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National recognition for Concordia's Nora Jaffary

The associate professor wins the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize for her book on childbirth and contraception in 19th-century Mexico
May 31, 2017
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By Christian Durand


May 30 was a proud day for Nora Jaffary, associate professor of history in the Faculty of Arts and Science.

Nora Jaffary Nora Jaffary

That’s when the Canadian Historical Association announced her as winner of the 2017 Wallace K. Ferguson Prize for her book Reproduction and Its Discontents in Mexico: Childbirth and Contraception from 1750 to 1905.

The prestigious prize recognizes an outstanding scholarly book in a field other than Canadian history.

“Nora's book is richly deserving of this major award, which is one of the two highest honours offered by the CHA each year,” says Peter Gossage, chair of Concordia’s Department of History.

Reproduction and Its Discontents in Mexico: Childbirth and Contraception from 1750 to 1905.

“In it, she makes a substantial contribution to the international scholarship on gender and society in 19th-century Mexico, with special attention to childbirth, contraception, abortion, sexual honour, and other matters located at the intersection of reproduction, gender, and national identity. As a department, we are proud and excited by Nora’s achievement, both in writing this terrific book and having it recognized by her peers in such a significant way.”

Jaffary’s recent work covers a variety of issues pertinent to the medical and social history of women and childbirth, including the regulation of midwifery and the development of modern obstetrics.

But at the heart of the book lies an analysis of a substantial number of trials dealing with the crimes of abortion and infanticide during the period in which Mexico was transitioning from colony to nation.

Nora Jaffary (right) receives the Ferguson prize from CHA president Joan Sangster. Nora Jaffary (right) receives the Ferguson prize from CHA president Joan Sangster.

“In the last three decades of the 19th century, when Mexico was ruled by the authoritarian liberal presidency of Porfirio Díaz, denunciations of women for the crime of abortion dramatically increased,” Jaffary explains. 

“However, it bears remembering that the era was in fact an historical anomaly to Mexico’s ‘traditional’ experience. Through the colonial period, and much of the 19th century, this was a society that assumed women’s reproductive choices were their own business.”

The award tops off a successful spring for Jaffary, who was also recently awarded a SSHRC Insight Grant and a two-month residential research fellowship by the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University.


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Concordia’s Department of History.

 



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