Fertility Decisions and Reproductive Behaviour In Turbulent Times

Fertility decisions are often discussed in terms of individual choice and household planning. However, evidence from research in demography and sociology increasingly shows that reproductive behaviour is also shaped by unequal power relations, social norms, economic insecurity, and multiple forms of violence. Armed conflict, displacement, political instability, intimate partner violence, coercive relationships, economic uncertainty, and structural inequality can dramatically change the conditions in which individuals and people make decisions about fertility. This session explores how violence, insecurity, and economic uncertainty influence fertility intentions, contraceptive use, childbearing choices, birth timing, and reproductive trajectories in different social contexts. We are particularly interested in analyses that move beyond a narrow biomedical understanding of fertility to consider the social, relational, and institutional processes through which violence influences reproductive behaviour. The session will also shed light on the negotiation of reproductive agency under conditions of constraint, insecurity, and uncertainty. We welcome empirical, theoretical, and methodological contributions on intimate partner violence and fertility preferences; reproductive coercion and contraceptive autonomy; conflict, displacement and childbearing behaviour; forced migration and family formation; gender norms, violence and reproductive decision-making; structural violence and fertility inequalities; adolescent fertility in contexts of violence; mental health, trauma and reproductive behaviour; economic precarity, uncertainty and fertility decisions; and comparative and cross-national perspectives on violence and fertility.