Assisted Reproduction in Times of Eugenic Re-Turn

Abstract: The idea that social crises are reproductive problems that can be fixed through technologies of reproductive control was a defining feature of early 20th c. eugenics. After a brief hiatus, during which it never entirely vanished but rather evolved for the post-WWII period, this idea shows signs of returning to the mainstream in a form that explicitly recapitulates its classical eugenic precursor. In this talk, Juliane examines how contemporary forms of technologically-assisted selective reproduction track (or not) with this resurgent eugenic impulse. She does so by tracing how people, capital, and ideas move between the world of preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) - technologies used to select in vitro embryos according to their chromosomes and genes - and broader political and economic projects (like pronatalism and transhumanism) that seek to address pressing social, ecological, and economic crises by controlling reproduction. How do these connections shape the development and uptake of PGT, specifically, and the wider politics of selective reproduction to which they belong? With what implications for reproductive justice and the future?

Biography: Juliane Collard is a faculty member in the geography department at Vancouver Island University. Her research digs into the relationship between capitalism, relations of power, and biological reproduction, with a particular focus on assisted reproductive technologies and the never-entirely-new forms of stratification they enable.