caa a22 4500 397524560 CHVBK 20180308164641.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161202e19950801xx s 000 0 eng 10.2307/3096851 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)oxford-10.2307/3096851 Arguments and Action in the Life of a Social Problem: A Case Study of "Overpopulation” 1946-1990 [Elektronische Daten] [John R. Wilmoth, Patrick Ball] In this paper, we consider the issue of world population growth using a contextual constructionist perspective. We first develop a theoretical model that allows us to distinguish between interpretive packages (which organize the arguments about the pros and cons of population growth) and proposed solutions (such as population control and family planning). We review the political and organizational history of the population control movement in the period after World War II. Based on readings culled from the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature during 1946-1990, we examine the relationship between argument claims (packages) and potential ameliorative actions (solutions). We conclude that the emergence of birth control as a politically and technologically feasible solution to overpopulation in the early 1960s helped to unify the packages of arguments favoring population control during the next two decades. We test three specific hypotheses about the role of a proposed solution on the organization of argument claims about a social problem. These hypotheses are only partially confirmed by our empirical analysis, thus underlining that the presence or absence of a feasible solution for a social problem is only one aspect, albeit a potentially important one, of its competitiveness in various public arenas. Building on our distinction between argument claims and proposed solutions, we conclude by reflecting on the relationship between science and ideology. © 1995 Society for the Study of Social Problems, Inc. Social Problems Theory nationallicence Wilmoth John R. University of California, Berkeley aut Ball Patrick University of California, Berkeley aut Social Problems Oxford University Press 42/3(1995-08-01), 318-343 0037-7791 42:3<318 1995 42 socpro https://doi.org/10.2307/3096851 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.2307/3096851 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Wilmoth John R. University of California, Berkeley aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ball Patrick University of California, Berkeley aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Social Problems Oxford University Press 42/3(1995-08-01), 318-343 0037-7791 42:3<318 1995 42 socpro Metadata rights reserved CC BY-NC-4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-oxford