«Too many people?». Il laboratorio portoricano e le politiche di controllo della natalità come strumento di modernità e sviluppo

Since the early 20th century, the US has used Puerto Rico as a testing ground for birth control policies. After WWII, the island also became, as Raymond Carr wrote, “a showcase for democracy” in the context of the Cold War and in opposition to neighboring Cuba. The essay discusses the nexus between birth control politics and the exporting of the American Way of Life in Puerto Rico by analyzing how the themes of development, modernization and democracy were developed in a special issue on Puerto Rico that the Annals of Political and Social Sciences published in 1953.