Childbirth and its accompanying rituals

This book seeks to fill an important gap in the research about the anthropology of birth and death. Whereas studies on death rituals have resulted in an elaborate body of theories concerning the channelling of emotions, the socialising of grief and anger and the social construction of present and past life, studies on childbirth rituals are usually to be found in either feminist works or works on medical anthropology concerned with the health of mother and child. The articles in this book look into childbirth and its accompanying rituals in the context of its social significance and its potential to articulate central values and concepts.