Disentangling the politics of breastfeeding

Abstract

Infant feeding has become a target of policy at international, national and local levels. In the UK, although breastfeeding has been recognised as having a major role to play in public health, less than 1% of babies are exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life. In this article, I highlight the need to better understand this gap between policy and practice. I describe how Actor-Network Theory and the debates around vibrant materialities can bring fresh insights into the complex entanglements around breastfeeding, and its particular forms of politics, and consider how infant feeding might challenge and enrich these approaches.

Keywords:

• infant feeding
• ANT
• materialities
• breastfeeding
• policy