The Politics of Reproduction

Race, Medicine, and Fertility in the Age of Abolition

Nonfiction, History, Modern, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book The Politics of Reproduction by Katherine Paugh, OUP Oxford
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Katherine Paugh ISBN: 9780192506993
Publisher: OUP Oxford Publication: April 21, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford Language: English
Author: Katherine Paugh
ISBN: 9780192506993
Publisher: OUP Oxford
Publication: April 21, 2017
Imprint: OUP Oxford
Language: English

Many British politicians, planters, and doctors attempted to exploit the fertility of Afro-Caribbean women's bodies in order to ensure the economic success of the British Empire during the age of abolition. Abolitionist reformers hoped that a homegrown labor force would end the need for the Atlantic slave trade. By establishing the ubiquity of visions of fertility and subsequent economic growth during this time, The Politics of Reproduction sheds fresh light on the oft-debated question of whether abolitionism was understood by contemporaries as economically beneficial to the plantation colonies. At the same time, Katherine Paugh makes novel assertions about the importance of Britain's Caribbean colonies in the emergence of population as a political problem. The need to manipulate the labor market on Caribbean plantations led to the creation of new governmental strategies for managing sex and childbearing, such as centralized nurseries, discouragement of extended breastfeeding, and financial incentives for childbearing, that have become commonplace in our modern world. While assessing the politics of reproduction in the British Empire and its Caribbean colonies in relationship to major political events such as the Haitian Revolution, the study also focuses in on the island of Barbados. The remarkable story of an enslaved midwife and her family illustrates how plantation management policies designed to promote fertility affected Afro-Caribbean women during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Politics of Reproduction draws on a wide variety of sources, including debates in the British Parliament and the Barbados House of Assembly, the records of Barbadian plantations, tracts about plantation management published by doctors and plantation owners, and missionary records related to the island of Barbados.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Many British politicians, planters, and doctors attempted to exploit the fertility of Afro-Caribbean women's bodies in order to ensure the economic success of the British Empire during the age of abolition. Abolitionist reformers hoped that a homegrown labor force would end the need for the Atlantic slave trade. By establishing the ubiquity of visions of fertility and subsequent economic growth during this time, The Politics of Reproduction sheds fresh light on the oft-debated question of whether abolitionism was understood by contemporaries as economically beneficial to the plantation colonies. At the same time, Katherine Paugh makes novel assertions about the importance of Britain's Caribbean colonies in the emergence of population as a political problem. The need to manipulate the labor market on Caribbean plantations led to the creation of new governmental strategies for managing sex and childbearing, such as centralized nurseries, discouragement of extended breastfeeding, and financial incentives for childbearing, that have become commonplace in our modern world. While assessing the politics of reproduction in the British Empire and its Caribbean colonies in relationship to major political events such as the Haitian Revolution, the study also focuses in on the island of Barbados. The remarkable story of an enslaved midwife and her family illustrates how plantation management policies designed to promote fertility affected Afro-Caribbean women during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The Politics of Reproduction draws on a wide variety of sources, including debates in the British Parliament and the Barbados House of Assembly, the records of Barbadian plantations, tracts about plantation management published by doctors and plantation owners, and missionary records related to the island of Barbados.

More books from OUP Oxford

Cover of the book Explanations by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book International Law and Transnational Organised Crime by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book The Return of Alsace to France, 1918-1939 by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book The Movement Reconsidered by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book The Fall of the Celtic Tiger by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Aesthetics on the Edge by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Contributory Negligence in the Twenty-First Century by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Only in Australia by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book A Woman's Disease by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Gulliver's Travels by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book The Political Economy of Clean Energy Transitions by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Willing, Wanting, Waiting by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book On the Ocean by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Night and Day by Katherine Paugh
Cover of the book Blackstone's Guide to the Employment Tribunals Rules 2013 and the Fees Order by Katherine Paugh
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy