Call for papers: International Seminar on Family Demography and Family Law around the World

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International Seminar on Family Demography and Family Law around the World
Montreal, Canada, 27–29 April 2020
Organized by the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Family Demography and Family Law and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS).

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 July 2019.

  • Read the full announcement here or as in the pdf file attached to this email. 

The purpose of the IUSSP Scientific Panel on Family Demography and Family Law is to foster the study of the connection between changes in family law and changes in family structure and family dynamics while assuming as little as possible about the specifics of the connection.

Topics of interest for the seminar include, but are not limited to the following:

  • Do legal restrictions that forbid divorce, impose delays or any other such constraints on divorce have an impact on the spread of unmarried cohabitation?
  • Do the rules regarding marital property or maintenance duties towards ex-spouses have an impact on the choice of unmarried cohabitation over marriage?
  • Did the abolition of illegitimacy for the purposes of maintenance duties and inheritance make it easier to have children without being married and is thus linked to the rise of unmarried cohabitation?
  • Does the legal connection between state provided support (e.g., social assistance payments or health care services) and maintenance duties between spouses or partners have an impact on out-of-union births?
  • Do the rules defining the role and duties of ‘stepparents’ towards stepchildren following separation have an impact on the formation of step-families?
  • Are the legal regulations prescribing the number of ‘parents’ that a child can have linked to an increase in births following the use of reproductive technologies?
  • Can the lack of legal recognition of surrogacy lead to children being given up for adoption in case of disagreement between intended parents and the surrogate mother?
  • Did the introduction of same-sex marriage or same-sex registered partnerships have an impact on the processes of union formation and dissolution among same-sex couples?
  • What was the impact of the introduction of adoption by same-sex couples or by single people on family formation?

The organisers will also welcome papers that address international comparisons as well as those that use innovative methodological approaches applied to relevant topics.

Online Submissions:
The IUSSP Panel on Family Demography and Family Law invites researchers in the field to submit online, by 31 July 2019, a short 200-word abstract AND upload an extended abstract (2 to 4 pages, including tables) or a full paper, which must be unpublished. To submit and fill out the online submission form, please click here: online submission form.

The seminar will be limited to a maximum of 20 completed papers. The working language of the seminar is English: abstracts and final papers should be submitted and presented in English. If the paper is co-authored, please indicate the names of co-authors at the end of the abstract. Submission should be made by the author who will attend the seminar.

Applicants will be notified whether their paper has been accepted by 31 August 2019. Authors of accepted papers must upload the full paper on the IUSSP website by 15 March 2020.

Papers submitted should be unpublished and, as for a journal or an edited book, authors, by submitting a paper, agree they will not propose it for publication to another editor until the committee makes a decision with regard to their possible publication.

Current funding for the seminar is limited; efforts are under way to raise additional funds, but the outcome at this point is uncertain. Seminar organisers cannot ensure that any travel support will be available. Applicants are therefore strongly encouraged to seek their own travel funding. Funding is contingent upon submission of a complete paper of acceptable quality by the deadline for papers.

For further information please contact Seminar Organiser Benoît Laplante (Benoit.Laplante@UCS.INRS.Ca).