CfP: Childbirth Technologies & Techniques (deadline March 15 2021)
Editors:
Dr. Scottie Hale
Buehler, University of Texas at Austin
Dr. Margaret Carlyle,
University of British Columbia Okanagan
midwiferytechnologies@gmail.com
Open Call for Papers: We invite
contributions of articles to a special journal issue focusing on the
technological culture of childbirth broadly defined. We are particularly
interested in how novel technologies, as well as techniques, changed birthing
practices over the long term, from the Middle Ages to the present day. We
welcome papers on any aspect of this material culture. This especially includes
research that nuances claims of technology-as-progress or that complicates
existing narratives about the man-midwife’s takeover of midwifery with the
forceps. We also welcome new stories about the history of childbirth practices,
women’s technological ingenuity, and the very definition of childbirth
‘technology’ itself.
This issue aims to
generate new discussion about the history of childbirth using material culture
as a starting point for thinking about obstetrical practices, technologies, and
techniques. We welcome discussion of tools, instruments, and techniques both
inside and outside of the birthing chamber, in order to develop a more
comprehensive picture of the technological culture around birthing over time.
The geographic focus of papers is open and the time period is roughly
1400–present.
Technologies and
techniques are not limited to the moment of delivery and can focus on pre- and
post-partum practices and can include instruments used for diagnostic,
anthropometric, practical, quantitative, and educational purposes (e.g.
pre-partum diagnostic tools, infant feeding techniques, obstetrical teaching
models). We also welcome papers that explore the technological culture of
childbirth in relation to gender, race, imperial history, and slavery.
Topics might include
but are not limited to:
- History of techniques, manual
dexterity, and embodied knowledge
- Techniques and technologies of
midwifery & man-midwifery
- Objects, instruments,
techniques used medically for childbirth
- Material cultures of childbirth
- Entanglements of technologies
and conceptions of the birthing body
- Instruments of control and surveillance
in childbirth
- Sociomaterial practices of
childbirth
Submissions: The editors
welcome scholarly submissions from academics and researchers in the fields of
history; history of science, technology, and medicine; gender and women’s
studies; and related disciplines.
For consideration,
please submit a 300-word abstract of your proposed paper, including your title
and institutional affiliation, to midwiferytechnologies@gmail.com on
or before March 15 2021. If your paper proposal is accepted,
you will be asked to submit a completed essay of 7,000-8,000 words in Winter
2021-22.
Papers must be
original and should not be previously published or be under review elsewhere
for publication. All manuscripts will be subject to a blind peer-review process
before they are accepted for publication.
Publication Details
& Timeline: Following acceptance of paper topics, the editors will submit a special
issue proposal to Technology and Culture (https://www.press.jhu.edu/journals/technology-and-culture).
Should this proposal not work out, we are committed to finding another suitable
top tier journal for our publication in a timely fashion. We will ask
contributors to provide us with a full article by Winter
2021–22, with an anticipated publication sometime in 2023. More
details on the paper submission process will be provided once your proposal has
been accepted.
Contact Info:
Dr. Scottie Hale Buehler,
University of Texas at Austin and Dr. Margaret Carlyle, University of British
Columbia Okanagan
Contact Email:
midwiferytechnologies@gmail.com