Reproduction and Biopolitics

The central theme of this volume is the notion of "irrational reproduction": the ways in which women’s and couples’ reproductive choices and practices are deemed "irrational" or "irresponsible" because they result in the "wrong number" of children. Inspired by Foucault’s theories on biopolitics and biopower and by a long tradition of feminist anthropological studies on reproduction, the ethnographically based papers collected in this volume track discourses and practices across different social and politico-economic contexts and geographic areas. _x005F_x000D_ This book was originally published as a special issue of Anthropology and Medicine.