This article reviews the book: Reproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward. Edited by Laura Reichenbach & Mindy Jane Roseman. Pp. 304. (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2009.

Simon-Kumar, Rachel

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Rachel Simon-Kumar

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Journal of Biosocial Science

Reproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward. Edited by Laura Reichenbach &amp; Mindy Jane Roseman. Pp. 304. (University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 2009.) US$69.95, £45.50, ISBN 978-0-8122-4152-5, hardback.

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Book reviewsReproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward. Edited by LauraReichenbach & Mindy Jane Roseman. Pp. 304. (University of Pennsylvania Press,Philadelphia, 2009.) US$69.95, £45.50, ISBN 978-0-8122-4152-5, hardback. doi:10.1017/S0021932010000350.In 1995, following the watershed International Conference on Population andDevelopment (ICPD) in Cairo, Rosalind Pollack Petchesky wrote about the ‘faultline’ over which the newly endorsed Consensus of reproductive health was beingerected. Embedded within the global paradigm agreed by feminists, demographers,various religious factions, health advocates, development donors, and policymakers,she argued, lay a deeply unresolved contradiction: the feminist vision of reproductivehealth was being pursued against the backdrop of mainstream (neoliberal-driven)economic development. Surely, the realization of reproductive health aspirationsenvisioned by the women’s health movement would be compromised in this context?Fifteen years later, Reichenbach and Roseman’s book is evidence of where that faultline has led the fortunes of global reproductive health.The chapters in Reichenbach and Roseman’s edited volume succinctly documentthe gradual, but definite, decline of the pre-eminence of reproductive health in globalhealth policy. Its greatest triumph has been conceptual. Its advocates successfullydemonstrated the hitherto unrealized interconnectedness between reproductive healthand a range of disciplines; from human rights, law and feminism to demography andpolicy. Operationally, however, its implementation has been bogged down byconservatism and political compromise at various levels, and overshadowed by otherglobal priorities such as economic strategies, anti-poverty goals and the globalHIV/AIDS pandemic. There have been challenges in translating rights-based repro-ductive health into evidence-informed and viable programmatic outcomes. Further-more, a focus on reproductive health has not concretely proven to influence changein broader developmental indicators. Not surprisingly, there has been a dampening ofthe initial enthusiasm of funders and governments to resource reproductive healthprogrammes.Against this background, the authors, leading scholars in their field, analyse thechallenges of realizing the goals of the ICPD. The contributors come from a range ofinstitutional and disciplinary interests – the women’s health movement, internationaldonor agencies, academia, policy, demography and law – and these are reflected in therange of themes captured in the sixteen chapters of the book. The editors frame thefundamental question of this book in Chapters 1 and 2: should the ICPD beevaluated as a glass ‘half full’ or ‘half empty’? Is it still a Consensus or a series ofcompromises? Subsequent chapters call for a rethink of the relationships betweenreproductive health, population programmes and poverty reduction (see Zeidenstein’s,and Bloom and Canning’s chapters). Operational aspects are discussed by MerrickJ. Biosoc. Sci., (2010) 42, 827–830827(who analyses resource shifts for reproductive health) and Kaufman (on thechallenges of measurement). Specific issue areas like young people’s sexual/reproductive health, and abortion are explored by, among others, Shepard and Bererrespectively. The final chapters are devoted to institutional gaps; Basu bemoans theabsence of sound academic pedagogy on reproductive health, Larson and Reichappraise the role of the UN, Kissling examines the Catholic Church as a key actorin the ICPD and Girard’s analysis focuses on advocacy during and following theICPD.The book is an important contribution to the field providing a much-neededstocktake of processes of the mid-1990s that, despite flagging policy interest, continuesto have global significance. The chapters are evenly consistent in their thoroughnessand analytical depth; clearly, the authors have considerable in-depth knowledge of theareas on which they write. Most chapters set out a historical context as well asprovide forward-looking assessments. It is not surprising to see repeated reference tothe Bush administration, Vatican and Islamic conservatism, and the HIV/AIDSpandemic, all of which have been influential in defining the outcomes of thereproductive health agenda. The volume reminds us of the tensions within which thegoals of the ICPD have been germinating: the compromise of realizing pragmaticoutcomes for populations while maintaining feminist visions of reproductive empow-erment; the constraints in retaining reproductive health as a political agenda amidstits bureaucratization; and the challenges of reactionary forces operating alongsidesocial justice actions.This book is not uplifting; it cannot be. The changes in the social, cultural andpolitical landscapes in the past decade have been too substantive and the challengesfor reproductive health forceful. Yet, despite its sobering narrative, the book’sconclusion is realistic in recognizing the need to engage with that change and tostrategize accordingly. The passing of a generation of ‘reproductive health’ specialists– many of them contributors to this volume – will further put strain on the ongoingmomentum that is required to maintain this strategic engagement. Regardless of thefuture outcomes of the reproductive health ‘Consensus’, one thing cannot be denied:it will be marked, for generations, as one of humanity’s most successful globalexperiments in bringing together conflicting interests to work together for women’sbetterment.ReferencePetchesky, R. P. (1995) From population control to reproductive rights: feminist fault lines.Reproductive Health Matters 3(6), 152–161.R S-KThe University of Waikato,Hamilton, New Zealand828 Book reviews

From population control to reproductive rights: feminist fault lines.

Book review: Reproductive Health and Human Rights: The Way Forward.

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