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Rituals of Infant Death: Defining Life and I slamic Personhood
Author(s) -
Shaw Alison
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
bioethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.494
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1467-8519
pISSN - 0269-9702
DOI - 10.1111/bioe.12047
Subject(s) - personhood , context (archaeology) , ethnic group , miscarriage , sociology , pregnancy , law , anthropology , history , political science , biology , genetics , archaeology
Abstract This article is about the recognition of personhood when death occurs in early life. Drawing from anthropological perspectives on personhood at the beginnings and ends of life, it examines the implications of competing religious and customary definitions of personhood for a small sample of young B ritish Pakistani M uslim women who experienced miscarriage and stillbirth. It suggests that these women's concerns about the lack of recognition given to the personhood of their fetus or baby constitute a challenge to customary practices surrounding burial as a M uslim. The article suggests that these women's concerns cannot be adequately glossed as a clash of I slamic belief versus Western medicine. Rather, they represent a renegotiation of I slamic opinion and customary practices within the broader context of changes in the medical and social norms surrounding pregnancy loss and infant death in multi‐ethnic B ritish society.