1 known location can be tried.
1 known location can be tried.
Browner, C.H. and C.F. Sargent ( eds ), Reproduction, Globalization, and the State: New Theoretical and Ethnographic Perspectives . Duke University Press , 2011 £15.99 (pbk ) xiv + 294 pp . ISBN: 978-0-8223-4960-0 This edited volume brings together an eclectic collection of work from around the globe by anthropologists interested in the social aspects of human reproduction. In building on thirty years of research and scholarship in this area, Browner and Sargent have been ambitious in their aims, which are first, to better define and operationalise concepts such as the global, the state, the local and the individual and then to apply them to human reproduction; second, to garner a more finely-tuned conceptualisation of human agency; and third, to contribute to the development of better strategies for research in this area. This book is not only geographically wide ranging but it also encompasses many aspects of human reproduction. There has been a tendency for anthropological collections in this area of research to be limited to examining one single aspect of reproduction, for example, assisted reproduction, or perhaps to concentrate on studies from one country or continent: for recent examples see Whittaker (2010)Abortion in Asia or Birenbaum-Carmeli and Carmeli (2010)Kin, Gene, Community: Reproductive Technologies among Jewish Israelis. To their credit, Browner and Sargent have found room in this volume for scholarship on many diverse aspects of individuals’ reproductive journeys. For example, there are chapters on family planning, screening technologies and paternity testing as well as on fertility treatment. Nor is the book limited to women’s reproductive experiences: there are chapters written by men that are about men. These aspects make it a refreshing, illuminating and diverse read, particularly in part one which considers ‘Global technologies, state policies and their impact on local realities’. Indeed, this is where the book is at its most readable. The tool deployed by several chapter authors – using case studies to illuminate how the global intrudes on life at the local level – is used to great effect in this section. Contributions to this part include chapters on China’s one-child policy, the impact of AIDS on child-bearing in South India and an important chapter, albeit controversial, on female genital cutting (FGC) in Sudan, that demonstrates how Sudanese women are caught between competing global ideologies but also leads the reader to question the impact of the anti-FGC movement on the lives of women it seeks to empower. Part three of the collection is also very good. Here the contributors consider the impact of migration on individuals’ reproductive lives: particularly noteworthy was the chapter by Mark Padilla on male sexual labour in Dominican tourism areas. Another strong chapter in this section was from Carolyn Sargent on the tensions inherent in the reproductive lives of West African migrants to France when they come into contact with medical professionals. Having said this, while the global feel to the book is one of its many strengths, it was notable that there is no representation from the Antipodes and I felt that a contribution from Australia or New Zealand could have enhanced this collection. Disappointing too was the rather unbalanced feel of the book. Parts one and three had six chapters apiece but part two, entitled ‘Biotechnology, biocommerce and body commodification’ had only three. This was the part I was most looking forward to reading and it needed more substance to it. Moreover, a more explicit link needed to be made to the unifying concepts that the authors were supposed to be illuminating: as a reader I felt slightly lost as to the contribution they made to the book in that particular section as well as to the collection as a whole. Notwithstanding this, Reproduction, Globalization, and the State succeeds in its aims and it is a welcome contribution to this field of study. It is timely, too, because at a point where concerns over the availability of funding for the social sciences are paramount, this book reminds us of the importance of social science research regarding men and women’s reproductive lives. This book will be of interest both to undergraduate students and research scholars whose focus is human reproduction. Its appeal will lie beyond anthropology and gender studies and will extend to sociologists who research or teach in this area of study.
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