Project description
Christian women challenging normative expectations of motherhood
While great strides have been made towards gender equality, women in Europe are still often expected to view motherhood as a central part of their identity. Within Christian traditions, this expectation is further reinforced by beliefs that frame motherhood as a sacred vocation. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the GRACE project aims to explore the experiences of Christian women in Belgium and the Netherlands who do not conform to these norms. The project will cover diverse forms of ambivalence around motherhood, including the choice not to have children as well as involuntary childlessness. By doing so, the project investigates how these women navigate social and religious expectations and to what extent they encounter inequality or exclusion.
Objective
Despite advances in gender equality, women across Europe are still widely expected to desire and pursue motherhood as a central part of their identity. In Christian contexts, these pressures are often heightened by teachings and norms that present motherhood as a sacred duty and spiritual calling. GRACE investigates the lived experiences of Christian women in Belgium and the Netherlands who do not conform to these gendered religious and social expectations. It does so by developing and using the concept of ambivalent (non-)motherhood, which includes, for example, not wanting children, involuntary childlessness, childlessness by circumstance, regret over becoming a mother, and ambivalent feelings about the maternal role. This project addresses an urgent societal need: dominant social and religious expectations of motherhood reinforce social inequalities, especially for the many Christian women whose experiences deviate from these ideals and who may face stigma, silence, or exclusion. Academically, GRACE responds to two significant gaps: the fields of gender studies and motherhood studies have largely overlooked religious women, while religious studies has paid limited attention to how female believers navigate motherhood and non-motherhood, particularly in relation to ambivalent (non-)motherhood. The project is innovative in bringing together gender studies, motherhood studies, and religious studies through a multi-method ethnographic design that offers participants a choice of three qualitative approaches—participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and written life narratives. Hosted at Uppsala University under the supervision of Prof. Jenny Björklund, an expert in gender and (non-)motherhood, the fellowship will provide advanced theoretical training and new methodological expertise, positioning me as a leading researcher at the intersection of gender, religion, and (non-)motherhood.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
751 05 Uppsala
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.