Reproductive Migrations: Mobility, Stratification and Reproductive Labour

This seminar series contributes to a critical analysis of stratified (im)mobility through the lens of reproduction and reproductive labour. Within medical anthropology and Science and Technology Studies it has long been recognised that reproductive desires and possibilities are shaped by diverse forms of human and non-human movement. The differential mobility of people, gametes, knowledge, and expertise across borders has contributed to the emergence of transnational fertility markets and the consolidation of global ‘reprohubs’ (Inhorn). At the same time, racialized imaginaries of nationhood and deservingness structure—and often circumscribe—migrants’ access to reproductive, maternity, and perinatal care. Yet critical migration and border studies have so far paid relatively little attention to the global division of reproduction labour, the impacts of documentary status on access to reproductive and maternity services, nor the way that reproductive markets have been constituted by regulatory divergences, economic inequalities, and the differential bioavailability of reproductive bodies and tissues across borders.

Bringing together scholars from medical anthropology, reproductive sociology, economic geography and migration studies, the series explores these gaps by foregrounding the intimate intersections of border work, differential mobility, and stratified access to reproductive care. This series is funded by Wellcome.

These seminars will be held in a hybrid format:

Join us in person: 64 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 6PN
The seminar room will be open 5 – 10 minutes before the seminar starts; the seminar room is wheelchair accessible

Or, join us online via Zoom. You must register in advance: zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvcuCprjkrGdamfq4raXGbtkaUHzDcVzPr
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. Online participants will not be ‘admitted’ to the event until the specified start time and will be placed in a waiting room.

These seminars are free and all are welcome.

Thursday 13 October 2022 (1st Week, Michaelmas Term)

Thursday 27 October 2022 (3rd Week, Michaelmas Term)

Thursday 10 November 2022 (5th Week, Michaelmas Term)

Thursday 17 November 2022 (6th Week, Michaelmas Term)

Thursday 1 December 2022 (8th Week, Michaelmas Term)

This series features in the following public collections: