xi, 94 p. : ill. (some col.) A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / Implemented as one of the basic national polices of China since 1978, the one-child policy has brought both advantages and disadvantages to one-child families in urban China. This thesis explores the various consequences of current family planning practices in urban Dalian. It explains the ways in which the implementation of the policy has influenced urban one-child families' everyday life and how parents and single children handle the policy. Urban parents have accepted the state requirement for limited births and have adopted new child-rearing practices to raise their "only hope" in the changing socioeconomic context. Single children receive comprehensive parental attention and support and are widely considered as spoiled "little emperors/empresses". But at the same time they experience great pressure to perform with academic excellence in order to be capable to excel in the competition of the global market economy. Gender norms are in transition. Urban single daughters are empowered by the benefits brought by low fertility produced by the policy. As the first generation of single children grows up, their families are now confronted with the crucial issue of the "four-two-one" (four grandparents, two parents, one child) problem, which impacts the future of the one-child policy. / Committee in Charge: Dr. Ina Asim, Chair; Dr. Kathie Carpenter; Dr. Alisa Freedman

To securitise an issue is to elevate it above politics to security status. At the global level, population growth has been securitised by a number of change agents. They have arrived at an understanding of population growth as existentially threatening and of population control as the best solution. This transformative process took place during the twentieth century and was enabled largely by the United Nations. However, in some Muslim states and societies where population growth is potentially threatening and securitisation of it is necessary, Islamic factors and agents might prevent this from happening. Events and experiences suggest that population control is antithetical to Islam. Muslim states and societies tend to experience higher growth and fertility rates than their non-Muslim counterparts. Furthermore, some Islamic agents have vocally opposed global and national population control objectives. Because of these two occurrences, Islam is assumed to be pro-natalist and anti-population control. It is also assumed that Islam is causal to high fertility and growth and the failure of control efforts. But is this necessarily true? Is population control antithetical to Islam? Moreover, will Islam and its agents prevent the securitisation of population growth by Muslim states and societies? These questions are explored through the case studies of Iran and Pakistan.