Depo-Provera and the Regulation of Indigenous Women's Reproduction

Author provided Abstract, page iii:

"This thesis examines the role of socioeconomic, political and historical factors that contribute to the regulation of young Indigenous women’s reproduction through the prescribing of Depo-Provera. This study utilizes critical perspectives and qualitative analysis to focus on the intersection of neoliberalism and risk discourse at the site of contraceptive prescription. Based on a critical discursive analysis of several texts, this research illustrates how dominant discourses reflect colonial relations and neoliberal ideals in framing the characteristics of Depo-Provera users. I show that texts aimed at Third World women and/or “sexually” at risk women living in “confounding life situations” seek to control their reproduction with (health) provider-controlled contraceptives such as Depo-Provera. The analysis reveals the ways in which international and Canadian texts construct the identity of young Indigenous women as a risk population in need of reproductive regulation." (iii)

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