A Culturally-Centered and Intersectional Approach to Reproductive Justice investigates and challenges assumptions and pre-existing notions regarding reproductive justice by grounding this work in a more inclusive and culturally informed context. Throughout history, contributors argue, reproductive justice movements have centered white, cisgendered, and non-disabled women in the West. Along with women in the Global South being underrepresented in scholarship, research tends to focus only on the abuses they have suffered, rather than delving deeper into issues of structures, barriers, or agency. Each chapter is written from an autoethnographic perspective to unpack the contributors' challenges with achieving reproductive justice for themselves and their respective communities. Ultimately, this book asserts that when different facets of reproductive justice are presented in the form of narrative self-reflexivity, readers find a space to safely evaluate their positionality within the larger reproductive justice movement while simultaneously acknowledging the complexity of the movement itself. Scholars of communication, health, and women's and gender studies will find this book of particular interest.
Tomeka M. Robinson is senior associate dean of the Rabinowitz Honors College and professor of rhetoric and public advocacy at Hofstra University. Sabrina Singh is a doctoral candidate in the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. Christina Mary Joseph is instructional professional and assistant director of forensics in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication at Arizona State University.
Chapter 1: Introduction Tomeka M. Robinson, Sabrina Singh, and Christina Mary Joseph Chapter 2: Promoting a "Domestic Supply of Infants": The Dangers of Commodifying Reproduction in the United States McKenzie Twine Chapter 3: Whiteness as an Obstacle to Reproductive Justice Lisa DeTora Chapter 4: Co-scripted Autoethnographies of (Re)thinking the Current Reproductive Justice Discourse in the United States Breonna Riddick; Satveer Kaur-Gill, and Iccha Basnayat Chapter 5: Barely Made it Out Alive Aisha Wilson-Carter Chapter 6: The Experience of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) Treatment and the Need for Health Education Cinthia Lopes da Silva and Lilia Aparecida Kanan Chapter 7: Making it through the Maze: Navigating Barriers for Transgender Women to Become Parents Riley D. Campbell Chapter 8: Intersectional Rhetorics of Justice in Parenting Practices Diana Isabel Martinez and Amy Garcia Chapter 9: Day In, Day Out: Fighting for Abortion Access in the American South Calla Hales Chapter 10: Evaluating the Value of Doula Advocacy in Mitigating Negative Birth and Health Outcomes Christina Mary Joseph About the Contributors
"The current book examines intersectional reproductive narratives enmeshed in everyday lives of marginalized and disenfranchised individuals and the impact of reproductive care policies on such groups. Each autoethnographic essay provides a rich and complex narrative, introduces the topic and by delving into the experiences of both the providers and those impacted by the issue, uncovers the lived experiences and social and structural inequities and disparities. The book would be useful for anyone interested in the topic of reproductive justice, for the researchers and policymakers who want to understand this issue further, and for college teachers interested in introducing some of these issues in the classroom." -- Parul Jain, Ohio University "A Culturally-Centered and Intersectional Approach to Reproductive Justice is vitally important to the current historical moment. Authors in this collection utilize autoethnography to tell stories focused on painful, challenging, and traumatic experiences surrounding threats to bodily autonomy and access to safe abortion care. Orbiting around reproductive justice and intersectionality as an important focus for health research, this diverse constellation of narratives will appeal to scholars in health communication, public health, health education, women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and autoethnography." -- Cody M. Clemens, Marietta College
