A biopolitics of population decline: the Australian Women's Sphere as a discourse of resistance

Abstract

Population decline at the last fin de siècle produced considerable debate among scholars, bureaucrats, and politicians. Material about this issue in the popular press of the day is also significant, allowing reflection on colonial attitudes toward the feminine, the home, and nature. Some commentators argued that these three were enduringly interconnected, and were critical to understanding both population decline and the decline of the population. Others challenged such positions. In this paper, I set out a preliminary exploration of such views by analysing excerpts from the Australian Women's Sphere for their treatment of the feminine, the home, and nature. I refer also to their differentially placed constitution in the urban and the rural, the private and the public, and the nation.