Uses of the Intuition: The Role of Intuition in Birth Work (Towards An Intuitive Epistemology)

Author

Kayla R. Reece, The Graduate Center, City University of New YorkFollow

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Program

Women's and Gender Studies

Advisor

Dána-Ain Davis

Subject Categories

Epistemology | Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies | Feminist Philosophy | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Women's Studies

Keywords

intuition, intuitive knowledge, birth work, coloniality of knowledge, intuitive practices, epistemology, Black feminist thought, decolonial feminism, reproductive justice, Afro-futurism, futurity

Abstract

Intuitive knowledge ought to be esteemed, practiced, and integrated alongside traditional forms of knowledge. The coloniality of knowledge has structured our society’s ways of thinking to suppress knowledges which reside in non-hegemonic formations and sources, such as our bodies and intuitions. This paper assesses the uses of the intuition as potential sites of an intuitive epistemology through the author’s experience as an intuitive tarot card reader and through the experiences of six BIPOC birth workers living and working in the United States. I conceptualize the intuition as embodied, relational, and predictive, which offers a framework that privileges information one can obtain from one’s body, highlights the social function or uses of the intuition, and emphasizes the role of the intuition in describing and offering a vision of the future. Using a decolonial, transnational Black feminist framework, this thesis examines the transformational and liberatory possibilities of using intuition in birth work practices and beyond.

Recommended Citation

Reece, Kayla R., "Uses of the Intuition: The Role of Intuition in Birth Work (Towards An Intuitive Epistemology)" (2024). CUNY Academic Works.
https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/5783