"Women do what they want": Islam and permanent contraception in Northern Tanzania

Susi Krehbiel Keefe

Social Science & Medicine, 2006, vol. 63, issue 2, 418-429

Abstract: Based on fieldwork in Ugweno, Tanzania, this research explores a case that contradicts popular understandings and representations of Muslim African women--specifically with respect to reproduction and family planning. Building on case studies of women who articulate their motivations regarding contraceptive use in general, and sterilization in particular, I argue that religious (and, in this case, Islamic) values and reasoning are fashioned pragmatically. The study was based on in-depth, unstructured and open-ended interviews with 40 women (20 of whom had been sterilized), as well as men, religious leaders and hospital workers. Women (and men) in Ugweno construct reproductive lives that challenge overly deterministic understandings of the relationship between religion and contraceptive practices. It was found that perceptions of Islamic rules about family planning are inconsistent. Individuals are able to define their own approach by manipulating the rules and resisting them.

Keywords: Tanzania; Family; planning; Sterilization; Islam (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2006
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00699-4
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:socmed:v:63:y:2006:i:2:p:418-429

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
http://www.elsevier. ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

Access Statistics for this article

Social Science & Medicine is currently edited by Ichiro (I.) Kawachi and S.V. (S.V.) Subramanian

More articles in Social Science & Medicine from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().