ERC Abortion Figurations Project

Towards a common EU‐abortion policy? The European Parliament's resolutions on abortion as a human rights issue While abortion regulation may formally escape European Union competence, EU self-restraint may be under growing pressure. An EU common abortion policy may not be far-fetched, as impulses that trigger....

It explores this shift as a form of internal cultural diplomacy, revealing how the EU negotiates values in the absence of formal competence.

Full text here: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Towards a common EU‐abortion policy? The European Parliament's resolutions on abortion as a human rights issue While abortion regulation may formally escape European Union competence, EU self-restraint may be under growing pressure. An EU common abortion policy may not be far-fetched, as impulses that trigger....

The article examines how the European Parliament has progressively framed abortion as a human rights issue, culminating in its call to include the right to abortion in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

We’re happy to share our new article, just in time for some summer reading: “Towards a common EU-abortion policy? The European Parliament’s resolutions on abortion as a human rights issue” by Lourdes Peroni and Marta Bucholc.

#isaforum25

Tomek Detlaf: Large Language Models as a tool for argumentation analysis: a field report from the study of parliamentary debates on abortion.

Stay tuned to our socials, we’ll be sharing more about our experience at ISA, including reflections and exchanges in different formats.

Marta Gospodarczyk: If only a man could control the rain!” strategies of polish farming households in times of drought.

Iskra De Vries and Carolina Mosquera Vera: Pregnancy interpellation under restrictive abortion laws: rethinking law through abortion testimonies in Argentina and Poland.

+

we presented four papers and joined interdisciplinary conversations. Our PI chaired three panels and took part in rich discussions across fields. Here's what we shared:

Marta Bucholc: Alienated human rights? comparative insights from a study of abortion debates in Poland and Argentina.

+

The Abortion Figurations team is happy to wrap up our participation at the ISA Conference (@isa-sociology.org) ‬We had inspiring encounters in Rabat, a city full of history, murals, cats, and the warmest people.

With over 4,000 sociologists from around the world +

Read it here: abortion-figurations.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/u...

www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

The article examines the association between democratic transitions, the resurgence of nationalism, and the status of reproductive rights in societies that have experienced political transitions. The focus of this paper is on experiences in East-Central Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America.

The #PaperOfTheWeek for today is "Nationalist Revivals and Reproductive Rights in Post-Transitional Societies" by our PI Marta Bucholc, which was published in the Annual Review of Law and Social Science.

Dynamics of Gender Relations This book unites research on gender relations using processual sociology, exploring dynamic changes in Western and non-Western contexts.

It explores how gender dynamics evolve in settings like academia, rural communities, urban public life, and intimate relationships, always through a process-sociological lens.

Follow the link to access more about the book and its contributors: link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

Dynamics of Gender Relations This book unites research on gender relations using processual sociology, exploring dynamic changes in Western and non-Western contexts.

This volume brings together 21 chapters by over 32 authors working across Sociology and Gender Studies.

The book is anchored, on the one hand, in a socio-historical understanding of the trajectory of gendered societies over centuries, drawing on Norbert Elias’s Process of Civilization.

New book: Dynamics of Gender Relations

Edited by Stefanie Ernst, Valerie Dahl, and our PI Marta Bucholc

What happens when gender is approached not as a fixed category, but as a long-term social process shaped by power balances, interdependence, and emotional regulation?

, and opened space for dialogue between academia and practice. This felt like the beginning of a growing community of sociolegal gender scholars. We're looking forward to continuing the conversation.
Till next time!

Over two days, we explored key issues like reproductive justice, trans rights, obstetric violence, anti-gender campaigns, and more. The conversations were deeply interdisciplinary, connecting gender studies, law, and the social sciences +

Huge thanks to the wonderful organizers, and to the IISL for warmly hosting us with such care. And thank you to all the participants for your engaged presence, thoughtful provocations, and generous reflections.

That’s a wrap from Oñati! The Abortion Figurations team participated last week in the workshop “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) under the Spectrum of Sex, Gender and Sexuality” at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL), which concluded this past Friday.

We’re looking forward to the conversations and hope to see some of you there!

The event is organized by Nikoletta Pikramenou, Marta Bucholc (University of Warsaw), and Barbara Giovanna Bello (Università degli Studi della Tuscia), and brings together researchers working on SRHR through feminist, socio-legal, and intersectional lenses.

Next week, the Abortion Figurations team will be participating in the workshop “Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) under the Spectrum of Sex, Gender and Sexuality”, taking place on 22–23 May at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL) in Oñati.

This session will be particularly relevant to those interested in the sociology of climate change.

Date and Time: Thursday, 15 May 2025, 16:00 CEST

Register here: uw-edu-pl.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Focusing especially on food-related behaviors, the presentation draws on findings from Italian focus groups to highlight how emotional barriers, norms of self-restraint, and social routines shape responses to climate demands.

Join us for a seminar with Angela Purulli and Vincenzo Marasco (University of Florence) exploring how Norbert Elias’s concept of social habitus can help make sense of everyday practices related to the climate transition.

We’re learning a lot about the public health perspective and its intersections with human rights in the country’s abortion debates. It’s been a special chance to learn from a different political context and connect with the current conversations around abortion in Mozambique.

#AbortionFigurations.

The Abortion Figurations team is currently in Mozambique conducting fieldwork. We’re deeply grateful to the local researchers and partners who have welcomed us and shared their knowledge.

The authors explore how religion, especially Catholicism, is used to legitimize political claims in abortion debates, shifting the focus from whether religion belongs in the public sphere to how it shapes it.

Read it here: doi.org/10.1093/socr...

Happy resting and see you next week!

Dzień dobry from finally-spring Warsaw! 🌸☀️

Today’s #PaperOfTheWeek is “Religion-Related Legitimations in Abortion Policy-Making in Poland” by Katarzyna Zielińska, Irena Borowik, Inga Koralewska, and Marcin Zwierżdżyński, published in Sociology of Religion.

Mozambique is one of the countries in our project, and we are committed to learning from its histories, experiences, and movements. As we prepare for fieldwork, we look forward to connecting and exchanging with local researchers.

#AbortionFigurations.

Last week, on April 7, it was Mozambican Women’s Day. At Abortion Figurations, we recognize the importance of this date and follow the country’s context and ongoing debates around abortion rights closely.