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Bodily rights and collective claims: the work of legal activists in interpreting reproductive and maternal rights in India
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-08, 20:39 authored by Carolyn Heitmeyer, Maya UnnithanMaya UnnithanThis article engages with anthropological approaches to the study of global human rights discourses around reproductive and maternal health in India. Whether couched in the language of human rights or of other social justice frameworks, different forms of claims-making in India exist in tandem and correspond to particular traditions of activism and struggle. Universal reproductive rights language remains a discourse aimed at the state in India, where the primary purpose is to demand greater accountability in the domain of policy and governance. Outside of these spheres, other languages are strategically chosen by activists for their greater resonance in addressing individual cases of women claiming reproductive violence within the context of the family as well as localized histories of feminist struggle and social justice. In focusing on the work of legal activists and the discourses which inform their interventions, this article seeks to understand how the language of reproductive rights is used in the context of India, not as a `Western import' which is adapted to local contexts, but rather as one of multiple frameworks of claims-making drawn upon by legal activists emerging from distinct histories of struggle for gender equality and social justice.
Funding
Realising Global Rights to Health: An ethnographic analysis of rights-based organisations in promoting reproductive health in India; G0394; ESRC-ECONOMIC & SOCIAL RESEARCH COUNCIL; RES-062-23-1609
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Journal of the Royal Anthropological InstituteISSN
1467-9655Publisher
Wiley-BlackwellExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
21Page range
374-390Department affiliated with
- Anthropology Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2015-04-28First Open Access (FOA) Date
2015-06-02First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2015-06-02Usage metrics
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