wl-7036- Construction of Small-family Norm in Post-independence India: Science and the Official Discourse

In this article, I analyze the processes through which the small-family norm, the idea that a couple should have a small family of 2-3 children, in India gained scientific and political authority to become official government policy during the period of 1947-1986. In the years following Indian independence, official institutions like the Indian Army and influential individuals like former census commissioner R A Gopalswami were among the first to promote a small-family norm of 2-3 children. The extension education and family planning communication campaign of the 1960s, funded largely by the Ford Foundation and aimed at manufacturing consent, created an “illusion of legitimation” among people about the need for small-family norm. The prescription of small-family norm became a specific call for two-child norm by 1970s and reached the apex of national political agenda by appearing in the 20-point program of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. In this process, official advocacy for the small-family norm ignored findings from government's own scientific studies that indicated a preference among Indians for larger families and more sons at the time and overlooked the need to focus policy agenda to address the underlying reasons for such preferences.