• In-vitro fertilization (IVF) requires the development of human embryos in a laboratory. • Beneficiaries of IVF give different meanings to these embryos. • The interviewees described embryos as possibilities, utilities, offspring or as a counter-gift. • Embryos have a complex social existence, constructed through different metaphorical meanings.

Working in the digital age requires a discussion on the right to disconnect. Although it has previously been studied in association with the digital transition movement, the “right to disconnect” has gained relevance in a context of mandatory teleworking due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation has led some countries to legislate on the subject, notably Portugal, where the right to disconnect has been enshrined in labour legislation since law no. 83/2021 of 6 December. This article presents a framework of the literature on the right to disconnect, as well as a documentary analysis and an exploratory study carried out in Portugal in November and December 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey sought to assess the working conditions of women in telework, particularly about working time. This study stresses that the right to disconnect is linked to the organisation of working time and analyses the negative impact of technology on work, in particular the permanence of the electronic connection to work. The results show that the majority of women value teleworking because they have more time for themselves and their families. However, the women who consider that they have less availability for teleworking indicate that the main reason for this is not being able to disconnect from work. In the context of the digital transition and the expansion of teleworking in organisations and the generalisation of hybrid work, the study of this new “right to disconnect” becomes crucial.

In this article we develop the new concept of emotional choreography to describe how patients bond, debond and/or rebond with their embryos created in vitro using assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Using this concept, we explore how the patients' management of their own emotions intertwines with political, scientific, and religious factors. Our analysis relies on and further advances Thompson's concepts of ethical and ontological "choreography". It is through these forms of choreography that complex contemporary biomedical issues with high political, ethical, and scientific stakes are negotiated, and through which different actors, entities, practices, roles, and norms undergo mutual constitution, reinforcement and (re)definition. Our article draws on the analysis of 69 in-depth interviews and the results of an online survey with 85 respondents.

The aim of this study is to identify women’s perceptions of the main reasons for discrimination at work. Furthermore, the aim is to analyse the effects of public working time policies on gender equality and their impact on discrimination at work and on women’s career paths. This article presents a framework for the topic through an analysis of documents and literature, as well as an exploratory study carried out in Portugal. Working time policies since 2011 in Portugal are examined and through an empirical study, the impact of overtime on women’s work and careers is analysed. The documentary analysis carried out in Portugal shows the difficulties women face in reconciling work with family and personal life. While most studies focus on job satisfaction and women’s willingness to work long hours for better career progression, this paper examines gender discrimination at work associated with working time policies. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are among the goals set by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This study, based on a survey completed by female employees, concludes that women feel discriminated against in their careers due not only to the persistence of gender stereotypes but also to long working hours. Studying women’s perceptions of the reasons for discrimination at work, as well as the relationship between working time and equality at work, can be important for understanding the under-representation of women in leadership positions and can help enrich public policies in this area.

Ce texte explore les tensions qui émergent chez les couples atteints d’infertilité qui recourent à l’assistance médicale à la procréation avec tiers donneur, en France et au Portugal, à partir de données empiriques recueillies par entretiens. Je m’appuie sur le modèle sociologique d’une pluralité de régimes d’engagement, mais aussi sur les concepts d’insupportable et d’incertain ; le premier permet d’analyser le rapport problématique et gênant au tiers donneur, le second d’analyser les incertitudes de ces couples sur la réussite du projet d’enfant à l’aide de technologies biomédicales, incertitudes qui s’inscrivent dans des épreuves et des échecs successifs. On assiste à une opération de détachement de la figure du tiers donneur, à travers des dynamiques de différenciation entre le vivant (les gamètes) et l’humain (un enfant). On constate des opérations de révision ou de sortie complète du projet, provoquées par l’épuisement capacitaire ou par la difficulté à définir l’intégralité de la personne ou du couple.

The burden of deciding the fate of the supernumerary human embryo created in vitro in the context of Assisted Reproductive Technologies rests on the beneficiary couples or individuals who conceived the parental project. The beneficiaries must also take on the responsibility of choosing whether to donate surplus embryos either to others or to scientific research, or to request their destruction. Vulnerable beings, weakened from the point of view of their identity (facing the social stigma still associated with some circumstances such as being infertile, lesbian or a single mother), are required to have skills such as reflexivity and autonomy in dramatic situations that concern their relationship with their own reproductive body. Given the urgency of this issue at the socio-anthropological level, we are conducting ethnographic research aimed at analysing how specialists and lay people objectivate, evaluate and circulate different conceptions of the human embryo in vitro. Based on our research experience within this ongoing project, we intend to discuss some ethical, practical and methodological concerns for the researcher in accessing the field and conducting fieldwork. We take into account the fact that this research is focused on sensitive topics and on individuals who can be considered people in vulnerable situations.