Academic landscape
Human reproduction is a complex process which is determined by biological, environmental, social, cultural, political, and economic factors. While the analysis of kinship, as the social expression of reproduction, has been a central theme in anthropological theory from the outset, the study of the dynamics of the social and cultural factors involved in sexuality and reproduction is relatively recent, and has only emerged as an important part of anthropological theory in the past few decades. Fertility and reproduction are important themes within the realm of medical anthropology, but go beyond medical anthropological research fields and include the study of kinship, notions of relatedness, practices of child care, gender relations, and STDs such as HIV/AIDS, to name but a few. Responding to shifts in the global demographic environment is an important part of FRSG, embracing the anthropological demography of reproductive health, ageing, changing systems of marriage, family formation, and sexuality.
While the Council on the Anthropology of Reproduction (CAR), located within the American Association of Anthropologists (AAA) provides a network for researchers working on reproduction, the FRSG is the only research group in the UK on issues around fertility, sexuality and reproduction which runs its own seminar and publication series.