While
feminists in the Global North have been fighting to keep abortion
legal, in countries across the Global South activists are working to
bring self-managed medical
abortion - abortion pills - to women, despite hostile governments,
while also winning battles over legalization.
Drawing on years of research across Latin America, Africa, and the periphery countries of Europe, Abortion Beyond the Law describes the strategies, politics, and
tactics of these direct action feminists who bring abortion pills,
information, and support to people seeking to end unwanted pregnancies.
From the metro stations in Santiago, Chile, a common place to obtain misoprostol, to the legal
strictures of Bolsonaro's Brazil and the NGO-dominated landscape of
Kenya and Nigeria, feminist activists are making safe, accessible
abortion care available, despite the odds.
Even
more, as sociologist Naomi Braine argues, they are building a robust
transnational feminist network. As Braine shows, tactics developed in
the Global South - hotlines,
practices of accompaniment and peer-to-peer care, and scientific
information - are now being shared with activists in Europe and North
America, building a new model for international feminist solidarity.
By:
Naomi Braine
Imprint: Verso Books
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 210mm,
Width: 140mm,
Spine: 15mm
Weight: 238g
ISBN: 9781804292068
ISBN 10: 1804292060
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 27 February 2024
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction 1. Abortion Is Unstoppable: The Emergence of a Transnational Movement 2. We Are Everywhere: The Shape of the Global Movement for SMA 3. An Act of Solidarity between Women: Strategies to Share Information and Enable Safe Abortions 4. Being an Activist Is Not Easy: Managing Security and Sharing the Risks 5. We Have Become the Experts: Scientific Research, Medical Protocols, and Movement Knowledge 6. We All Work Together: Building Activist Networks from the Local to the Global 7. In It for the Long Term: The Lives of Committed Activists Conclusion: Moving Forward Acknowledgments Notes Index
Naomi Braine is a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College, CUNY. Prior to joining the faculty at Brooklyn, she worked in the nonprofit research sector on issues of drug use and HIV and consulted for community-based organizations and the New York State Department of Health. Her political and intellectual work addresses gender, sexuality, reproductive justice, wars on drugs and terror, and health and collective action, from an intersectional perspective.
Reviews for Abortion Beyond the Law: Building a Global Feminist Movement for Self-Managed Abortion
This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know how the global feminist movement for self-managed abortion has been providing access to safe and quality pregnancy termination-beyond legal and medical authority. -- Nayla Luz Vacarezza, National Council for Scientific and Technical Research, Argentina Read this book and learn all about the creative strategies and intrepid people making a real difference in the lives of millions. -- Francine Coeytaux and Elisa Wells, Cofounders, Plan C
