Project description
Contraception meets the environment
From fish bladders used to make condoms during the Renaissance, birth control has seen unprecedented change. There are many safe and effective options available today based on many factors including the environment. The EU-funded BirthControlEnvirons project will study how young women – who are feminists and environmentalists – understand the importance of chemical-free contraception. Research will be conducted in France and disseminated widely through a short documentary that will be produced. The aim is to further the anthropology of chemicals and to contribute new information to the debate about the ‘crisis’ of the contraceptive pill.
Objective
This action aims to conduct research among young women who are both feminists and environmentalists, and study how they negotiate these sensibilities in their striving for chemical-free contraception. Field research will be carried out in France, a place where on the one hand environmentalism is characterized by a strong concern with toxic chemicals in everyday life and, on the other, where access to the contraceptive pill remains an emblematic victory of second wave feminism, and by far the most prescribed contraceptive method nationwide. Theoretically, this project will contribute to the anthropology of chemicals, an emergent and cutting-edge subfield of research, and to the growing public debate regarding the ‘crisis’ of the contraceptive pill. Findings will be disseminated through seminars and publications that help push the boundaries of the discipline, a short documentary film that will appeal to wider audiences, and a few, carefully designed interdisciplinary activities that will bridge the domains of academia, arts, activism, and policy.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EFCoordinator
75794 Paris
France