Abortion in debate: individualization and juridification in neoliberalism times

Abstract

This paper is based on theoretical analysis and empirical research on sexual and (non) reproductive rights on the intersection between sociopolitical discourses and individual experiences. The main objective is to understand the impediments on public and political debates on abortion in Argentina, and in Latin America more broadly, associating them to political processes of individualization and juridification/judicialisation of social problems in neoliberal contexts. The proposed hypothesis highlights the complexities underlyng the
neoliberal concept of individuality vis-a-vis the same concept in the “organized society”, as well as the specific difficulties regarding sexualities which emerge from the emphasis on a biomedical discourse instead of a juridical one. It is required of the neoliberal individual: conscience,
will, freedom, and especially responsibility (updating the classical liberal notion of individuality). In the case of abortion, these new social demands translate into an intolerance towards what is conceived as a “mistake” or an inability to prevent risks in the exercise of a sexuality which must be free, voluntary, consensual, responsible and pleasurable.