TSANTSA, the review of the Swiss Anthropological Society, invites papers for its 12/2007 edition on the special theme:

Other engenderings: pregnancy in situations of social and physiological disorder

deadline for abstracts: 21.6.2006

How is pregnancy lived for women with serious illnesses or HIV infection? What happens after a prenatal diagnosis of fetal malformation or genetic illness? How do women and society deal with « illegitimate » pregnancies or those resulting from rape or incestuous relationships? How can we approach the question of alcoholic, abused or handicapped future mothers? Despite much recent work in the anthropology of reproduction, particularly in relation to medically assisted reproductive technologies, few researchers in the social sciences have explored the hidden sides of pregnancy. The greater part of the existing literature deals with sterility, abortion and perinatal death, as if non-birth were the only possible contrary to “perfect” birth. And yet, pregnancy and birth in situations of physiological disorder or in violation of established social norms are part of life. Both cases provide privileged terrain for the analysis of the practices and representations underlying the symbolic construction of personhood, and open new ways to ask what makes society.

With this Call for Papers, Tsantsa seeks contributions on one or more of these themes, based on research in either hemisphere. We seek articles from anthropologists, historians or sociologists that examine the social, ritual, medical or legal responses to these marginal pregnancies. We encourage work based on empirical research that integrates the experiences not only of mothers but also attitudes of fathers and the familial, medical and social surroundings in which these pregnancies unfold. Priority will be given to those articles that demonstrate what a study of marginal pregnancies can bring to current debates in the social sciences and in the field of public health.

Paper proposals of 300-500 words together with a short biographical note should be sent to:
Saskia Walentowitz (walentowitz@anthro.unibe.ch).

The deadline for proposals is June 21st, 2006.

The final versions of the paper are due at the 15th of October 2006.

For further information regarding TSANTSA as well as for more details on our publishing policy, please go to:
http://www.seg-sse.ch/.