Maya Unnithan – författare

Set in the context of the processes and practices of human reproduction and reproductive health in Northern India, this book examines the institutional exercise of power by the state, caste and kin groups. Drawing on ethnographic research over the past eighteen years among poor Hindu and Muslim communities in Rajasthan and among development and health actors in the state, this book contributes to developing analytic perspectives on reproductive practice, agency and the body-self as particular and novel sites of a vital power and politic. Rajasthan has been among the poorest states in the country with high levels of maternal and infant mortality and morbidity. The author closely examines how social and economic inequalities are produced and sustained in discursive and on the ground contexts of family-making, how authoritative knowledge and power in the domain of childbirth is exercised across a landscape of development institutions, how maternal health becomes a category of citizenship, how health-seeking is socially and emotionally determined and political in nature, how the health sector operates as a biopolitical system, and how diverse moral claims over the fertile, infertile and reproductive body-self are asserted, contested and often realised. A compelling analysis, this book offers both new empirical data and new theoretical insights. It draws together the practices, experiences and discourse on fertility and reproduction (childbirth, infertility, loss) in Northern India into an overarching analytical framework on power and gender politics. It will be of interest to academics in the fields of medical anthropology, medical sociology, public health, gender studies, human rights and sociolegal studies, and South Asian studies.

Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives introduces students to the dynamic field of the anthropology of reproduction, examining how human reproduction is shaped by cultural, historical, and political forces.This textbook engages with key issues such as fertility, infertility, assisted reproductive technologies, childbirth, contraception, reproductive governance, genetics, and justice. Drawing on foundational anthropological concepts—like personhood, stratified reproduction, and biopolitics—it introduces students to the various ways in which reproduction intersects with gender, sexuality, kinship, and social institutions. Through case studies and theoretical insights, the book showcases the relevance of anthropological approaches to understanding reproductive health, rights, and policy across diverse contexts.Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology, sociology, public health, allied medicine, biology, and related fields exploring reproduction, identity, and power.

Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives introduces students to the dynamic field of the anthropology of reproduction, examining how human reproduction is shaped by cultural, historical, and political forces.This textbook engages with key issues such as fertility, infertility, assisted reproductive technologies, childbirth, contraception, reproductive governance, genetics, and justice. Drawing on foundational anthropological concepts—like personhood, stratified reproduction, and biopolitics—it introduces students to the various ways in which reproduction intersects with gender, sexuality, kinship, and social institutions. Through case studies and theoretical insights, the book showcases the relevance of anthropological approaches to understanding reproductive health, rights, and policy across diverse contexts.Exploring Reproduction: Anthropological Perspectives is ideal for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in anthropology, sociology, public health, allied medicine, biology, and related fields exploring reproduction, identity, and power.