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The Polish Parliament and the making of politics through abortion : nation, gender and democracy in the 1996 Liberalization Amendment Debate

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Kramer, Anne-Marie Caroline. (2009) The Polish Parliament and the making of politics through abortion : nation, gender and democracy in the 1996 Liberalization Amendment Debate. International Feminist Journal of Politics, Vol.11 (No.1). pp. 81-101. ISSN 1461-6742

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14616740802567824

Abstract

The collapse of communism across East Central Europe was marked by a renewal of debates around reproduction, with abortion debates surfacing in Romania, Germany and Poland. Reproductive politics and more specifically abortion debates typically come to the forefront in times of crisis or societal transformation. Struggles over women's reproductive rights in Poland, as evidenced by continuing debate around the legal status of abortion, are in this postcommunist context intimately related to and bound up with ongoing symbolic and concrete re-definitions of Polish nationhood, identity and citizenship. Focusing on the connections between discourses of Polish nationhood, gender and democracy, this article offers a detailed and critical engagement with debate in the Sejm (the lower chamber of the Polish parliament) during the second reading of the 1996 liberalization of abortion amendment. Using a discourse analysis methodology, the article argues that abortion is a symbolic issue through which anxieties about postcommunist reform are raised, nationalist pasts and futures are imagined and through which political projects are articulated.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Subjects:

H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman

Divisions:

Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology

Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):

Poland. Sejm, Abortion -- Government policy -- Poland, Feminism -- Political aspects -- Poland, Feminism -- Moral and ethical aspects -- Poland, Poland -- Politics and government -- 1989-

Journal or Publication Title:

International Feminist Journal of Politics

Publisher:

Routledge

ISSN:

1461-6742

Official Date:

March 2009

Dates:

Date	Event
March 2009	Published

Volume:

Vol.11

Number:

No.1

Page Range:

pp. 81-101

Identification Number:

10.1080/14616740802567824

Status:

Peer Reviewed

Publication Status:

Published

Access rights to Published version:

Restricted or Subscription Access

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