Reproduction, Life-course and Vital Conjunctures in the Context of Austerity

Reproduction is a considerable concern in contemporary Europe and has attracted growing academic interest in the context of austerity. This paper brings together literature on social reproduction, the life-course and vital conjunctures, and develops innovative methodologies to understand reproduction in the context of everyday life in austerity. Using biographical vignettes from family ethnographies, themes of welfare restructuring, debt and care responsibilities emerge. Empirical insights explore social reproduction and defaulted futures, indebtedness and indecision as reproductive conjuncture, and incongruous biographies and absent possibilities. Conclusions call for further research on the relationship between reproductive futures and austerity, and methodological experimentation.