Reproductive Justice: Inequalities in Becoming and Being Parents (RGS-IBG 2026)

This is a call for abstracts for an organised session proposal at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference (1–4 September 2026 in London) on the theme of Geographies of Inequalities: Toward Just Places. If selected, the session will bring together contributions that critically examine “inequalities of becoming and being parents” in theory and practice. Please note: this is part of an organised session proposal that we will submit collectively; acceptance depends on the conference review process.

Proposed Session: “Reproductive Justice: Inequalities in Becoming and Being Parents”

Co-convenors: Carole Ammann (University of Lucerne) & Yolinliztli Pérez-Hernández (CRESS-OPPaLe, Inserm; attached researcher, University of Bern)

Parenting unfolds amid intersecting social, legal, political, biological, and economic inequalities across diverse spaces, encompassing the making and breaking of families (Smietana, Thompson, and Twine 2018). This panel interrogates the geographies of reproductive—defined as a) the right to have children, b) the right not to have children, c) the right to raise children amid supportive circumstances (Ross and Solinger 2017), and the right to sexual autonomy (Ross 2021). Specifically, we are interested in how people become and live as parents —or fail to do so—amid relational and structural inequities within the "global intimate space of reproduction" (Schurr et al. 2025, 10).

We invite contributions critically examining the “inequalities of becoming and being parents” among marginalised groups across intersectional axes, transcending simplistic dichotomies of invisibilisation/stigmatisation versus happiness/joy. We seek empirically grounded, conceptually rich papers illuminating the lived realities of (intended) parents’ fluid identities and shifting family arrangements in diverse settings. Contributions from the Majority World highlighting unequal experiences—along dimensions of race, ethnicity, indigeneity, class, gender, sexuality, disability, chronic illness, infertility, neurodiversity, religion, or citizenship—are especially welcome. Possible themes include (but are not limited to):

• (Im)possibilities of parenting amid crises (e.g., poverty, climate change, war), 
• Family separations (e.g., due to prisons, borders, militarized zones) and transnational parenting
• Queer reproductive justice
• Social parents and chosen families
• Access barriers to parenthood/parenting support for disabled individuals
• Everyday challenges of neurodivergent parents
• Migrantised and racialised experiences

We encourage case studies, comparative analyses, and methodological reflections that critically engage with reproduction and parenting in diverse contexts. We expect 15-minute in-person presentations, with ample time for discussion. Please submit an abstract (max. 250 words) by Friday, 20 February 2026 to Carole Ammann (carole.ammann unilu ch) and Yolinliztli Pérez-Hernández (yolinliztli.perezhernandez unibe ch).