Call For Papers
Éire-Ireland: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Irish Studiesand guest editors Dr. Cara Delay (College of Charleston) and Dr. Claire Bracken (Union College) welcome submissions for a Spring/Summer 2021 special issue on Reproductive Justice and the Politics of Women’s Health in Ireland.
The 2018 repeal of the Eighth Amendment, as well as recent revelations about twentieth-century mother-and-baby homes, the Magdalene Laundries, the cervical-cancer scandal, and the treatment of women asylum seekers held in the direct provision system suggest the need to explore the historical and cultural contexts for reproductive justice and women’s health in Ireland, in both the Republic and the North. This special issue of Éire-Ireland will examine such issues from the early twentieth century through the contemporary period. What might a history of women’s health look like in Ireland? How do women’s narratives of their interaction with health professionals illuminate the patriarchal systems of medical care in twentieth-century Ireland? What does an analysis of transgender rights and access to healthcare reveal about societal constructions and attitudes towards gender and sexuality? How do minority groups, including Traveller, refugee, and asylum-seeking women, experience health care, pregnancy, and birth? How can intersectional analyses generate a better understanding of inequalities of access? Indeed, what does it mean to use the terms “reproductive justice” and “women’s health”? This special issue will contribute to the interdisciplinary field of narrative medicine, which emphasizes the potential of storytelling about health, illness, and the body. Submissions may come from the humanities, including literature, history, fine art, and art history; gender and sexuality studies; and social and political science. The editors primarily seek academic articles on a range of topics, but will also consider relevant interviews, nonfiction essays, and visual art submissions. In addition to the topics listed above, submissions may also include an exploration of the following:
- Contraception, abortion, and fertility control
- Narratives of menstruation, puberty, or menopause in Irish culture
- Intersectional analyses of race, class, and women’s health in Ireland
- The history of women’s reproductive health, including pregnancy and birth
- Restrictions on abortion in Northern Ireland
- Medical systems of knowledge, including obstetrics and gynecology
- Religious discourses and dialogues on women’s bodies and health
- LGBTQ women and the challenges of heteronormative healthcare
- Social media and the Repeal the Eighth Movement
- Nursing, midwifery, and healing
- Representations of women and illness in literature and film
- Narratives of women’s reproductive experiences in literature and film
- The politics and representation of sexual assault and rape in Irish culture
- Relationship between the law and women’s health
- Women’s mental health in cultural representations
- New technologies, women’s bodies, and biopower
We invite proposals for a 1 June 2019 deadline, with full papers expected by a 1 June 2020 deadline. Essays should be in the range of 8,000–10,000 words, inclusive of footnotes, and submitted digitally in Word format. Please remove identifying information from the article and include a cover sheet with the author’s name and contact information, along with the cover letter. All submissions considered for publication will be subject to blind peer review. Literature and Arts submissions should be prepared according to the MLA Style Manual; History, Social Sciences, and Science or Environmental Studies submissions should adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style. Please consult the journal style guide for further guidelines; a copy may be accessed on the website of the Irish American Cultural Institute:
http://www.iaci-usa.org/programspublications/eireireland.html.
Proposals and articles should be submitted to Dr. Cara Delay (delayc@cofc.edu) and Dr. Claire Bracken (brackenc@union.edu).