Queering parenting is the 2nd international conference stemming from the European research council funded study “INTIMATE: Citizenship, Care and Choice - The micro-politics of intimacy in Southern Europe”. This year the conference will focus on LGBTQ parenting. In the aftermath of sexual liberation struggles and biotechnological developments, sexuality and reproduction could be considered separate spheres of human activity.

Argument

Queering Parenting is the 2nd International Conference stemming from the ERC funded study INTIMATE: Citizenship, Care and Choice - The micro-politics of intimacy in Southern Europe (www.ces.uc.pt/intimate). This year the Conference will focus on LGBTQ parenting.
In the aftermath of sexual liberation struggles and biotechnological developments, sexuality and reproduction could be considered separate spheres of human activity.  However, sexual and relational orientation, as well as gender identity and/or expression, continue to be central aspects in the spectrum of reproductive choices. We suggest that the pervasive links that bind sexual and reproductive citizens, both culturally and legally, should be examined. Surrogacy and other assisted reproduction techniques consist of two cutting-edge examples of this bond, further highlighting the complex relationship between citizenship, care and choice in the realm of intimacy. Faced with challenges advanced by non-heteronormative parents, the time has come to think critically about queer reproduction and parenting.

How are LGBTQ people negotiating parenthood and child-rearing?
What role do law and social policy play regarding LGBTQ parenting and reproduction? 
How are processes of precariousness affecting LGBTQ reproduction and parenting?
Where do we see the resurgence of new normativities? What is absent, what is achieved?

We are committed to promoting interdisciplinary, intersectional, reciprocal knowledge production and sharing in academia and beyond. Within the broader theme of LGBT and queer reproduction and parenting, we encourage abstracts from academics and/or activists addressing one or more of the following issues:

• Queering reproduction. Includes: public policies and assisted reproductive techniques; male pregnancy; specificities of LGBTQ access to reproductive rights; non/supportive health practitioners; surrogacy wars; reproductive traveling; DIY reproductive techniques; queering biology.
• Queering parenting. Includes: parental pedagogies; gender non-conforming parenting; work-life balance; media representations; single LGBTQ parents; pro-sex LGBTQ parenting; politics of naming a child.
• Queering kinship. Includes: redefining kinship after childbirth; networks of care; relational diversity and poli-parenting; co-parenting among friends; siblings as donors.
• Queering citizenship: legal frameworks and social policies in relation to LGBT/queer parenting; LGBTQ national and international adoption; Queering gender, bodies and sexual practices through LGBT/queer parenting; role of LGBTQ and feminist associations; non/supportive childcare and schools; the right (not) to become a parent; assimilation, homonormativity, reproductive futurism; who can afford to become a parent – agencies, capitalism and the welfare state.

Due to logistic constraints, the work language during this conference will be English. If you chose to present in another language, please use Portuguese, Spanish or Italian, and submit your abstract in English, ensuring you will later use a powerpoint or provide copies of a handout in English before the presentation.

Submission guidelines

Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and should be submitted through Submission Form.

Deadline: 4 December 2016

Notification of acceptance: 15 December 2016

The conference will be held at the University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Dates pf the symposium : 2017 March 02-03

Comissão Científica

• Ana Cristina Santos, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Beatrice Gusmano, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Pablo Pérez Navarro, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Tatiana Motterle, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Luciana Moreira, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Ana Lúcia Silva, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra
• Mafalda Esteves, Centro de Estudos Sociais – Universidade de Coimbra