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Reproductive Rights as Human Rights: Women of Color and the Fight for Reproductive Justice
Reveals both the promise and the pitfalls associated with a human rights approach to the women of color-focused reproductive rights activism of SisterSong
How did reproductive justice--defined as the right to have children, to not have children, and to parent--become recognized as a human rights issue? In Reproductive Rights as Human Rights, Zakiya Luna highlights the often-forgotten activism of women of color who are largely responsible for creating what we now know as the modern-day reproductive justice movement.
Focusing on SisterSong, an intersectional reproductive justice organization, Luna shows how, and why, women of color mobilized around reproductive rights in the domestic arena. She examines their key role in re-framing reproductive rights as human rights, raising this set of issues as a priority in the United States, a country hostile to the concept of human rights at home.
An indispensable read, Reproductive Rights as Human Rights provides a much-needed intersectional perspective on the modern-day reproductive justice movement.
How did reproductive justice--defined as the right to have children, to not have children, and to parent--become recognized as a human rights issue? In Reproductive Rights as Human Rights, Zakiya Luna highlights the often-forgotten activism of women of color who are largely responsible for creating what we now know as the modern-day reproductive justice movement.
Focusing on SisterSong, an intersectional reproductive justice organization, Luna shows how, and why, women of color mobilized around reproductive rights in the domestic arena. She examines their key role in re-framing reproductive rights as human rights, raising this set of issues as a priority in the United States, a country hostile to the concept of human rights at home.
An indispensable read, Reproductive Rights as Human Rights provides a much-needed intersectional perspective on the modern-day reproductive justice movement.
312 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2020
8 people are currently reading
327 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 19, 2022
Dr. Luna accomplishes what she set out to do- contribute to the study of human rights by illuminating the organizations that promote the protection of human rights (p18). Featuring SisterSong, Dr.Luna centers the work and activism of women of color who have been leading the framework for human rights well over 30 years. This book is densely packed with a human rights education you never received if you attended mainstream school. From introduction to the UDHR, to the then 8 categories of human rights, to concept of restrictive domestication and revolutionary domestication, you will learn concepts that have been swirling around you but are made tangible.
Most important for me, Dr. Luna demonstrates how a movement is founded, grows, transforms, and grows again. Through relaying her first person interviews, she demonstrates the nuance of human rights in both their perception, experiential knowledges, and teaching to different audiences. Such nuance shows truly how a human rights culture would unfold- with everyone wrestling with what they do and don’t understand, how it relates to them personally, and how to reach beyond their own borders to connect with another’s understanding of the concept. As someone who has work for years in non-profit work, I found her articulation of this process cathartic and also inspiring, understanding my own struggle with similar concepts in a wider context that I didn’t understand them before.
As someone who is also trained in and interested in policy and Policy-making, this book shows how the sausage is made in a very real sense- expounding on the US policy making structure, policy “streams,” and the difference between “policy advocacy that centers “vulnerable people” and policy advocacy that exploits them” (200). This distinction was not discussed in depth my public administration program, and not within the the context of human rights.
If you are familiar with reproductive justice, this book will tie all the threads together. Why it’s a human right, and how it connects to social justice movements, and how environmental advocacy includes reproductive justice.
But most importantly, I recommend to understand your human rights and answer the questions with which you may be wrestling.
“The work of organizing to create a human rights culture not only asks the government to create the conditions of human thriving but also pushes the public to understand themselves as deserving of these conditions and as having a role in maintaining human rights through respecting each other’s human rights.” (p213).
“”If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”” - Lila Watson, Aboriginal activist (p219).
Most important for me, Dr. Luna demonstrates how a movement is founded, grows, transforms, and grows again. Through relaying her first person interviews, she demonstrates the nuance of human rights in both their perception, experiential knowledges, and teaching to different audiences. Such nuance shows truly how a human rights culture would unfold- with everyone wrestling with what they do and don’t understand, how it relates to them personally, and how to reach beyond their own borders to connect with another’s understanding of the concept. As someone who has work for years in non-profit work, I found her articulation of this process cathartic and also inspiring, understanding my own struggle with similar concepts in a wider context that I didn’t understand them before.
As someone who is also trained in and interested in policy and Policy-making, this book shows how the sausage is made in a very real sense- expounding on the US policy making structure, policy “streams,” and the difference between “policy advocacy that centers “vulnerable people” and policy advocacy that exploits them” (200). This distinction was not discussed in depth my public administration program, and not within the the context of human rights.
If you are familiar with reproductive justice, this book will tie all the threads together. Why it’s a human right, and how it connects to social justice movements, and how environmental advocacy includes reproductive justice.
But most importantly, I recommend to understand your human rights and answer the questions with which you may be wrestling.
“The work of organizing to create a human rights culture not only asks the government to create the conditions of human thriving but also pushes the public to understand themselves as deserving of these conditions and as having a role in maintaining human rights through respecting each other’s human rights.” (p213).
“”If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”” - Lila Watson, Aboriginal activist (p219).
June 5, 2020
Luna provided an overview of the concept of “reproductive justice” and the ways this relatively new analytical approach critiques the longstanding mantra in the reproductive rights world of “choice.” Reproductive justice, they argue, supports all people’s reproductive goals, including the right to terminate pregnancies, continue pregnancies, and parent the children they have.
January 20, 2023
The book provides a good knowledge-base for the (incredibly overlooked) role of BIPOC women in the fight for reproductive justice, and their usage of human rights as a framework for doing so. It's what Luna set out to do, so it's good for what it is, but at times felt kinda dry to me since it's a recount and explanation of history rather than an argument for actions going forward.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews