Birthing in the Postmodern Moment: Struggles over Defining Maternity Care Needs

Australian Feminist Studies

Volumn 14, Issue 30, 1999, Pages 387-404

  Reiger, Kerreen ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0347803080     PISSN: 08164649     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/08164649993209     Document Type: Article

References (144)

1. Acknowledgements: the research for this paper was supported by funds from the La Trobe University School of Social Science in 1995. Earlier versions of it were presented at the TASA conference in Newcastle, December 1995, and in Canada at the Canadian Association of Sociology and Anthropology Conference at Brock University in May 1996. My thanks to those who helped refine the ideas over this period of time and to those who shared their experiences of the review process with me in interviews. My friends in the Maternity Coalition give both personal support and maintain my interest in the issues raised here. See M. Wagner, Pursuing the Birth Machine: the Search for Appropriate Perinatal Technology (Acegraphics) Sydney, 1994; M. Wagner, 'The Global Witch Hunt', Lancet, 346 (981), pp. 1020-3; R. Davis-Floyd and C. Sargent (eds), Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-cultural Perspective (California University Press) Berkeley, 1997. On cross-cultural issues, there have also been interesting debates on problems of colonisation lately on the 'ozmidwifery' e-mail list.
2. Acknowledgements: the research for this paper was supported by funds from the La Trobe University School of Social Science in 1995. Earlier versions of it were presented at the TASA conference in Newcastle, December 1995, and in Canada at the Canadian Association of Sociology and Anthropology Conference at Brock University in May 1996. My thanks to those who helped refine the ideas over this period of time and to those who shared their experiences of the review process with me in interviews. My friends in the Maternity Coalition give both personal support and maintain my interest in the issues raised here. See M. Wagner, Pursuing the Birth Machine: the Search for Appropriate Perinatal Technology (Acegraphics) Sydney, 1994; M. Wagner, 'The Global Witch Hunt', Lancet, 346 (981), pp. 1020-3; R. Davis-Floyd and C. Sargent (eds), Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-cultural Perspective (California University Press) Berkeley, 1997. On cross-cultural issues, there have also been interesting debates on problems of colonisation lately on the 'ozmidwifery' e-mail list.
3. Acknowledgements: the research for this paper was supported by funds from the La Trobe University School of Social Science in 1995. Earlier versions of it were presented at the TASA conference in Newcastle, December 1995, and in Canada at the Canadian Association of Sociology and Anthropology Conference at Brock University in May 1996. My thanks to those who helped refine the ideas over this period of time and to those who shared their experiences of the review process with me in interviews. My friends in the Maternity Coalition give both personal support and maintain my interest in the issues raised here. See M. Wagner, Pursuing the Birth Machine: the Search for Appropriate Perinatal Technology (Acegraphics) Sydney, 1994; M. Wagner, 'The Global Witch Hunt', Lancet, 346 (981), pp. 1020-3; R. Davis-Floyd and C. Sargent (eds), Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-cultural Perspective (California University Press) Berkeley, 1997. On cross-cultural issues, there have also been interesting debates on problems of colonisation lately on the 'ozmidwifery' e-mail list.
4. A. Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political (Routledge) New York, 1994; I.M. Young, 'The Ideal of Impartiality and the Civic Public' in Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1990; J. Flax, 'The Play of Justice' in Disputed Subjects: Essays on Psychoanalysis, Politics and Philosophy (Routledge) New York, 1993.
5. A. Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political (Routledge) New York, 1994; I.M. Young, 'The Ideal of Impartiality and the Civic Public' in Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1990; J. Flax, 'The Play of Justice' in Disputed Subjects: Essays on Psychoanalysis, Politics and Philosophy (Routledge) New York, 1993.
6. A. Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political (Routledge) New York, 1994; I.M. Young, 'The Ideal of Impartiality and the Civic Public' in Justice and the Politics of Difference (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1990; J. Flax, 'The Play of Justice' in Disputed Subjects: Essays on Psychoanalysis, Politics and Philosophy (Routledge) New York, 1993.
7. N. Fraser, 'Women, Welfare and the Politics of Need Interpretation' in Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory (University of Minnesota Press) Minneapolis, 1989.
8. R. Davis-Floyd and C. Sargent (eds), Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-cultural Perspectives (University of California Press) Berkeley, 1997.
9. I will not go into lengthy debate over 'discourse' terminology, other than to say that I find especially helpful the formulation offered in Z. Eisenstein, The Female Body and the Law (University of California Press) Berkeley, 1988, pp. 10-22; N. Fairclough, Discourse and Social Change (Polity Press) Cambridge, 1992; and D. Lupton, 'Discourse Analysis: a New Methodology for Understanding the Ideologies of Health and Illness', Australian Journal of Public Health, vol. 16, no. 2, 1992, pp. 145-50.
10. I will not go into lengthy debate over 'discourse' terminology, other than to say that I find especially helpful the formulation offered in Z. Eisenstein, The Female Body and the Law (University of California Press) Berkeley, 1988, pp. 10-22; N. Fairclough, Discourse and Social Change (Polity Press) Cambridge, 1992; and D. Lupton, 'Discourse Analysis: a New Methodology for Understanding the Ideologies of Health and Illness', Australian Journal of Public Health, vol. 16, no. 2, 1992, pp. 145-50.
11. I will not go into lengthy debate over 'discourse' terminology, other than to say that I find especially helpful the formulation offered in Z. Eisenstein, The Female Body and the Law (University of California Press) Berkeley, 1988, pp. 10-22; N. Fairclough, Discourse and Social Change (Polity Press) Cambridge, 1992; and D. Lupton, 'Discourse Analysis: a New Methodology for Understanding the Ideologies of Health and Illness', Australian Journal of Public Health, vol. 16, no. 2, 1992, pp. 145-50.
12. D. Lupton, 'Discourse Analysis', p. 145.
13. B. Ehrenreich and D. English, Witches, Midwives and Nurses: a History of Women Healers (Feminist Press) Old Westbury, 1973; B. Katz Rothman, In Labor: Women and Power in the Birthplace (W.W. Norton) New York, 1982; J. Donnison, Midwives and Medical Men (Heinemann) London, 1977.
14. B. Ehrenreich and D. English, Witches, Midwives and Nurses: a History of Women Healers (Feminist Press) Old Westbury, 1973; B. Katz Rothman, In Labor: Women and Power in the Birthplace (W.W. Norton) New York, 1982; J. Donnison, Midwives and Medical Men (Heinemann) London, 1977.
15. B. Ehrenreich and D. English, Witches, Midwives and Nurses: a History of Women Healers (Feminist Press) Old Westbury, 1973; B. Katz Rothman, In Labor: Women and Power in the Birthplace (W.W. Norton) New York, 1982; J. Donnison, Midwives and Medical Men (Heinemann) London, 1977.
16. See, for example, D. Haire, 'The Cultural Warping of Childbirth' in B. and J. Ehrenreich (eds), The Cultural Crisis of Modem Medicine (Monthly Review Press) 1978; S. Arms, Immaculate Deception: a New Look at Women and Childbirth in America (Houghton Mifflin) Boston, 1975.
17. See, for example, D. Haire, 'The Cultural Warping of Childbirth' in B. and J. Ehrenreich (eds), The Cultural Crisis of Modem Medicine (Monthly Review Press) 1978; S. Arms, Immaculate Deception: a New Look at Women and Childbirth in America (Houghton Mifflin) Boston, 1975.
18. See A. Oakley, Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth (Martin Robertson) Oxford, 1980; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: a Cultural Analysis of Reproduction (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989; R.W. Wertz and D.C. Wertz, Lying-in: a History of Childbirth in America (Schocken Books) New York, 1979.
19. See A. Oakley, Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth (Martin Robertson) Oxford, 1980; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: a Cultural Analysis of Reproduction (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989; R.W. Wertz and D.C. Wertz, Lying-in: a History of Childbirth in America (Schocken Books) New York, 1979.
20. See A. Oakley, Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth (Martin Robertson) Oxford, 1980; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: a Cultural Analysis of Reproduction (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989; R.W. Wertz and D.C. Wertz, Lying-in: a History of Childbirth in America (Schocken Books) New York, 1979.
21. See A. Oakley, Women Confined: Towards a Sociology of Childbirth (Martin Robertson) Oxford, 1980; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: a Cultural Analysis of Reproduction (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989; R.W. Wertz and D.C. Wertz, Lying-in: a History of Childbirth in America (Schocken Books) New York, 1979.
22. See, for example, Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body. For more sophisticated analyses see M. Crouch and L. Manderson, 'Parturition as Social Metaphor', ANZFS, vol. 29, no. 1, March 1993; and R. Davis-Floyd, 'The Technocratic Body: American Childbirth as Cultural Expression', Social Science and Medicine, vol. 38, no. 8, 1994, pp. 1125-40.
23. See, for example, Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body. For more sophisticated analyses see M. Crouch and L. Manderson, 'Parturition as Social Metaphor', ANZFS, vol. 29, no. 1, March 1993; and R. Davis-Floyd, 'The Technocratic Body: American Childbirth as Cultural Expression', Social Science and Medicine, vol. 38, no. 8, 1994, pp. 1125-40.
24. See, for example, Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body. For more sophisticated analyses see M. Crouch and L. Manderson, 'Parturition as Social Metaphor', ANZFS, vol. 29, no. 1, March 1993; and R. Davis-Floyd, 'The Technocratic Body: American Childbirth as Cultural Expression', Social Science and Medicine, vol. 38, no. 8, 1994, pp. 1125-40.
25. See, for example, Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body. For more sophisticated analyses see M. Crouch and L. Manderson, 'Parturition as Social Metaphor', ANZFS, vol. 29, no. 1, March 1993; and R. Davis-Floyd, 'The Technocratic Body: American Childbirth as Cultural Expression', Social Science and Medicine, vol. 38, no. 8, 1994, pp. 1125-40.
26. E. Shorter, The History of Women's Bodies (Penguin) Harmondsworth, 1984; N. Stoller Shaw, Forced Labor: Maternity Care in the United States (Pergamon Press) New York, 1974; M. Tew, Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care (Chapman and Hall) London, 1980; J. Lumley and J. Astbury, Birth Rights, Birth Rites, Childbirth Alternatives for Australian Parents (Sphere Books) Sydney, 1980.
27. E. Shorter, The History of Women's Bodies (Penguin) Harmondsworth, 1984; N. Stoller Shaw, Forced Labor: Maternity Care in the United States (Pergamon Press) New York, 1974; M. Tew, Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care (Chapman and Hall) London, 1980; J. Lumley and J. Astbury, Birth Rights, Birth Rites, Childbirth Alternatives for Australian Parents (Sphere Books) Sydney, 1980.
28. E. Shorter, The History of Women's Bodies (Penguin) Harmondsworth, 1984; N. Stoller Shaw, Forced Labor: Maternity Care in the United States (Pergamon Press) New York, 1974; M. Tew, Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care (Chapman and Hall) London, 1980; J. Lumley and J. Astbury, Birth Rights, Birth Rites, Childbirth Alternatives for Australian Parents (Sphere Books) Sydney, 1980.
29. E. Shorter, The History of Women's Bodies (Penguin) Harmondsworth, 1984; N. Stoller Shaw, Forced Labor: Maternity Care in the United States (Pergamon Press) New York, 1974; M. Tew, Safer Childbirth? A Critical History of Maternity Care (Chapman and Hall) London, 1980; J. Lumley and J. Astbury, Birth Rights, Birth Rites, Childbirth Alternatives for Australian Parents (Sphere Books) Sydney, 1980.
30. See, for example, several articles in J. Garcia et al. (eds), The Politics of Motherhood. Services for Childbearing Women in Twentieth-century Britain (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1990; R. Taylor, Medicine out of Control: the Anatomy of a Malignant Technology (Sun Books) Melbourne, 1979.
31. See, for example, several articles in J. Garcia et al. (eds), The Politics of Motherhood. Services for Childbearing Women in Twentieth-century Britain (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1990; R. Taylor, Medicine out of Control: the Anatomy of a Malignant Technology (Sun Books) Melbourne, 1979.
32. See especially I.M. Gaskin and the Farm Midwives, Spiritual Midwifery (Book Publishing Co.) Summertown, Tennessee, 1975.
33. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
34. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
35. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
36. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
37. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
38. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
39. These include A. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, E. Martin, The Woman in the Body: Australian mothers' experiences are discussed in M. Crouch and L. Manderson, New Motherhood: Cultural and Personal Transitions in the 1980s (Gordon and Breach) Amsterdam, 1993; and S. Brown et al., Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994; the following remain classics, J. Lazarre, The Mother Knot (Beacon Press) Boston, 1976, and A. Rich, Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and Institution (Virago) London, 1977.
40. On 'maternalist' feminism see especially S. Ruddick, Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989 and S. Ruddick, 'Thinking Mothers/Conceiving Birth' in D. Bassin et al. (eds), Representations of Motherhood (Yale University Press) Binghamton, 1994; M. Belenky et al., Women's Ways of Knowing (Basic Books) New York, 1987.
41. On 'maternalist' feminism see especially S. Ruddick, Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989 and S. Ruddick, 'Thinking Mothers/Conceiving Birth' in D. Bassin et al. (eds), Representations of Motherhood (Yale University Press) Binghamton, 1994; M. Belenky et al., Women's Ways of Knowing (Basic Books) New York, 1987.
42. On 'maternalist' feminism see especially S. Ruddick, Maternal Thinking: Towards a Politics of Peace (Beacon Press) Boston, 1989 and S. Ruddick, 'Thinking Mothers/Conceiving Birth' in D. Bassin et al. (eds), Representations of Motherhood (Yale University Press) Binghamton, 1994; M. Belenky et al., Women's Ways of Knowing (Basic Books) New York, 1987.
43. S. Koven and S. Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World (Routledge) New York, 1993; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood: Child and Maternal Welfare in England, 1900-1939 (Croom Helm) 1980.
44. S. Koven and S. Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World (Routledge) New York, 1993; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood: Child and Maternal Welfare in England, 1900-1939 (Croom Helm) 1980.
45. C. Pateman, The Sexual Contract (Polity Press) Cambridge, 1988.
46. R. Davis-Floyd and C. Sargent (eds), Childbirth and Authoritative, pp. 10-11.
47. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
48. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
49. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
50. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
51. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
52. For general overviews of the equality/difference debates, see C. Bacchi, Same Difference: Feminism and Sexual Difference (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1990; A. Phillips, 'Feminism, Equality and Difference' in A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; for historical treatments of the issues see M. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality: Feminist Conceptions of Citizenship 1902-1940', Australian Feminist Studies, no. 19, Autumn 1994; M. Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family: the Challenge and Contradiction of Maternal Citizenship' in Koven and Michel (eds), Mothers of a New World; T. Scokpol, Protecting Soldiers and Mothers: the Politics of Social Provision in the United States, 1870s-1920s (Cambridge University Press) Cambridge, 1992; W. Sarvassy, 'Beyond the Difference versus Equality Debate: Postsuffrage Feminism, Citizenship and the Quest for a Feminist Welfare State', Signs, vol. 17, no. 2, 1992, pp. 328-62.
53. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality', p. 28; Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family'.
54. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality', p. 28; Lake, 'A Revolution in the Family'.
55. K. Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home; Modernising the Australian Family, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1985; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood; J. Oppenheimer, 'Childbirth in Ontario: The Transition from Home to Hospital in the early Twentieth Century'; and V. Strong-Boag and K. McPherson, 'The Confinement of Women: Childbirth and Hospitalisation in Vancouver, 1919-1939, in Katherine Arnup et al. (ed.), Delivering Motherhood: Maternal Ideologies and Practices in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Routledge) New York, 1990.
56. K. Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home; Modernising the Australian Family, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1985; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood; J. Oppenheimer, 'Childbirth in Ontario: The Transition from Home to Hospital in the early Twentieth Century'; and V. Strong-Boag and K. McPherson, 'The Confinement of Women: Childbirth and Hospitalisation in Vancouver, 1919-1939, in Katherine Arnup et al. (ed.), Delivering Motherhood: Maternal Ideologies and Practices in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Routledge) New York, 1990.
57. K. Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home; Modernising the Australian Family, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1985; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood; J. Oppenheimer, 'Childbirth in Ontario: The Transition from Home to Hospital in the early Twentieth Century'; and V. Strong-Boag and K. McPherson, 'The Confinement of Women: Childbirth and Hospitalisation in Vancouver, 1919-1939, in Katherine Arnup et al. (ed.), Delivering Motherhood: Maternal Ideologies and Practices in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Routledge) New York, 1990.
58. K. Reiger, The Disenchantment of the Home; Modernising the Australian Family, 1880-1940 (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1985; J. Lewis, The Politics of Motherhood; J. Oppenheimer, 'Childbirth in Ontario: The Transition from Home to Hospital in the early Twentieth Century'; and V. Strong-Boag and K. McPherson, 'The Confinement of Women: Childbirth and Hospitalisation in Vancouver, 1919-1939, in Katherine Arnup et al. (ed.), Delivering Motherhood: Maternal Ideologies and Practices in the 19th and 20th Centuries (Routledge) New York, 1990.
59. Lake, 'Personality, Individuality, Nationality', p. 35.
60. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, S. Romalis, 'Struggle between Providers and Recipients: the Case of Birth Practices' in E. Lewin and V. Olesen (eds), Women, Health and Healing: Toward a New Perspective (Tavistock) 1985; Werte and Wertz, Lying-in; M. Shearer, 'Maternity Patients' Movements in the United States 1820-1985' in I. Chalmers et al. (eds), Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1989.
61. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, S. Romalis, 'Struggle between Providers and Recipients: the Case of Birth Practices' in E. Lewin and V. Olesen (eds), Women, Health and Healing: Toward a New Perspective (Tavistock) 1985; Werte and Wertz, Lying-in; M. Shearer, 'Maternity Patients' Movements in the United States 1820-1985' in I. Chalmers et al. (eds), Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1989.
62. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, S. Romalis, 'Struggle between Providers and Recipients: the Case of Birth Practices' in E. Lewin and V. Olesen (eds), Women, Health and Healing: Toward a New Perspective (Tavistock) 1985; Werte and Wertz, Lying-in; M. Shearer, 'Maternity Patients' Movements in the United States 1820-1985' in I. Chalmers et al. (eds), Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1989.
63. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, S. Romalis, 'Struggle between Providers and Recipients: the Case of Birth Practices' in E. Lewin and V. Olesen (eds), Women, Health and Healing: Toward a New Perspective (Tavistock) 1985; Werte and Wertz, Lying-in; M. Shearer, 'Maternity Patients' Movements in the United States 1820-1985' in I. Chalmers et al. (eds), Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1989.
64. Oakley, Women Confined; Katz Rothman, In Labor, S. Romalis, 'Struggle between Providers and Recipients: the Case of Birth Practices' in E. Lewin and V. Olesen (eds), Women, Health and Healing: Toward a New Perspective (Tavistock) 1985; Werte and Wertz, Lying-in; M. Shearer, 'Maternity Patients' Movements in the United States 1820-1985' in I. Chalmers et al. (eds), Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth (Oxford University Press) Oxford, 1989.
65. K. Reiger, 'Reorganising Reproduction or Reproducing the Organisation', Unpublished paper presented at the British Sociological Association Conference, Canterbury, 1992. This is a version of the book-length study nearing completion. See also ' "Sort of Part of the Women's Movement. But different": Mother's Organisations and Australian Feminism', Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 22, no. 6, 1999.
66. K. Reiger, 'Reorganising Reproduction or Reproducing the Organisation', Unpublished paper presented at the British Sociological Association Conference, Canterbury, 1992. This is a version of the book-length study nearing completion. See also ' "Sort of Part of the Women's Movement. But different": Mother's Organisations and Australian Feminism', Women's Studies International Forum, vol. 22, no. 6, 1999.
67. M.G. Dietz, 'Citizenship with a Maternal Face: the Problem with Maternal Thinking', Political Theory, February 1985, pp. 19-37; a more sympathetic account is given in a response to Dietz by P. Boland, 'The Democratic Potential of Motherhood', Political Theory, vol. 19, no. 4, 1991, pp. 606-25.
68. M.G. Dietz, 'Citizenship with a Maternal Face: the Problem with Maternal Thinking', Political Theory, February 1985, pp. 19-37; a more sympathetic account is given in a response to Dietz by P. Boland, 'The Democratic Potential of Motherhood', Political Theory, vol. 19, no. 4, 1991, pp. 606-25.
69. I find particularly helpful the contributions of Iris Marion Young and Liz Grosz. I.M. Young, 'Pregnant Embodiment' in Throwing like a Girl and Other Essays in Feminist and Social Theory (Indiana University Press) Bloomington, 1990; E. Grosz, Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1994.
70. I find particularly helpful the contributions of Iris Marion Young and Liz Grosz. I.M. Young, 'Pregnant Embodiment' in Throwing like a Girl and Other Essays in Feminist and Social Theory (Indiana University Press) Bloomington, 1990; E. Grosz, Volatile Bodies: Towards a Corporeal Feminism (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1994.
71. Young, 'Breasted Experience' in Throwing like a Girl; Young, 'The Scaling of Bodies' in Justice and the Politics of Difference.
72. Young, 'Breasted Experience' in Throwing like a Girl; Young, 'The Scaling of Bodies' in Justice and the Politics of Difference.
73. For some of these debates see J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political (Routledge) New York, 1992; S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996; A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political.
74. For some of these debates see J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political (Routledge) New York, 1992; S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996; A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political.
75. For some of these debates see J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political (Routledge) New York, 1992; S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996; A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political.
76. For some of these debates see J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political (Routledge) New York, 1992; S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996; A. Phillips (ed.), Feminism and Equality (Blackwell) London, 1987; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political.
77. K. Ferguson, 'Subject-centredness in Feminist Discourse' in K.B. Jones and A.G. Jonasdottir (eds), The Political Interests of Gender: Developing Theory and Research with a Feminist Face (Sage) London, 1988, p. 67.
78. A. Jonasdottir, 'On the Concept of Interest, Women's Interests, and the Limitations of Interest Theory' in The Political Interests of Gender, p. 46; Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, Disputed Subjects; C. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics' in J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political.
79. A. Jonasdottir, 'On the Concept of Interest, Women's Interests, and the Limitations of Interest Theory' in The Political Interests of Gender, p. 46; Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, Disputed Subjects; C. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics' in J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political.
80. A. Jonasdottir, 'On the Concept of Interest, Women's Interests, and the Limitations of Interest Theory' in The Political Interests of Gender, p. 46; Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, Disputed Subjects; C. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics' in J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political.
81. A. Jonasdottir, 'On the Concept of Interest, Women's Interests, and the Limitations of Interest Theory' in The Political Interests of Gender, p. 46; Young, Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, Disputed Subjects; C. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics' in J. Butler and J. Scott (eds), Feminists Theorize the Political.
82. C. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics', pp. 281-2.
83. I.M. Young, 'Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy'; and A. Phillips, 'Dealing with Difference: a Politics of Ideas or a Politics of Presence?' both in S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996.
84. I.M. Young, 'Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy'; and A. Phillips, 'Dealing with Difference: a Politics of Ideas or a Politics of Presence?' both in S. Benhabib (ed.), Democracy and Difference: Contesting the Boundaries of the Political (Princeton University Press) Princeton, 1996.
85. Young, 'Communication and the Other'.
86. For an account of the movement in Australia, see D. Broom, Damned if we do: Contradictions in Women's Health Care (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1991.
87. N. Fraser, Unruly Practices, chapters 7, 8; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political; Toni Schofield, 'A Politics of Childbirth: Public Policy and Childbirth in New South Wales, 1950-1990', Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sydney, 1995.
88. N. Fraser, Unruly Practices, chapters 7, 8; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political; Toni Schofield, 'A Politics of Childbirth: Public Policy and Childbirth in New South Wales, 1950-1990', Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sydney, 1995.
89. N. Fraser, Unruly Practices, chapters 7, 8; Yeatman, Postmodern Revisionings of the Political; Toni Schofield, 'A Politics of Childbirth: Public Policy and Childbirth in New South Wales, 1950-1990', Unpublished PhD thesis, University of Sydney, 1995.
90. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics', p. 381.
91. In spite of the co-operation of archival staff at the Health Department Victoria, problems were encountered due to the original submissions to the Review having been mislaid. Data used includes various submissions made available to me by a cross-section of the major organisations, press material relating to the Review, and interviews with activists, bureaucrats and several members of the Study Group whose confidentiality I have assured. Interviews are therefore not cited in detail, but were taped and transcribed. I also had some direct involvement in the processes discussed here through membership of the Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance, now the Maternity Coalition. For fuller details of the Review's recommendations, see Having a Baby in Victoria: Final Report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services in Victoria (Health Department of Victoria) Melbourne, 1990. See also a further outcome of the inquiry process, S. Brown et al. (eds), Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994.
92. In spite of the co-operation of archival staff at the Health Department Victoria, problems were encountered due to the original submissions to the Review having been mislaid. Data used includes various submissions made available to me by a cross-section of the major organisations, press material relating to the Review, and interviews with activists, bureaucrats and several members of the Study Group whose confidentiality I have assured. Interviews are therefore not cited in detail, but were taped and transcribed. I also had some direct involvement in the processes discussed here through membership of the Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance, now the Maternity Coalition. For fuller details of the Review's recommendations, see Having a Baby in Victoria: Final Report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services in Victoria (Health Department of Victoria) Melbourne, 1990. See also a further outcome of the inquiry process, S. Brown et al. (eds), Missing Voices: the Experience of Motherhood (Oxford University Press) Melbourne, 1994.
93. Why Women's Health? Victorian Women Respond. Report of the Victorian Ministerial Women's Health Working Party, August 1987 (Health Department of Victoria) Melbourne, 1987.
94. Interview, November 1995.
95. Interview, November 1995.
96. Australian Medical Association undated press release and Submission to the BSR consultation, February 1989.
97. It should be noted that the formal RACOG submission to the BSR was quite moderate compared with that of the AMA. Behind-the-scenes lobbying was another matter!
98. Interview with founding member of MAMA, 13 November 1995.
99. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, chapter 6.
100. For the history of Australian midwifery regulation, see Evan Willis, Medical Dominance (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1983. Australian developments are also discussed from a comparative perspective in D. Sullivan and R. Weitz, Labor Pains: Modern Midwives and Home Birth (Yale University Press) New Haven, 1988, chapter 9.
101. For the history of Australian midwifery regulation, see Evan Willis, Medical Dominance (Allen & Unwin) Sydney, 1983. Australian developments are also discussed from a comparative perspective in D. Sullivan and R. Weitz, Labor Pains: Modern Midwives and Home Birth (Yale University Press) New Haven, 1988, chapter 9.
102. Interview with midwifery educator, November 1995.
103. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, chapter 5.
104. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, chapter 5.
105. Interview, November 1995.
106. This led to some lively late night debates in trying to formulate agreed wording in submissions!
107. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, especially chapter 6.
108. Interview, November 1995.
109. Interview, November 1995.
110. Australian Medical Association (Victorian Branch) submission to the BSR Plenary Session, 13 February 1989, p. 2.
111. Homebirth Peninsula submission to the BSR [1989].
112. Midwives' Action Group submission to BSR, April 1989.
113. For discussion of similar issues around the language of birth in the British context, see A. Hewison, 'The Language of Labour: and Examination of the Discourses of Childbirth', Midwifery, 9, 1993, pp. 225-34.
114. The Royal Women's Hospital submission to BSR, May 1989, p. 3.
115. Mercy Maternity Hospital, Draft response to Interim Report: Ministerial Review of Birthing Services, November 1989, p. 1.
116. Australian Multiple Birth Association (AMBA) Inc. submission to Victorian Birthing Services Review [1989], p. 1.
117. MAMA submission to Victorian Birthing Services Review, p. 7.
118. Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance presentation to 13 February 1989, BSR Plenary Session, p. 1.
119. Audiotape of Melbourne District Health Council seminar, The Childbirth Industry - Can there be Social Jttstice? Melbourne, July 1988.
120. Midwives' Action Group submission to BSR, April, 1989, pt 1.3.
121. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, especially chapter 6.
122. Health Issues Centre, Submission to the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services (Interim Report), 31 October 1989, p. 1.
123. AMA and NASOG response to the Final Report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services, June 1991, p. 2.
124. The Royal Women's Hospital submission to BSR, May 1989, p. 4.
125. Schofield, A Politics of Childbirth, chapter 6.
126. MAMA submission to BSR.
127. Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance submission to BSR, May 1989, p. 2.
128. Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance submission to BSR, May 1989, p. 2.
129. MAMA submission to BSR, p. 32.
130. Having a Baby in Victoria: Final Report of the Ministerial Review of Birthing Services in Victoria (Health Department of Victoria) Melbourne, 1990, p. 2.
131. Having a Baby in Victoria, p. 2.
132. Having a Baby in Victoria, p. 2.
133. Quoted in Interview, November 1995.
134. AMA response to the Final Report of the BSR, pp. 2-3.
135. See, for example, AMBA submission.
136. MAMA submission to BSR, p. 2.
137. Victorian Taskforce of Maternity Alliance presentation to BSR Plenary session, 13 February 1989, p. 1.
138. Mercy Maternity Hospital, Draft response to Why Women's Health? Victorian Women Respond. Report of the Victorian Ministerial Women's Health Working Party, August 1987, p. 1.
139. AMA response to Having a Baby in Victoria, p. 2.
140. New South Wales, Health Department, Report of the Ministerial Task Force on Obstetric Services in New South Wales (Shearman Report) 1989, Sydney.
141. Interview, November 1995.
142. Young, 'The Ideal of Impartiality and the Civic Public' in Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, 'The Play of Justice' in Disputed Subjects.
143. Young, 'The Ideal of Impartiality and the Civic Public' in Justice and the Politics of Difference; Flax, 'The Play of Justice' in Disputed Subjects.
144. Mouffe, 'Feminism, Citizenship and Radical Democratic Politics', p. 380.