Book

Reproducing Jews: a cultural account of assisted conception in Israel

Duke University PressDurham • Published In 2000 • Pages: viii, 227

By: Kahn, Susan Martha.

Abstract
This monograph is a cultural account of assisted conception in Israel. In this study Kahn: (1) illustrates how rabbinic beliefs about kinship are made literal through the social uses of new reproductive technology in Israel, with a particular focus on the construction of maternity and paternity in rabbinic kinship cosmology; (2) illuminates the curious conceptual and practical overlaps between secular and religious uses of, and beliefs about, these technologies; (3) analyzes how rabbinic beliefs about kinship creates the potential for unmarried Israeli women to reproduce via reproductive technology; and (4) shows how the bodies of unmarried Jewish women are imagined as reproductive resources in legal discourse regarding the new reproductive technologies in Israel (pp. 1-2).
Subjects
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Life history materials
Cultural identity and pride
Regulation of marriage
Celibacy
Government regulation
Legal norms
Hospitals and clinics
Bodily injuries
Theological systems
Purification and atonement
Priesthood
Conception
Social placement
culture
Israelis
HRAF PubDate
2005
Region
Middle East
Sub Region
Middle East
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Sociologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
John Beierle ; 2004
Field Date
1994-1996
Coverage Date
1990s
Coverage Place
Israel
Notes
Susan Martha Kahn
Surrogacy (surrogate motherhood) was indexed for Conception (842)
Includes bibliographical references (p. [217]-222) and index
LCCN
00030856
LCSH
Israelis