The Global Politics of Reproduction: Pro

Illiberal and authoritarian politicians are especially prone to demographic anxieties. Given their strong grip on power, they tend to turn these anxieties into wide ranging policies encouraging or discouraging births and targeting particular groups of the population for reproduction.  In this course we will first explore the concept of populations and social reproduction, then take a good look at historical connections between politics, racism, sexism and pro -and anti-natalism globally.  Next, we will focus on the causes, manifestations and impact of pronatalist policies introduced (primarily but not exclusively) by authoritarian-leaning political parties around the world. We will explore the rhetoric connected to the encouragement of birth and highlight its ethnocentric, nationalist orientations. We will compare the variety of policy solutions devised by illiberal leaders, ranging from restrictions in reproductive rights, through the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies, to financial incentives encouraging births, and beyond. We will then explore if, and if so how, these new policies reshape the principles of gendered social citizenship. We will explore the impact of these pronatalist policies but focus not on birth and fertility rates but rather on their impact on social justice, such as, for example, on the poverty chances of different segments of the population, on the increase in patriarchal power in the household, or the motherhood penalty and the definition of women’s work.