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 National Science
Foundation Award #0522157 |
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Dissertation Research: Conceptions of the Fetus in Haitian Immigrant Culture |
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| Investigator(s): |
Stacey Langwick (PI)
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| Sponsor: |
University of Florida, FL 32611 3523923516
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| Start Date/Expiration Date |
2005-08-15 to 2006-07-31 (amended 2005-08-08) |
| Awarded Amount to Date: |
$7,500 |
| Abstract: Dissertation Research- Conceptions of the Fetus in Haitian Immigrant Culture
Project Summary:
Recent federal legislation has resulted in changes by which fetuses are now considered
rights holders and persons with national identities. Those changes compel our nation to
protect our unborn through the recognition of individualrights for the fetus. Most of the
work exploring the implications of the emergence of fetuses as rights holders has focused
on isues of women's control over their bodies or abortion politics. Women, however, are
imagined generically; the differences among women which could shape the impact of these
issues have not yet been critically examined. For example, very little work has explored
the important question of what these developments mean for pregnant immigrant women of
color with uncertain legal status. This dissertation research will explore how routine
medical procedures and recent legal initiatives shape the way Haitian women giving birth
in the United States imagine and redefine rights, national identities, and citizenship in light
of the fetus.
This work will use ethnographic data-participant observation in clinics and
community settings in South Florida and the collection of Haitian women's narratives
around their experiences in prenatal care. In addition, this work will be grounded within
their pre-existing notions of reproduction and motherhood, and therefore explore the
intertwining of social and biological reproduction. This project will use the comncept
of "fetal positions" (Casper 1994), that is, being mindful of the many ways in which the fetus is
constructed, used or represented, as well as the multiple actors associated with these
positions as a means to incorporate ethnographic data with current legislative and media
representations of the idea of fetuses as rights holders and persons with national identity.
Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact of Project
This research adds to the theoretical and practical issues which have to do with the
adoption and utilization of new technologies (in this case, prenatal care and reproductive
imaging) and the state's ability to define rights holders . Although a fewanthropologists have begun to investigate the construction of fetal personhood in crosscultural contexts, this project inquires how immigrants negotiate differing conceptions of the fetus, and consequently, how these alternative ideas affect their experiences in prenatal care. Although this project addresses larger theoretical issues
around reproduction and identity, one of the most beneficial aspects of science and
technology research is its ability to engage larger political issues. At a time when Americans are
concerned with "protecting new life," the impact on women's rights as well as women's experiences in
pregnancy have become increasingly important. In addition, as Haitians continue to stream into the United States, their existence in America continues to be highly contested. By investigating the (re)production of the next Haitian-American generation, we can begin tosee how current issues in reproductive politics and immigrant identity can be explored through "fetal positions." |
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| NSF Org: |
SES - Division of Social and Economic Sciences |
| Award Number: |
0522157 |
| Award Instrument: |
Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ronald Rainger
SES Division of Social and Economic Sciences
SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
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| NSF Program(s): |
Hist & Philosophy of SET |
| Field Application(s): |
Human Subjects |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAM, 9179 |
| Program Element Code(s): |
1353 |
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