Birth Control in the Decolonizing Caribbean: Reproductive Politics and Practice on Four Islands, 1930–1970

Bourbonnais opens her monograph with a powerful sentence: “Rose Gordon wrote a letter” (1). As she begins to tell Rose’s story, we see that this is not a simple medical history of reproductive politics and practice. Nor is it a simple political history. Both comparative and transnational, hers is first and foremost a social history, as is made clear from the opening sentence of the book. As she traces how the working class negotiated control over their bodies, sexuality, and personal relationships, she also considers this question through a thorough discussion of class, race, and cultural representation. Her exploration of the controversial agendas and political discourses of the state, medical practitioners, and grassroots activists adds another aspect to her research as she carefully assesses the interplay between the working class and local, national, and international players. Finally, Bourbonnais adds a final stratum to her argument through an analysis of the...