AAC23 – the world’s first virtual antinatalist conference.
The Antinatalist Advocacy Conference 2023 (AAC23) is the world’s first virtual antinatalist conference. Having been a huge success in it’s first iteration in December 2023, the AAC is due to return in 2025 for AAC25.
The theme for AAC23 was ‘Antinatalism at a Crossroads’. Antinatalists are beginning to advocate for the position more and more, so we wanted to bring together interesting and thought-provoking voices on where the future of antinatalist advocacy should be. Below you can find each of the sessions on catch-up.
Antinatalism & Selection Pressure: A Case for Genome Reform and a Biohappiness Revolution
David Pearce is a philosopher who shares a pessimistic evaluation of sentient life’s predicament with antinatalists, but advocates a different response - transhumanism. In 1995 he wrote The Hedonistic Imperative where he lays out the case and a potential roadmap for the abolition of suffering. He has given countless talks and engagements on the topic and helped establish The World Transhumanist Association, which is now known as Humanity+.
Further info and links here.
The Importance of Animal Rights
Seb Alex is an activist, lecturer, photojournalist and author. Born and raised in Lebanon, his animal advocacy has taken him to North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. He is a co-founder of the Middle East Vegan Society, a non-profit that promotes plant-based eating and awareness of animal issues in the Middle East and Africa. He has also built a large social media following by spreading his compassionate message, with over 100,000 followers on Instagram alone.
Further info and links here.
Antinatalism & Extinction
Matti Häyry is a philosopher who has been a beacon of antinatalist academia in Finland for many years. Matti is widely considered to have first formalised the risk argument for antinatalism in his 2004 paper A rational cure for prereproductive stress syndrome. Matti most recently has been involved in publications such as Antinatalism – Solving everything everywhere all at once? and Imposing a Lifestyle: A New Argument for Antinatalism, and is the co-author of the upcoming book Antinatalism, Extinction and the End of Procreative Self-corruption.
Further info and links here.
Wild Animal Contraception
Oscar Horta is a moral philosopher in the Department of Philosophy and Anthropology at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He has written many papers and books on the topics of animal ethics, including his 2022 book Making a Stand for Animals. In 2012 he co-founded Animal Ethics, a non-profit that promotes the moral consideration of animals and creates resources for advocates to use.
Further info and links here.
Panel: Building a Healthy Antinatalist Community
Amanda Sukenick has been producing antinatalist content since 2010. She created the film The EFIList in 2016 and is the host of The Exploring Antinatalism Podcast. She has an up-coming book co-authored with Matti Häyry, Antinatalism, Extinction and The End of Procreative Self-Corruption.
Ash Wickety an antinatalist and animal rights activist. Ash has done extensive work with Stop Having Kids, and was the co-host of the former MNintersectional podcast.
Shweta Ramkumar is a childfree advocate who has been involved in organising and maintaining both online and in-person childfree communities in Australia. She also has experience breaking free from disempowering cultural conformity through choosing a childfree lifestyle whilst being a member of the south-asian diaspora.
Further info and links here.
In Conversation With… Magnus Vinding
Magnus Vinding has written books such as Effective Altruism: How Can We Best Help Others?, Suffering-Focused Ethics: Defense and Implications, and Reasoned Politics. Magnus has also written a range of essays including The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Along and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Antinatalism”. Magnus is also the co-founder of the Centre for Reducing Suffering which was set-up in 2020 to develop ethical views that prioritise suffering and research ways to best reduce suffering.
Further info and links here.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a ticket?
No ticket or registration is required to attend the conference, you simply need to join the livestream on our YouTube channel when the conference is live. We highly recommend you join our newsletter (linked above) so you don’t miss updates – we’ll be sending out the link when we’re live.
How do I access the AAC Discord?
We will share a link to the Discord server during the conference so that people can join. Make sure to join our newsletter (linked above) to not miss it. You will need to have a verified email address linked to your Discord account to be able to join.
Do I have to be antinatalist to attend?
Not at all. We welcome anyone to attend the conference whether they agree with antinatalism or not. The conference itself will host people with a range of views, so it is only natural that the audience will hold a range of views as well.
What if I can’t attend the conference?
Not to worry, the conference will be recorded and re-uploaded once it is finished so that the entire thing can be rewatched on our YouTube channel.