Politics of the Womb: Women, Reproduction, and the State in Kenya (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780520235403)

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.

Author: Lynn Thomas
ISBN-10: 0520235401
ISBN-13: 9780520235403
Publisher: University of California Press
Language: English
Published: 08/20/2003
Pages: 300
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.96lbs
Size: 9.39h x 6.40w x 1.19d