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A NARRATIVE ACCOUNT OF THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF STRUGGLE IS DEVELOPED SHOWING THAT LOCATIONAL CONFLICT IS SYMBOLIC CONFLICT OVER THE CONSTRUCTION OF MEANINGS WITHIN PARTICULAR LANDSCAPES. THE CONGRUENCE OF ISSUES IN BERKELEY, AND CENTERED AROUND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, UNDERSCORES THE COMPLEXITY, AS WELL AS THE IMPORTANCE, OF THE SYMBOLIC NATURE OF CONFLICT OVER THE USE AND CONTROL OF SPACE. THIS PAPER REVOLVES AROUND THE NOTION THAT USING PUBLIC SPACE AS A POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND SHELTER BASE BY THOSE EXCLUDED FROM THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS IS UNDERSTOOD BY THOSE PEOPLE AS A LEGITIMATE AND RIGHTFUL USE OF PUBLIC SPACE.

In the 1970s, concern about coercive sterilization of low-income and minority women in the United States led the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to create strict regulations for federally funded sterilization procedures. Although these policies were instituted to secure informed consent and protect women from involuntary sterilization, there are significant data indicating that these policies may not, in fact, ensure that consent is truly informed and, further, may prevent many low-income women from getting a desired sterilization procedure. Given the alarmingly high rates of unintended pregnancy in the United States, especially among low-income populations, we feel that restrictive federal sterilization policies should be reexamined and modified to simultaneously ensure informed decision-making and honor women's reproductive choices.