Property in the Body: Feminist Perspectives

Description

We live in an era when all bodies are potentially 'feminised' by being rendered 'open-access' for biomedical research and clinical practice. Adopting a theoretically sophisticated and practical approach, Property in the Body: Feminist Perspectives rejects the notion that the sale of bodily tissue enhances the freedom of the individual through an increase in moral agency. Combining feminist theory and bioethics, it also addresses the omissions which are inherent in policy analysis and academic debate. For example, whilst women's tissue is particularly central to new biotechnologies, the requirement for female labour is largely ignored in subsequent evaluation. In its fully revised second edition, this book also considers how policies and developments vary between countries and within specific areas of biomedicine itself. Most importantly, it analyses the new and emerging technologies of this field whilst returning to the core questions and fears which are inextricably linked to the commercialisation of the body.

Donna Dickenson is Emeritus Professor of Medical Ethics and Humanities at Birkbeck College, University of London. In 2006, she became the first woman to receive the International Spinoza Lens Award for her contribution on public debate in ethics.

'Skilfully written, this second edition provides new examples and a sharpening of Dickenson's theoretical analysis. Informative and thought-provoking, this book is accessible to anyone concerned about the way that new technologies allow the objectification and commodification of our bodies in the twenty-first century.' Jane Kaye, University of Oxford 'With her customary perspicacity and analytic rigour, Dickenson interrogates the innumerable ways that women's bodies are made profitable by and for the commercial life sciences. She combines an enormous depth of knowledge about the intricacies of property law with an impressive breadth of familiarity with the most current developments in fertility treatments, stem cell research, genomics and tissue banking. She makes us think about the biomedical commons, and ways we might pursue a common good approach to biomedical research.' Catherine Waldby, Australian National University 'Any new work from the eminent British scholar Donna Dickenson promises to bring important insights. This second edition of her important 2007 volume on the commodification of women's bodies, Property in the Body, is no exception.' Gina Maranto, Biopolitical Times