‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy

‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy

The Muskoka Initiative – or the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative has been a flagship foreign policy strategy of the Harper Conservatives since it was introduced in 2010.  However, the maternal health initiative has been met with a number of key criticisms in relation to its failu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Rebecca Tiessen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Global Justice Network 2015-07-01
Series:Global justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric
Subjects:
Canadian foreign policy
gender essentialism
gender inequality
maternal health
mothers
Online Access:https://www.theglobaljusticenetwork.org/index.php/gjn/article/view/58
id doaj-31176c193d964fd28fd6a8d0904bafc8
record_format Article
spelling doaj-31176c193d964fd28fd6a8d0904bafc82020-11-25T01:33:52ZengGlobal Justice NetworkGlobal justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric1835-68422015-07-018110.21248/gjn.8.1.5848‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign PolicyRebecca Tiessen0School of International Development and Global Studies University of OttawaThe Muskoka Initiative – or the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative has been a flagship foreign policy strategy of the Harper Conservatives since it was introduced in 2010.  However, the maternal health initiative has been met with a number of key criticisms in relation to its failure to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of women in the Global South2. In this article, I examine these criticisms and expose the prevalent and problematic discourse employed in Canadian policy papers and official government speeches pertaining to the MNCH Initiative. I examine the embodiment of the MNCH and how these references to women’s bodies as “walking wombs” facilitate: the objectification and ‘othering’ of women as mothers and childbearers; a discourse of ‘saving mothers’ in a paternalistic and essentialist language; and the purposeful omission of gender equality. Feminist International Relations (IR) and post-colonial literature, as well as critical/feminist Canadian foreign policy scholarship are employed in this paper to frame these critiques.https://www.theglobaljusticenetwork.org/index.php/gjn/article/view/58Canadian foreign policygender essentialismgender inequalitymaternal healthmothers
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Rebecca Tiessen
spellingShingle Rebecca Tiessen
‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
Global justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric
Canadian foreign policy
gender essentialism
gender inequality
maternal health
mothers
author_facet Rebecca Tiessen
author_sort Rebecca Tiessen
title ‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
title_short ‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
title_full ‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
title_fullStr ‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
title_full_unstemmed ‘Walking Wombs’: Making Sense of the Muskoka Initiative and the Emphasis on Motherhood in Canadian Foreign Policy
title_sort ‘walking wombs’: making sense of the muskoka initiative and the emphasis on motherhood in canadian foreign policy
publisher Global Justice Network
series Global justice: Theory, Practice, Rhetoric
issn 1835-6842
publishDate 2015-07-01
description The Muskoka Initiative – or the Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Initiative has been a flagship foreign policy strategy of the Harper Conservatives since it was introduced in 2010.  However, the maternal health initiative has been met with a number of key criticisms in relation to its failure to address the sexual and reproductive health needs of women in the Global South2. In this article, I examine these criticisms and expose the prevalent and problematic discourse employed in Canadian policy papers and official government speeches pertaining to the MNCH Initiative. I examine the embodiment of the MNCH and how these references to women’s bodies as “walking wombs” facilitate: the objectification and ‘othering’ of women as mothers and childbearers; a discourse of ‘saving mothers’ in a paternalistic and essentialist language; and the purposeful omission of gender equality. Feminist International Relations (IR) and post-colonial literature, as well as critical/feminist Canadian foreign policy scholarship are employed in this paper to frame these critiques.
topic Canadian foreign policy
gender essentialism
gender inequality
maternal health
mothers
url https://www.theglobaljusticenetwork.org/index.php/gjn/article/view/58
work_keys_str_mv AT rebeccatiessen walkingwombsmakingsenseofthemuskokainitiativeandtheemphasisonmotherhoodincanadianforeignpolicy
_version_ 1725075323831189504

Similar Items