Book reviews and notices : SWAPNA MUKHOPADHYAY and R. SAVITHRI, Poverty, gender and reproductive choice: An analysis of linkages. Delhi: Manohar Publishers, 1998. 126 pp. Figures, tables, notes, references, index. Rs. 250 (hardback)

Abstract

Reproductive choice and reproductive rights are two of the current buzzwords in discussions on population policy, which in India has until recently been dominated by the compulsions of fertility control. This study by Mukhopadhyay and Savithri claims that poverty and gender discrimination together shape the contours of reproductive behaviour of the majority of Indian women, and that any emphasis on the latter has to be based on an understanding of the complex interlinkages among the major forces that constrain women's reproductive behaviour. It contextualises the notion of reproductive choice under conditions of poverty and gender discrimination by exploring the interlinkages of gender with poverty on the one hand, and the interface of both with women's fertility behaviour and reproductive choice on the other. This analysis is based on data generated from a very detailed household survey in two culturally very distinct Indian contexts.The study provides a glimpse of the complex linkages between reduction in gender inequality and poverty alleviation on the one hand, and reproductive choice matters on the other. It rightly underscores the complexities involved in defining female autonomy and delimiting the parameters of choice, and once again illustrates, with new evidence, that autonomy and choice are meaningless unless contextualised. An accessible and helpful addition to reproductive rights literature.