Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Mother Ireland: Women, The State And The Abortion Referendum In The Republic Of Ireland, Jennifer K. Dewan

Honors Papers

In this paper, I examine the relationship between women and the Irish state, particularly how the nationalist state has defined and controlled women through their reproductive capabilities. I outline the factors that have contributed to the construction of women's identity and how women have resisted the limitations of this construction in a variety of ways. The issue of abortion is an excellent point on which to base the discussion of women in Ireland because of it extraordinary impact on Irish society. To outline the methodology of this examination, this thesis is theoretically grounded in feminist anthropology, in which the category …