Activism and Patient Vulnerability: Resistance to Medical Authority and Regulation in Russia

Authors

  • Tatiana L. Kuksa Center for Medical Anthropology, Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology HSE University, Moscow, Russia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v26i.18369

Abstract

The paper analyzes the opposition and adaptation of Russian patients, independent perinatal specialists, and professional human rights activists to normative regulation of obstetric care, medical authorities, and the practices of the Russian maternity hospital. During my ethnographic research, I have collected personal stories about the clashes of women in labor and their assistants (primarily doulas) with the medical system, stories of collective and individual appeals to authorities, and protest flash mobs. The article presents the history of the transformation of the Russian system of obstetrics and the development of grassroots movements by midwives and doulas. It outlines the features of human rights and perinatal protest discourses and identifies the tactics of legal and vernacular resistance and non-resistance to medical authorities encountered during fieldwork.

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Published

2022-07-29

Issue

Vol. 26 (2022): Folklorica

Section

Articles

License

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication. Their work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Derivative License (CC BY ND) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. You can find more information about the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Derivative License (CC BY ND) here. 

How to Cite

Kuksa, Tatiana L. 2022. “Activism and Patient Vulnerability: Resistance to Medical Authority and Regulation in Russia”. FOLKLORICA - Journal of the Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Folklore Association 26 (July): 1-33. https://doi.org/10.17161/folklorica.v26i.18369.