Conclusion: Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

Reframing Reproduction approaches reproduction as a complex location and inherently interdisciplinary topic — it is a book about the changing meanings and experiences of postmodern reproduction for women and men in the contemporary West. Embedded in the title of this volume is a vision for a ‘reframing’ of reproduction that involves opening up the study of reproduction in sociology, in particular, to further critical interdisciplinary interrogation and methodological innovation. This vision also flags the need for more substantive engagement with feminism(s) and, in particular, its applied political dimensions. After all, an examination of reproduction is, for me and many of the contributors in this book, an act of feminist commitment. By gathering the voices and visions of a broad range of scholars and placing them in conversation with one another, this volume extends the discursive boundaries of ‘reproduction’ in order to account for the significant social changes and shifts in gender relations in the West that have accompanied neoliberalisation and its effects. Methodologically, I hope that a significant contribution of this work is its effort to showcase a variety of methods that illuminate our understanding of reproductive experiences, technologies, and practices.