China's one-child rule is unassailably one of the most controversial social policies of all time. In the first book of its kind, Susan Greenhalgh draws on twenty years of research into China's population politics to explain how the leaders of a nation of one billion decided to limit all couples to one child. Focusing on the historic period 1978-80, when China was just reentering the global capitalist system after decades of self-imposed isolation, Greenhalgh documents the extraordinary manner in which a handful of leading aerospace engineers hijacked the population policymaking process and formulated a strategy that treated people like missiles. "Just One Child" situates these science- and policy-making practices in their broader contexts - the scientization and statisticalization of sociopolitical life - and provides the most detailed and incisive account yet of the origins of the one-child policy.

"Compelling... Masterfully crafted... Just One Child is a bold, brilliant book." -- Ruth Rogaski, Vanderbilt University Historical Stds In The Natural Sciences "Greenhalgh is our most surefooted guide to China's adventure in mass birth planning ... As a study of scientific policy-making in China, Just One Child is without peer." Science (AAAS) "The first step in questioning the one-child policy will be an open and truthful exploration of its origins and history. This book is an admirable leap towards that goal." Times Literary Supplement (TLS) "Fascinating." The Lancet "Highly engaging." -- Siumi Maria Tam Chinese Cross Currents "Greenhalgh finds the missing pieces of the puzzle." Signs "Penetrating analysis." Nature

Susan Greenhalgh is Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine. She is the coauthor of Governing China's Population: From Leninist to Neoliberal Biopolitics and the author of Under the Medical Gaze: Facts and Fictions of Chronic Pain (UC Press).