Publication details
The Czech intimate presence of perinatal loss in the Post-Socialist absence of institutionalised humanity
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Women's Studies International Forum |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Web | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539518303807 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wsif.2019.02.006 |
| Keywords | Perinatal loss; Czech Republic; Gender relations; Sociological inquiry; Medicalisation; Post-Socialist context |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Significant changes towards an intimate death take place in the Czech Republic regarding perinatal loss. However, these practices are often initiated by individual actors or civic initiatives. This “intimate presence” of perinatal loss including last rites stands in sharp contrast to absence of structural, institutional changes brought about by politicians or professional organizations towards better hospital or social management of death, bereavement and body disposal. Tensions of expert knowledge and power of biomedical authoritative knowledge form the setting for opposition or negligence coming from the hospital management, birth registers or funeral homes. The article draws on a qualitative sociological inquiry into practices of perinatal loss in the Czech Republic. The fieldwork data entail in-depth interviews with key actors and document analysis inspired by feminist research approach to reproductive loss. The aim is to show and help understand the frictions between emerging more intimate practices of grief, bereavement and last rites related to perinatal loss in the context of Post-Socialist and late-modern paternalised healthcare, medicalisation of life-events and concealment of death. The complexity of Post-Socialist absent or faded away institutionalised humanity regarding death and emerging practices challenging the status quo in perinatal loss treatment open up fruitful field for analytical inquiry. |
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