Theories, Frameworks and Debates

Abstract

In this chapter, I want to briefly provide the theoretical and conceptual framework for my research. In order to be able to describe ‘postmodern pregnancy’, it is first necessary to go back to the roots of this fragmented, multi-dimensional and contested experience for women. In this chapter, my aim is to provide the reader with a foundation for the subsequent chapters on the more precise points in women’s experiences of ‘postmodern’ pregnancy. The chapter will survey some of the ways in which pregnant bodies have been interpreted and understood in the existing literature. Although I address the perspectives and conceptual frameworks from complementary disciplines such as psychology, philosophy, anthropology and geography, in this chapter my focus is primarily sociological and qualitative studies of pregnancy, given the focus of my research.