation places our species within that web rather than above it.

While human overpopulation is not the only factor driving ecological overshoot, it is the most neglected one, and the factor that intensifies every crisis confronting us. This is why we must tackle overpopulation along with the other major drivers, including overconsumption, human supremacy, technological solutionism, and free-market fundamentalism.

Since my epiphany about the link between pronatalism and overpopulation 15 years ago, I now teach the only graduate online course that draws these connections titled Pronatalism, Overpopulation and the Planet, open to anyone through Antioch University. In addition, my organization Population Balance is the only organization globally that draws the connections between pronatalism, human supremacy, social inequalities, and ecological overshoot. We do this through our two podcasts: OVERSHOOT and Beyond Pronatalism, our free guest presentations, and our media and academic publications. We welcome collaborations with other justice- and sustainability-oriented organizations.

Nandita Bajaj
Executive Director, Population Balance
Senior Lecturer, Antioch University

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