ERC Abortion Figurations Project

Sharing this statement in memory of Hamid Khalafallah, whose work and commitment to Sudan’s democratic struggles left a deep mark on many of us. His loss is deeply felt across the ISA community. He was a committed colleague whose work reflected a strong engagement with public sociology and struggles for justice. We invite people to engage with his writings and work shared here: https://lnkd.in/e8iyGBJb

It’s time to share a new publication! Today, we would like to draw your attention to the recently published article by Karolina Kocemba titled “Right-wing legal mobilisation against reproductive rights.”

The article explores how conservative and religious actors engage in right-wing legal mobilisation against reproductive rights, analysing the legal strategies they employ, the contexts in which these strategies are used, and the conditions under which they become effective. This is a particularly important study for our project.

Find the open-access article here:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/09646639261441770

This week, we are sharing an article suggestion by Carolina Mosquera Vera!

In "Beyond reproductive rights: implementing the Afrocentric reproductive justice framework in sexual and reproductive health and rights litigations in Africa" you can read about the limitations of the "right to choice" framework. As written in the abstract, achieving true reproductive justice requires "confronting structural barriers and historical injustices from colonial times."

Curious to know more?

Beyond reproductive rights: implementing the Africentric reproductive justice framework in sexual and reproductive health and rights litigations in Africa This paper analyses emerging trends in judicial approaches to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) in Africa, arguing for a paradigm shift from the conventional rights-based framework t...

Last week, our team came together to combine our different areas of expertise in a discussion on abortion and human rights. Bringing together linguists, legal scholars, and sociologists means that even the simplest ideas benefit from thoughtful exchange. It’s been exciting to see how quickly we’re finding common ground and shaping a clear path forward.

🚨 New article alert!

Although this publication is not directly connected to our project, we’re happy to share Iskra’s new article in Studia Socjologiczne.

The piece builds on her MA thesis from the University of Amsterdam (2021), where she first engaged with the work of prof. Marta Bucholc through a literature study.

Curious how Iskra explored LGBT-Free Z*nes in Poland using interviews and mental mapping?

Dive into the article here: https://www.studiasocjologiczne.pl/img_upl/04_iskra_de_vries_archiv.pdf

🗣️ Women driving excellence in science!

At the forum 'Horizon Europe: Successes of Women in Science and Innovation,' Prof. Marta Bucholc opened the discussion, sharing her experience in securing research funding, including her work on the ERC grant 'Abortion Figurations: Using Human Rights to Change Abortion Law.'

Photo by Maciek Statski.

Exciting news!

The Oñati International Institute for the Sociology of Law has just published its plans for “Research Lines 2026.”

As part of this initiative, one group, “Gender and Intersectionality in Socio-Legal Research,” will strive to establish a theoretical and methodological hub for advancing, systematising, and disseminating feminist legal approaches within the Law and Society tradition.

The coordinator of this group is Barbara Giovanna Bello, and we are very pleased to share that Nikoletta Pikramenou was involved in setting up this initiative!

Want to get involved? See the link below:

6. Gender and Intersectionality in Socio-Legal Research Coordinator: Barbara Giovanna Bello

Congratulations to Nikoletta Pikramenou and Bartek Cyran on the publication of their chapter, "Sex-selective abortions of intersex foetuses in Europe: Social, ethical, and legal considerations."

The chapter appears in "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 75 and beyond: Historical, contemporary, and future perspectives," edited by Peter van den Berg, Roxani Fragou, and Vincent Tassenaar.

Curious to learn more? Check out the link below:

https://www.europalawpublishing.com/101-92_The-Universal-Declaration-of-Human-Rights-at-75-and-beyond-historical-contemporary-and-future-perspectives

In the latest "Heurystyki" event on 19 March, Tomek Detlaf took the stage to present his latest PhD findings, titled: “Od słów przez liczby do map – ćwiczenia z analizy polskiej debaty publicznej o aborcji” (From words to numbers and maps – excercises in analysing the Polish public debate on abortion).

We are really looking forward to the results of this research!

📸 Mirosław Kaźmierczak/UW.

Thank you to the CENTRAL Workshop for organising such a thought-provoking event on how postcolonial perspectives can be applied to contemporary experiences in Central and Eastern Europe.

At the workshop, Iskra and Marta presented their paper, engaging with the concept of scholarly leveraged pedagogy to show how academic approaches to feminist organising in Poland can be vulnerable to misrepresentation.

Curious about the workshop? You can find more information about its content here:
https://iss.strony.uw.edu.pl/wp-content/uploads/sites/286/2026/03/Postcolonialism-and-Race-in-Central-and-Eastern-Europe-WARSAW-12-13-March-2026.pdf

More exciting news to share! 🎉

Marta Bucholc is participating in the conference “Law as a Tool for the Regulation of Reproduction”, where she will present her paper: “Access to abortion in Poland: assessing the collateral damage of the Rule of Law crisis.”

Curious to know more about the event? Check the link below:
https://medlawlab.web.auth.gr/en/international-conference-for-the-10-year-anniversary-of-the-laboratory-in-honour-of-elisavet-symeonidou-kastanidou-law-as-a-tool-for-the-regulation-of-reproduction/