Reproduction and Society (Perspectives on Gender)

The new edition of Reproduction and Society assembles an authoritative collection of the best scholarship on reproductive matters to help students and readers think critically and more expansively about acts of reproduction as social phenomena.

The social, political, and personal meanings of reproduction have become increasingly important and surround us in the news, during elections, and even within popular culture. In the aftermath of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to overturn a nearly 50-year-old precedent guaranteeing a constitutional right to abortion, these issues have become even more pressing. Exploring the topic from a sociological lens, and drawing on influential writing from other fields, including history, economics, anthropology, and medicine, editors Carole Joffe and Jennifer Reich are assured and accessible guides as they lead readers across six core thematic areas analyzing reproductive self-determination and why it matters. From a reproductive justice perspective, the new edition examines issues related to contraception and sterilization, abortion, pregnancy, maternal-fetal conflicts, and uses of reproductive technologies. Readers will encounter classical texts that have contributed to the foundation of this exciting field, as well as more recent research that continues to push the field forward, all in the service of sharpening their understanding of why reproductive politics have been and continue to be contentious, complicated, and high stakes.

Refreshed and significantly expanded, with over two dozen new selections, the second edition of this reader will have wide appeal for undergraduate and graduate students who are new to the study of reproduction, both in courses that focus on the topic across different disciplines and as a supplement to courses on the family, gender, health care, social problems, and sexuality.

Carole Joffe is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Professor Emerita of Sociology at U.C. Davis. She is the coauthor, with David S. Cohen, of the book, After Dobbs: How the Supreme Court Ended Roe but not Abortion. She is the author of several other books and over 100 articles and op-eds on abortion and other topics in reproductive health. She has won lifetime achievement awards from the Society of Family Planning, the National Abortion Federation, and the Abortion Care Network.

Jennifer Reich is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Colorado Denver. Her research examines how individuals and families weigh information and strategize their interactions with the state and service providers in the context of public policy, particularly as they relate to health care and welfare. She is the author of two award-winning books, Fixing Families: Parents, Power, and the Child Welfare System and Calling the Shots: Why Parents Reject Vaccines, and is editor of the book, State of Families as well as the NYU book series, Health, Society, and Inequality. She has written more than 50 articles and book chapters that explore vaccination, reproductive health, welfare, multiracial families, public assistance, and recovery after disaster.