Description
Book SynopsisDescribes the reception of medical ideas and practices by three generations of Russian and Tatar village women in the 20th century. This book shows how the women mediated the inherited beliefs of their families and communities, the claims of the state to control reproduction, and their personal desires for a better life.
Trade Review"[A]n outstanding work of historical ethnography... The book offers wonderful insight into how women created and understood the great changes of the 20th century. It is unique in its scope and its intimate knowledge of rural life." --Russian Review "[A] major contribution to the field... an important book that should be of considerable interest to medical historians and historians of peasants, the family, and of women." --American Historical Review
Table of Contents1. Child Welfare before the Revolution
2. Soviet Efforts to Transform Village Mothering
3. Courtship and Marriage
4. Fertility Choices
5. Giving Birth
6. Baptism and Equivalent Muslim Rites
7. Coping with Infant Death
8. Child Care
9. Conclusion: Life and Loyalty in Hard Times
Appendix A: List of Informants
Appendix B: Questionnaire
Notes
Bibliography
Index
