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Conceiving the New World Order: The Global Politics of Reproduction
This groundbreaking volume provides a dramatic investigation of the dynamics of reproduction. In an unusually broad spectrum of essays, a distinguished group of international feminist scholars and activists explores the complexity of contemporary sexual politics around the globe. Using reproduction as an entry point in the study of social life and placing it at the center of social theory, the authors examine how cultures are produced, contested, and transformed as people imagine their collective future in the creation of the next generation.
The studies encompass a wide variety of subjects, from the impact of AIDS on reproduction in the United States to the aftereffects of Chernobyl on the Sami people in Norway and the impact of totalitarian abortion and birth control policies in Romania and China. The contributors use historical and comparative perspectives to illuminate the multiple and intersecting forms of power and resistance through which reproduction is given cultural weight and social form. They discuss the ways that seemingly distant influences shape and constrain local reproductive experiences such as the international flows of adoptive babies and childcare workers and the Victorian and imperial legacy of eugenics and family planning.
The studies encompass a wide variety of subjects, from the impact of AIDS on reproduction in the United States to the aftereffects of Chernobyl on the Sami people in Norway and the impact of totalitarian abortion and birth control policies in Romania and China. The contributors use historical and comparative perspectives to illuminate the multiple and intersecting forms of power and resistance through which reproduction is given cultural weight and social form. They discuss the ways that seemingly distant influences shape and constrain local reproductive experiences such as the international flows of adoptive babies and childcare workers and the Victorian and imperial legacy of eugenics and family planning.
464 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1995
117 people want to read
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November 23, 2025
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Feelings about the book:
- This book did what good nonfiction is supposed to do - make you think about things you didn't consider. There were a few prominent chapters that did this for me in this book.
Premise/Plot:
- How reproduction is structured across social and cultural boundaries. The idea of stratified reproduction is used to describe power dynamics by those who see reproduction as a positive or negative.
- What is also examined is fallout from stringent policies to even nuclear disasters like Chernobyl
- This book also highlights how aid can interfere with a states and a cultures autonomy. The USAID’s fingerprints were seen a few times in this book. Even though they were far from being the focus.
Themes:
- Reproduction, local knowledge, policy change, reproductive activism, state power, biotechnology and more
Pros:
- Chapter 6 – On the Outside Looking In: The Politics of Lesbian Motherhood by Ellen Lewin – great to hear insights about how lesbians view themselves after becoming mothers
- Chapter 11: Women’s Reproductive Practices and Biomedicine: Cultural Conflicts and Transformations in Nigeria by Tola Olu Pearce– as a Nigerian myself, this was very interesting it read about. This is good chapter for those who would like to read about slow adoption of Western customs and medicine. In the case, contraceptives.
- Chapter 13: Political Demography: The Banning of Abortion in Ceausescu’s Romania by Gail Kligman – shows the harsh realities of illegal abortions alongside an underdeveloped state.
- Chapter 15: Physical and Cultural Reproduction in a Post-Chernobyl Norwegian Sami Community by Sharon Stephens – very underrated and niche topic that was well presented. I read a lot of nuclear post-apocalyptic sci-fi, so this chapter fed that part of myself. Sharon did well to highlight the important conversations that take place. Especially an event as famous as Chernobyl.
- Strong intersectional analysis linking reproduction to race, geopolitics and more.
Cons:
- The ideas and hope stated in certain essays have led to a regressive, Western cultural attitude
- Pretty cool that I’ve read Emily Martin’s ‘The Woman In The Body’, and she had a chapter in this book. Although her chapter was one of the poorest
- As usual with anthologies, there were a few below-average essays
- Some chapters felt dated and that stood out
Quotes:
‘The introduction of birth control to younger women by outsiders may meet with resistance because of the challenge it poses to the authority of older women (Burbank 1988).’
‘At the height of the student movement in 1989, when students and intellectuals all over China were demonstrating in support of expanded political rights, the issue of reproductive rights was never once mentioned.’
‘Eugenics was rejected outright by the Maoists, who saw it as a tool of imperialism.’
‘Even when most of the child’s waking hours were spent in the worker’s care, most employing mothers felt that they were still the primary caretakers.’
‘Some made clear that being a mother allows a lesbian to experiment with the insignia of womanhood… And, for some lesbian mothers, having a child gives them permission to experiment with other indicators of “normal” femaleness.’
‘Both formerly married and never married lesbian mothers emphasise the centrality of their identities as mothers, representing motherhood as overwhelming or overshadowing other aspects of identity, including being a lesbian.’
‘Some feminists (for example, Hartman 1987) suggest that households headed by women may be a positive development, contributing to women’s autonomy and control.’
‘The initial impetus for Western family-planning services in Nigeria came from the reaction of physicians in Lagos to the rising incidence of complications and deaths from illegal abortions.’
‘Even today, and not excluding the educated, a barren Yoruba woman is generally considered worthless by her husband’s family, a burden to the lineage, and an enemy of her mother-in-law.’
‘In polygynous households, order is maintained partly because older wives are given authority over younger ones. However, they are obliged to remove themselves from the sexual pool.’
‘The increase in abortions coincided with the previously mentioned deterioration in the conditions of everyday life. Families were unable to feed the children they had, yet were required by law to have more.’
‘The heartbreaking and chilling irony of Ceausescu’s pronatalist policies was that illegal abortion became the predominant contraceptive method.’
‘The effects of banning abortion transcend political or religious interests. When abortion is criminalised, women resort to illegal abortions; that is a comparative as well as historical fact.’
‘Over 10 percent of the global fallout from Chernobyl was deposited in Scandinavia.’
‘Today’s neoeugenic programs of prenatal diagnostic testing and selective abortion operate at the level of the individual pregnancy. They are designed to save parents from the “tragedy” of having a handicapped child.’
Feelings about the book:
- This book did what good nonfiction is supposed to do - make you think about things you didn't consider. There were a few prominent chapters that did this for me in this book.
Premise/Plot:
- How reproduction is structured across social and cultural boundaries. The idea of stratified reproduction is used to describe power dynamics by those who see reproduction as a positive or negative.
- What is also examined is fallout from stringent policies to even nuclear disasters like Chernobyl
- This book also highlights how aid can interfere with a states and a cultures autonomy. The USAID’s fingerprints were seen a few times in this book. Even though they were far from being the focus.
Themes:
- Reproduction, local knowledge, policy change, reproductive activism, state power, biotechnology and more
Pros:
- Chapter 6 – On the Outside Looking In: The Politics of Lesbian Motherhood by Ellen Lewin – great to hear insights about how lesbians view themselves after becoming mothers
- Chapter 11: Women’s Reproductive Practices and Biomedicine: Cultural Conflicts and Transformations in Nigeria by Tola Olu Pearce– as a Nigerian myself, this was very interesting it read about. This is good chapter for those who would like to read about slow adoption of Western customs and medicine. In the case, contraceptives.
- Chapter 13: Political Demography: The Banning of Abortion in Ceausescu’s Romania by Gail Kligman – shows the harsh realities of illegal abortions alongside an underdeveloped state.
- Chapter 15: Physical and Cultural Reproduction in a Post-Chernobyl Norwegian Sami Community by Sharon Stephens – very underrated and niche topic that was well presented. I read a lot of nuclear post-apocalyptic sci-fi, so this chapter fed that part of myself. Sharon did well to highlight the important conversations that take place. Especially an event as famous as Chernobyl.
- Strong intersectional analysis linking reproduction to race, geopolitics and more.
Cons:
- The ideas and hope stated in certain essays have led to a regressive, Western cultural attitude
- Pretty cool that I’ve read Emily Martin’s ‘The Woman In The Body’, and she had a chapter in this book. Although her chapter was one of the poorest
- As usual with anthologies, there were a few below-average essays
- Some chapters felt dated and that stood out
Quotes:
‘The introduction of birth control to younger women by outsiders may meet with resistance because of the challenge it poses to the authority of older women (Burbank 1988).’
‘At the height of the student movement in 1989, when students and intellectuals all over China were demonstrating in support of expanded political rights, the issue of reproductive rights was never once mentioned.’
‘Eugenics was rejected outright by the Maoists, who saw it as a tool of imperialism.’
‘Even when most of the child’s waking hours were spent in the worker’s care, most employing mothers felt that they were still the primary caretakers.’
‘Some made clear that being a mother allows a lesbian to experiment with the insignia of womanhood… And, for some lesbian mothers, having a child gives them permission to experiment with other indicators of “normal” femaleness.’
‘Both formerly married and never married lesbian mothers emphasise the centrality of their identities as mothers, representing motherhood as overwhelming or overshadowing other aspects of identity, including being a lesbian.’
‘Some feminists (for example, Hartman 1987) suggest that households headed by women may be a positive development, contributing to women’s autonomy and control.’
‘The initial impetus for Western family-planning services in Nigeria came from the reaction of physicians in Lagos to the rising incidence of complications and deaths from illegal abortions.’
‘Even today, and not excluding the educated, a barren Yoruba woman is generally considered worthless by her husband’s family, a burden to the lineage, and an enemy of her mother-in-law.’
‘In polygynous households, order is maintained partly because older wives are given authority over younger ones. However, they are obliged to remove themselves from the sexual pool.’
‘The increase in abortions coincided with the previously mentioned deterioration in the conditions of everyday life. Families were unable to feed the children they had, yet were required by law to have more.’
‘The heartbreaking and chilling irony of Ceausescu’s pronatalist policies was that illegal abortion became the predominant contraceptive method.’
‘The effects of banning abortion transcend political or religious interests. When abortion is criminalised, women resort to illegal abortions; that is a comparative as well as historical fact.’
‘Over 10 percent of the global fallout from Chernobyl was deposited in Scandinavia.’
‘Today’s neoeugenic programs of prenatal diagnostic testing and selective abortion operate at the level of the individual pregnancy. They are designed to save parents from the “tragedy” of having a handicapped child.’
January 17, 2011
More good stuff on the politics of reproduction.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews