Dr Judit Takács

Reproductive empowerment for all?
Political demography and parenting rights in Europe

Dr Judit Takács, Research Professor at the Centre for Social Sciences,
Centre of Excellence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Abstract

Many European countries encourage their citizens to have “planned children”, some by introducing targeted policies to lower the childcare burden (especially for mothers). Others focus on experimenting with financial incentives, including various forms of baby bonuses. The historical example of the Cross of Honour of the German Mother can also be mentioned, symbolizing an extreme form of selective pronatalism, which was awarded to selected “kinderreich families” for having at least four children in Nazi Germany. A similar form of symbolic appreciation is the Order of Parental Glory, awarded to parents raising seven or more children in Russia.

In this talk I will examine the parenting rights of same-sex couples and the surrounding social expectations, as reflected by the relevant legal frameworks, and as measured by large-scale cross-national longitudinal surveys. I will interpret the results from a European political demographic perspective, by introducing the concept of selective patriotic pronatalism, defined as a preference for the reproduction of certain social groups over others in a social context where reproduction is perceived as a national or patriotic duty. The findings highlight a paradoxical feature of present-day European right-wing sexual politics, i.e. in typically far-right political agendas LGBTIQ people can be blamed for negative demographic outcomes, and, at the same time, subjected to heteronormatively prescribed childlessness, resulting from normative expectations about limiting non-heteronormative reproduction as much as possible.

Bio

Judit Takács is a Research Professor at the Centre for Social Sciences – Centre of Excellence of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Her main research interests cover family practices, childlessness, caring masculinities, the social history of homosexuality, homophobia and genderphobia; while also having extensive research experience in HIV/AIDS prevention, community engagement in the context of public health preparedness, and measuring social attitudes. She completed an M.A. in Social Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, holds a Ph.D. in sociology, a Diploma Habilitationis, and the Doctor of Science title (awarded by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). Her recent publications include a co-edited volume on Paradoxical Right-Wing Sexual Politics in Europe, thematic issues on Gender Studies in Exile and Fragile Pronatalism;  a book chapter on How to Conserve Kertbeny’s Grave? A Case of Post-Communist Queer Necrophilia, and a co-authored article on Resisting Genderphobia in Hungary