Convergence In The Midst Of Divergence

Support for abortion rights has been deemed a central
tenet of the feminist movement for decades. The
assumption that there is an inextricable link between
feminism and 'the right to choose' informs the basis
of this work. Its main aim is to highlight the
principles that inform feminist opposition to
abortion, which first necessitates a discussion on
the evolution of the feminist movement. This initial
focus at the macro level sets the context for an
exploration of feminist theory and practice at the
micro level. Against the backdrop of Irish abortion
policy, this book explores Irish feminist
perspectives on both support for and opposition to
abortion by providing cogent analyses of concepts
such as oppression and false equality . It
demonstrates that the tendency to reduce the debate
on abortion to the tension between the secular and
the sacerdotal is no longer tenable. Therefore this
book is of interest to those who seek to look beyond
the limited analyses of abortion politics that fail
to fully capture the dynamics of respective
positions, which ultimately shut the door on any
meaningful engagement on this important social issue.

Autorentext

Jackie Mullins is a PhD student and a social policy tutor in theDepartment of Applied Social Studies, National University ofIreland, Cork. Her research interests include gender/socialpolicy and sexuality/social policy. She is currently conducting adiscourse analysis of the State's opposition to same-sex marriagein Ireland.

Klappentext

Support for abortion rights has been deemed a centraltenet of the feminist movement for decades. Theassumption that there is an inextricable link betweenfeminism and 'the right to choose' informs the basisof this work. Its main aim is to highlight theprinciples that inform feminist opposition toabortion, which first necessitates a discussion onthe evolution of the feminist movement. This initialfocus at the macro level sets the context for anexploration of feminist theory and practice at themicro level. Against the backdrop of Irish abortionpolicy, this book explores Irish feministperspectives on both support for and opposition toabortion by providing cogent analyses of conceptssuch as oppression and 'false equality'. Itdemonstrates that the tendency to reduce the debateon abortion to the tension between the secular andthe sacerdotal is no longer tenable. Therefore thisbook is of interest to those who seek to look beyondthe limited analyses of abortion politics that failto fully capture the dynamics of respectivepositions, which ultimately shut the door on anymeaningful engagement on this important social issue.