Description
Book SynopsisIn
Domesticating Organ Transplant Megan Crowley-Matoka examines the iconic power of kidney transplantation in Mexico, where the procedure is inexorably linked to the imaginings of individual and national identity, national pride, and the role of women in creating the Mexican state.
Trade Review"Crowley-Matoka’s semiotic-inspired approach successfully offers new insights into a growing body of anthropological work on organ transplantation." -- Parsa Bastani * Somatosphere *
"Crowley-Matoka’s ethnographic evidence is compelling, and her sensitive examination of what are very often matters of life and death makes clear how intimate experiences reveal a good deal about life in contemporary Mexico and the politics of transplantation more generally." -- Lauren A. Wynne * Medical Anthropology Quarterly *
"If it is the duty of ethnography to complicate our understanding of the world, then Crowley-Matoka has more than fulfilled her responsibility.... The book’s great strength is the depth of interview material, often acquired under very difficult circumstances, and the modesty that the author brings to her own role as reporter." -- Donald Joralemon * Journal of Anthropological Research *
"
Domesticating Organ Transplant is an engaging and compelling ethnography that makes important contributions to the anthropology of transplant and medical anthropology." -- Cristina T. Bejarano * Anthropological Quarterly *
"A remarkably well-written work of anthropology, enriched throughout with well-balanced, reflexive, and theoretically challenging insights.”
-- Marie Le Clainche-Piel * Medicine Anthropology Theory *
"Based on extensive fieldwork with patients, Crowley-Matoka offers a fascinating insight into how notions about motherhood, miracles and
mestizos shape the ways in which lives are transformed by transplantation, and how the social and familial consequences reverberate for many years thereafter." -- Gavin O'Toole * Latin American Review of Books *
"A beautifully written and theoretically perceptive exploration of both the biological and existential realms, Crowley-Matoka’s study deserves a wide readership. It makes a significant contribution to scholarly literature on medical anthropology, bioethics, and moral politics in Mexico.... The book is a must-read for anyone interested in medical anthropology in Latin America." -- Steven J. Bachelor * The Latin Americanist *
"A compelling ethnographic account of the cultural and biopolitical nature of kidney donation and transplantation in Mexico. . . . Given its ethnographic richness and depth of analysis, this book will appeal to multiple audiences, especially those interested in anthropological studies of health and biomedical practices in Latin America and the growing literature on organ transplant and its corporeal and cultural implications. This book is a robust, yet refined addition, to both these areas of inquiry." -- Shana Harris * Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I. Giving Kidneys (Or Not)
1. Living Organ Donation, Bioavailability, and Ethical Domesticity 33
2. Cadaveric Organ Donation, Bio
unavailability, and Slippery States 65
Part II. Getting Kidneys (Or Not)
3. Being Worthy of Transplant, Embodying Transplant's Worth 109
4. The Unsung Story of Posttransplant Life 147
Part III. Framing Transplantation
5. Gifts, Commodities, and Analytic Icons in the Anthropological Lives of Organs 187
6. Scientists, Saints, and Monsters in Transplant Medicine 225
Coda 261
Notes 267
References 285
Index 307
