The Tenacity of the Couple-Norm: Towards a Psychosocial Understanding

English presentation, French translation available

Abstract coming soon

Sasha Roseneil is Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sussex. Prior to this, she was Executive Dean of the Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences and Pro-Provost (Equity and Inclusion) at UCL. Sasha is known for her research on the changing dynamics of intimacy and sexuality, and on feminism, citizenship, and social movements. Originally trained as a sociologist, and later as a group analyst and psychotherapist, she has played a leading role in establishing the interdisciplinary fields of Gender Studies and Psychosocial Studies in the UK. With colleagues, her most recent book is The Tenacity of the Couple-Norm: intimate citizenship regimes in a changing Europe (2020). Other books include: Reproducing Citizens: family, state and civil society (2017), Beyond Citizenship: feminism and the transformation of belonging (2013), Remaking Citizenship in Multicultural Europe (2012), Social Research after the Cultural Turn (2012), Common Women, Uncommon Practices: the queer feminisms of Greenham (2000) and Disarming Patriarchy: feminism and political action at Greenham (1995).

Reckless or Radical? Cultural Responses to Solo Motherhood through Gamete Donation

English presentation, French translation available

Abstract

This presentation examines how Solo Mothers by Choice (SMBC) are portrayed in popular culture narratives, including film and television, which have long been shaped by binary concepts—particularly the idealized nuclear family versus the perceived precariousness of single parenthood. Romance is often employed as a narrative device to “fix” the perceived challenges of single motherhood, suggesting that fulfilment, happiness, and stability ultimately depend on forming a traditional (and heterosexual) family structure. In contrast to these fictionalized stereotypes, this presentation also explores personal accounts from SMBCs, highlighting how their lived experiences differ radically from the stigmatized portrayals in mainstream media. Additionally, it underscores the role of storytelling within the donor-conception community, emphasizing how firsthand narratives provide authentic and positive representations of SMBCs—perspectives that, as we will see, are often marginalized or misrepresented in contemporary culture.

Dr Grace Halden specializes in reproductive health, assisted reproduction (IUI and IVF), donor conception, and bioethics in literature and culture. Halden’s interdisciplinary work spans literary studies, creative non-fiction, and medical humanities. Her award-winning, multi-funded research project, Cyborg Conception, explores cultural responses to donor conception and diverse family formations. In 2024, Halden published a monograph (Cyborg Conception: Cultural and Critical Responses to Solo Motherhood by Choice) combining lived experience and critical writing on solo motherhood via gamete donation. She is the Programme Director for the MA Medical Humanities and Co-Director of the Centre for Medical and Health Humanities at Birkbeck.

The Love Jones Cohort: Examining the Lifestyle of Those Single and Living Alone in The Black Middle Class

English presentation, French translation available

Abstract

Drawing from stratification economics, intersectionality, and respectability politics, The Love Jones Cohort centers on the voices and lifestyles of members of the Black middle class who are single and living alone (SALA). While much has been written about both the Black middle class and the rise of singlehood, this book represents a first foray into bridging these two concepts. In studying these intersections, The Love Jones Cohort provides a more nuanced understanding of how race, gender, and class, coupled with social structures, shape five central lifestyle factors of Black middle-class adults who are SALA. The book explores how these Black adults define family and friends and decide on whether and how to pursue romantic relationships, articulate the ebbs and flows of being Black and middle class, select where to live and why, accumulate and disseminate wealth, and maintain overall health, well-being, and coping mechanisms.

Kris Marsh is Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. Previously, Professor Marsh was a postdoctoral scholar at the Carolina Population Center at the University of North Carolina, a visiting researcher at the University of Southern California and Fulbright Scholar in South Africa at the University of Witwatersrand and the University of Johannesburg. Professor Marsh’s areas of expertise are the Black middle class, demography, racial residential segregation, and education..

“I Didn’t Want my Child to Stand Out from the Crowd »: Experiences of Solo Parent Families Conceived by Donation

French presentation, with English translation available. Original title: « Je ne voulais pas que mon enfant sorte du lot » : Expériences de familles soloparentales conçues par don

Abstract

This paper explores the narratives of solo parent mothers who have undergone donor insemination and their teenage children. In a Canadian context where donor anonymity was still the norm, the study examines how these mothers approach disclosure of the mode of conception to their children, as well as the place of the donor in the family structure. The data, collected from families in Quebec and Ontario (9 mothers and 7 teenagers), are based on semi-structured interviews and free-form genograms, using a child-centered approach. The results reveal that disclosure is generally perceived as a matter of course, albeit tinged with ambivalence and concern about the repercussions for the child’s identity. The range of teenagers’ reactions is broad, as is their perception of the donor, referred to alternately as “dad”, ‘donor’ or “genitor”. Recurrent exchanges about the donor and half-siblings from the same donor emerge after disclosure. This study sheds light on the dynamics of transmission, meaning and filiation in solo parent families conceived by donor insemination, reporting on parental speech while valuing children’s experiences.

Sabrina Zeghiche is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Social Work at UQO and holds a PhD in Sociology from the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on complex reproductive trajectories, including perinatal bereavement and conception by sperm donation. She studies the family ties that develop in this context and directs the DÉRIVES project, funded by SSHRC’s Développement Savoir program. This project examines two drifts in assisted reproduction: the overuse and substitution of sperm donation, highlighting their ethical and social ramifications.

Wealth Accumulation among Single Individuals and Couples in Canada: Is Quebec in a Class of its Own?

French presentation, English translation available. Original title : Accumulation de patrimoine chez les personnes seules et en couple au Canada : le Québec fait-il chambre à part?

Abstract

Canada is no exception to this trend: fewer and fewer people are married or living common law. The first part of this conference will reveal unpublished analyses of the growing proportion of people living outside these traditional conjugal frameworks in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada since 1981, according to the age group and the level of education. The second part looks at the economic situation of people who are not in couples, and in particular at their level of wealth. They are often described as less affluent than those in couples, mainly because of institutional disadvantages. Yet, since the 1990s, Quebec has adopted social policies that are more generous and “defamializing” than those of other Canadian provinces. In this context, is Quebec succeeding in reducing the couple’s “patrimonial advantage”? The conference explores this question, comparing the wealth of couples and non-couples in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada.

Maude Pugliese is a professor at the Institut national de la recherche scientifique’s Centre Urbanisation Culture Société and holds the Canada Research Chair in Family Financial Experiences and Wealth Inequality. She is interested in the links between family dynamics, personal finances, and socio-economic inequalities, particularly through the prism of gender, and also in new family dynamics, such as greater union instability and smaller family size, and how these can fuel household debt by reducing access to informal family support.

Ilagiit and Kinship Support: Defining Single Parenthood in the Inuit Context – Theoretical and Methodological Issues

French presentation, English translation available. Original title : Ilagiit et soutien de parenté: définir la monoparentalité en contexte Inuit – Enjeux théoriques et méthodologiques

Abstract

Recent statistics suggest that the number of single parents has increased more rapidly among Inuit than among the non-aboriginal population. Moreover, just over a third of Inuit children (33.8%) live in single-parent households (Statistics Canada, 2021). Yet in Canada, few studies have focused on the realities and experiences of single-parent families in an aboriginal context, and even fewer in an Inuit context. This is all the more surprising considering the uniqueness and complexity of family issues in Aboriginal communities (Assche & Simard 2020; Tam et al. 2017), particularly Inuit, where the extended family is a fundamental unit of social organization (Damas, 1964). How is single parenthood experienced in Inuit-Nunangat? What are the socio-demographic characteristics of households inhabited by Inuit single-parent families? How does the cultural importance of the extended family and cohabitation with it influence the experience of Inuit single parents in the North? These are just some of the questions this conference will address.

Magalie Quintal-Marineau is a professor of population and indigenous studies at INRS. Her work focuses on the evolution of families, the relationship to work and the social commitment of young people in Aboriginal societies, particularly in Arctic regions. In particular, she is collaborating with the Pauktuutit association, Inuit Women of Canada, to paint a portrait of contemporary parenting realities in Inuit Nunangat.

Jacob Deschamps is a sociology teacher at Bois-de-Boulogne College and a master’s student at INRS-UCS, in their Population Studies program. He is interested in the comprehensive study of social networks, family solidarity, and constructivist epistemology.

Living Outside a Couple: A Case Study of Non-Monogamous, Single and Non-Cohabiting People

French presentation, English translation available. Original title : Vivre hors du couple : étude de cas sur les personnes non-monogames, célibataires et non-cohabitantes

Abstract

Recent studies and data tell us that the traditional couple (two people bound by feelings of love, sharing an exclusive sexuality, living full-time under the same roof, pooling resources of time and money) is in gradual decline in favor of other intimate arrangements as well as celibacy. We know little about the challenges, reflections, learnings and expectations of people who live outside the traditional couple form. Drawing on interview data collected as part of the MACLIC project, I will present cases and groups of cases that exemplify situations of consensual non-monogamy, celibacy (with or without dating) and the choice not to cohabit with a partner. The aim of the presentation is to help identify the salient aspects of each case or group of cases, in order to inform future studies.

Chiara Piazzesi is professor in the Department of Sociology at the Université du Québec à Montréal, holder of the UQAM Chair for the Study of Intimate, Conjugal and Love Relationships (ERICA), and principal investigator of the Mapping Contemporary Love and Intimacy Ideals in Canada (MACLIC) project. Her research interests include intimate relationships, feminist and gender issues, digital practices, and digital sociability. She is a member of the Familles en mouvance Research Partnership, RéQEF, and CRIPCAS.