Citation
Tomori, Cecilia; Palmquist, Aunchalee E. L.; & Quinn, Elizabeth A. (2017). Introduction: Towards New Anthropologies of Breastfeeding.. Tomori, Cecília; Palmquist, Aunchalee E. L.; & Quinn, Elizabeth (Eds.) (pp. 1-25). New York: Routledge.Abstract
This book seeks to spark new research and theoretical innovation that bridges anthropological subfields around breastfeeding. The volume is particularly timely since breastfeeding has become a focal point of attention and debate in the Western media. After many decades of decline and disinterest driven by historical, political, economic, and sociocultural transformations, breastfeeding and human milk are increasingly valued in biomedicine, public health, and society at large. The recent Lancet series of breastfeeding has summarized a vast, and rapidly expanding, body of breastfeeding research and has highlighted these impacts for both low- and middle-income as well as high-income settings (Victora et al. 2016; Rollins et al. 2016). With over 800,000 child deaths and 20,000 breast cancer deaths averted if breastfeeding was practiced according to current global health recommendations, and a multitude of other health implications, breastfeeding not only has a tremendous effect on the health of infants and mothers, but on the health and wellbeing of entire communities (Victora et al. 2016; Rollins et al. 2016). The recent waves of public health breastfeeding advocacy, however, have also led to controversy and backlash in many settings, where infant feeding with artificial breast milk substitutes has been the infant feeding norm. Across the U.S. and (Western) Europe, for instance, critics routinely question the scientific evidence used to support breastfeeding advocacy, often depicting breastfeeding as limiting women’s autonomy and promoting unequal gender norms. Some critics have raised concerns about the undue pressure placed on mothers for breastfeeding (Jung 2015; Oster 2015; Wolf 2011; Badinter 2012). Moreover, breastfeeding (e.g. breastfeeding in public) and the use of human milk (e.g. in human milk sharing) remain controversial in many contexts, and structural policies often offer only limited support (Tomori 2014; Palmquist and Doehler 2014; Carter, Reyes-Foster, and Rogers 2015; Rollins et al. 2016; Palmquist and Doehler 2015; Tomori, Palmquist, and Dowling 2016). These controversies point to gaps between the idealized values and social realities.URL
https://www.routledge.com/Breastfeeding-New-Anthropological-Approaches/Tomori-E-L-Palmquist-Quinn/p/book/9781138502871Reference Type
Book SectionYear Published
2017Author(s)
Tomori, CeciliaPalmquist, Aunchalee E. L.
Quinn, Elizabeth A.