Birth rates are declining worldwide whilst reproductive technologies continue to advance. This three-part webinar series politicized declining fertility rates by foregrounding the economic constraints and global inequalities that shape who gets to be pregnant and who gets to be born.
Birth rates are declining worldwide. This trend reflects divergent dynamics. On the one hand, women experience greater reproductive choice. On the other hand, various constraints persist including environmental crises, precarious labour conditions, housing insecurity, armed conflict, and inadequate healthcare. In addition, infertility and access to assisted reproductive technologies are not evenly distributed but are deeply embedded in global inequalities.
In response to declining fertility rates, selective pronatalist ideologies are gaining traction in different parts of the world, while in others antinatalist policies continue to shape population strategies - encouraging some populations to reproduce while discouraging, excluding, or restricting others from parenthood. At the same time, with developments in reproductive technologies we witness new forms of eugenic thinking, influencing not only who gets to be pregnant, but also who gets to be born.
This three-part webinar series brought together activists and scholars from around the world to examine the decline in fertility rates as a political issue. The first two webinars focus on the economic constraints and global inequalities that shape who is able to become pregnant and to become a parent. The third turns to the ways in which Big Tech oligarchs are promoting selectively pronatalist agendas and reproductive futures. Unfortunately the third webinar can't be uploaded because of a technical issue during the recording.
This webinar series was organized and supported by Global Unit for Feminism and Gender Democracy, Gunda Werner Institute and PRiNA network.
Session 1: Who gets to become a parent? The Politics of Birth Rates (Alanna Armitage and Ralf Ruckus)
Reproductive (In)Justice in An Unequal World: The Politics of Birth Rates - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Watch on YouTube
Session 2: Who is allowed to reproduce? Reproductive Racism and Global Inequalities (Sophia Siddiqui, Sethembiso-Promise Mthembu and Susanne Schultz)
Reproductive (In)Justice in An Unequal World: Who Is Allowed to Reproduce? - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung
Watch on YouTube
