Edited by Gita Sen and Rachel C. Snow, this 1994 volume brings together feminist social and biomedical scholars from the Global North and South to examine the diverse forces shaping reproductive options and outcomes. The collection broadens the understanding of reproduction beyond biological childbearing to encompass the social and material conditions necessary for sustaining human care and subsistence.

Through theoretical analyses and case studies from different regional contexts, the publication examines the relationship between reproduction, social policy, and economic change. The text explores how macroeconomic models and state welfare arrangements influence the distribution of reproductive labour, paying particular attention to the interplay of gender, class, and racial inequalities. Key themes include the effects of structural adjustment programmes, the feminisation of poverty, and the impact of public policy on women’s unpaid domestic work, offering a global feminist perspective on the conditions shaping women’s roles in households and societies.