Project description
Shifting cultural dynamics of motherhood at the frontiers of assisted reproduction
How 'motherhood' is understood, experienced, and pursued is evolving in relation to advancements in assistive reproduction technologies (ART), specifically uterus transplantation (UTx). With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the LIFE_M_OTHER project will develop a person-centred theoretical framework that examines the interplay between frontier technoscience, the cultural politics of the body, reproduction and gender, and lived phenomenological experience. Through interdisciplinary, comparative ethnographic research across UTx clinical trials, the project is expected to shed light on the transformative impact of this scientific frontier. Centring on the lived experiences of patients and families, alongside the perspectives of healthcare practitioners, advocacy groups, and archival media research, LIFE_M_OTHER will illuminate evolving cultural-political dynamics of (m)otherhood, gender, and reproduction at the frontiers of ART.
Objective
At the frontier of research in assistive reproduction technologies (ARTs) and organ transplantation, motherhood is being reconceived. Uterus transplantation (UTx), pioneered in Sweden in 2014 and now in clinical trials in 16 countries including the United States (US), is among the newest experimental ARTs for people pursuing gestational and genetic motherhood. As UTx moves across borders into different sociopolitical conceptions, and contentions, of gender, reproduction, and motherhood, it becomes a prism for exploring the stakes, practices, and meaning attributed to gender and reproductive rights in different societies. Ultimately, this technoscientific frontier is relevant to everyone, representing the pursuit of not only reproduction but also of a particular form of gendered embodiment by way of a thoroughly gendered organ. LIFE(M)OTHER examines how the technological pursuit of mothering life via UTx moves across borders and into different healthcare systems and lifeworlds, opening to other arrangements of gender, the body, motherhood and reproductive rights. The overall aim of LIFE(M)OTHER is to develop a person-centered theoretical framework for understanding the interplay of three elements: (1) frontier technoscience (2) cultural politics of the body, reproduction, and gender, and (3) lived phenomenological experience. This aim embeds methodological contributions for studying the social impacts of frontier experimental science. I ground this framework in an interdisciplinary, comparative ethnographic study of clinical and domestic (home) sites of four UTx clinical trials in the US and Sweden, tracing the technological development alongside its lived experience by studying the practices and discourses of healthcare practitioners, advocacy groups, patients, donors, and families. I supplement this with archival research to map, compare, and contextualize shifting cultural politics surrounding the uterus, reproduction, gender and the body in the US and Sweden.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
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.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine gynaecology reproductive medicine
- social sciences sociology gender studies women’s studies
- social sciences sociology anthropology science and technology studies
- social sciences sociology anthropology social anthropology
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine transplantation
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)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
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.
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
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.
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-GF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - Global 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-2022-PF-01
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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.
1165 KOBENHAVN
Denmark
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.