One of the key concerns among women of color and poor communities today is the difficulty of sustaining families in the face of increasing criminalization. Aggressive law enforcement, welfare reform, and draconian immigration and population policies have made one of the most fundamental reproductive rights - the right to have a child and raise a family - a battleground for women of color and poor women. This new book on race, gender and criminalization places issues of race, class, and gender at the center of the reproductive rights and social justice agenda. Policing the National Body reveals the unrelenting efforts by conservatives including misguided environmentalists and religious fundamentalists to define and regulate reproduction in ways that uphold white privilege. In the wake of Sept. 11, as aggressive law enforcement has escalated, this important collection provides ammunition to combat the erosion of civil liberties.

Quick Review produced from information supplied by the publisher.