Event overview
A One Day Conference
Reproductive labour and bodies, and those of women in particular, have been at the frontline of various political projects of liberal modernity, including capitalist industrialisation, (settler) colonialism, the nuclear family, global health, sustainable development and women’s emancipation (Murphy, 2012). However, Silvia Federici (2012) reminded us that reproduction – because of its ‘dual characteristic’ – is not only part of the problem, it is also part of the solution. As much as it reproduces hegemonic oppression and exploitation, it also produces human subjects, who are capable of creating change, resistance, and struggle.
This interdisciplinary one-day conference takes the politics of reproduction as its starting point, and will focus on questions related to the social, technological and political economic dimensions of reproduction as a site of oppression and resistance. How is (social/human) reproduction affected by persistent racist and sexist attitudes, climate change and renewed projects of population control? What does capitalism have to do with the social crisis of care? How do we construct new or re-imagine older practices and infrastructures of reproductive justice? What processes of redistribution, decolonisation and re-appropriation of labour, property, wealth, land will be required to reach there? Can developments in science and technology be harnessed for radical emancipatory uses in the struggle for reproductive rights and justice or are they part of the problem? We will employ an interdisciplinary, critical lens to explore what it means to make and unmake babies, families and other kin in the age in which, as Laura Briggs (2016) argues, all politics have become reproductive politics.
– Keynote Address –
Ruha Benjamin: ‘“Black Afterlives Matter: Cultivating Kinfulness as Reproductive Justice.”
Ruha Benjamin is an Associate Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University. Ruha’s work looks at the social dimensions of science, technology and medicine. More details, including a full speaker biography and talk abstract will be circulated in due course.
www.facebook.com/events/357573794870836/
Dates & times
| Date | Time | Add to calendar |
|---|---|---|
| 14 Sep 2019 | 9:30am - 6:00pm |
Accessibility
If you are attending an event and need the College to help with any mobility requirements you may have, please contact the event organiser in advance to ensure we can accommodate your needs.
