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The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery

Biocapitalism and Black Feminism's Philosophy of History

Alys Eve Weinbaum

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English
Duke University Press
15 March 2019
In The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery Alys Eve Weinbaum investigates the continuing resonances of Atlantic slavery in the cultures and politics of human reproduction that characterize contemporary biocapitalism. As a form of racial capitalism that relies on the commodification of the human reproductive body, biocapitalism is dependent upon what Weinbaum calls the slave episteme-the racial logic that drove four centuries of slave breeding in the Americas and Caribbean. Weinbaum outlines how the slave episteme shapes the practice of reproduction today, especially through use of biotechnology and surrogacy. Engaging with a broad set of texts, from Toni Morrison's Beloved and Octavia Butler's dystopian speculative fiction to black Marxism, histories of slavery, and legal cases involving surrogacy, Weinbaum shows how black feminist contributions from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s constitute a powerful philosophy of history-one that provides the means through which to understand how reproductive slavery haunts the present.
By:  
Imprint:   Duke University Press
Country of Publication:   United States
Dimensions:   Height: 229mm,  Width: 152mm, 
Weight:   408g
ISBN:   9781478002840
ISBN 10:   1478002840
Pages:   277
Publication Date:  
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Undergraduate
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
"Acknowledgments  vii Introduction. Human Reproduction and the Slave Episteme  1 1. The Surrogacy/Slavery Nexus  29 2. Black Feminism as a Philosophy of History  61 3. Violent Insurgency, or ""Power to the Ice Pick""  88 4. The Problem of Reproductive Freedom in Neoliberalism  111 5. A Slave Narrative for Postracial Times  147 Epilogue. The End of Men and the Black Womb of the World  177 Notes  187 Bibliography  243 Index  275"

Alys Eve Weinbaum is Professor of English at the University of Washington, author of Wayward Reproductions: Genealogies of Race and Nation in Transatlantic Modern Thought, and coeditor of The Modern Girl Around the World: Consumption, Modernity, and Globalization, both also published by Duke University Press.

Reviews for The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery: Biocapitalism and Black Feminism's Philosophy of History

"""Weinbaum's book is both a contribution to a rich Black feminist theoretical archive on reproductive politics and a celebration of work by Black feminist scholars—particularly Black feminist legal scholars, including Dorothy Roberts and Anita Allen—who have long considered the intersections of surrogacy, slavery, and logics of property.… Weisenbaum's original and incisive text gives us new tools to think about reproductive freedom and reminds us that any idea of reproductive freedom requires Black feminist theoretical innovation and imagination."" -- Jennifer C. Nash * Modern Language Quarterly * ""Ultimately, The Afterlife of Reproductive Slavery does not disappoint. It does the job of demonstrating the complex connections between the gendered and racialised reproductive exploitation and extraction during the historical Atlantic slave trade period and today exceedingly well."" -- Gina Marie Longo * Feminist Encounters * ""The book offers much-needed critical perspectives on the racializing processes at the center of reproductive labor and commodification. . . . Ulitmately, Weinbaum's analysis shows the importance of thinking historically and offers insights into the ways in which gendered, racialized, and sexualized forms of oppression that have roots in slavery continue to motivate biocapitalism today."" -- Daisy Deomampo * Catalyst *"


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