The Making of Bio-political Knowledge: Fertility Studies in Early Cold War Taiwan

• In Event: 034 - Section on Science, Knowledge and Technology Paper Session. Bodies and Sexualities in Science and Technology Studies (co-sponsored by the Section on Body and Embodiment)

Abstract

The making of bio-political knowledge during the early Cold War period in Taiwan depended crucially upon surveys of reproductive behavior, especially of women. This article analyzes the factors and actors that played major roles in laying the groundwork for, and implementing the techniques, that led to the making of this knowledge. Over the past decade, historians and science and technology studies (STS) scholars have critically analyzed the global campaign to limit population growth by examining U.S. Cold War strategic involvement and contraceptive medicine as part of that campaign. Few works, however, have discussed the significance of social knowledge regarding fertility behavior or how such knowledge was produced and utilized. Engaging with the theme of the technoscientific turn in Cold War history and with science studies‘ highlighting of the role of science in policymaking, this article begins by first characterizing Taiwan’s population politics within its Cold War context. It then investigates three kinds of fertility studies conducted in the 1950s, probing the ways that Taiwanese and American actors participated in the making of bio-political knowledge.

Author

• Yu-Ling Huang, National Taiwan University