Bodies of Knowledge

Eugenia Georges

Description

Recipient of the 2006 Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize for the best project in the area of medicine.

The author, a second-generation Greek American, returned to Greece with her young daughter to do fieldwork over the course of a decade. Focusing on Rhodes, an island that blends continuity with the past and rapid social change in often unexpected ways, she interviewed over a hundred women, doctors, and midwives about issues of reproduction.

The result is a detailed portrait of how a longstanding system of "local" gynecological and obstetrical knowledge under the control of women was rapidly displaced in the the period following World War II, and how the technologically-intensive biomedical model that took its place in turn assumed its own distinctive signature.

Bodies of Knowledge is a vivid ethnographic study of how a presumably globalizing and homogenizing process like medicalization can be reshaped as women and medical experts alike selectively accept or reject new practices and technologies. Georges found, for example, that women in Rhodes have enthusiastically embraced some new technologies, like fetal imaging during pregnancy, but rejected others, like medical contraception. They are also avid consumers of popular childbirth manuals.

This book is the recipient of the 2006 Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize for the best project in the area of medicine.

Sujets

• Médecine
• Médecine Générale
• Social Science
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Sociology
• Ethnography
• Anthropology
• Health

Informations

• Publié par: Vanderbilt University Press
• Date de parution: 29 décembre 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780826592453
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

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Bodies of Knowledge The Medicalization of Reproduction in Greece

Eugenia Georges

Bodies of Knowledge

Bodies of Knowledge The Medicalization of Reproduction in Greece

Eugenîa Georges

Vanderbît Unîversîty Press Nashvîe

© 008 by Vanderbilt University Press Nasville, Tennessee 75 All rigts reserved

  0 09 08    4 5

his book is te recipient of te 006 Norman L. and Roselea J. Goldberg Prize from Vanderbilt University Press for te best project in te area of medicine.

Printed on acid-free paper made from 0% post-consumer recycled paper. Manufactured in te United States of America. Designed by Dariel Mayer

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Georges, Eugenia. Bodies of knowledge : te medicalization of reproduction in Greece / Eugenia Georges. p. ; cm. Includes bibliograpical references and index. ISBN 978-0-865-598-8 (clot : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-865-599-5 (pbk. : alk. paper) . Human reproduction—Greece—Rodes (Island)—History— 0t century. . Cildbirt—Greece—Rodes (Island)—History— 0t century. . Birt control—Greece—Rodes (Island)—History— 0t century. 4. Women—Healt and ygiene—Greece—Rodes (Island)—History—0t century. 5. Etnology—Greece—Rodes (Island)—History—0t century. I. Title. [DNLM: . Reproductive Beavior—istory—Greece. . Antropology, Cultural—metods—Greece. . Family Planning Policy—istory—Greece. 4. History, 0t Century—Greece. 5. Social Conditions—Greece. 6. Women’s Healt—istory—Greece. HQ 766 G8 G5b 008] QP5.G57 008 6.609495—dc 0080808

For my moter, Nafsica, and my daugter, Crista

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Contents

Acknowledgments ix Note on Transliteration xiii

Introduction 1 Transnational Rodes 29 Menstruation, Procreation, and Abortion in Prewar Rodes 67

Pregnancy, Birt, and Postpartum Care in Prewar Rodes 122

Medicalization and Modernity: New Reproductive Tecnologies, New Maternal Bodies 157 Living wit Contradictions: Contraception and Abortion and te Contemporary Greek Family 223 Global and Local Bodies of Knowledge 272

Notes 279 References Cited 293 Index 315

Acknowledgments

Returning year after year to do fieldwork on a Greek island sometimes con- jures skeptical, even cynical, reactions from people. I am terefore especially grateful to all tose friends, colleagues, family members, and funding agen- cies wo, despite suc preconceptions, supported me in tis researc over te years.  Like every antropologist, I owe an irredeemable debt to te many people wo sared teir lives and stories wit me, and witout wose generosity and goodwill tis book would never ave been possible. Most must remain anony- mous, but it is a pleasure to personally tank my friends in Rodes: Debbie Hadzidiakou, Maria Karagianni, Vasilia Kazoulli, Gianis Kazoullis, Van- gelis Pavilides, Evmorpia Stratis, Statis Stratis, te late and greatly missed Evi Triandafilou, Georgia Vitsilaki, and Dimitris Zanetoulis. Because of teir friendsip and ospitality, Rodes genuinely came to feel like ome for me and my daugter, Crista. Heartfelt tanks go to Evmorpia Stratis for al- lowing me to use er painting for te cover of tis book, as well as for teac- ing Crista ow to draw. Ana Maria Kazdagli taugt me muc about medi- eval Rodes and pointed me to resources tat I would ave never found on my own. I am especially grateful to Dr. Crisy Vitsilaki, not only for over a decade of friendsip, but also for making er office at te University of te Aegean in Rodes available to me wenever I needed it. he researc assis- tance provided by Cristina Karagianni, Antoula Hadzipetrou, and Penny Papakosta was critical to tis project, and I tank tem all for teir friendsip as well.  I am also deeply grateful for te guidance and ospitality I received from colleagues in Greece as I began to formulate tis project and ten troug- out te ensuing years. Dimitra Gefou-Madianou welcomed me into er ome and into er department at Pantion University. Deanna Trakas literally led me to Rodes, were se ad conducted er own researc, and personally intro- duced me to te staff of te ospital, as well as to oter Rodians wo would

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