(Re)framing Population Policy

Governments intervene in the reproductive behaviour of their citizens in order to control the size and composition of the population. While some elements of society are encouraged to have children, others face various structural and/or legal obstacles to self-determined reproduction. The criminalisation of abortion and forced sterilisation are just two extreme examples from the wide spectrum of population policy injustices. Why should birth rates in the Global South be lowered, while governments in Europe fight “demographic suicide”?

In this first episode of our online discussion on (Re)framing Reproduction we aim to analyse population policies from an intersectional feminist point of view and understand how biopolitics continue to shape postcolonial realities today.

Speakers:

• Sethembiso Promise Mthembu, Co-founder, Her Rights Initiative, Durban

• Susanne Schultz, Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt

• Andrea Pető, Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Central European University, Vienna Austria, Vienna

Moderator: Sham Jaff, a journalist and political scientist in Berlin. She writes the weekly newsletter 'what happened last week' on underreported news from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Jaff is also the host of several podcasts such as '190220 – Ein Jahr nach Hanau', a Spotify Original podcast that was awarded the Grimme Online Award in 2021.