(Non-)Reproductive Matters: Global Perspectives on Religion, Gender and Procreation
International Conference, 12-14 June 2024, at University of Tuebingen
Conference Description
We invite participants to a conference that will address current debates on both reproduction and nonreproduction with a particular focus on the role of religion in the Global South and the Global North.
The last decades have seen a rise of debates about reproductive matters. They have moved to the centre of local and global negotiations of legal and moral definitions of diverse kinds of kinship, of (il)legitimate sexuality, and of the integrity of bodies. These debates crystallise in questions of the legality and illegality of surrogacy, debates about international adoptions and different technologies of assisted reproduction, and the legal and medical conditions of abortions. They also crucially inflect anti-racist, postcolonial, or (queer-)feminist perspectives on the right to a life with and without biological and non-biological offspring. Increasingly, controversies about the right to reproductive self-determination become entangled with discussions of the reproductive rights of queer people, people of colour, and people with disabilities.
Religious knowledge and belief systems as well as religious actors and organizations have prominently contributed to shaping practices of reproduction and of non-reproduction, and they continue to do so. Regulating sexuality and gender relations has been part of most religious codes of conduct, turning them into matters of biopolitics. In the past, religions have contributed to shaping body and sexual politics as well as boundaries of legitimate desire. Around the world, religiously (self-)defined communities, actors and organizations, but also multiple secular communities frame reproductive matters as specifically moral challenges of enabling and protecting the life of a particular population. Combined with anthropocentric notions of wealth, these religion-based positions have often led to the promotion of pronatalist perspectives on issues such as contraception, pregnancy termination or artificial insemination. However, prohibitions to reproduce and institutionalised childlessness are also equally rooted in religious belief systems, such as monasticism, and celibate asceticism. Non-religious eco-spiritual and ethical movements for the environment are also prominent voices in the debate on childfree lives in accordance with climate struggle and post-anthropocentric ideas of the good life on earth. Practices and discourses of reproduction and non-reproduction thus appear to be inextricably intertwined, requiring a mutual understanding of their respective dynamics.
Acknowledging the large spectrum of religio-political perspectives, the conference will focus on discourses and practices of (non)reproduction and emancipation emerging from religious, religiously structured, and post-secular contexts and communities, and which reflect, for example, (queer-)feminist, postcolonial, or anti-racist positions.
Programme
Keynotes
Practicing Procreation: Religion, Reproduction, and Women’s LivesWe normally approach issues of religion and reproduction through the lenses of law, politics, and theology, asking about beliefs, attitudes, and competing interests. While the constraints of law and the role of cultural tradition or politics cannot be ignored, this talk will suggest that we need also to ask about the lived experience at the intersection of women’s bodies and religious practice. As women (and men) engage decisions and actions surrounding procreation, their lives and decisions are often shaped by religious and spiritual practices. We must ask how deciding about procreation (and abortion) is linked to religious identities and narratives of the self in religious community, as well as to experiences of the body and its relation to spiritual and sacred realities. We must also explore the spiritual practices that often accompany the effort to conceive, including sacred understandings of that process, even when it is assisted by technology. In addition, we must pay attention to the material, emotional, and moral realities at play in the pregnant and birthing body. In each aspect of the reproductive process, religion and gender are implicated; and our understanding of those implications is enhanced by engaging a multi-dimensional ‘lived religion’ approach to religious practices that takes each particular global context into account. |
Keynote II: 13th June 2024, 6pm: Lecia Brooks (Southern Poverty Law Center, Alabama)
Reproduction as a Target of Religious and Political Power: Notes from the U.S. South
This presentation explores the convergence of religious and political power targeting reproductive rights in the Southern United States. It argues that Christian nationalism, a potent ideology advocating for a nation defined by extremist Christian values, significantly influences policy and legislation restricting reproductive autonomy and further erodes the rights of marginalized populations.
Drawing on historical and current events, the presentation will examine how:
- Christian nationalist rhetoric frames abortion and contraception as assaults on religious beliefs and traditional family structures.
- Policymakers with Christian nationalist leanings translate these views into legislation restricting access to reproductive healthcare.
- Donald Trump, the MAGA movement and today’s U.S. Republican Party are driven by strong support for the authoritarian political theology of Christian nationalism.
- The South serves as a testing ground for practices and policies due to its strong evangelical Christian base and history of white supremacy and social conservatism.
The presentation will conclude by exploring the impact of these policies on marginalized communities and proposing strategies to resist the erosion of reproductive rights in the South and beyond.
Registration
If you would like to attend the conference, please register by e-mail to gender_and_religion_conference@posteo.com
The conference venue on 13 and 14 June is Tübingen Castle, which is unfortunately not barrier-free. If you need assistance, we will be happy to help and organise whatever we can. Please let us know in advance by e-mail, if help is needed.
Conference Location
12th June 2024:
Alte Aula
Münzgasse 30
72070 Tübingen
13th and 14th June 2024:
Fürstenzimmer, Schloss Tübingen
Burgsteige 11
72070 Tübingen
Organizing Institutes
- Center for Gender and Diversity Research (ZGD)
- Center for Religion, Culture and Society (CRCS)
- Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences: Methods Center (MC)
- Global Encounters Platform: Rethinking Global Religion