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On the Modernity of Traditional Contraception: Time and the Social Context of Fertility

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  • Jennifer Johnson‐Hanks

Abstract

Many studies of fertility implicitly equate temporal management, biomedical contraception, and “modernity” on the one hand, and “tradition,” the lack of intentional timing, and uncontrolled fertility on the other. This article questions that equation, focusing on the widespread use of periodic abstinence in southern Cameroon. Drawing on field data and the Cameroon Demographic and Health Survey, the article investigates how local concepts of timing shape both contraceptive choice and the evaluation of methods as “modern” or “traditional.” Cameroonian women prefer periodic abstinence because they perceive it as “modern,” a modernity tied both to the social context in which it is taught and to its unique temporal form. By contrast, Depo‐Provera, pills, and the IUD are seen as less‐than‐modern, because they are less exigent of temporal control. The reliance on a behavioral, rather than technological, contraceptive method parallels the experience of the European fertility transition. Cameroonian women draw on a complex social repertoire in making contraceptive choices; methods are preferred or rejected not only on the basis of their efficacy in averting pregnancy, but also because of their correspondence to models of legitimate social action. Reproductive practices may have social motivations that are unrelated to fertility per se.

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  • Jennifer Johnson‐Hanks, 2002. "On the Modernity of Traditional Contraception: Time and the Social Context of Fertility," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 28(2), pages 229-249, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:popdev:v:28:y:2002:i:2:p:229-249
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1728-4457.2002.00229.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Brunson, Jan & Suh, Siri, 2020. "Behind the measures of maternal and reproductive health: Ethnographic accounts of inventory and intervention," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    2. Monica A. Magadi, 2021. "HIV and Unintended Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa: Multilevel Predictors of Mistimed and Unwanted Fertility Among HIV-Positive Women," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 40(5), pages 987-1024, October.
    3. Angotti, Nicole, 2010. "Working outside of the box: How HIV counselors in Sub-Saharan Africa adapt Western HIV testing norms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(5), pages 986-993, September.
    4. Swidler, Ann & Watkins, Susan Cotts, 2009. ""Teach a Man to Fish": The Sustainability Doctrine and Its Social Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(7), pages 1182-1196, July.
    5. Michelle Poulin, 2010. "Reporting on first sexual experience," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 22(11), pages 237-288.
    6. Rozemarijn Dereuddre & Bart Van de Putte & Piet Bracke, 2016. "Ready, Willing, and Able: Contraceptive Use Patterns Across Europe," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 32(4), pages 543-573, October.
    7. Alessandra Gribaldo & Maya D. Judd & David I. Kertzer, 2009. "An Imperfect Contraceptive Society: Fertility and Contraception in Italy," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 35(3), pages 551-584, September.
    8. Jaffré, Yannick & Suh, Siri, 2016. "Where the lay and the technical meet: Using an anthropology of interfaces to explain persistent reproductive health disparities in West Africa," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 175-183.

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