Contraception across Cultures: Technologies, Choices, Constraints (Cross Cultural Perspectives on Women) [Paperback]

Andrew Russell (Editor), Elisa Sobo (Editor), Mary Thompson (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2000 | ISBN-10: 1859733867 | ISBN-13: 978-1859733868 | Edition: First Edition

Contraception is an issue of considerable concern to a great many heterosexually active people. Yet the impact of contraceptive technologies in the world today, in particular their implications for kinship, gender relations, and other aspects of social life, receives relatively little scholarly attention.

This book brings a new perspective to the study of contraception, by collecting together in one volume leading experts in the fields of contraception, family planning and reproductive health. Contributors look at the social, economic, political and cultural contexts in which contraceptive providers and recipients make decisions about whether and what forms of contraception to use. User perspectives (whether those of recipients or providers of contraceptive services) are taken seriously, as are the perspectives of policy-makers and development experts. With its in-depth, case-study approach, this challenging book will appeal to practitioners and planners in the fields of family planning and reproductive health, as well as to students and academics of applied and medical anthropology, health studies, gender and development studies, or anyone interested in the social, cultural and ethical issues raised by contraceptive technologies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Every library should consider it in their purchasing lists for readers of the thinking kind." --Faculty Magazine

"The greatest strength of the volume is the way it suggests major weaknesses in the cross-national survey research that has come to dominate the field of demography." --Population Studies

"Readers ... will enjoy the constructive contribution of Contraception Across Cultures." --Social Science and Medicine

About the Author

Edited by Andrew Russell, University of Durham and Elisa Sobo, Trauma Research Scientist, Children's Hospital, San Diego Mary Thompson DFID-Guyana

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Berg Publishers; First Edition edition (April 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859733867
• ISBN-13: 978-1859733868
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,798,003 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting cross-cultural anthropological study, September 4, 2011

By 

Kathleen V. Scoggin (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contraception across Cultures: Technologies, Choices, Constraints (Cross Cultural Perspectives on Women) (Paperback)

This book covers studies regarding the use of contraception within various cultural contexts including post-Soviet rule Uzbekistan, impoverished barrios of Chiapas, Mexico, traditional Islamic women in Pakistan, and Ethiopian Jewish immigrants to Israel.

This is an academic text. Some articles are heavy on statistics which are not written for the lay reader to easily grasp. Some articles are very dense using a lot of jargon well known to anthropologists and other social scientists, but which do not translate to a mass audience very well. Each article presents the scope and methodology.

If you are used to reading academic studies, then this is a great book. If you are looking for something designed for the lay person that is easy to read, there are a couple of articles in here that will meet your needs, but most will feel too dense. That being said, they are reasonably well done studies and present interesting themes of issues that present themselves across all the cultural studies.