Amid the pandemic and the climate crisis, humanity has been compelled to confront fundamental questions regarding the social institutions and modes of life surrounding production and reproduction. In East Asian societies, where labor, welfare, and population policies have long been organized around the family, “familialism” is increasingly identified as a root cause of today’s multiple crises, including low fertility rates, population aging, and gaps in care provision. Yet the prevailing discourses and policies formulated in response to these crises have scarcely extended beyond the preservation and reinforcement of the very family system under scrutiny. This Korea–Japan Joint International Conference seeks to provide a multi-layered examination of the meaning of family in Japanese and Korean societies, and to critically investigate how familialism has functioned as a mechanism of social control and the reproduction of inequality.

This international conference holds particular significance in its critical interrogation of East Asian family ideologies and its examination of the historical formation of familialism, thereby identifying theoretical and practical tasks for dismantling and reconfiguring family norms. Furthermore, by moving beyond the isolated individual and family in the East Asian context, the conference served as a platform for exchange and solidarity between Korean and Japanese feminisms in the pursuit of a more relational and sustainable society.

1) Title: 2025 'Race and Gender' International Conference Conference -Rethinking "Family" in East Asia:

             The Intersectional Politics of Care, Reproduction, Citizenship, and Race

2) Theme: "Intersections of Class, Race and Gender in the History of Korean Familialism", "Deconstruction and

                  Reconfiguring of East Asia Familism: Japan", "Deconstruction and Reconfiguring of East Asia

                  Familism: Korea"

3) Date/Time: 2025.09.12 10:00-17:00

4) Location: Humanities Building 111, Ewha Womans University

5) Proceedings: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vBVaAZ86xXMzX72-UQHFeIk3z7x64rgq/view?usp=drive_link