Laurie Mazur

Laurie Mazur is a writer and advocate on population, environment, and reproductive health and rights issues. She is the editor of A Pivotal Moment: Population, Justice & the Environmental Challenge which received a Global Media Award from the Population Institute in 2010. She also edited Beyond the Numbers: A Reader on Population, Consumption and the Environment (Island Press, 1994). Mazur founded and, for several years, directed the Funders Network on Population, Reproductive Health and Rights.

Of Rights and Resilience: Why Women’s Rights are Key to Thriving in the Age of the “Black Swan”

Laurie Mazur

Black Swan events are proliferating for many reasons—notably climate change and the growing scale and interconnectedness of the human enterprise. World population doubled in the last half-century to just under seven billion people, so there are simply more people living in harm’s way, on geologic faults and along vulnerable coastlines. In effect, we have re-engineered the planet and ushered in a new era of radical instability. Advancing and securing women's rights are a key aspect of the solution to these problems.

Is Haiti Overpopulated?

Laurie Mazur

“Overpopulation” is no more the root cause of Haiti’s misery and vulnerability than Pat Robertson’s loopy “pact with the devil.” Instead, poverty and injustice play leading roles and must be addressed to ensure self-sufficiency and resilience.

Missing the Point on Large Families

Laurie Mazur

The public shaming of Nadya Suleman and others who choose to have more than two children is the wrong approach. Instead of focusing on those who make questionable choices, why not focus on those who have no choice?