Contraception is an issue of considerable concern to a great many heterosexually active people. Yet the impact of contraceptive technologies in the world today, in particular their implications for kinship, gender relations, and other aspects of social life, receives relatively little scholarly attention.

This book brings a new perspective to the study of contraception, by collecting together in one volume leading experts in the fields of contraception, family planning and reproductive health. Contributors look at the social, economic, political and cultural contexts in which...