{"id":55441,"date":"2026-09-24T12:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T10:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55441"},"modified":"2026-09-23T00:36:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:36:34","slug":"medunarodna-konferencija-reproductive-politics-in-the-atlantic-space-advances-and-reversals-from-the-postwar-period-to-the-present-u-ljubljani","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55441","title":{"rendered":"Me\u0111unarodna konferencija “Reproductive Politics in the Atlantic Space: Advances (and Reversals) from the Postwar Period to the Present” u Ljubljani"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On September 24th<\/sup> and 25th<\/sup>, the INZ welcomes you to the conference Reproductive politics in the Atlantic space: advances (and reversals) from the postwar period to the present<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While there is a broad awareness that shifts in the access to abortion and other reproductive health and sexual rights (RHSRs) are a function of both domestic specificities and transnational trends and that global actors such as the United Nations and International Planned Parenthood Federation have played a key role in this regard historically, there are not many studies comparing how reproductive politics has developed (or receded) \u201con the ground\u201d <\/em>from the postwar years to the present in the Atlantic space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, many questions remain: how was access to abortion tied to other RHSRs in countries of the area since 1945? What did the struggle for reproductive agency encompass in each context and how did different actors define reproductive rights?  What were the stances of political actors \u2013 state authorities, parties, movements, courts etc. \u2013 and how did they interact? What factors led to decisive shifts \u2013 both advances and reversals \u2013 in the reproductive rights front? What was the role of the medical establishment and healthcare professionals and how did abortion technologies develop? What was the role of other professionals (social workers, psychologists etc.)? Did religious organizations play a relevant part? How did women\u2019s movements and feminist organizations fit into the picture? Besides women and their bodily autonomy, what other subjects (\u201cthe nation\u201d, parents, children) were evoked in these debates? What was the role of international organizations in countries of the area? How did legislation develop, and how did it differ across countries? How can the potential gap between progressive legislation and inadequate implementation be assessed? Finally, is it truly possible to draw clear and coherent distinctions between \u201cWestern\u201d and \u201cEastern,\u201d or between \u201ccapitalist\u201d and \u201csocialist,\u201d trajectories in the legalization of abortion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop will consider these questions in comparative perspective by bringing together researchers from various disciplines. The aim is to confront and compare their insights on reproductive politics within a limited yet diverse set of country case studies, in Europe (East and West) and beyond. With attention to the continuities and ruptures from the postwar period to recent decades (1990s-onwards), our goal is to contrast how reproductive rights were framed, fought for, institutionalized and contested in very different \u2013 albeit connected \u2013 contexts: under state socialism, liberal democracies, right-wing dictatorships and in the transitions between them; in Secular, predominantly Catholic and Protestant, as well as majority Muslim countries; in the centers of global capitalism and its (semi-)peripheries. Invited speakers cover the following country case-studies: Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Turkey. These have been chosen for the cross-border resonance of their reproductive struggles and policies as well as relevance regarding the questions above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, a country that from its time as a Republic of Socialist Yugoslavia to the post-independence present has remained at the forefront of reproductive rights struggles and campaigns that reach far beyond its borders. Its conveners span three Ljubljana-based research organizations and the research projects they conduct: Red feminists: communist women activists and reproductive rights struggles in post-1968 Italy and Slovenia<\/em> (REDFEM, Horizon Europe), based at the Institute of Contemporary History, Motherhood and reproductive politics in the 19th and 20th centuries <\/em>(ARIS, J6-4602), based at the University of Ljubljana, and Historical interpretations of the 20th century<\/em> (ARIS, P6-0347), based at the Institute of Culture and Memory Studies of ZRC SAZU.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We warmly invite you to join us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizers\/conveners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Assist. prof. Ana Cergol Paradi\u017e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Victor Strazzeri<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow, INZ \/ Institute of Contemporary History<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Jovana Mihajlovi\u0107 Trbovc<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Research associate, Institute for Culture and Memory Studies, ZRC SAZU\/Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When: 24-25 September 2026
Where: Institute of Contemporary History, Privoz 11, Ljubljana
Registration from 9:30 on 24.09.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See the preliminary program for the complete schedule:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conference timetable<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Izvor i dodatne obavijesti:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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REPRODUCTIVE POLITICS IN THE ATLANTIC SPACE: ADVANCES (AND REVERSALS) FROM THE POSTWAR PERIOD TO THE PRESENT<\/a><\/blockquote>