ABSTRACT
Anthropological studies of breastfeeding address many central themes in the anthropology of reproduction, including embodiment, sexuality, kinship, personhood, gender, medicalization, biocapitalism, the role of the state, and local-global relations, among others. However, few of these studies actually engage the anthropology of reproduction as a key framework. Despite its critical importance to the human reproductive continuum, lactation has remained underdocumented and undertheorized within the anthropology of reproduction. In this chapter, we review major theoretical contributions in the sociocultural, biological, and integrative approaches to studying human lactation. We suggest that greater attention to breastfeeding, along with other human lactation and infant feeding topics, is still needed within the anthropology of reproduction. Similarly, current research endeavors related to human lactation will be greatly enriched through deeper engagement with core anthropology of reproduction scholarship, particularly intersectional feminist theories. Finally, we map out some ways that transformative anthropological perspectives grounded in the scholarship of Black and Indigenous scholars from around the world can expand and reshape dominant framings of lactation in public discourses.
