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Accepted Paper:
Reproductive sovereignty and caesarean avoidance in West Papua
Jenny Munro
(University of Queensland)
Meki Wetipo
(Honai Center)
Els Tieneke Rieke Katmo
(University of Papua)
Paper short abstract:
This paper explores competing reproductive logics in West Papua. It develops and interrogates the concept of "reproductive sovereignty" based on ongoing ethnographic research into Indigenous experiences of reproductive health services and childbirth, especially caesarean sections.
Paper long abstract:
The concept of "reproductive governance" means that embodied moral regimes promote and make available different reproductive choices for different populations depending on national political strategies, local idioms, and global economic logics. In West Papua, there are competing reproductive logics that underpin different views on maternal and infant mortality. Practices surrounding pregnancy and childbirth encapsulate these tensions. Based on ongoing ethnographic research into Indigenous experiences of reproductive health services and childbirth in West Papua, especially caesarean delivery and refusal, this paper explores "reproductive sovereignty" as an embodied moral regime that shapes reproductive choices in relation to settler colonialism.