Citizens of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation fight for justice with their bodies at the frontlines of environmental catastrophe. This dissertation employs a biopolitical and interpretive analysis to examine these struggles in the polluted heart of Canada’s ‘Chemical Valley’. Drawing from a discursive analysis of situated concerns on the ground and a textual analysis of Canada’s biopolitical ‘policy ensemble’ for Indigenous citizenship, this dissertation examines how citizens and public officials respond to environmental and reproductive injustices in Aamjiwnaang. Based upon in-depth interviews with residents and policy-makers, I first document citizens of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation’s activities and practices on the ground as they cope with and navigate their health concerns and habitat. Second, I examine struggles over knowledge and the contestation over scientific expertise as the community seeks reproductive justice. Third, I contextualize citizen struggles over knowledge by discussing the power relations embedded within the ‘policy ensemble’ for Indigenous citizenship and Canadian jurisdiction for on-reserve environmental health. From an interpretive lens, inspired by Foucault’s concepts of biopower and governmentality, the dissertation develops a framework of “ecological citizenship”, which confronts biopolitics with a theoretical discussion of place to expand upon existing Canadian citizenship and environmental studies literature. I argue that reproductive justice in Aamjiwnaang cannot be separated from environmental justice, and that the concept of place is central to ongoing struggles. As such, I discuss “ecological citizenship’s double-edge”, to contend that citizens are at once bound up within disciplinary biopolitical power relations and also articulate a radical form of place-based belonging.

This thesis explores the experiences of women - mothers who regret having children. In mainstream society, it is assumed that mothers find their roles fulfilling and it makes them happy despite possible hardships. The topic of maternal regrets is not discussed enough, it is still a taboo. It is assumed that there is something wrong with a woman regretting her motherhood. This topic not only has a lack of general attention, but also of academic one. It is very under-researched. Although there are more and more studies exploring why people choose not to have children, women who regret motherhood are still waiting for support and understanding. In the vast majority, they never admit to their feelings. The outcomes present the fact that motherhood does not have to be a pleasant and simple experience. The women who shared their personal stories in this thesis experienced motherhood as something that oppressed them and complicated their lives. They became pregnant unexpectedly and unplanned and had to adjust all their life plans and expectations to motherhood. They did not find fulfillment in the role of mother. Overall, this work sheds light on the taboo topic of maternal regret and presents the diverse factors that influence mothers' lives and well-being. It highlights the issue of traditional division of gender roles, especially in terms of childcare, working conditions, earnings, and economic dependence on a partner. It addresses the issue of social pressure and expectations that mothers face. It emphasizes the importance of sex education and the importance of making an informed decision. And it demonstrates the complexity of the problem of motherhood regrets.

The dominant Sandinista party discourse of Nicaragua designates the family as the country’s base social institution, but the prevailing machismo threatens the family’s structure. Men - fathers - leave, either literally as migrant laborers or in the abandonment of their family responsibilities. In order to counteract the men’s socially sanctioned absence, the state deploys a hegemonic expectation of motherhood in the passage of its complete abortion ban, one of the strictest in the world. All forms of abortion, including saving the life of the mother, are banned in Nicaragua and both doctors and women are heavily penalized if an abortion is performed. The denial of this vital health service becomes much more threatening in the context of Nicaragua’s increased maternal mortality and the highest adolescent fertility rate in Latin America. However, this thesis focuses on abortion within the social context of idealized maternity; here, abortion is not simply the removal of a fetus but a rejection of motherhood, a dangerous option to normalize when women are seen as those primarily responsible for the family's well-being. This study draws on seven weeks of fieldwork in early 2016 in Managua, Nicaragua and interviews with sixteen women to advance the argument that the abortion ban is a form of reproductive governance implemented to maintain a hegemony of maternal expectations in order to preserve the family.

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The reproductive justice movement gives a voice and representation to women of color whose experience of reproductive control is impacted by intersecting layers of oppression. This thesis uses an intersectional approach to develop the concept of racial reproductive control logics, which describes the relationship between racial logics and racial patterns of reproductive control. The study uses qualitative interviews and content analysis of organizational material to explore how the reproductive justice movement is influenced by racial reproductive control logics.

In this dissertation, I aim to examine how policy packages focusing on improving reproductive conditions impact adverse maternal outcomes at the local level. I use the National Institute of Reproductive Health’s Local Reproductive Freedom Index (NIRH LRFI) to advance scholarship and policy advocacy on how policies included in that index may lessen the overall maternal mortality rate while also perhaps diminishing the disparity in maternal mortality between women of color and white women in 50 major U.S. cities. I argue that policy may be an effective—though under-studied—avenue for reducing the risk of maternal mortality because policies can be used to target specific social factors that research has demonstrated place individuals at higher risk of a negative outcome. However, these policy avenues usefully can be considered as interconnected policy packages rather than merely as single-policy interventions. Additionally, current research in this area suggests that there is a clear need for more research that combines SDH with policies aimed at improving health outcomes for reproducing individuals, particularly for communities of color (Creanga et al. 2015b; Kozhimannil, Vogelsang, and Hardeman 2015; Osypuk et al. 2015). As such, I situate maternal mortality, and specifically racial disparities in maternal mortality, among social determinants of health. Overall, I argue that to successfully decrease aggregate maternal mortality rates and lessen racial disparities in reproductive health, it is essential to center the experiences and needs of women of color and use a critical lens when evaluating measures assessing reproductive freedom.

La santé reproductive est un concept qui réunit plusieurs aspects, tels que les méthodes de contraception, la grossesse, l’accouchement et le fait d’élever ses enfants. La santé reproductive peut être affectée par de nombreuses inégalités et barrières à la santé. À Montréal, les femmes de la communauté haïtienne peuvent vivre plusieurs de ces inégalités simultanément. Plusieurs caractéristiques individuelles peuvent accroitre les rapports de pouvoir vécus et ressentis au sein du système de soins de santé québécois. Pour les femmes ayant des origines haïtiennes, les rapports de pouvoir s’articulent particulièrement autour du genre et de la couleur de peau. Ces rapports de pouvoir précèdent l’institution de soins de santé actuelle et ceux-ci découlent du colonialisme, de la suprématie blanche et du patriarcat. D’autres éléments peuvent être pris en compte, tels que le statut socioéconomique, les caractéristiques individuelles et les milieux de vie. Les inégalités de santé et barrières à la santé peuvent prendre plusieurs formes : financières, langagières, géographiques et bureaucratiques. Bien qu’il soit connu que le racisme affecte tant la santé que l’accès aux soins de santé, le racisme sous toutes ses formes n’est que peu ou pas abordé en lien avec la santé reproductive au Québec. L’objectif principal de cette recherche est donc d’examiner si le racisme affecte la santé reproductive des femmes de la communauté haïtienne de Montréal, et si tel est le cas, d’explorer de quelles façons, ainsi que les conséquences de ces liens. Pour ce faire, des entretiens avec 16 femmes ayant des origines haïtiennes et vivant à Montréal ont été réalisés. De plus, trois entretiens avec des membres du personnel de soins de santé d’un organisme communautaire ont alimenté la recherche. / Reproductive health is a concept that brings together several aspects, such as contraceptive methods, pregnancy, childbirth, and child rearing. Reproductive health can be affected by many inequalities and barriers to health. In Montreal, women from the Haitian community may experience many of these inequalities simultaneously. Many individual characteristics can increase the power relations experienced and felt within the Quebec health care system. For women of Haitian descent, power relations are particularly articulated around gender and skin color. These power relations precede the current health care institution, which arise from colonialism, white supremacy, and patriarchy. Other elements can be considered, such as socioeconomic status, individual characteristics and living environments. Health inequalities and barriers to health can take many forms: financial, language skills, geographic and bureaucratic. Although it is known that racism affects both health and access to health care, racism in all its forms has received little or no attention in relation to reproductive health in Quebec. The main objective of this research is therefore to determine whether racism affects the reproductive health of women in the Haitian community in Montreal, and if so, to explore the consequences of these links. To do so, interviews were conducted with 16 women of Haitian descent living in Montreal. In addition, three interviews with health care staff at a community organization participated for the research.

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