title: The operation of biopower and biopolitics in the implementation process of reproductive health policies in Peru

authors: Jacay, Sheilah

abstract: In present-day societies, human life is often an arena of debate within which claims of morality, knowledge, and truth are contested. The meaning of human life, as well as the right to exert control over the bodies that create this life, are constructed by various discourses. In this process, special attention is paid to human bodies with particular capacities and needs, such as women’s bodies. The reproductive capacity of women’s bodies has long been considered central to defining the meaning of being a woman in Western societies. This gender essentialism related to the maternal role guides some reproductive health policies, which are implemented within a complex architecture of discourses, institutionalized social stratification, biopower and biopolitics. The Peruvian case offers clear examples of this situation.

In Peru, reproductive healthcare policy has been irregularly implemented throughout the last twenty years, mostly due to the strong influence that conservative Catholic groups have been able to exert on the Peruvian Government. The discourse articulated by these groups asserts that human life begins at the moment of conception and is a gift from God; therefore, no one should be permitted to interfere in the processes of human life from conception until death. This sacralisation of human life has been progressively constructed within Catholic doctrine, which today incorporates selective interpretations of scientific knowledge in support of its claims. This discourse about human life directly and adversely affects Peruvian women’s bodies and lives. Due to their reproductive capacity, the conservative Catholic discourse considers women as bearers of human life. However, their decision-making power about the creation of this life is not taken into account in this discourse, especially when this decision-making power is linked to the exertion of sexual and reproductive rights. The influence of conservative Catholic discourse on the implementation process of Peru’s reproductive health policy is thus the central focus of this thesis.
The analysis offered in this thesis is informed by a feminist critical discourse analysis of Peruvian politics, policy and law relating to three key issues: coercive sterilisation of indigenous Peruvian women during the regime of Fujimori (1996-2000), the ongoing lack of access to safe and legal abortion, and the 2009 Constitutional Court ban on the distribution of free emergency contraception within the public health sector. My analysis reveals that the Catholic interest in, and influence on, reproductive health policy was largely stimulated by Fujimori’s policy of coercive sterilization, which was in turn prompted by a eugenic discourse that conservative Catholic groups, among others within Peruvian civil society, actively denounced. This opposition consolidated the influence of conservative Catholic discourse within the political domain.  Further, I suggest that the actions of the State, increasingly influenced by Catholic interests, can best be understood in terms of Foucault’s concept of biopower, with reproductive health policy being the primary tool used to effect the State’s biopolitical agenda. As I illustrate, the influence of Catholic discourse on reproductive policy and practice is most clearly evident in the ongoing impediments placed in the way of women trying to access therapeutic abortions, and the prohibition of the free distribution of the emergency contraceptive pill via the public health system.  Even in the face of local and international condemnation, the State persists in its non-compliance with the provisions of international human rights agreements, a failure which I suggest can only be understood by acknowledging the defining influence of Catholic discourse and interests within Peru’s political domain.
The significance of this thesis thus lies in its analysis of the discourses and political machinations that restrict the exertion of Peruvian women’s sexual and reproductive rights. These constraints are achieved through the operation of biopower enacted through the implementation of various reproductive health policies. This situation, I suggest, confines women via a constructed “naturalness” that reproduces essentialist notions of gender. As the case studies presented in this thesis demonstrate, a vital component of this discursive essentialisation of the maternal role is the identification of women as reproductive bodies that can be regulated and managed in accordance with the interests and discursive affiliations of the State, as opposed to individual citizens with autonomous decision-making power over their bodies and their own lives.

text: The operation of biopower and biopolitics in the implementation process of reproductive health policies in Peru In present-day societies, human life is often an arena of debate within which claims of morality, knowledge, and truth are contested. The meaning of human life, as well as the right to exert control over the bodies that create this life, are constructed by various discourses. In this process, special attention is paid to human bodies with particular capacities and needs, such as women’s bodies. The reproductive capacity of women’s bodies has long been considered central to defining the meaning of being a woman in Western societies. This gender essentialism related to the maternal role guides some reproductive health policies, which are implemented within a complex architecture of discourses, institutionalized social stratification, biopower and biopolitics. The Peruvian case offers clear examples of this situation.

In Peru, reproductive healthcare policy has been irregularly implemented throughout the last twenty years, mostly due to the strong influence that conservative Catholic groups have been able to exert on the Peruvian Government. The discourse articulated by these groups asserts that human life begins at the moment of conception and is a gift from God; therefore, no one should be permitted to interfere in the processes of human life from conception until death. This sacralisation of human life has been progressively constructed within Catholic doctrine, which today incorporates selective interpretations of scientific knowledge in support of its claims. This discourse about human life directly and adversely affects Peruvian women’s bodies and lives. Due to their reproductive capacity, the conservative Catholic discourse considers women as bearers of human life. However, their decision-making power about the creation of this life is not taken into account in this discourse, especially when this decision-making power is linked to the exertion of sexual and reproductive rights. The influence of conservative Catholic discourse on the implementation process of Peru’s reproductive health policy is thus the central focus of this thesis.
The analysis offered in this thesis is informed by a feminist critical discourse analysis of Peruvian politics, policy and law relating to three key issues: coercive sterilisation of indigenous Peruvian women during the regime of Fujimori (1996-2000), the ongoing lack of access to safe and legal abortion, and the 2009 Constitutional Court ban on the distribution of free emergency contraception within the public health sector. My analysis reveals that the Catholic interest in, and influence on, reproductive health policy was largely stimulated by Fujimori’s policy of coercive sterilization, which was in turn prompted by a eugenic discourse that conservative Catholic groups, among others within Peruvian civil society, actively denounced. This opposition consolidated the influence of conservative Catholic discourse within the political domain.  Further, I suggest that the actions of the State, increasingly influenced by Catholic interests, can best be understood in terms of Foucault’s concept of biopower, with reproductive health policy being the primary tool used to effect the State’s biopolitical agenda. As I illustrate, the influence of Catholic discourse on reproductive policy and practice is most clearly evident in the ongoing impediments placed in the way of women trying to access therapeutic abortions, and the prohibition of the free distribution of the emergency contraceptive pill via the public health system.  Even in the face of local and international condemnation, the State persists in its non-compliance with the provisions of international human rights agreements, a failure which I suggest can only be understood by acknowledging the defining influence of Catholic discourse and interests within Peru’s political domain.
The significance of this thesis thus lies in its analysis of the discourses and political machinations that restrict the exertion of Peruvian women’s sexual and reproductive rights. These constraints are achieved through the operation of biopower enacted through the implementation of various reproductive health policies. This situation, I suggest, confines women via a constructed “naturalness” that reproduces essentialist notions of gender. As the case studies presented in this thesis demonstrate, a vital component of this discursive essentialisation of the maternal role is the identification of women as reproductive bodies that can be regulated and managed in accordance with the interests and discursive affiliations of the State, as opposed to individual citizens with autonomous decision-making power over their bodies and their own lives.

year: 2012

title: Negotiated identities: Christianity and ethnicity in a diasporic Cambodian church

authors: Watson, Peter

abstract: As a global religious movement, Christianity has throughout history come into conflict with the traditional cosmologies of those who choose to convert, drastically changing the ways in which people express their spirituality. While much work within anthropology has focused on the cultural rupture that inevitably comes with conversion to Christianity, in this thesis I contribute to a growing body of work that understands conversion as incorporating both the changing and continuation of culture. This thesis is an ethnography of a Khmer language church in Aotearoa/New Zealand that provides a unique opportunity to examine a faith community embodying both radical change and strong connections to tradition. My investigation into the lived experiences of Cambodian Christians in the diaspora explores how initial decisions to convert, as well as church members’ engagements with society in both Aotearoa/New Zealand and Cambodia reflect both rupture and continuity. As evidence of this I show that Khmer migrants’ decisions to convert to Christianity have been heavily impacted by their ethnic identity, as they, like most Cambodians, look to religion as a way to establish order in a chaotic world. Alongside this, I examine ways in which Cambodian Christians relate to both their own cultural heritage and the wider religious landscape of Aotearoa/New Zealand, showing that the Christian life of CCF members is heavily influenced by both aspects of their Khmer identity and a desire to faithfully worship the Christian God. In exploring these aspects of Christian conversion, I join others in arguing for the need to view conversion as a dynamic and multifaceted process involving more than just rupture or simple syncretism.

text: Negotiated identities: Christianity and ethnicity in a diasporic Cambodian church As a global religious movement, Christianity has throughout history come into conflict with the traditional cosmologies of those who choose to convert, drastically changing the ways in which people express their spirituality. While much work within anthropology has focused on the cultural rupture that inevitably comes with conversion to Christianity, in this thesis I contribute to a growing body of work that understands conversion as incorporating both the changing and continuation of culture. This thesis is an ethnography of a Khmer language church in Aotearoa/New Zealand that provides a unique opportunity to examine a faith community embodying both radical change and strong connections to tradition. My investigation into the lived experiences of Cambodian Christians in the diaspora explores how initial decisions to convert, as well as church members’ engagements with society in both Aotearoa/New Zealand and Cambodia reflect both rupture and continuity. As evidence of this I show that Khmer migrants’ decisions to convert to Christianity have been heavily impacted by their ethnic identity, as they, like most Cambodians, look to religion as a way to establish order in a chaotic world. Alongside this, I examine ways in which Cambodian Christians relate to both their own cultural heritage and the wider religious landscape of Aotearoa/New Zealand, showing that the Christian life of CCF members is heavily influenced by both aspects of their Khmer identity and a desire to faithfully worship the Christian God. In exploring these aspects of Christian conversion, I join others in arguing for the need to view conversion as a dynamic and multifaceted process involving more than just rupture or simple syncretism.

year: 2023

title: Anti-racism Allyship Amongst Psychologists and Students in Psychology Training in Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Tan, Kyle K. H.

abstract: Racism is a well-established social determinant of health, impacting Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, few scholarly studies have focused on racial justice allyship in Aotearoa, particularly within the psychology discipline. This study examines demographic and attitudinal factors associated with anti-racism allyship among psychologists and students in psychology training amidst escalating racist rhetoric and opposition to Māori self-determination in Aotearoa. Drawing data from an online anonymous survey (n = 280), we assessed participants’ responses on three scales: 1) Attitudes towards aspects of Māori (taha Māori); 2) Attitudes towards acknowledging the existence of racism and settler colonialism 3) Anti-racist allyship. Certain demographic groups (Pākehā, Asian, older-aged, male, or those who entered training decades ago) scored lower on these scales, indicating the need for targeted training. Regression analyses showed both ‘Attitudes towards taha Māori’ and ‘Attitudes towards racism and colonisation’ scales were significantly correlated with anti-racist allyship. Our findings call for a sustained investment in training anti-racist psychologists who are competent in providing culturally safe care and capable of challenging racial injustices. Future research is required on the development of a racial justice allyship model across all institutions that train, employ and regulate psychologists in Aotearoa that is informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

text: Anti-racism Allyship Amongst Psychologists and Students in Psychology Training in Aotearoa New Zealand Racism is a well-established social determinant of health, impacting Māori, Pacific, and Asian communities in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, few scholarly studies have focused on racial justice allyship in Aotearoa, particularly within the psychology discipline. This study examines demographic and attitudinal factors associated with anti-racism allyship among psychologists and students in psychology training amidst escalating racist rhetoric and opposition to Māori self-determination in Aotearoa. Drawing data from an online anonymous survey (n = 280), we assessed participants’ responses on three scales: 1) Attitudes towards aspects of Māori (taha Māori); 2) Attitudes towards acknowledging the existence of racism and settler colonialism 3) Anti-racist allyship. Certain demographic groups (Pākehā, Asian, older-aged, male, or those who entered training decades ago) scored lower on these scales, indicating the need for targeted training. Regression analyses showed both ‘Attitudes towards taha Māori’ and ‘Attitudes towards racism and colonisation’ scales were significantly correlated with anti-racist allyship. Our findings call for a sustained investment in training anti-racist psychologists who are competent in providing culturally safe care and capable of challenging racial injustices. Future research is required on the development of a racial justice allyship model across all institutions that train, employ and regulate psychologists in Aotearoa that is informed by Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

year: 2025