Cambridge Reading Group on Reproduction (November)

Reading: Morningstar, N. (2025), Life unsettled: debating abortion in the US Supreme Court and the Irish Citizens’ Assembly. J R Anthropol Inst. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9655.70001.

Introduction by Natalie

This article compares and contrasts debate about abortion in the US Supreme Court case Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization and the Irish citizens' assembly that called for the legalisation of abortion. It asks how we can best stage debate about divisive and open-ended issues like what counts as life. Applying anthropological tools, concepts and methods to archival traces of these two events, the piece considers whether certain kinds of democratic institutions are more or less likely to facilitate productive dialogue about issues like abortion. It also explores whether liberalism is the best framework for protecting women's access to abortion. 

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