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Nathalie Chauvac ; Manon Pradère ; Nancy Howell - The search for Nancy Howell
arcs:15818 - Analyse de réseaux pour les sciences sociales, June 18, 2025, Relational chains - https://doi.org/10.46298/arcs.15818- 1 Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités, Sociétés, Territoires [LISST]
- 2 Coopérative de recherches en Sciences Humaines et Sociales
- 3 Innovation et Développement dans l'Agriculture et l'Alimentation [UMR Innovation]
Published in 1969, The Search for an Abortionist by Nancy Howell (Lee) is one of the earliest works on relational chain analysis. This sociological study, conducted as part of her doctoral thesis at Harvard under thesupervision of Harrison White, explores a particularly sensitive subject: the search for a way to obtain an abortion in a context where this act was prohibited. Despite the risk, 114 women agreed to participate in the research. The study revealed that in a context of illegality and urgency, social inequalities in access to resources are amplified, often with devastating consequences to those involved. Chapter 5, translated here, explains more specifically the method used to analyze relational chains. Excerpts from two interviews with Nancy Howell complete this tribute to a pioneering work.