The Anthropology of Family and Reproduction

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This course will introduce classical and contemporary anthropological theories concerning the family and the variety of cultural models of family making. It will present and explain major historical changes in the structure of modern family in the Euro-American and post-socialist context, including the current so called ‘demographic crisis’. It will show the place of family and fertility control in the public debate and in nationalist discourses with particular regard to the role of women as cultural and biological reproducers of the nation and those most commonly involved in unpaid or underpaid reproductive work.

Students will familiarise themselves with classical anthropological theories concerning the family, from the evolutionists to Lévi-Strauss. The course will then aim to deconstruct the notion of family as a natural phenomenon by looking at it in a historical perspective. We will investigate changes in the structure of family caused by the birth of the Bourgeoisie in the 19th century, the shift from industrial to post-industrial society in the late 20th century and, in the case of central and eastern Europe, the democratic transformation. We will also look at ethnographic accounts from other than western contexts in order to understand the variety of cultural models of family making. The course will introduce ethnographic accounts and anthropological voices in contemporary debates about family and reproduction with the aim of seeing these topics as central to modern nation and state. We will discuss contemporary struggles around reproductive rights with particular regard to feminist, nationalist and religious actors. We will look at the construction of the so called ‘demographic crisis’ and compare mainstream political and expert discourses to results of ethnographic research from different European contexts. The course will embark the role of family and reproduction in nationalist discourses. Since national communities stretch between generations, national discourses are naturally interested in women as biological and cultural reproducers, aiming at controlling their sexuality and reproductive practices through biopolitics. When discussing the notion of ‘reproduction’ we will try to look beyond biology and see reproductive work, done predominantly by women and usually unpaid or underpaid, in its social and cultural context.

Alvarez, Bruna. Reproductive decision making in Spain: Heterosexual couples’ narratives about how they chose to have children. Journal of Family Issues, 2018, 39.13: 3487-3507.

Briggs, Laura. How all politics became reproductive politics: From welfare reform to foreclosure to Trump. University of California Press, 2018.

Carsten, Janet. After kinship. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Han, Sallie; Tomori, Cecília. Introduction to the Routledge handbook of anthropology and reproduction. In: The Routledge Handbook of Anthropology and Reproduction. Routledge, 2021, 1-16.

Krause, Elizabeth L. "“They just happened”: the curious case of the unplanned baby, Italian low fertility, and the “end” of rationality." Medical Anthropology Quarterly 2012, 26.3:361-382.

Levi-Strauss, Claude, The elementary structures of kinship, 1949.

McClintock, Anne. "Family feuds: Gender, nationalism and the family." Feminist review 44.1, 1993, p. 61-80.

Mishtal, Joanna. The politics of morality: The church, the state, and reproductive rights in postsocialist Poland. Ohio University Press, 2015.

Morgan, Lewis H, Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family, 1871.

Morgan, Lynn M.; Roberts, Elizabeth FS. Reproductive governance in latin america. In: Reproduction and Biopolitics. Routledge, 2016. p. 105-118.

Mosse, George L. Nationalism and sexuality: Middle-class morality and sexual norms in modern Europe. University of Wisconsin Press, 2020.

Ross, Loretta; Solinger, Rickie. Reproductive justice: An introduction. Univ of California Press, 2017.

Yuval-Davis, Nira. Gender & Nation. Sage Publications, 1997.

Zaretsky, Natasha. No direction home: The American family and the fear of national decline, 1968-1980. Univ of North Carolina Press, 2010.

Having completed the course, the student:

- Understands the place of the notion of ‘family’ in classical anthropological theories;

- Is familiar with selected contemporary anthropological theories concerning family and reproduction;

- Is aware of and accepts the diversity of cultural models of family;

- Understands the contemporary public debates around family and reproduction and is ready to engage in projects aimed at counteracting discrimination;

- Is able to participate in a discussion concerning social and cultural issues and present an argument using the concepts of cultural and social anthropology.

Mandatory attendance, reading and participating in class discussion. Written assessment at the end of the course