This article reviews research published this century that engages critically with the mantra ‘Breast is Best’ and the associated expansion of official breast-feeding promotion programmes. In recent years there has been a marked increase... more
This article reviews research published this century that engages critically with the mantra ‘Breast is Best’ and the associated expansion of official breast-feeding promotion programmes. In recent years there has been a marked increase in the number of such studies published. They mostly explore experience in English speaking, industrialised countries (the US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Great Britain) which are in some social and cultural respects dissimilar, yet where very similar developments and problems are detected in regards to breast-feeding promotion. We highlight how this exploration of breast-feeding promotion internationally has developed understanding of wider sociological themes. This scholarship, we suggest, has provided a powerful illustration of the relation between risk society (more particularly a heightened consciousness of risk) and the evolution of a code of conduct that regulates behaviour, that has been termed ‘health moralizm’. The article covers three themes: ‘Science, risk society, authority and choice’; ‘Public health policy and infant feeding’; and ‘Moralization and women’s identity work’. We conclude that the research discussed shows how the sociological imagination continues to shed light on the relation between private troubles and public issues. We also suggest one conclusion that can be drawn from this research is that official discourse and everyday maternal experience appear increasingly distant from each other.
In March 2000, the British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, with the support of the Department of Health in the United Kingdom, produced a guideline for its members on the care of women seeking abortion. It states that... more
In March 2000, the British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, with the support of the Department of Health in the United Kingdom, produced a guideline for its members on the care of women seeking abortion. It states that abortion should be considered a health ...
In this Editorial, we have three aims. We mainly aim to highlight the key issues raised in the papers that follow, and orient readers to some thematic and methodological connections between them. We have divided the papers into three... more
In this Editorial, we have three aims. We mainly aim to highlight the key issues raised in the papers that follow, and orient readers to some thematic and methodological connections between them. We have divided the papers into three thematic groups: expert-led constructions of ...
Lee, Ellie (2007) The abortion debate today. In: Biggs, Hazel and Horsey, Kirsty, eds. Human Fertilisation and Embryology: Reproducing Regulation. Routledge, London, pp. 231-250. ISBN 978-1844720903 . ... The full text of this publication... more
Lee, Ellie (2007) The abortion debate today. In: Biggs, Hazel and Horsey, Kirsty, eds. Human Fertilisation and Embryology: Reproducing Regulation. Routledge, London, pp. 231-250. ISBN 978-1844720903 . ... The full text of this publication is not available from this repository.
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) - where embryos are screened for gene faults before being transferred to a woman's uterus - has come under the spotlight recently in the UK, with high-profile cases such as that of... more
Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) - where embryos are screened for gene faults before being transferred to a woman's uterus - has come under the spotlight recently in the UK, with high-profile cases such as that of the Leeds-based Hashmi family. The Hashmis have a ...
Background No one can have escaped the recent media interest in abortion. A striking aspect of the discussion so far has been the role of those who have provoked the debate by arguing for a reduction in the legal time limit for abortion,... more
Background No one can have escaped the recent media interest in abortion. A striking aspect of the discussion so far has been the role of those who have provoked the debate by arguing for a reduction in the legal time limit for abortion, yet who describe themselves as ...
