Epistemology, Activism, and Entanglement - Rethinking Knowledge Production

Nina Lykke is Professor Emerita at the Unit of Gender Studies, Linköping University, Sweden.She has been an engaged feminist researcher, educator, and activist since the 1970s, duringwhich time she has developed important critiques of epistemologies in science and technology.She has covered topics as diverse as the space race, reproductive technologies, cancer, and death.Lykke has published widely in both Scandinavia and internationally within the field of feministcultural studies of technoscience. Her most well-known publications within the area include themonographies Cosmodolphins (2000) co-authored with Mette Bryld, and Kønsforskning (2008)(in Engl: Feminist Studies (2010)), as well as the edited volumes Between Monsters, Goddessesand Cyborgs (1996) co-edited with Rosi Braidotti, Bits of Life (2008) with Anneke Smelik, andAssisted Reproduction Across Borders (2017) with Merete Lie. She has been pivotal in establishingthe Unit of Gender Studies at Linköping University, with which she has been affiliated sincethe unit’s inauguration in 1999. She has played a major role in the development of the PhDprogramme in interdisciplinary gender studies at Linköping University, which has a strong profilewithin feminist STS. In 2007, she started the Center of Gender Excellence GEXcel, initiallyfunded by The Swedish Research Council, Vetenskapsrådet, and later by the participating Universities,Linköping University, Örebro University, and Karlstad University, Sweden. She has alsobeen the director of the Nordic Research School in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies 2004-2009,and from 2008-2017 she was the director of InterGender, the Swedish-International ResearchSchool in Interdisciplinary Gender Studies. We met with Nina Lykke in Copenhagen, in orderto let her unfold how her own interest in Feminist STS/Feminist Technoscience Studiesemerged, and how she has put feminist cultural studies of technoscience to work from the1980’s until today, through research, teaching, and activism

Assisteret befrugtning, en feministisk teoretisk udfordring?

Assisted reproduction; a theoretical challenge? Since Sulamith Firestones published: The Dialectic of Sex: The Case For Feminist Revolution (1970), an engaged debate between feminists has developed regarding the use of assisted reproduction. The technology has generated questions such as: Is assisted reproduction a technology of emancipation or suppression? Who should have access to assisted reproduction? And what happens to perceptions of concepts such as kinship and gender when assisted reproductive technologies are used? In this review article I explore how assisted reproduction has played a crucial role in developing feminist theory, from radical feminism until today. I discuss and analyze how the different ethical-political agendas occurring due to the use of assisted reproductive technologies has provoked different perspectives of technology and reconceptualizations of gender and kinship. &nbsp

Naturligvis? Når lys, hunde og kønsceller sætter naturen til forhandling på fertilitetsklinikken

Hvad laver forestillinger om det naturlige på en fertilitetsklinik, og hvilke implikationer har anvendelsen af det naturlige, når praksisser etableres til at skabe børn via teknologi? Det er spørgsmål denne artikel rejser på baggrund af et etnografisk studie på fertilitetsklinikker i Danmark og Sverige, hvor forestillinger om det naturlige var centralt i både laboratoriepraksisser og i de etiske grænser, der var sat via lovgivere. Artiklen undersøger fire forskellige situationer, der illustrerer, hvordan naturlighedens paradoks materialiserer sig på forskellige måder på fertilitetsklinikkerne, ofte med konsekvenser for humane og ikke-humane aktører. Artiklen peger derfor på behovet for at skabe en post-naturlig etik, der tager udgangspunkt i det grundlæggende spørgsmål, Cui bono

Orchestrating moral bearability in the clinical management of second-trimester selective abortion

In present-day Denmark, second-trimester selective abortion has become a regular medical event, which has turned selective abortion care into a routinized task for health staff. In this article, we explore what forms of care practices abortion providers in Danish public hospitals engage in. Using in-depth interviews, medical documents and social media data, we show that at the center of selective abortion care provision is not only securing safe medical outcomes, but moral labor orientated towards achieving a morally manageable medical event, permeating institutionally developed clinical guidelines, relational face-to-face care, and ideologically driven encouragement of parental-fetal attachment through the use of material objects and visibility practices. We propose to view these entangled realms of practices as aiming towards generating what we term “moral bearability”, meaning that selective abortion care is orchestrated in particular ways to make the abortion, and the implied making and handling of death, simultaneously bearable for couples and health staff.</p

Book Reviews

Book Reviews: Donna Haraway: Manifestly Haraway. (Reviewed by&nbsp;Lis Højgaard) &nbsp; Ayo Wahlberg &amp; Tine Gammeltoft (eds.): Selective Reproduction in the 21st Century. (Reviewed by Lisbeth B. Knudsen) &nbsp; Clarke, Adele, Friese, Carrie and Washburn, Rachel S. (2018). Situational Analysis. Grounded Theory after the Interpretive Turn, 2nd Edition. (Reviewed by Stine Willum Adrian) &nbsp; Cordelia Fine: Testosterone Rex – Unmaking the myths of our gendered minds. (Reviewed by Lea Skewes) &nbsp; PhD notice: Michala Hvidt Breengaard: HOW TO MOTHER? Practices of infant feeding and the formation of maternal subjectivity among middle-class mothers in Beijing &nbsp

TEKNOSOCIALE SAMMENFILTRINGER: Redaktionelt forord

Redaktionelt foror

Experiences and attitudes of Danish men who were sperm donors more than 10 years ago; a qualitative interview study

Background More knowledge about the long-term impact of sperm donation is essential as the donor’s attitude towards donation may change over time. Personal and social developments may prompt a rethinking of previous actions and decisions, or even regret. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore the experiences and attitudes of men who were sperm donors more than 10 years ago. Methods From May to September 2021, semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with 23 former donors (> 10 years since last donation) from Cryos International sperm bank. Two participants were non-anonymous donors and 21 were anonymous. The interviews were conducted by phone or via video (mean 24 minutes). All interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and rendered anonymous. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results The analysis showed that most men had been donors for monetary and altruistic purposes, and now considered sperm donation as a closed chapter that was ’unproblematic and in the past’. Most men valued anonymity and emphasized the non-relatedness between donor and donor conceived offspring. Knowledge about recipients and donor offspring was seen as ’damaging’ as it could create unwanted feelings of relatedness and responsibility towards them. All men acknowledged donor conceived persons’ potential interests in knowing about their genetic heritage in order to understand appearance and personal traits, but also emphasized the donors’ rights to anonymity. Potential breach of anonymity was generally considered ’highly problematic’ as it was expected to disturb their families and force a relationship on them. Conclusion This study reports on former donors who might not have volunteered for research due to lack of interest or protection of privacy. The majority of men valued anonymity and clearly demarcated a line between sperm donation and fatherhood, which was enforced by not knowing about the donor offspring or recipients