Governing the womb: Abortion, Power and the Bio-Politics of Reproduction


Date: November 13, 2009
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Power relations are a central concept within gender theory, yet there are dimensions of power that remain insufficiently articulated. One of these is human reproduction, an area in which power operates on both a micro and macro level, affecting both individuals and entire populations. Control over women’s reproductive capacities – namely in the context of abortion politics – has been a focus of feminist analysis of power over the past several decades (Andermahr et al 2000). Second Wave feminist conceptualizations of gendered power relations centered largely on the concept of patriarchy, a fixed, overarching system of male dominance in which men possess power over women (Andermahr et al 2000). However, through a circulatory theorization of biopower, feminists have been compelled to reconsider whether this way of understanding power best captures the nature of the inequality they seek to address and transcend (Ramazanogolu and Holland 1993 cited in Andermahr et al 2000).


Publisher: London School of Economics and Political Science
Year of Publication: 2008
Download : Academic research on power relations around the issue of women's reproductive health

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