Shame, Abortion, and Nation; A Postcolonial Analysis of Shame and Affect in People from Ireland who have Travelled for Abortion Care

The proposed study will examine the affect of shame in relation to people from Ireland who have travelled outside the country for abortion care, exploring the political impact of shame, and how it features in the contemporary reproductive rights movement. It will examine this from a postcolonial perspective, historicizing the utilization of a 'politics of shame' and its impact. The study will incorporate theories of shame in social science theory building a conceptual understanding of the emotion. It will then explore shame in Ireland and its impact giving a post-colonial critique of its political utility to the state. Methods will include interviews with people who have travelled from Ireland for abortion care and activists from the recent 'Repeal the 8th' movement. Further, an autoethnography will be conducted to incorporate the researcher's own experience of this issue, and data will be analysed by employing Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. The project aims to argue for a 'counter politics of shame' in Ireland through a re-telling of histories and contemporary experiences working towards to a feminist 'politics of care'.