Family structures, broadly defined, have experienced radical changes around the globe. This conference will bring together scholars from various disciplines to consider how large-scale sociodemographic shifts reshape family systems within and beyond the household and how these changes contribute to, reproduce, or mitigate social and economic inequality. Whereas family research has long centered on partnerships and co-residential nuclear kin, studies of kinship emphasize the often-overlooked importance of extended and non-co-resident relatives such as grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other ‘chosen kin.’
We invite contributions focusing on any geographic area, data source, and methodology that address topics including (but not limited to):
- Kin availability, inequality, and geographic distribution of kin
- Kin relations over the life course
- Caregiving, resource exchanges, and intergenerational transfers
- Bereavement and health from a kinship perspective
- Policy responses to kin availability
- Non-biological and fictive kinship
- LGBTQ+ kinship
- Innovative data, methods, and theoretical frameworks to study kinship.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Submissions must include a two-page extended abstract in PDF format. Abstracts should outline clearly the project title, authors’ name(s), affiliation(s), contact information of the presenting author, research question, data/methods, and expected contribution.
Please submit your work via this website by January 21, 2026. The selected submissions will be invited for an oral or poster presentation at the conference. Presenting authors are expected to register by 10 March to confirm their intention to attend and present.
There are no registration fees, and the organizers will provide a limited number of grants to cover travel and/or accommodation.