Everyday Ethics: sex determination and ultrasound in Australia

6 page(s

Spatial boundaries and moralities of gender : consideration from obstetric and gynaecological practice in Chennai, South India

This article explores the intersection of medical practice and moralities of gender in the context of obstetrics and gynaecology clinics in Chennai, South India. The focus of the article grows out of an attempt to better understand the moral values that underpin obstetric and gynaecological (O&G) practice in relation to female sexuality. Its key concern is the cultural construction of ideal femininity and the way gendered boundaries are put in place to neutralize the sexual potential of the medical encounter and to protect values around virginity. To deconstruct the ways in which O&G practice works to reinforce these norms, it analyses the configuration of spatial arrangements in the clinics, as well as the discursive strategies employed by medical staff and patients. It also examines how the arrangement of space and speech in the context of the clinic reflect the moral codes that govern female sexuality in South Indian culture more generally. Finally, it shows the depth to which everyday moralities of gender operate in the clinic and how medical practice serves to maintain the boundaries that shape the expectations surrounding femininity and sexuality.11 page(s

Rethinking the 'international' in the politics of women's health : an ethnographic excursion through the story of the anti-fertility vaccine and beyond

Using my own experiences travelling between feminisms in Australia and India, I argue that there has been a lack of interrogation into the ‘internationalisms’ that operate in the politics of women’s health, resulting in the perpetuation of a chasm among feminists on issues such as contraception and reproductive rights. I consider the chasm in feminist perspectives a productive analytic site and use this as a framework for exploring the concept of the ‘international’ in a campaign that has been deemed a success in the realm of international women’s health politics: the campaign against the Anti-Fertility Vaccine. I examine the various ‘internationalisms’ that operate in the narratives of the campaign from different standpoints, comparing ‘international’ commentary to the perspectives elicited by Indian activists. By viewing the campaign in the context of the Indian women’s health movement I demonstrate how dominant versions of internationalism serve to marginalise other more inclusive feminist internationalisms. In doing so, I seek to uncover some of the stumbling blocks that prevent the synchronisation of feminisms in the field of women’s health politics.29 page(s

Conceptualising the value of simulation modelling for public engagement with policy: a critical literature review

Abstract As we face complex and dynamically changing public health and environmental challenges, simulation modelling has come to occupy an increasingly central role in public engagements with policy. Shifts are occurring not only in terms of wider public understandings of modelling, but also in how the value of modelling is conceptualised within scientific modelling communities. We undertook a critical literature review to synthesise the underlying epistemic, theoretical and methodological assumptions about the role and value of simulation modelling within the literature across a range of fields (e.g., health, social science and environmental management) that engage with participatory modelling approaches. We identified four cross-cutting narrative conceptualisations of the value of modelling across different research traditions: (1) models simulate and help solve complex problems; (2) models as tools for community engagement; (3) models as tools for consensus building; (4) models as volatile technologies that generate social effects. Exploring how these ideas of ‘value’ overlap and what they offer one another has implications for how participatory simulation modelling approaches are designed, evaluated and communicated to diverse audiences. Deeper appreciation of the conditions under which simulation modelling can catalyse multiple social effects is recommended