Women's Global Health

Norms and State Policies

Edited by Lyn Boyd-Judson and Patrick James - Contributions by Karen L. Baird; Katherine Ba Thike; Patrick James; Lyn Boyd-Judson; Ayushi Gummadi; Nadejda Marinova; Leah R. Perlman; Kathryn Roberts; Laura Sjoberg and Darshi Thoradeniya

For many women around the globe, health has become the central intersection of the personal and the political; women's bodies are the arena for policy debates about population, poverty, reproduction, and morality. Women's Global Health: Norms and State Policies is a comprehensive assessment of health for women around the globe that will inform debates underway in a wide range of disciplines. These fields include public health, most obviously, but also sociology, anthropology and other disciplines. This book will advance the interdisciplinary fields of ethics, women’s studies, and international studies. It answers several questions with implications for knowledge in the preceding fields, along with relevance to policy. Some of these complex questions include: How do the laws and policies of a nation-state affect women's health? Is the state invested in these issues because women are seen to be bearers and nurturers of future citizens? Or are there other concerns such as economic development, human welfare, or religious ideology that shape this engagement? This book also examines the current and historical responsibilities of the state in addressing women’s health issues, and how these responsibilities can they be measured and improved upon. Finally, the book looks at how to best approach the underlying ethical issues in practical and useful ways for women around the globe.

Lexington Books

Pages: 182 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-0-7391-8888-0 • Hardback • December 2013 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-2110-9 • Paperback • August 2015 • $57.99 • (£45.00)

978-0-7391-8889-7 • eBook • December 2013 • $55.00 • (£42.00)

Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare

Women's Global Health

Norms and State Policies

Hardback

Paperback

eBook

Summary

For many women around the globe, health has become the central intersection of the personal and the political; women's bodies are the arena for policy debates about population, poverty, reproduction, and morality. Women's Global Health: Norms and State Policies is a comprehensive assessment of health for women around the globe that will inform debates underway in a wide range of disciplines. These fields include public health, most obviously, but also sociology, anthropology and other disciplines. This book will advance the interdisciplinary fields of ethics, women’s studies, and international studies. It answers several questions with implications for knowledge in the preceding fields, along with relevance to policy. Some of these complex questions include: How do the laws and policies of a nation-state affect women's health? Is the state invested in these issues because women are seen to be bearers and nurturers of future citizens? Or are there other concerns such as economic development, human welfare, or religious ideology that shape this engagement? This book also examines the current and historical responsibilities of the state in addressing women’s health issues, and how these responsibilities can they be measured and improved upon. Finally, the book looks at how to best approach the underlying ethical issues in practical and useful ways for women around the globe.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 182 • Trim: 6⅜ x 9¼

978-0-7391-8888-0 • Hardback • December 2013 • $120.00 • (£92.00)

978-1-4985-2110-9 • Paperback • August 2015 • $57.99 • (£45.00)

978-0-7391-8889-7 • eBook • December 2013 • $55.00 • (£42.00)

Subjects: Political Science / International Relations / General, Political Science / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare

Author

Lyn Boyd-Judson is director of the Levan Institute for Humanities and Ethics at the University of Southern California.

Patrick James is Dornsife Dean’s Professor of International Relations and director of the Center for International Studies at the University of Southern California.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Women’s Global Health, Norms and State Policies
Lyn Boyd-Judson and Patrick James

Chapter 2: Gender Equity—United Nations
Closing the Gender Gap in Global Health: Norms, International Aid, and Outcomes for Women’s Health
Debra L. DeLaet

Chapter 3: Prostitution and Trafficking—Sweden, Netherlands, and Germany
Social Norms and Policies on Prostitution and Trafficking: Swedish, Dutch, and German Evidence
Nadejda Marinova and Patrick James

Chapter 4: Abortion Legality—Mozambique and Tanzania
Morality, Legality, and Health: The Influence of the Grounds of Abortion Legality on Abortion-Related Health Issues
Laura Sjoberg

Chapter 5: Global Gag Rule on Abortion Speech—United States
US Family Planning Policy and Domestic Divisions: Implications for Women’s Reproductive Health
Karen L. Baird

Chapter 6: Breastfeeding and the Role of the State—Iran
State Policies Restricting Access to Infant Formula: Ethics and Impact on Women’s and Children’s Health
Leah R. Perlman and Kathryn Roberts

Chapter 7: Government Cash Incentives for Institutional Deliveries—India
Ethics and Global Health Promotion: The Government-Sponsored Janani Suraksha Yojana Maternal Health Financing Scheme in India
Katherine Ba-Thike and Ayushi Gummadi

Chapter 8: Expanding Dimensions of Women’s Health—Sri Lanka
‘Beyond Reproduction’: A New Shift in Women’s Health in Sri Lanka?
Darshi Thoradeniya

Chapter 9: What Have We Learned?
Patrick James and Lyn Boyd-Judson

Reviews

This book, based on papers presented at a conference held at the University of Southern California, The Ethics of State Involvement in Women's Health, explores women’s global health from a multidimensional, transnational perspective. Grounded in previous ethnographic research, the book analyzes the topic from a norms and state policy viewpoint, as the subtitle indicates. Case materials and examples are derived from the United Nations organization, Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, Mozambique, Tanzania, the US, Iran, India, and Sri Lanka. Key subjects addressed in the nine chapters include a definition of women’s global health, women’s rights, the role and power of women, access to resources, and politics, laws, and governance. The volume is eclectic in its approach to this subject, with contributions from scholars in political science, anthropology, ethics, women’s studies, and international studies. The authors make suggestions for an expanded, comprehensive research agenda that underscores the importance of facilitating positive norms and state policies to advance the health of women worldwide. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals/practitioners.
— Choice Reviews

This new book, Women’s Global Health, co-edited by Boyd-Judson and James, fills an important niche in the expanding women’s health and politics literature. First, it examines the feedback loop between international norms and domestic policies, and includes some pathbreaking new studies on countries not usually included in comparative texts from Asia and Africa. This type of study has been needed for a long time and will be useful to students and practitioners at many levels.
— Melissa Haussman, Professor of Political Science, Carleton University