Turning Point Pregnancy. Moderated Discussion on Pregnancy and Motherhood in Times of Crisis and Upheaval
Pregnancy and motherhood turn the lives of many women upside down. But what happens when everything around you is also thrown into chaos? Many women in the GDR experienced exactly this situation during the reunification period. To what extent does it still have an impact today? And can we learn anything from the experiences of these women for other situations of crisis and upheaval?
We take a look at political crises and upheavals not only as a social, but also as a physical and biographical experience for women. Women who were pregnant or had children in the late GDR often experienced the change of system as an exceptional existential situation: new life within themselves or around them, while the political structures dissolved and almost all other areas of life changed as a result. These uncertainties of the transition period resulted, among other things, in the most drastic decline in birth rates ever recorded in an industrialised society in peacetime.
The event will focus on questions about what motherhood means in times of crisis and upheaval, how experiences are passed on through maternal images and attributions, social expectations and intergenerational influences, and what can be taken away or learnt from the experiences of mothers during the period of change for the present and current crises - without equating historical situations.
In conversation:
- Hannah Klitzke and Ida-Lia Salomon, initiators of the project "Birth of the Revolution - Pregnant in Times of Upheaval", which is currently producing a documentary film about "the last generation of women who were pregnant in the GDR" and a book
- Katharina Violet, employee of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and one of the protagonists of the project
- Selin Almer, graduate of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
- Romy Schönfeld, project employee at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
Moderation: Doreen Löwe
We offer childcare for this event. Please register for childcare by the 22nd of April at famteam@fh-potsdam.de.
An event organised by the Departmental Gender Equality Office of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.
