The micro-politics of population: Generating a theoretical approach to reproductive decision-making from the intersection of anthropology, history and feminism

Abstract

Despite generations of demographic scholarship, the everyday social practice of reproductive decision-making remains unclear. The objective of this thesis is to generate a theoretical framework for understanding the ways in which decisions of whether, when, and how often to have children are made. An expanded Gramscian concept of hegemonic process is developed, based on a review of anthropological, historical, and feminist literatures. Following a review of the anthropology of reproduction and demographic transitions, I illustrate the theoretical gaps for which hegemony is analytically well-suited. On a macro level of analysis, there is a focus on the historical relationship between race, reproduction, and the national body politic. A Foucauldian biopower expands the analysis by incorporating the experience of the individual, reproductive body, productive desires, and disciplinary techniques. Special attention is paid to stakeholders' concerns with the national body politic, such as identity definitions and limitations on the allocation of resources.