Women's fertility in Africa has been a major concern for demographers, global health organizations, and Western governments. While demographic growth in Africa has become a prominent issue, the problem of infertility has been largely neglected in favor of quantitative work on contraceptive uptake. The problems of those facing infertility are particularly profound in the Republic of Niger, where producing children is central to the identity of a woman, a wife, and a
person.Yearning and Refusal uncovers the reproductive issues among women and couples in the Republic of Niger that are overlooked, underestimated, or hidden. Drawing upon
interviews, participant observation, and her intimate knowledge of Nigerien society, Hadiza Moussa lifts the veil on unspoken topics, examining through empirical research what societal leaders, politicians, and public health specialists ignore: the lived realities of women struggling with failed fertility. Focusing on the Nigerien capital of Niamey, Moussa sets out the existential experience of failed fertility and the physical, emotional, and social implications for women who do not produce
children, either biologically or voluntarily. Through frank and broad-ranging interviews, Moussa shows in their own words how women strive for reproductive control in a country at the heart of the
population growth debate.Now translated in English, Yearning and Refusal examines the emotional and social consequences of yearning for children and refusing to bear them, and the ways women navigate a patriarchal medical system and society.
Women's fertility in Africa has been a major concern for demographers, global health organizations, and Western governments. While demographic growth in Africa has become a prominent issue, the problem of infertility has been largely neglected in favor of quantitative work on contraceptive uptake. The problems of those facing infertility are particularly profound in the Republic of Niger, where producing children is central to the identity of a woman, a wife, and a
person.Yearning and Refusal uncovers the reproductive issues among women and couples in the Republic of Niger that are overlooked, underestimated, or hidden. Drawing upon
interviews, participant observation, and her intimate knowledge of Nigerien society, Hadiza Moussa lifts the veil on unspoken topics, examining through empirical research what societal leaders, politicians, and public health specialists ignore: the lived realities of women struggling with failed fertility. Focusing on the Nigerien capital of Niamey, Moussa sets out the existential experience of failed fertility and the physical, emotional, and social implications for women who do not produce
children, either biologically or voluntarily. Through frank and broad-ranging interviews, Moussa shows in their own words how women strive for reproductive control in a country at the heart of the
population growth debate.Now translated in English, Yearning and Refusal examines the emotional and social consequences of yearning for children and refusing to bear them, and the ways women navigate a patriarchal medical system and society.
Editors' Introduction
Barbara M. Cooper and Alice J. Kang
Preface for the English Translation
Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan
Acronyms
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Part I. The Problem of Infertility
1. The Infertile Body
2. Managing Infertility
3. Varieties of Infertility
4. The Emotional Weight of Childlessness
Part II. Tensions in the Clinic
5. Confronting the Biomedical Sphere
Part III. Knowing and Negotiating Contraception
6. Contraception Outside of the Clinic
7. Negotiating Biomedical Contraception
8. The Realities of Abortion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
Hadiza Moussa was an assistant professor of anthropology and
sociology at Abdou Moumouni University. She received her PhD in
Anthropology from the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales
(EHESS) in 2008. Her book was published in 2012 in French as Entre
absence et refus d'enfant: Socio-anthropologie de la gestion de la
fécondité féminine à Niamey, Niger (L'Harmattan/La Sahélienne). As
a
member of the Laboratoire d'Études et de Recherches sur les
Dynamiques Sociales et le Développement Local (LASDEL), Hadiza
Moussa researched public health delivery, sexual health,
decentralization and development, and women, power, and local
politics. She passed away in
2013.
Alice J. Kang is an associate professor of political science and
ethnic studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and scholar of
women, gender, and politics in Africa.
Barbara M. Cooper is a professor of African history and gender at
Rutgers University; her research focuses on the former French
colonies of the Sahel, particularly Niger.
Natalie Kammerer is a French-English translator with a Masters in
French Literature from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Jean-Pierre Olivier de Sardan is an emeritus professor of the
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and a professor at the
École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales and Abdou Moumouni
University.
In Yearning and Refusal, Hadiza Moussa presents powerful
ethnographic vignettes of the complex subjectivities and agency of
women of Niger who confront social marginalization and
stigmatization because of marital infertility. The book offers a
complex examination of policing by the Nigerien state and society
of women's rights to safe abortion and access to safe
contraception. Barbara M. Cooper and Alice J. Kang's translation
pays tribute to a brilliant scholar whose life was prematurely
taken in a car accident in 2013. Yearning and Refusal is truly a
masterpiece.
*Ousseina D. Alidou, Professor, Rutgers University, and President,
African Studies Association*
The thorough treatment of the subject matter with sound methodology
and the author's honest self-reflection make this book an
interesting and useful resource for students, scholars, and
healthcare providers. This English-translated, updated version is a
justified addition to the literature.
*Lisa R Roberts, DrPH, MSN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN(Loma Linda
University)*
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