About this ebook
Throughout the collection the authors address the issues of abortion, sterilization, 'natural' childbirth, breastfeeding, surrogacy, pregnancy loss, IVF, disability and parenting, whilst focusing both on the mechanisms through which reproductive behaviours are shaped and controlled, and on the socially and culturally constructed bodies' materiality. The chapters analyse how reproductive governances are inherently attached to different social life aspects, such as gender, industry, and religion, residing within complex political domains and how these features are embodied through practices, care, rituals, and gestures. Rather than assuming corporeal materiality - the 'flesh' - as something stable and pre-given, this collection shows how different bodies are defined and shaped by local biologies, institutional practices and reproductive subjects inside and outside the Euro-American space.
This is essential reading for researchers of social, cultural and medical anthropology, sociology, and education.
About the author
Corinna Sabrina Guerzoni is a Research Fellow at the Department of Political and Social Sciences at Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Italy. Her previously research has been focused on reproductive technologies, gay parenting, new family configurations mostly between Italy and the USA.
Claudia Mattalucci is Associate Professor in Social and Cultural Anthropology at Milano-Bicocca University. Her research interests include gendered bodies; kinship and reproduction; abortion and pregnancy loss. She published several articles and edited and co-edited books on these topics.
