The Eugenic Unconscious: Reproductive Politics in Jennifer Haigh’s Mercy Street
Join us on March 19th for an insightful talk by Dr. Katie Fitzpatrick.
Published a few months before the Dobbs vs. Jackson decision, and centered on a besieged women’s health clinic in Boston, Jennifer Haigh’s novel Mercy Street offers a timely, liberal defense of abortion access. At the same time, the novel registers an awareness of the limitations of white liberal feminism in addressing the entanglement of reproductive control, racism, and eugenics across American history.
This presentation will consider both the explicit ways that Haigh engages that history and the more subtle ways that eugenic thinking persists within her novel.
This hybrid event welcomes both in-person [in Buchanan Tower #241] and online participants.
Register here to attend via Zoom.
