Diverse Mothers: The Politics of Transplanting Maternity Protection in Socialist China, 1921–1982

Abstract This article reveals an untold transnational history of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) legal transplant of maternity protection from Europe and the United States. Article 49 of the Chinese Constitution stipulates that the state shall protect mothers. However, this clause also includes an obligation to practice the family planning policy, which is notorious for forced sterilizations and abortions. Why does a clause meant to protect mothers come with controls over reproductive autonomy and potential harm to mothers? This article argues that the combination of the protection of mothers with family planning policies emerged through the malleability of maternity protection within the CCP’s legal framework. This malleability originated from the evolving interplay between the political challenges—both international and domestic—the CCP encountered and the diverse backgrounds of mothers directly affected by this legal principle. Maternity protection proved an effective vehicle for the Party to address challenges across contexts by reconstructing its functionalities. This article identifies three ways in which the CCP interpreted maternity protection to further its political agendas: political movements, public health, and birth control. These interpretations aligned with the political challenges of expanding influence, ensuring wartime survival, and consolidating the socialist regime, as well as with the targeted audiences of urban workers, rural peasants, and socialist nationals.