Sydney Calkin

I am a Reader (Associate Professor) in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London. My work addresses questions at the intersection of gender, political geography and reproductive technology. I am motivated by an intellectual interest in the political and economic processes that sustain gender inequalities and a personal commitment to feminist political change and reproductive justice.

Since 2016, my research has explored the phenomenon of self-managed abortion. My research asks: if states are unable to control the flow of medication abortion pills across borders, while flows of these pills grow steadily, how can states continue to enforce restrictive abortion laws? How are political and legal debates about abortion be transformed by growing access to safe self-managed abortion? This project is the subject of my new book Abortion Pills Go Global: Reproductive Freedom Across Borders, published by University of California Press and out in October 2023.