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'''Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives''' is a collection of [[Anthropology|anthropological]] essays that study [[birth]] and [[authoritative knowledge]] across sixteen different cultures that was first published in 1998 in the [[Journal of Gender Studies]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Draper|first=Janet|year=1998|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge. Cross cultural perspectives|url=http://yb7zk3sd3g.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Childbirth+and+Authoritative+Knowledge.+Cross+cultural+perspectives&rft.jtitle=Journal+of+Gender+Studies&rft.au=Janet+Draper&rft.date=1998-11-01&rft.pub=Taylor+%26+Francis+Ltd&rft.issn=0958-9236&rft.eissn=1465-3869&rft.volume=7&rft.issue=3&rft.spage=341&rft.externalDocID=36543193&paramdict=en-US|journal=Journal of Gender Studies|volume=7|pages=341|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref><ref name=":8">{{Cite journal|last=Callister|first=Lynn Clark|date=1998-01-01|title=Review of Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|jstor=2655523|journal=Contemporary Sociology|volume=27|issue=4|pages=421|doi=10.2307/2655523}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite journal|last=Baker|first=Deborah|year=2000|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/ejournals/article/334594761|journal=Social Science & Medicine|volume=50|pages=445–446|via=ohiolink|doi=10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00274-9 }}</ref> It "extends and enriches" anthropologist [[Brigitte Jordan]]'s work in the anthropology of birth.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davis-Floyd |first=Robbie |date=April 13, 2023 |title="Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives" |url=https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520207851/childbirth-and-authoritative-knowledge |access-date=April 13, 2023 |publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520207851 }}</ref> In 2003, it won the Council on Anthropology and Reproduction book award.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prizes |url=https://www.carcouncilonanthropologyreproduction.org/prizes |access-date=2023-04-13 |website=Council on Anthropology & Reproduction |language=en-US}}</ref>
This collection is edited by [[Robbie Davis-Floyd]] and [[Carolyn Sargent]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Childbirth and authoritative knowledge : cross-cultural perspectives|first1=Robbie|last1=Davis-Floyd|last2=Sargent|first2=Carolyn F.|date=1997-01-01|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520206250|oclc=35822616}}</ref> The book opens with a foreword by [[Rayna Rapp]]<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":9" /> and examines in detail the various patterns of birth and how they've changed over time.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Jones|first=Mary Elaine|date=2000-06-01|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|journal=American Anthropologist|language=en|volume=102|issue=2|pages=382–383|doi=10.1525/aa.2000.102.2.382|issn=1548-1433}}</ref> Not only does the book study child-bearing across cultures, it also looks into the power that biomedical technology holds in the healthcare field.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":10" />
Throughout the collection of essays, the twenty-three authors use authoritative knowledge as a theme to explore the ways it is evidenced and implemented in several different cultures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last=Gaskin|first=Ina May|year=1998|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|url=http://yb7zk3sd3g.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF-8&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fsummon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Childbirth+and+Authoritative+Knowledge%3A+Cross-Cultural+Perspectives&rft.jtitle=The+Birth+Gazette&rft.au=Gaskin%2C+Ina+May&rft.date=1998-04-30&rft.pub=Second+Foundation&rft.issn=0890-3255&rft.volume=14&rft.issue=2&rft.spage=35-36&rft.externalDocID=507302261&paramdict=en-US|journal=The Birth Gazette|volume=14|pages=35|via=EBSCOhost}}</ref> The book has eighteen chapters, creating five distinct parts.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":9" /> Each part of the book takes a look at authoritative knowledge from a new perspective or culture.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /> The scholars behind the essays themselves come from numerous academic backgrounds.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Renne|first=Elisha P.|date=2000-06-01|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives; African American Midwifery in the South: Dialogues of Birth, Race, and Memory; Reading Birth and Death: A History of Obstetric Thinking|journal=Medical Anthropology Quarterly|language=en|volume=14|issue=2|pages=277–281|doi=10.1525/maq.2000.14.2.277|issn=1548-1387}}</ref><ref name=":10">{{Cite journal|last=Bentley|first=Jillian R.|year=2002|title=Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/ejournals/article/315630425|journal=Journal of Biosocial Science|volume=34|pages=141–143|via=ohiolink|doi=10.1017/s0021932002231399}}</ref> Davis-Floyd is quoted to have said that the purpose of the book is to "act both as a useful source of information about birth across cultures and as a charter for future research and further growth in the field."<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal|last=Ball|first=Helen|s2cid=144462543|date=1999-01-01|title=Review of Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives|jstor=2660726|journal=The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute|volume=5|issue=2|pages=306–307|doi=10.2307/2660726}}</ref>
== Parts of ''Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross-Cultural Perspectives'' ==
=== Part One: "The Social Construction of Authoritative Knowledge in Childbirth" ===
This section of essays primarily describes how technology is used in the American setting.<ref name=":9" /><ref name=":1" /> This part of the book contains [[Brigitte Jordan]]'s essay ("Authoritative Knowledge and Its Construction") along with context for the reader about the other essays in the book.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /> Brigitte Jordan elaborates on the theme of authoritative knowledge in her book ''[[Birth in Four Cultures: A Crosscultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden, and the United States|Birth in Four Cultures: A Cross cultural Investigation of Childbirth in Yucatan, Holland, Sweden and the United States]]''.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":5" /> Firstly, Jordan elaborates on her idea of authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> She specifically defines it as follows:
"For any particular domain several knowledge systems may exist, some of which, by consensus, carry more weight than others, either because they explain the state of the world better for the purposes at hand...or because they are associated with a stronger power base."<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":10" />
Jordan also uses her essay to critique the hierarchical use of authoritative knowledge in a birth setting and provide context for the rest of the essays in the book.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":1" /> This theme is mentioned by other authors throughout the book.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" />
Part One also contains an essay by Wenda R. Trevathan titled "An Evolutionary Perspective on Authoritative Knowledge about Birth".<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":9" /> This essay compares the human birth process to that of the apes.<ref name=":9">{{Cite journal|s2cid=198140593|year=1997|title="Book Review", Davis-Floyd E, Sargent C F, eds. Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge|url=http://rave.ohiolink.edu/ejournals/article/328300061|journal=Journal of Advancement in Medicine|volume=10|pages=291–292|via=ohiolink|doi=10.1023/b:jame.0000009344.17220.39}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />
=== Part Two: "Intracultural Variations in Authoritative Knowledge about Birth: Biomedical Hegemony and Women's Choices" ===
This second section of Davis-Floyd and Sargent's edited collection contains four essays.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2" /> This set of papers looks at the large scale, macro-factors that effect pre-natal care and childbirth in [[Greece]], [[Japan]] and the [[United States]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This section of the book also examines the power dynamics that the biomedical field possesses in governing the way that women make choices.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7">{{Cite journal|last=Byford|first=Julia|year=1998|title="Childbirth and Authoritative Knowledge: Cross Cultural Perspectives" (Book Review)|journal=Australian Journal of Anthropology|volume=9|pages=336–338|id={{ProQuest|1299128178}}}}</ref>
Eugenia Georges writes that in Greece, the ultrasound plays an important role in how a Greek mother views her pregnancy.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" /> For these mothers, authoritative knowledge is perpetuated by the ultrasound machine and the way that these women rely on it.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> In America, giving birth is often determined by class, income and authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> This is the topic of Carole H. Browner and Nancy Press's essay ("The Production of Authoritative Knowledge in American Prenatal Care") as well as the essay in the following chapter "What Do Women Want? Issues of Choice, Control and Class in American Pregnancy and Childbirth" written by Ellen Lazarus.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" /> Browner and Press's essay specifically covers the role that bio-medics play in what is perceived as authoritative knowledge for a successful birth.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Ellen Lazarus shows that the lack of knowledge surrounding the technology used in hospitals, especially in terms of the race and class of the patient, combined with the good intentions of all those involved also perpetuates authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> Lazarus elaborates on how things can go wrong despite the mother-to-be carefully selecting who will be involved in the birthing process.<ref name=":3" />
The fourth and final essay in this part of the book "Authoritative Knowledge and Birth Territories in Contemporary Japan" by Deborah Cordero Fiedler discusses the role of authoritative knowledge in Japan.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /> In contrast to the United States, Japan uses technology during birth, however physicians will not immediately intervene.<ref name=":3" /> Fiedler's findings discuss the role that culture has in impacting birth and motherhood in contemporary Japan.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Part Three: "Intercultural Variations in Authoritative Knowledge about Birth Hierarchy, Community and the Social Ground" ===
The third section of the book also contains four essays giving examples of women in [[North America]], [[Nepal]], [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]] who have given birth and the difficulties they faced.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> This group of chapters also examines how a top-down community approach and other approaches to childbirth intersect to create the way that authoritative knowledge surrounding this technology came to exist.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />
Carolyn F. Sargent and Grace Bascope's essay ("Ways of Knowing about Birth in Three Cultures") compares the ways that women view birth practitioners and decisions made during birth in [[Texas]], [[Jamaica]] and the [[Yucatán|Yucatan]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> The author shows the ways that authoritative knowledge is used in certain social / cultural groups in relation to others.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /> The essay by Shiela Kitzinger ("Authoritative Tough in Childbirth: A Cross-Cultural Approach") explores the way that women experience touch during birth, the different kinds of touch experiences and the ways that authoritative knowledge plays into this experience.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
The following essay, by Stacy Leigh Pigg ("Authority in Translation: Finding, Knowing, Naming, and Training 'Traditional Birth Attendants' in [[Nepal]]") explores how training programs designed to train traditional birth attendants end up creating a unique hierarchy and power relation in Nepal.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />
The final essay "Changing Childbirth in Eastern Europe: Which Systems of Authoritative Knowledge Should Prevail?", written by Beverley Chalmers, investigates the highly medicalized birth systems in Europe and which ones play a role in authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":4" />
=== Part Four: "Fighting the System: Creating and Maintaining Alternative Models of Authoritative Knowledge" ===
The fourth part of the book contains four essays, two of which follow the idea about the power that traditional birthing practices like midwifery can hold.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> This part of the book shows some of the different models through which authoritative knowledge can be employed.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":3" /> It seeks to encapsulate the ways that authoritative knowledge surrounding technology has been resisted in some countries.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" /> There are also examples of the ways that mothers receive knowledge via childbirth activists.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":4" />
The first essay in this part is written by Jane Szurek ("Resistance to Technology-Enhanced Childbirth in [[Tuscany]]: The Political Economy of Italian Birth") and discusses the authority of the medical field in [[Italy]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /> This essay takes a particular focus on the way that a more medicalized way of birth has been resisted, specifically by birth activists, in this part of the world.<ref name=":2" />
An essay by [[Robbie Davis-Floyd]] and [[Elizabeth Davis (midwife)|Elizabeth Davis]] ("Intuition as Authoritative Knowledge in Midwifery and Home Birth") explores the dangers that American midwives face in their practice and the ways that their knowledge is used as authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2" /> The specific focus of this chapter is the viability of midwives' intuition as a source of knowledge.<ref name=":10" /><ref name=":7" />
The third author in this part of the book, Kenneth C. Johnson, ("Randomized Control Trials as Authoritative Knowledge: Keeping an Ally from Becoming a Threat to [[North America]]n Midwifery Practice") discusses the impact that evidenced-based care has on the use of the randomized control trial and the ways in which this kind of research can impede on the rights of women.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":2" />
The following essay in this part, written by Marsden Wagner, ("Confessions of a Dissident") explains the perspective that the [[World Health Organization]] (WHO) has on the care of mothers, only after describing how he got into the field of public health.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":6" />
=== Part Five: "Viable Indigenous Systems of Authoritative Knowledge: Continuity in the Face of Change" ===
The final part of the book follows communities and countries that utilize indigenous birthing systems, resist change, and are able to maintain their existing systems of authoritative knowledge.<ref name=":1" /> The cultures examined are: [[Oaxaca]], [[Mexico]], the Puejehun District, [[Sierra Leone]], the [[Inuit]] community, and the Kung of Kalahari.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":8" /><ref name=":4" />
Paola M. Sesia ("'Women come here on their own when they need to': Prenatal Care, Authoritative Knowledge, and Maternal Health in Oaxaca") explores the birthing practices, particularly massages, that are utilized in Oaxaca.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" /> Amara Jambai and Coral MacCormack ("Maternal Health, War, and Religious Tradition: Authoritative Knowledge in Pujehun District, Sierra Leone") take particular interest in women who give birth in this war stricken region of Sierra Leone.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" /> Betty-Anne Daviss ("Heeding Warning from the Canary, the Whale, and the Inuit: A Framework for Analyzing Competing Types of Knowledge about Childbirth") brings North America into the discussion with a focus on birth in the Inuit community in Canada and how traditional practice has been changed by the building of birth centers.<ref name=":8" /><ref name=":6" /> Megan Biesele ("An Ideal of Unassisted Birth: Hunting, Healing, and Transformation among the Kalahari Ju/'hoansi") examines Kalahari Ju/'hoansi cultures in [[Botswana]] and [[Namibia]], the independence, and the spirituality of birth that exists in these cultures.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":6" /><ref name=":2" />
== References ==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:1998 documents]]
[[Category:Gender studies literature]]
[[Category:Human pregnancy]]