Social construction of infancy in  Ireland, 1900-1930 – the role of  medicine

This thesis explores the exercises of medical power which impacted on the social construction of infancy in Ireland from 1900 to 1930. It seeks to discover if changing attitudes to infants were the inevitable consequences of a broader humanitarian Zeitgeist or - conversely - if changes could be traced to more specific agents and factors. It focuses on a limited period of thirty years, 1900-1930 and investigates states of power of one geographical region, that of Ireland. One particular population cohort is highlighted, that of infants. Power relations within these parameters were examined through the lens of medicalising agency. The premise that changes in the social construction of infants were due to a ubiquitous Zeitgeist was refuted. Instead it was found that several agencies, acting from various motivations, impacted through diverse strategies on this consciousness. Professional medical specialisations which directed some of these changes included clinical practice, paediatrics, physiology, bacteriology and chemical analysis. However, medical agency is not represented as a single source of power. Instead, it is argued that biopower in relation to infants was highly contested and intensely negotiated by diverse interest groups, such as the mothers, the state, the dairy industry and the cooperative creamery movement, commercial and actuarial enterprise, philanthropic groupings as well as groupings from mixed - sometimes political - motivational backgrounds. At various times, these forces coalesced, at other times they opposed each other, resulting in an intricate interplay. It is argued in this thesis that the effect of these forces was greatest when their interests coincided and they acted in concert.