Non-monogamies have consolidated as a field of reflection, research, and practice that challenges traditional norms and proposes other ways of organizing affective and intimate relationships. We are living in a moment in which the forms of relating and reworking intimacies have increasingly been debated across different spheres: in the sciences, social movements, States, the media, the arts, cultures, and online spaces. In this scenario, it becomes fundamental to create critical encounters that enable the exchange of experiences and knowledge, in order to broaden the debate on the impacts and possibilities of non-monogamies in the contemporary world.
The NMCI Conference was created in response to the need to establish spaces for discussion on these issues across different countries, bringing together participants from academia, artists, activists, and other people involved in research, policies, and practices related to non-monogamies and contemporary modes of intimacy.
The Conference takes place every two years and has been held in different parts of the world. The first edition took place in Lisbon (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) in 2015; the second in Vienna (Sigmund Freud University) in 2017; the third in Barcelona (Universität Pompeu Fabra, Centro Cívico Pati Llimona and Sala Apolo) in 2019; the fourth took place online during the pandemic in 2021 and in person in Valparaíso, Chile (Universidad de Valparaíso) in 2023. This fifth edition will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro), Praia Vermelha campus, in 2025.
In Brazil, these discussions have expanded since the early 21st century. Social groups engaged with experiences and concepts of free relationships and polyamory, in particular, contributed to promoting non-monogamous relationships as an important issue on the agenda of public debate. Since then, the number of people practicing and identifying with non-monogamies has grown, and collectives seeking to reflect on their own realities and rethink new forms of affection and sexuality have expanded across the country.
Brazil has held a prominent place in discussions on non-monogamy, mainly due to legal disputes surrounding the recognition of “polyamorous” stable unions, which began in 2012 and were prohibited in 2018 by the National Council of Justice (CNJ).
In 2020, amid the intensification of public debates, the research group “Não-mono: Politics, Affections, and Non-Monogamous Sexualities” (CNPq) was created, responsible for organizing the 5th NMCI. The group brings together researchers from universities across the country dedicated to the study of non-monogamous relationships, such as polyamory, free relationships, swinging, open relationships, polygamy, among others.
Overall, the growth of the debate takes place in a complex political and social context, where conservative discourses seek to impose rigid views on relationships and affections, while resistance movements reaffirm the importance of diversity and autonomy in relational configurations.
After all, how are people building their affective lives in the face of so many constantly changing conceptions? And how do non-monogamies contribute to expanding ways of existing and affecting the world, amid a context of growing fascism and conservatism?
It is in this context that we have set dates for November 29 and 30 in the online modality, and December 3, 4, and 5 in person in Rio de Janeiro, to share, understand, and contribute to these issues, which have intensely shaped public debate.
About the Call for Papers:
The 5th NMCI Conference is a space for inter- and transdisciplinary reflection and dialogue, bringing together different areas such as Social Sciences, Psychology, Law, Health Sciences, Communication, Arts, as well as social movements. The event seeks to integrate a range of critical perspectives on gender and sexuality, family and kinship, coloniality, race and ethnicity, human rights, and political economy, as well as transfeminist themes, queer/cuir theory, cultural studies, post- and transhumanism, among others.
State and Rights – Relations between the State, law and monogamy, mononormativity and legal recognition of non-monogamies, emerging forms of judicial activism, alternatives to the juridical/institutional centrality of the nuclear family in public and social assistance policies.
Family and Kinship – Multiparenting and the emerging biopolitics of human and non-human kinship. Non-monogamous kinships and multiple conceptions of kinship recognized or not by the State. Kinship among Indigenous peoples. Queer/cuir perspectives in Abya Yala.
Social Movements and Non-Monogamous Activisms – Relational dissent and activist experiences; relations between non-monogamous activism and feminist, LGBTQIAPN+, anti-racist, and other movements. Intersections between sexuality, public order, economic precarity, moral panics, repression of protests, and other oppressions generated by the capitalist and neoliberal system.
Public Health and Psychotherapies – Violence in professional practices and discourses and in public health policies that reproduce mononormativity. Relations between monogamous moralities and public health, the body and vulnerabilities. Similarities and contrasts in the effects of the HIV/AIDS and Covid-19 pandemics on sexual dissidences. Strengthening of virtual support networks and safe spaces for non-monogamous groups. Psychotherapies and care networks in the context of non-monogamous relationships.
Subjectivities, Identities, and Social Practices – Production of contemporary subjectivities, practices of emancipation, autonomy, and deconstruction of stereotypes. Construction of political identities and counter-hegemonic practices. Processes of subjectivation in non-monogamous relationships, including hierarchization, jealousy, compersion, and other aspects.
Territoriality, Coloniality, Cultural and Geopolitical Differences – North-South relations in studies on non-monogamies. Monogamy, catechization, and colonization. The hypersexualization of non-white and non-monogamous bodies. Relations between polyamory, polygamy, Islamophobia, and other forms of xenophobia. Racism in non-monogamous communities. Relational dissent in the Global South, ethnocide, and sexuality. Ball culture. Postcolonial, decolonial, anti- and counter-colonial approaches. Relations with the environment in the Anthropocene.
Gender Oppressions and Non-Monogamous Sexual Practices – Political non-monogamy, free relationships, relational anarchy, polyamory, open relationships, swingers, among others. Sex work, online sexualities and affectivities, cybersex, BDSM, dating apps, asexuality, etc. Feminisms, masculinities, machismo, and misogyny. Debates on how these practices and other categories are challenging norms of gender and sexuality.
Important Dates:
August 31 to September 30: Regular registration period;
October 3: Publication of presentation guidelines;
November 29 and 30: Online modality of the 5th Conference on Non-Monogamy and Contemporary Intimacies;
December 3, 4, and 5: In-person modality of the 5th Conference on Non-Monogamy and Contemporary Intimacies.