Research leaders: Frederik Swennen, Elise Goossens & Mariano Croce
Short text
This research line is embedded in the FWO Scientific Research Network RETHINKIN (Rethinking Legal Kinship & Family Studies in the Low Countries), of which our research group is the core group.
A recent central question in family law in jurisdictions worldwide is the recognition and regulation of new kinship structures. The label "kinship" covers various phenomena related to basic forms of interdependence, such as birth, child-rearing, reciprocal care, relations of emotional support, illness and death. These phenomena are deeply influenced by major sociological evolutions such as migration, changing perspectives on gender and gender roles, assisted reproductive technologies and separation, while also raising questions about the normativity of social practices and customs. This line of research aims to explore the legal recognition and regulation of the (new) forms of kinship, both within and outside family law.
Comprehensive text
Overview
The broader framework for this line is the FWO Scientific Research Network (WOG 2015-2024) RETHINKIN – Rethinking Legal Kinship & Family Studies in the Low Countries, for which we act as core group.
The recognition and regulation of new kinship structures is at the heart of recent developments in family law worldwide. The label kinship in this context encompasses a variety of phenomena related to basic forms of mutual dependency, which include birth, child-rearing, reciprocal care, relations of emotional support, illness, and death. Against the background of this broad conception, attention will be devoted to how demographic, economic, and cultural changes have impacted kin relationships and family ties. Increasing rates of separation, changing perspectives on gender and gender roles, the recognition of non-conventional family relationships, the spread of (cross-border) assisted reproductive technologies, and migration and globalisation have favoured the emergence of alternative configurations of kinship. These configurations pose a challenge to conventional family models and call for far-reaching revisions of conventional legal definitions. These issues are researched from the perspective of assemblage theory for partnership, parenthood, and the assemblages of persons, animals, and things (jointly with the research line on persons and things), emphasizing the fluidity, exchangeability and connectivity of social and legal constellations.
Our research will also revolve around the conceptualisation of the normativity of social practices. This is to tackle the key issue of how the state could or should deal with emerging kinship practices. The interplay between fundamental theory, doctrinal analysis, and empirical studies will be of strategic importance. The interplay will be particularly relevant to the interpretation of how the law operates its selective choices, whereby the state devises a specific set of policy measures to support some kinship practices to the (potential) detriment of other, minority practices. Such a theoretically-grounded analysis will aim to interrogate both the grounds on which the state operates its choices and the condition of practices that are confined to a state of juridico-political invisibility. In this respect, the underlying theme will be the interaction between multiple sources of social normativity and the regulatory activity of legal normativity.
Finally, central to our research is the interplay between gender and kinship. We study the impact of changing gender perspectives on kinship structures (e.g. queer families) and relations (e.g. the gender dimension of care). We also draw on insights from feminist and queer legal theory in developing normative claims on kinship practices.
Debates
The first objective of this line of research is to map, from a unifying perspective, the various strategies for legal recognition of non-conventional kinship formations. It will be important to account for changes in state policies and family law that are meant to accommodate new family formations vis-à-vis three core elements of legal recognition: (1) formation of the relationship which results in legal recognition; (2) legal consequences and benefits of the recognised family formation; and (3) the breakdown of the relationship.
The second objective relates to the impact and effects of the (cross-border, e.g. in case of surrogacy) use of assisted reproductive technologies on the family at both a social and a legal level. The multiplication of non-reproductive family formations is dislodging the assumption that kinship has a biological basis. However, developments in reproductive technologies and genetics research are trapped in an ambiguous relationship with biological or ‘natural’ understandings of kinship. It is important to pin down this relationship to understand: first, what the consequences are of technologies on legal definitions of key parental roles (and therefore rights/responsibilities/liabilities attached to them); second, the way kinship practices react to the ambivalent interplay between law and technologies. Our perspective here is that of “elective kinship”, that is: private ordering.
The third objective lies at the intersection of the different research lines of our group. The developments in kinship practices raise questions as to the nature of kinship relations (contract vs. status), the private versus public character of kinship formations, and the relative autonomy of kinship units. In light of societal trends like increased migration, it will also be important to understand how the regulation and accommodation of new kinship phenomena are changing the nature of kinship in general, and its role with regard to fundamental questions of state policies in particular. A central point of interest here will be legal pluralism.
Finally, research attention will be devoted to the empowerment and protection of ‘vulnerable adults’, particularly in the family sphere. Central to this research, which is carried out together with the research line on Personality Rights, is the prevention of elder abuse. The aim is to perform a first mapping of the instruments, frameworks, and perspectives that are relevant in preventing, detecting, and addressing elder abuse in Belgium. The results of this research will provide the foundations for future research aimed at establishing and implementing an interprofessional protocol that is able to adequately respond to elder abuse.
Specific research questions
- How can we draw a reliable picture of the dynamic interrelation between evolutions in social practices and transformations in legal provisions and state policies?
- What is the impact of changing gender perspectives on kinships structures and relations?
- How should the law deal with the creation and legal recognition of homo- or poly-parental ties through reproductive technologies that exceed the binaries of wife/husband and mother/father?
- How should the law address cross-border aspects of non-conventional family relations that are related to migration and globalisation (e.g. kafala, surrogacy)?
- How should we understand the shortcomings and deficiencies of the legal and policy frameworks that govern kinship structures and family life and their (in)direct consequences on the psycho-physical and social conditions of individuals involved?
- How do we deal with differences in national laws relating to the acceptance of new forms of families/kinship?
- How can we both empower and protect vulnerable adults, particularly in the context of a risk of elder abuse?