Workshop: On (Not) Building and Raising a Queer Family in Europe

27 - 29 January 2027, University of Lucerne, Switzerland

We invite contributions to the workshop “On (Not) Building and Raising a Queer Family,” which examines queer families, kinship, reproduction, and non-parenthood in Europe through an intersectional lens. In the context of uneven legal, political, and cultural conditions, the workshop asks how queer people navigate pathways to parenthood, how cis-heteronormative norms shape family-making, and how power, inequality, and structural violence affect access to reproduction and parenting as well as experiences of choosing not to have children. We welcome empirically grounded and conceptually rich papers, especially on underexplored contexts and perspectives, including Eastern Europe, bisexual, asexual, nonbinary, intersex, trans, disabled, neurodivergent, and racialised queer people. The workshop aims to foster interdisciplinary exchange and will contribute to a planned special issue; junior scholars are especially encouraged to apply.

You can find more information in the document attached. Please send your abstract (max. 300 words), including a title, your name, position, institutional affiliation, and a short biographical note (max. 150 words), to the organisers by 8 June 2026.

Organisers

• Carole Ammann (she/her; carole.ammann unilu ch), University of Lucerne
• Leo Valentin Theissing (they/them; leo.theissing unilu ch) University of Lucerne
• Caroline Chautems (she/her; caroline.chautems unil ch), University of Lausanne