Politics of the Womb: Women, Reproduction, and the State in KenyaUniversity of California Press, 2003 M08 20 - 300 pages In more than a metaphorical sense, the womb has proven to be an important site of political struggle in and about Africa. By examining the political significance—and complex ramifications—of reproductive controversies in twentieth-century Kenya, this book explores why and how control of female initiation, abortion, childbirth, and premarital pregnancy have been crucial to the exercise of colonial and postcolonial power. This innovative book enriches the study of gender, reproduction, sexuality, and African history by revealing how reproductive controversies challenged long-standing social hierarchies and contributed to the construction of new ones that continue to influence the fraught politics of abortion, birth control, female genital cutting, and HIV/AIDS in Africa. |
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Politics of the Womb: Women, Reproduction, and the State in Kenya Lynn M. Thomas Limited preview - 2003 |
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abortion Affiliation Act African Courts African women April areas argued birth black Kenyan bridewealth British central Kenya child childbirth Chogoria Church of Scotland Colonial Office Council court officials customary law Daily Nation daughters December defendant District Commissioner East African excision fathers female circumcision female genital cutting female initiation gender girls headmen hospital Interviewed by Rosemary June Kenyatta Kigwarie Kikuyu Kirimi Kithiira and author LNC members Lord Passfield M'Inoti Maendeleo ya Wanawake male March marriage marry Mary Holding maternity ward Mau Mau rebellion Meru District Meru language Meru LNC Methodist Missionary midwives mission moral mothers Mpuri Nairobi National Assembly Debates Native Ngaitana North Imenti older women parents plaintiff political politicians population postcolonial practice preg pregnancy compensation premarital pregnancy Presbyterian repeal bill Report reproductive concerns Rosemary Kithiira schoolgirls sexual social Taifa Tape recording Tigania tion woman womb young women
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Page xi - The initial research on which this book is based was funded by a grant from the Joint Committee on African Studies of the Social Science Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies...
Page 258 - Getting Close to the Hearts of Mothers': Medical Missionaries among African Women and Children in Johannesburg between the Wars.
Page 265 - The Pattern of Income, Expenditure and Consumption of African Middle Income Workers in Nairobi, July, 1963, 1964, (Ken.