“Women’s intimate lives,” author Michelle Goldberg writes, “have become inextricably tied to global forces.” Her book provides a much-needed global perspective on women’s struggle for self-determination, and on the complex ties between reproductive rights and international politics and economics.
Goldberg files dispatch from around the world, investigating forced birth in Poland, female genital cutting in Sierra Leone, the trafficking of young girls in Asia, and a recent backlash against women’s rights in Latin America. A particularly unsettling segment examines sex-selective abortion in India.
Throughout The Means of Reproduction Goldberg considers the role of power centers like Washington and the Vatican in shaping policy around the world, and the resulting globalization of the so-called “culture wars.” This is a sobering book about global reproductive issues we all need to know about, and an inspiring call for a truly global reproductive rights movement.
