Measuring maternal worth : racial science in Mexican obstetrics, 1869-1936

This thesis explores the connections between scientific politics and maternal healthcare in Mexico between 1869 and 1936. In sum, I propose that scientific and elite debate about female biology was related to broader national concerns about race, gender, modernity and national identity. I therefore look at the production of scientific knowledge as a social project, and one that is not easily separated from political endeavors and nation-state formation.