Abortion, Nationhood and Subjectivity - An Investigation into the Disruptive Potential of Contemporary Feminist Activism in Argentina

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My research investigates contemporary abortion activismin Argentina. Since 2015, Argentine feminism has hadgrowing global influence, and the recent legalisation ofabortion in Argentina, passed in December 2020, isexpected to have a trailblazing impact on reproductiverights issues across Latin America. In practice, however,abortion access will remain complicated and dependent onpregnant people's class, race, location and correspondinghealth care access. My project interrogates how theincreasing availability of misoprostol, a prescription drugwith abortive side-effects, and the use of the internet as apolitical space, have enabled new forms of grassrootsabortion activism likely to be crucial to ensuring abortionaccess. This activism builds on queer notions of pride andalternative family and is spearheaded by activist-scholarswho explicitly aim to reposition people who abort ascapable of political action. This activist dimension hasattracted little attention to date. My interdisciplinaryresearch seeks to fill this gap. I will study how abortionactivists position those who abort as political subjects. Iwill analyse groups' online appearances, their primary wayof reaching larger audiences, and interview activists. Byconceptualising transgressive social forces through affecttheory, I will investigate the emotional and unspokendimensions of abortion activism. This will promoteimproved understandings of the persuasiveness ofcontemporary feminist activism.