Cross-border reproductive care in the Maghreb region: An emerging reproscape
Swiss partners
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University of Lausanne: Irene Maffi (main applicant), Angèle Mendy
Partners in the MENA region
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University of Carthage, Tunisia: Betty Rouland (main applicant), Imen Jaouadi
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Laboratoire Mondes Américains (CERMA), Tunisia: Ibtissem ben Dridi
Presentation of the project
ln the framework of the project "Cross-border reproductive care in the Maghreb region: an emerging reproscape?", three main types of activities were organized: 1) Fieldwork research in Tunisia and Algeria; 2) Regular workshops bringing together the members of the project as well as international and local experts 3) And the promotion of the project through participation in international conferences and workshops.
Regarding the workshops, they took place three times at the beginning, mid-term, and end of the project at the lnstitut de recherche sur Ie Maghreb contemporarn in Tunis (which is also the main partner from the MENA region). The launching project was organized on 2g and 30 September 2018. As first team's meeting, those two days were planned in order to discuss interdisciplinary theoretical and methodological assumptions of the research as well as to exchange on practical and organizational aspects. lt gave also the opportunity to senior researchers to supervise the three masterstudents hired to conductthe research. On the 13 and 14 April 2019, the mid-term workshop was organized with the aim to present the first results of the ongoing researches of all team members. ln order to enrich the discussion and receive relevant feedback, we invited three external guest speakers who are specialists of reproductive health and care in Africa and Tunisia: Trudie Gerrits (University of Amsterdam), Atf Gherissi (University of Tunis al-Manar) and Francine Tinsa (sociologist of health). The last workshop took place on 8 February 2020 and brought together: the members of the team, external speakers and health care providers (most of whom collaborated with us during the research). On the one hand, this last scientific meeting gave the opportunity to show the findings of their research for all team members. On the other hand, this workshop became a stimulating arena of fruitful discussions between health practitioners working in IVF centers and social sciences researchers. We invited the French anthropologist Doris Bonnet, a wellknown specialist of the anthropology of reproduction in Africa and the co-editor of the book Procréation médicale et globalisation. Expériences africaines (201'6). On the top of the very fruitful discussions, (para)medical professionals working in fertility centers (private and public hospitals) were also participating.
Concerning the promotion of this pioneering research in the Maghreb region, the two coleaders of the project presented it during scientific events and the team took part in an internationalsymposium. On Friday 1't February 2019, Betty Rouland introduced the research project to the international symposium "Critically Mapping Cross-Border Reproduction" organized by at the University of the West of England (UWE). Then, on 17 May 2019 lrène Maffi gave a talk in Marseille at the conference "L'assisfance médicale à ta procréation; enjeux d'identité, de santé et de parenté" at the EHESS Centre Norbert Elias presenting the project to a francophone audience. On 4 July 2019, the team of the project organized a special session at the Third congress of Middle East and Muslim world sfudies in Paris.
Article published in Medical Anthropology (2021)