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When abortion becomes public - Everyday politics of reproduction in rural Zambia

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  • Haaland, Marte E.S.
  • Mumba Zulu, Joseph
  • Moland, Karen Marie
  • Haukanes, Haldis
  • Astrid Blystad,

Abstract

This article takes the public reaction to the discovery of an aborted foetus in a rural Zambian community as the empirical starting point for exploring the everyday politics of reproduction. It builds on eleven months of ethnographic fieldwork on abortion and abortion policy in Zambia in 2017 and 2018, including participant observation in the community where the episode took place and interviews with clinic staff and neighbours. The article explores local dynamics of abortion opposition in a country where abortion is legally permitted on broad grounds. By analysing this case as an anthropological event, it discusses how opposition to abortion is dynamic and changes depending on the situation at hand. While abortions that avoid public attention may be silently tolerated, abortions that become openly known are harshly condemned. Through scrutiny of a specific case of collective moral judgement of abortion, the article examines how values like responsible motherhood, sexual virtue and protection of life emerge and are shared, allowing participants to protect and accumulate their own integrity in a moral economy that forges stronger social ties within the community. The article argues that even the harshest expressions of opposition to abortion may not be as categorical as they first appear. It calls for increased attention to dynamics of moral and political opposition to abortion to understand what is socially at stake for those who engage in it.

Suggested Citation

  • Haaland, Marte E.S. & Mumba Zulu, Joseph & Moland, Karen Marie & Haukanes, Haldis & Astrid Blystad,, 2020. "When abortion becomes public - Everyday politics of reproduction in rural Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:265:y:2020:i:c:s0277953620307218
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113502
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Freeman, Emily & Coast, Ernestina, 2019. "Conscientious objection to abortion: Zambian healthcare practitioners' beliefs and practices," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 106-114.
    2. Haaland, Marte E.S. & Haukanes, Haldis & Zulu, Joseph Mumba & Moland, Karen Marie & Blystad, Astrid, 2020. "Silent politics and unknown numbers: Rural health bureaucrats and Zambian abortion policy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    3. Onarheim, Kristine Husøy & Sisay, Mitike Molla & Gizaw, Muluken & Moland, Karen Marie & Miljeteig, Ingrid, 2017. "What if the baby doesn't survive? Health-care decision making for ill newborns in Ethiopia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 123-130.
    4. Coast, Ernestina & Murray, Susan F., 2016. "“These things are dangerous”: Understanding induced abortion trajectories in urban Zambia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 201-209.
    5. Yang, Lawrence Hsin & Kleinman, Arthur & Link, Bruce G. & Phelan, Jo C. & Lee, Sing & Good, Byron, 2007. "Culture and stigma: Adding moral experience to stigma theory," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(7), pages 1524-1535, April.
    6. Suh, Siri, 2014. "Rewriting abortion: Deploying medical records in jurisdictional negotiation over a forbidden practice in Senegal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 20-33.
    7. Parmar, Divya & Leone, Tiziana & Coast, Ernestina & Murray, Susan Fairley & Hukin, Eleanor & Vwalika, Bellington, 2017. "Cost of abortions in Zambia: a comparison of safe abortion and post abortion care," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 63643, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    8. Leone, Tiziana & Coast, Ernestina & Parmar, Divya & Vwalika, Bellington, 2016. "The individual level cost of pregnancy termination in Zambia: a comparison of safe and unsafe abortion," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 64716, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Coast, Ernestina & Norris, Alison H. & Moore, Ann M. & Freeman, Emily, 2018. "Trajectories of women's abortion-related care: A conceptual framework," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 200(C), pages 199-210.
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