20 research outputs found
Robert A. Aronowitz. Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society
âBreast cancer is all around us.â This is how Robert Aronowitz, a medical doctor, opens his timely Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society. We are all familiar with the truism that âone in eight American womenâ will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. The pink ribbon has come to symbolize both solidarity and hope. Mammograms and âSelf-Breast Examinationâ have become part of womenâs daily routine, if not a spectre haunting their daily lives. Yet the evidence remains contested and the therapeutic promise, the fear and hope associated with this âobstinateâ disease as problematic as ever. Unnatural History weaves all these different elements, artifactual and natural, emotional and rational, vital and morbid, in the socio-historical narrative of breast cancer in the American context. In that sense, this is an âunnaturalâ history, a history of how âfearâ and âriskâ have been reshaping a disease, which continues to be as elusive as it was two centuries ago
ENSN launch, London, November 2007. Neuroscience and society: a multidendritic neuron
This report is a synoptic review of the proceedings of the European Neuroscience and Society Network (ENSN) launch. ENSN, is a European forum that discusses the social, political, economic, and ethical implications of the brain sciences from a multidisciplinary approach. Since it is the leading European forum of its kind, it is worthwhile reflecting on the various debates raised by the experts convened from different academic and professional backgrounds. In the first part of the report, I recapitulate the plenary lectures and workshops and intercalate them with a few thoughts and analyses. The second part is a systematic analysis of the different key themes, issues, and challenges raised and debated during the two-day conference. This could constitute an epistemic framework for further investigation of the impact and implications of the main controversial claims and new concepts that are emerging amidst unprecedented developments in the fastest growing scientific field of the past and present century. I conclude by underlining the importance of such a network of scientists and social scientists in examining the emerging fields of the ânew brain sciencesâ
Robert A. Aronowitz. Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society
âBreast cancer is all around us.â This is how Robert Aronowitz, a medical doctor, opens his timely Unnatural History: Breast Cancer and American Society. We are all familiar with the truism that âone in eight American womenâ will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. The pink ribbon has come to symbolize both solidarity and hope. Mammograms and âSelf-Breast Examinationâ have become part of womenâs daily routine, if not a spectre haunting their daily lives. Yet the evidence remains contested and the therapeutic promise, the fear and hope associated with this âobstinateâ disease as problematic as ever. Unnatural History weaves all these different elements, artifactual and natural, emotional and rational, vital and morbid, in the socio-historical narrative of breast cancer in the American context. In that sense, this is an âunnaturalâ history, a history of how âfearâ and âriskâ have been reshaping a disease, which continues to be as elusive as it was two centuries ago
Post-war mental health, wealth, and justice
The paper launches a normative debate on an under-assessed health policy problem, namely post-war mental health. It explores its ethical dimensions and argues for a strong moral claim to invest in it as a form of reparation that must be added to the jus post-bellumâs truncated list of recommendations. Many countries are currently involved in armed conflict and many more still recovering from past wars. These generally belong to the low-to-middle income group that spend minimally on social and health expenditures.The problem worsens post-war for these countries are burdened with an increased prevalence of mental health disorders with far-reaching repercussions. Failure to recognize in particular war-related psychosocial sequels could weaken capacity to recover and may contribute to a nationâs socio-political unrest that could perpetuate throughout generations. The paper argues that reconstructing war-torn societies should be achieved by rebuilding first and foremost the shattered individual. Policy-makers have a stronger positive obligation to invest in post-war mental health because of a shared responsibility for the harm inflicted. This consequently means a shared responsibility in building a sustainable and viable post-war âminimally just stateâ.The paper draws on Poggeâs ârelational conceptions of justiceâ and the concept ofâshared responsibilityâ used in contemporary environmental discourses. It challenges the old paradigmatic model of the just-war tradition which views the world as an archipelagos of well-delineated, self-contained and atomized actors. It also aims to set the stage for an âethics of post-war mental healthâ in line with what Ricoeur calls âan ethics of memoryâ