Reconfiguring Social Reproduction In Asia

Asia's rapid "compressed modernization" has triggered an unprecedented crisis of social reproduction, marked by plummeting fertility rates and aging populations. Social reproduction—encompassing biological reproduction, labor force maintenance, and societal stabilization—serves as both an ontological site and a methodology to analyze shifting global political economies and intersectional labor hierarchies. While neoliberal globalization previously established global care chains and marriage migration, the impacts of uneven regional development, technological shifts, and de-globalization on Asian social reproduction remain under-researched.

This session addresses these gaps by examining how East and Southeast Asian states respond to these demographic and economic crises. Instead of building universal welfare regimes, these states increasingly rely on "Mobilizational Social Reproduction." This framework investigates the institutional mechanisms that appropriate and reconfigure the labor of specific groups—including migrants, elderly women, and community volunteers—to sustain society. We invite papers exploring the intersectional nature of these evolving configurations.