Agent Orange, Women of the Resistance and Reproductive Rights: A Tale of Deliberate Human and Environmental Devastation in Vietnam

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

Between 1961 and 1971 millions of tonnes of chemical defoliant code name Agent Orange were sprayed onto the forests and cultivable land in both Central and Southern Viet Nam in the focal points of resistance against the occupying US forces. The policy was to remove the dense forest coverage which hid the members of the People’s Army of Viet Nam and destroy the land and crops feeding the Viet Nam population. The devastation which ensued involved severely damaging not only the land on which the population depended but also the capacity of men and women to reproduce the next generation. Here we consider Shiva’s arguments with respect to the bifurcation of the control of human beings and their physical and biological reproduction. This chapter will focus principally on the experience of women of the resistance in attempting to avoid chemical contamination and its impact on their lives and those of their family and community in the post war period.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFrom Polarisation to Multispecies Relationships
Subtitle of host publicationRe-Generation of the Commons in the Era of Mass Extinctions
EditorsJanet McIntyre-Mills, Yvonne Corcoran-Nantes
Place of PublicationSingapore
PublisherSpringer-Nature
Chapter23
Pages537-551
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)978-981-33-6884-2
ISBN (Print)978-981-33-6883-5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

Publication series

NameContemporary Systems Thinking
ISSN (Print)1568-2846

Keywords

  • Women
  • Resistance
  • Destruction
  • Agent Orange
  • Chemical warfare
  • Justice
  • Human rights

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