A Companion to the Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology

Provides fresh perspectives on the past, present and future-facing contributions of the anthropology of reproduction. A Companion to the Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology provides a timely and comprehensive overview of the anthropological study of reproductive practices, technologies, and interventions in a global context. Exploring the medical and technological management of human reproduction through a sociocultural lens, this groundbreaking volume reviews past and current research, discusses contemporary debates and recent theoretical developments, introduces key themes and trends, examines ongoing issues of equity, inclusivity, and reproductive justice around the world, and more. The Companion brings together essays by multidisciplinary scholars in fields including sociocultural anthropology, medical anthropology, reproductive health, global public health, Science and Technology Studies (STS), gender and sexuality studies, critical race studies, and environmental studies, to list but a few. Five thematically organized sections address reproductive practitioners and paradigms, global reproductive health and interventions, reproductive justice, the life-course approach to the study of reproductive health, and the future of reproductive technology and medicine. Using clear, jargon-free language, the authors investigate pregnancy and childbirth; fertility treatments; birth control, contraception and abortion; COVID-19 and reproduction; reproductive cancers; epigenetics; social discrimination; gender and sexualities and reproduction for LGBTQIA+ communities; race and reproduction; migration and reproduction; reproduction and war; reproductive health financing; reproduction and disabilities, reproduction and the environment; and other important contemporary topics. A cutting-edge guide to the modern study of reproduction, this groundbreaking volume: Provides an overview of the links between anthropological study and progressive work in medicine, healthcare, and technology Addresses both the challenges and opportunities facing researchers in the field Identifies gaps in current scholarship and offers recommendations for future research topics and methodologies Highlights the importance of ethnographic research combined with critical engagements with other disciplines for the anthropology of reproduction Explores the impact of socioeconomic conditions, environmental challenges, public policy, and legislation on reproductive health outcomes Traces the history of the field and demonstrates how anthropologists have engaged with issues of reproductive justice Part of the acclaimed Wiley Blackwell Companions to Anthropology series, A Companion to the Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology is an essential resource for undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, and scholars in medical anthropology, science technology and society, cultural anthropology, ethnology, and gender studies, as well as medical practitioners, policymakers, and activists involved in global and public health and reproductive justice. A Companion to the Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology Contents Notes on Editors Notes on Contributors Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION Tracing the Arc: The Anthropology of Reproductive Medicine and Technology SECTION I Reproductive Practitioners and Paradigms 1 Into Doctors’ Hands: Obstetric Praxis in Anthropology 2 Obstetrics and Midwifery in the United States: The Tensions between the Technocratic and Midwifery Models of Maternity Care 3 The Promise of Interculturalidad: Contestations of Culture for Indigenous Birth Care 4 On the Move: Maternal Reproductive Healthcare Practitioners in Global Circuits 5 COVID-19 and Reproductive Health: Maternity Care in Disruptive Times SECTION II Global Reproductive Health Interventions 6 The Global Safe Motherhood Initiative’s “Unintended Consequences” 7 Counted: Understanding the Problem, Perception, and Reaction to Global Maternal Mortality 8 The Future of Reproductive Health Financing 9 Reproduction and the Immigrant Experience 10 Reproduction in the Time of War: A Review of Ethnographic Studies from the United States’ War on Terror and Beyond SECTION III Reproductive Justice: Extending and Rupturing Old Boundaries 11 Anthropologies of Men, Masculinities, and Reproduction 12 Queer Reproductive Futures 13 Inconceivable: Cisnormativity and the Management of Trans and Intersex Reproduction 14 Race, Racism, and Reproductive Justice 15 Toward Environmental Reproductive Justice 16 Cripping Reproduction: The Intersections of Pregnancy and Disability SECTION IV Reproductive Life Course: Mapping More than Just Birth 17 Menstrual Materiality: Anthropological Mappings from Menstrual Taboos to the FemCare Industry 18 The Substance of Sperm 19 Hormonal Contraception: From Demographic Histories to Pleasurable Futures? 20 Anthropology of Abortion 21 Vaccines, Reproduction, and the Life Course 22 Anthropological Explorations of Women’s Reproductive Cancers SECTION V (Re)Producing the Future: Sociality of Reproductive Technology and Medicine 23 What’s New about New Reproductive Technologies? 24 Conceptualizing Surrogacy 25 The Egg Freezing Trifecta: Medical, Elective, and Transgender Fertility Preservation 26 CRISPR Enters the Fertility Clinic 27 Epigenetics and the Anthropology of Reproduction 28 Reproductive Futures CONCLUSION Aab Kahan?: Whither the Anthropology of Reproduction? AFTERWORD Reproducing on an Impaired Planet Index EULA "The history of obstetrics is also a history of power. As the field of obstetrics became more professionalized, specialized, and masculinized in the 19th century, midwifery was racialized and excised in the United States and denigrated abroad by early development efforts. Childbirth shifted into the hospital where obstetricians continue to develop medical and technological models of perinatal care"-- Provided by publisher