Reproducing Empire: Race, Sex, Science, and U.S. Imperialism in Puerto Rico
Original and compelling, Laura Briggs's Reproducing Empire shows how, for both Puerto Ricans and North Americans, ideologies of sexuality, reproduction, and gender have shaped relations between the island and the mainland. From science to public policy, the "culture of poverty" to overpopulation, feminism to Puerto Rican nationalism, this book uncovers the persistence of concerns about motherhood, prostitution, and family in shaping the beliefs and practices of virtually every player in the...
Search in google:
"Laura Briggs has given us a very smart book. She's opened my eyes to Puerto Rican women's centrality to the entire American imperial enterprise. Pay attention to prostitution—debates about it, maneuvers to control it, reliance on it—and we'll gain a more realistic sense of political life. Briggs shows us how true that is. I'm going to recommend this book to everyone."—Cynthia Enloe, author of Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives"A superb analysis of how U.S. colonialism in Puerto Rico had profound effects on sex, gender, and racial formations in both nations. Briggs sets new standards for the study of race and gender in U.S. women's history."—Peggy Pascoe, University of Oregon
AcknowledgmentsIntroduction. Colonialism: Familiar Territory11Sexuality, Medicine, and Imperialism: The International Traffic in Prostitution Policy212Sex and Citizenship: The Politics of Prostitution in Puerto Rico, 1898-1918463Debating Reproduction: Birth Control, Eugenics, and Overpopulation in Puerto Rico, 1920-1940744Demon Mothers in the Social Laboratory: Development, Overpopulation, and "the Pill,' 1940-19601095The Politics of Sterilization, 1937-19741426"I like to be in America": Postwar Puerto Rican Migration, the Culture of Poverty, and the Moynihan Report162Epilogue. Ghosts, Cyborgs, and Why Puerto Rico Is the Most Important Place in the World193Notes211Bibliography243Index267
