Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Behind the Silence: Chinese Voices on Abortion (Asian Voices)

Behind the Silence is the first in-depth work in any language to explore the diverse perspectives of mainland Chinese regarding induced abortion and fetal life in the context of the world's most ambitious and intrusive family planning program. Bringing to light the range of Chinese views and experiences, Nie Jing-Bao draws on extensive primary sources and intensive fieldwork, including surveys by and interviews with hundreds of rural, urban, and overseas Chinese. Nie's exploration of the multi-layered meanings of public silence, official pronouncements, forgotten controversies from the Imperial era, public and private consensus and disagreement, women's personal stories, and doctors' narratives provides compelling evidence on the remarkably varied, sometimes critical, and often tormented voices of the Chinese people. Revealing a surprising range of beliefs and feelings concerning the morality of abortion and fetal life, the book nevertheless finds widespread acceptance of national population policies. It also examines the personal anguish and complex socio-cultural and ethical issues entwined with coerced abortion essential to enforce birth-control policies. In addition, the author argues, the abortion issue illustrates the importance of taking seriously China's internal plurality if Westerners and Chinese are to develop a fruitful cross-cultural dialogue. Review This is a book full of real people struggling within constraints that touch them as individuals, but that also engage them in conceptions of the common good and of their place in the scheme of things. To grasp that overarching theme is to lift ethics from the narrow and procedural terms that are often dictated by individualistic conceptions of autonomy and rights and to remind us that our lives are articulated against a wider canvas than the one we often encounter.--Grant Gillett, University of Otago "The American Journal Of Bioethics " Nie's contribution is that he has been able to get some people in China to talk more openly about their attitudes toward abortion, fetal life, and morality...Nie also contributes richness to our understanding of what it means to live in a society where women may be forced to have abortions with the collusion of their work colleagues and friends as well as the coercion of the local state.--Jean C. Robinson "East Asia " An important work about abortion in China....Nie's rich background is a perfect combination of medicine and sociology, with roots in Chinese culture, making his contribution to this area of research unique. This well-organized, readable book is useful for multiple disciplines in the social sciences. Highly recommended.--R. Wang, Central Michigan University "CHOICE " The most valuable information in the book comes from Nie's painstaking survey and in-depth interviews. . . .I recommend this book to Chinese readers for the particular attention it brings to what people in the West think about abortion in moral terms. I would also recommend it to Western readers because Nie has offered interpretation of much of the silence behind abortion in China.--Yan Che, Shanghai Institute of Planned Parenthood Research "Studies in Family Planning " Jing-Bao Nie's nuanced account of abortion in China has provided me with a new set of lenses through which to view abortion as it is theorized and practiced in the United States. Sensitive to issues of gender, race, and class; aware of hierarchies of power in the public, professional, and private realms; and attentive to debates about women's rights and responsibilities, he provides the means for previously repressed and suppressed voices to speak loudly about one of their most difficult choices: to say 'yes' or 'no' to new life. Nie has written a book for all seasons that I intend to use in my courses on Ethics and Public Policy, Health Care Ethics and Law, and Feminist Thought.--Rosemarie Tong, Distinguished Professor in Health Care Ethics and director of the Center