The Politics Of The Body In Weimar Germany: Women’s Reproductive Rights And Duties (studies In Gender History)

This book analyses how the Weimar Republic put Germany in the forefront of social reform and women's emancipation with wide-ranging maternal welfare programmes and labour protection laws. Its enlightened policy of family planning and liberalised abortion laws offered women a new measure of control over their lives. But the new politics of the body also increased state intervention, the power of the medical profession and the tendency to sacrifice women's rights to national interests whenever the Volk seemed in danger of 'racial decline'. Front Matter....Pages i-xx Introduction....Pages 1-30 Maternity....Pages 31-68 Sexuality....Pages 69-101 Contraception....Pages 102-155 Abortion....Pages 156-201 Conclusions....Pages 202-213 Back Matter....Pages 214-304