Abega

Becker

Bledsoe

Bourdieu

Brand

Bulatao

Cornwall

de Certeau

Earle

Giddens

International Conference on Population and Development

Johnson-Hanks

Lambert

Lock

Meekers

Ortner

Van der Sijpt

Vigh

Watkins

Whyte

Current international attention to reproductive health behaviour is inspired by a western celebration of individual rights, autonomous action and rational choice. A predominant idea is that individuals should be free to act in accordance with their reproductive intentions and that, in doing so, they will attain their desired (and quantifiable) fertility outcomes. Yet such a framework leads to a misrepresentation of the reproductive dynamics on the ground, because individual fertility intentions are often not a priori defined, decisions are often not the result of rational calculation and reproductive happenings do not exist in a social vacuum. This article provides sociocultural evidence for a different conceptualisation of reproductive health behaviour. On the basis of long-term anthropological fieldwork in the East Province of Cameroon, I will analyse the complexities of fertility-related decision-making. Two case studies from the field will show that reproductive happenings are often characterised by indeterminacy and contingency. In order to understand the complex ways in which women give direction to these uncertainties, I propose an encompassing framework of reproductive navigation that explicitly acknowledges the influence of sociality and corporeality on fertility aspirations and actions

van der Sijpt, E.

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

English

Complexities and contingencies conceptualised: towards a model of reproductive navigation

This chapter provides sociocultural evidence for a different conceptualization of reproductive health behaviour. On the basis of long-term anthropological fieldwork in the East Province of Cameroon the author analyses of the social complexities and contingencies of local fertility-related decisions is made. Two case-studies from the field will enhance an in-depth understanding of the minutiae of reproductive decision-making. Their focus on very different fertility events allows for unravelling more general patterns of what is called reproductive navigation - that is, the ways in which people give direction to their reproductive trajectories. The aim is to move away from predefined assumptions of reproductive health behaviour and to formulate a grounded theory of reproductive navigation instead. The chapter draws upon the theoretical work on social navigation by Henrik Vigh. It questions many of the implicit assumptions about reproductive behaviour informing current international reproductive health programmes a

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Erica van der Sijpt

Crossref

Complexities and Contingencies Conceptualised: Towards a Model of Reproductive Navigation

Sociology of Health & Illness

https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/2249667/141847_Complexities_and_contingencies_conceptualized_Erica_van_der_Sijpt.pdf

Complexities and Contingencies Conceptualised: Towards a Model of Reproductive Navigation

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International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion online publications

UvA-DARE

Crossref

Crossref