From witch hunting in Europe to the eugenic mandate in Argentina: reflections on some of the landmarks of the institutionalization of motherhood

Abstract

This article seeks to explore some of the landmarks of the process of institutionalization of motherhood in Europe and Argentina, highlighting the use of medicalization as a means used by capitalist hetero-patriarchy in order to control women's bodies and reproductive capacities. The exploration begins in the transition to capitalism, where witch hunting, pro-natalist policies and the emerging power of hegemonic medicine deprived women of much of their knowledge and autonomy regarding reproductive matters. The analysis moves on to the final decade of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, a time of construction of a national identity and a state bureaucracy in Argentina -a process that required the subjection of women to motherhood as their only destiny and occupation. Finally, the article argues that these processes of institutionalization still have an impact over the discourses and practices of current maternal health services.