ABSTRACT

There are no ready conclusions about whether the fragmentation and reconfi gurations of motherhood under the conditions of globalization deliver women into harsher oppression or offer more opportunities. While a quick answer might be that it depends on which women, we have tried to illustrate here that globalization both links and transforms the reproductive and care decisions and experiences of very differently located women. Thus, a theme that cuts across the particular experiences recounted in these chapters is the layered complexity and multi-directionality of stratifi ed reproduction in this globalized world. While inequities between women continue and shape and permeate the new formats and dimensions described in this volume, all women are affected subtly and overtly in some troubling ways.