Women's rights? : the politics of eugenic abortion in modern Japan / Masae Kato.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kato, Masae, 1971-

Series:

IIAS publications series. Monographs ; 2.

IIAS publications series, Monographs ; 2

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Abortion--Japan.

Abortion.

Abortion--Law and legislation--Japan.

Prenatal diagnosis--Japan.

Prenatal diagnosis.

Fetus--Abnormalities--Japan.

Fetus.

Fetus--Abnormalities.

People with disabilities--Civil rights.

People with disabilities.

Women's rights.

Eugenics.

Abortion--Law and legislation.

Japan.

Eugenics--Japan.

Women's rights--Japan.

People with disabilities--Civil rights--Japan.

Physical Description:

342 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

342 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

[Amsterdam] : Amsterdam University Press, [2009]

Summary:

This volume explores the concept of Japanese reproductive rights and liberties in light of recent developments in disability studies. Masae Kato asks important questions about what constitutes personhood and how, in the twenty-first century, we come to understand eugenic abortion and other bioethical arguments. Tracing the origin and influence of the concept of a 'right', the author places the term in local social and historical contexts in order to determine that it still carries overtones of Anglo-American philosophy, rather than universal truth. Digging deeply into Japanese debates on selective abortion, Women's Rights? The Politics of Eugenic Abortion in Modern Japan discusses how this charged term can be both de-Westernized and de-masculinized, especially in its appropriations by the Japanese women's movement and disability scholars. In the heat of bioethical argument, the significance of the concept of 'right' is gaining its weight. In the situation that accurate analysis of the concept is needed both by academic scholars, medical professionals and bioethicists, this book sheds a light on possible development of the notion of 'right'.

Contents:

1 Historical Background 35

Laws on abortion between the Meiji period and the end of the Second World War 35

The Ie household system and women's position during the Meiji period 36

Towards the growing militarism of the 1930s 38

After the Second World War 42

2 Abortion Debates in the 1970s 59

The attempt to revise the Eugenic Protection Law: The draft proposal and those behind it 59

Reaction of women to the proposed revisions to the Eugenic Protection Law 65

The encounter between the movements of women and disabled people 66

Disabled people's arguments against the proposal 68

In search of movement rhetoric 70

Philosophical contribution of the Women's Liberation Movement 77

Debate inside the Women's Liberation Movement about the concept of an individual political 'right' 78

3 On women's selfishness and the right to abortion 85

Genealogy of the concept of rights 85

Political philosophy in Japan before the concept of 'rights' was introduced 96

A rights analysis of the Japanese abortion debate during the 1970s 106

Towards the 1980s: The 1975 UN Women's Conference and the solidarity of Japanese women 114

4 Abortion Debates in the 1980s 117

The 1982 attempt to repeal the economic reasons clause and the anti-abortion argument 117

The reaction of the disabled people's movement 131

Rights in the 1980s 138

5 Analysis of the Discourse on the Concept of Individual, Political Rights in the 1980s 141

On the frequent use of the term 'right' in the 1980s 142

On a debate about the Mizuko business and the usage of the term 'right' in Japan 155

The 1980s in comparison with the 1970s 158

From the 1980s into the 1990s 159

6 The Debate on the Notion of Individual, Political Rights after the Repeal of the Eugenic Protection Law 167

The main problem after the Eugenic Protection Law: Reproductive technologies 167

Individual doctors and their perspectives on women's right to self-determination 175

Reproductive technologies use women's bodies 187

What can be learned from these debates? 192

7 Liberated Individuals? 195

The meaning of the 'self' with 'women's right to self-determination' 195

Liberalism 198

On the meaning of 'women's right to self-determination' as used by the women's movement 201

'Who is the self' in women's right to self-determination 215.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [313]-335) and index.

ISBN:

9789053567937

9053567933

OCLC:

225876134