Politics of the Womb : Women, Reproduction, and the State in Kenya

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. Frontmatter Acknowledgments (page ix) List of Abbreviations (page xiii) Maps (page xv) INTRODUCTION (page 1) 1. IMPERIAL POPULATIONS AND "WOMEN'S AFFAIRS" (page 21) 2. COLONIAL UPLIFT AND GIRL-MIDWIVES (page 52) 3. MAU MAU AND THE GIRLS WHO "CIRCUMCISED THEMSELVES" (page 79) 4. LATE COLONIAL CUSTOMS AND WAYWARD SCHOOLGIRLS (page 103) 5. POSTCOLONIAL NATIONALISM AND "MODERN" SINGLE MOTHERS (page 135) CONCLUSION (page 173) Notes (page 187) Bibliography (page 235) Index (page 289)