The DEMFAM Thursday Talks on Parenthood: A Monthly Online Lecture Series

About the lecture series

• Deadline: July 14, 2025
• Held every third Thursday of the month, 5–6 PM Berlin time, starting October 25 to March 26
• 25-minutes presentation followed by a 30-minutes Q&A
• Discuss your research and connect with an international academic community
• An open access special issue is planned, featuring contributions inspired by (but not limited to) the lecture series
• Open to all disciplines, with a special encouragement for early career researchers to apply

About the DEMFAM project

The ERC-Project “Democratising the Family? Gender Equality, Parental Rights and Child Welfare in Contemporary Global History” (DEMFAM) investigates the transformation of gender and family through the rise of shared and equal parenting.

It traces the shift from hierarchical to egalitarian family structures, the expansion of parental rights, and the legal regulation of co-parenting and other post-familial care arrangements both within and beyond heterosexual relationships. The project also explores how institutions like family courts and mediation services have emerged to manage familial conflict and support child welfare since 1945. On a global level, it examines how parental rights became central in today’s gender politics, shaping debates around identity, democracy, and the role of the state.

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Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):

• Parenting through an intersectional lens, addressing factors such as ethnicity, class, and sexuality
• Parental rights in today’s gender and identity politics
• Debates on family rights from socialist regimes to the present
• Representations of parenthood in culture and literature

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Contact & Application
Send a short abstract (max. 300 words), title, and a scientific CV to: e.hiemer@fu-berlin.de
More info: www.democratising-the-family.eu