Description
Book SynopsisBased on years of careful ethnographic fieldwork in Hanoi, this book offers an account of the moral quandaries that accompany innovations in biomedical technology. Arguing for more sustained anthropological attention to human quests for belonging, it addresses existential questions of love and loss that concern us all.
Trade Review"This deft and often moving volume makes a signature contribution to the growing anthropological literature on Vietnam ... Keenly observed and compellingly written." -- Martha Lincoln Medicine Anthropology Theory "Beautifully written ... of interest to scholar's in Asian, women's, and gender studies and anthropology, reproductive health, and disability studies." CHOICE "This is a powerful, haunting cultural account of selective reproduction in Vietnam. I encourage each reader to think through what this means and what this tells us about pregnancy management throughout the world." -- Barbara Katz Rothman Sociology of Health & Illness "This is a moving ethnography that 'haunts' the reader long thereafter... Daring and promising." -- Catalina Tesar Social Anthropology "Powerful, heart-wrenching, and beautifully written ... As anthropology, the book is also a fine example of the ethnographer's craft... Highly recommended." -- Erik Harms Journal of Southeast Asian Studies "Fascinating and powerful ... Haunting Images is an outstanding piece of scholarship that brings new dimensions to thinking about key themes in social theory." -- Tsipy Ivry Medical Antrhopology Quarterly "Beautifully written ... a must read." -- Ann Marie Leshkowich American Ethnologist
Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Prologue: Haunting Decisions Introduction: Choice as Belonging 1. Sonographic Imaging and Selective Reproduction in Hanoi 2. A Collectivizing Biopolitics 3. Precarious Maternal Belonging 4. "Like a Loving Mother": Moral Engagements in Medical Worlds 5. "How Have We Lived?" Accounting for Reproductive Misfortune 6. Beyond Knowledge: Everyday Encounters with Disability 7. Questions of Conscience Conclusion: Toward an Anthropology of Belonging Appendix: Core Cases Notes Bibliography Index
