Documents that matter: Sterilization paperwork in rural India

Lukšaitė, E

Abstract

Female sterilization, or tubal ligation, is the most prevalent form of contraception in rural India. The paperwork that surrounds this procedure provides an interesting lens to investigate the state, its institutions, and their material conditions. The production and circulation of this paperwork uncover the state as an illegible and unpredictable entity that materializes in people’s everyday lives through bureaucratically futile certificates. In this article, I look at sterilization paperwork as a tool to tell stories about the state and its institutions in the context of seeking and undergoing tubal ligation in a government facility in rural India.

Citation

Lukšaitė, E. (2022). Documents that matter: Sterilization paperwork in rural India. Anthropology Today, 38(5), 9-12. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12752

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 12, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Sep 30, 2022
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 30, 2023
• Journal: Anthropology Today
• Print ISSN: 0268-540X
• Electronic ISSN: 1467-8322
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 38
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 9-12
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8322.12752
• Publisher URL: https://rai.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-8322.12752