B. Rubbers, A. Jedlowsky (eds.) Regimes of Responsibility in Africa. Genealogies rationalities and conflicts. New York, Bergahn Books, 2020
In this paper, we offer a reconstruction of the emergence of
‘reproductive health’ policies In Cô... more In this paper, we offer a reconstruction of the emergence of
‘reproductive health’ policies In Côte d’Ivoire. We frame them within
the ‘neoliberal governmentality turn’ of the 1990s, showing how this
introduced new concepts and values concerning the moral responsibility
of the individual in the domain of procreation and sexuality. We have
described how this form of responsibility, primarily connected to the family’s well-being, puts the reproductive practices of every individual in a moral relation with the prosperity and the health of the community, and, via the latter, of the nation. In procreative matters, the self-government of the subject appears thus to be strictly linked with the good governance of the collective.
We show how in Côte d’Ivoire the global logics of reproductive health were transformed according to local political culture. In the Ivorian elaboration of population policies, a communitarian subject was substituted for the individual subject invoked by the reproductive health discourse. The language of rights was succeeded by an idiom of discipline, moral subjectivation by a moral coercion shaping the responsibility of the good citizen. We then bring to light how this transformation participated in the construction of a stigmatizing public discourse that changed responsibility into culpability and transferred it from the individual to the community. An Other-of-modernity was produced as an irresponsible, traditionalist, non-governable ‘stranger’ who was endangering the future of the nation: a primitive, ‘natural’ Other that had already been imagined and described by classical demographic theories of fertility.
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Papers by Armando Cutolo
‘reproductive health’ policies In Côte d’Ivoire. We frame them within
the ‘neoliberal governmentality turn’ of the 1990s, showing how this
introduced new concepts and values concerning the moral responsibility
of the individual in the domain of procreation and sexuality. We have
described how this form of responsibility, primarily connected to the family’s well-being, puts the reproductive practices of every individual in a moral relation with the prosperity and the health of the community, and, via the latter, of the nation. In procreative matters, the self-government of the subject appears thus to be strictly linked with the good governance of the collective.
We show how in Côte d’Ivoire the global logics of reproductive health were transformed according to local political culture. In the Ivorian elaboration of population policies, a communitarian subject was substituted for the individual subject invoked by the reproductive health discourse. The language of rights was succeeded by an idiom of discipline, moral subjectivation by a moral coercion shaping the responsibility of the good citizen. We then bring to light how this transformation participated in the construction of a stigmatizing public discourse that changed responsibility into culpability and transferred it from the individual to the community. An Other-of-modernity was produced as an irresponsible, traditionalist, non-governable ‘stranger’ who was endangering the future of the nation: a primitive, ‘natural’ Other that had already been imagined and described by classical demographic theories of fertility.
sociale e sulle loro crisi. A tale scopo viene focalizzata e rielaborata la distinzione la tra la categoria antropologica dei “cadetti” – marcatamente relazionale e gerarchica – e la categoria dei “giovani” – che apre invece ad una definizione
della gioventù come soggetto politico autonomo e si connette all’immaginario globale. Il conflitto recente in Costa d’Avorio viene dunque letto sulla base di questa distinzione contrastiva: si mostra come in esso dei “cadetti” (identificati
nella figura dei ribelli che hanno lottato contro il presidente Gbagbo) si siano opposti a dei “giovani” (identificati con i jeunes patriotes, ossia con i giovani nazionalisti che hanno sostenuto il presidente contro la ribellione). Queste forme differenti di soggettivazione politica vengono ricondotte alle crisi di riproduzione che hanno investito due parti diverse della società avoriana
devenus les hauts lieux de la mobilisation patriotique. Cet article montre que les
orateurs de ces espaces se sont affirmés en tant que sujets moraux et politiques
par la prise de parole publique et un travail herméneutique de « dévoilement » de
la vérité. Mais il souligne aussi que ce processus de subjectivation s’est opéré dans
le cadre d’un dispositif contraignant de professionnalisation de la parole patriotique
s’apparentant à une forme de gouvernementalité. Il s’interroge alors sur le devenir de
celle-ci dans un contexte de sortie de guerre qui a vu la destruction dudit dispositif.
‘reproductive health’ policies In Côte d’Ivoire. We frame them within
the ‘neoliberal governmentality turn’ of the 1990s, showing how this
introduced new concepts and values concerning the moral responsibility
of the individual in the domain of procreation and sexuality. We have
described how this form of responsibility, primarily connected to the family’s well-being, puts the reproductive practices of every individual in a moral relation with the prosperity and the health of the community, and, via the latter, of the nation. In procreative matters, the self-government of the subject appears thus to be strictly linked with the good governance of the collective.
We show how in Côte d’Ivoire the global logics of reproductive health were transformed according to local political culture. In the Ivorian elaboration of population policies, a communitarian subject was substituted for the individual subject invoked by the reproductive health discourse. The language of rights was succeeded by an idiom of discipline, moral subjectivation by a moral coercion shaping the responsibility of the good citizen. We then bring to light how this transformation participated in the construction of a stigmatizing public discourse that changed responsibility into culpability and transferred it from the individual to the community. An Other-of-modernity was produced as an irresponsible, traditionalist, non-governable ‘stranger’ who was endangering the future of the nation: a primitive, ‘natural’ Other that had already been imagined and described by classical demographic theories of fertility.
sociale e sulle loro crisi. A tale scopo viene focalizzata e rielaborata la distinzione la tra la categoria antropologica dei “cadetti” – marcatamente relazionale e gerarchica – e la categoria dei “giovani” – che apre invece ad una definizione
della gioventù come soggetto politico autonomo e si connette all’immaginario globale. Il conflitto recente in Costa d’Avorio viene dunque letto sulla base di questa distinzione contrastiva: si mostra come in esso dei “cadetti” (identificati
nella figura dei ribelli che hanno lottato contro il presidente Gbagbo) si siano opposti a dei “giovani” (identificati con i jeunes patriotes, ossia con i giovani nazionalisti che hanno sostenuto il presidente contro la ribellione). Queste forme differenti di soggettivazione politica vengono ricondotte alle crisi di riproduzione che hanno investito due parti diverse della società avoriana
devenus les hauts lieux de la mobilisation patriotique. Cet article montre que les
orateurs de ces espaces se sont affirmés en tant que sujets moraux et politiques
par la prise de parole publique et un travail herméneutique de « dévoilement » de
la vérité. Mais il souligne aussi que ce processus de subjectivation s’est opéré dans
le cadre d’un dispositif contraignant de professionnalisation de la parole patriotique
s’apparentant à une forme de gouvernementalité. Il s’interroge alors sur le devenir de
celle-ci dans un contexte de sortie de guerre qui a vu la destruction dudit dispositif.