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The Body Commodified as Nature: Capitalism and the Biotechnological Turn
Recent decades have seen rapid technological innovation and development in the life science industries, which have facilitated the increasing exploitation of human biological materials, information, and in-vivo processes as sources of commodifiable value. These developments have, in turn, spurred a new body of social science research in which the commercial, legal-ethical, and property rights implications of bodily commodification are intensely analyzed and debated. Within this literature, “bioeconomy” scholars argue that experimental subjects, and others from whom biological value is extracted, should be understood to engage in a novel form of “embodied,” “regenerative,” or “clinical” labor, with those who perform this labor constituting “an extensive yet unacknowledged labor force.”
This dissertation departs from the above line of thought by investigating how new biopharmaceutical and biotechnological advances are radically transforming the long-understood role of human bodies in economic production. More specifically, this study problematizes the concept of embodied, regenerative, and clinical labor, drawing attention to the various ways in which human bodies are now actively incorporated as key sites and resources in the production of human-derived biocommodities. In this context, it establishes that the bodies of human test subjects, and others from whom in-vivo biological value is extracted, cannot be understood to engage in any meaningful form of self- or object-directed labor, but rather constitute the very objects upon which others’ exploited labor is enacted – a fact that transforms the human body from a source of value creation via its status as labor to a source of value creation via its status as nature.
Upon establishing the importance of this historically unprecedented shift, this study advances a theoretical reconceptualization of the human body as natural capital. To demonstrate the validity and significance of this reconceptualization, it presents an extended case study analysis of the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry, its mass medicalization of U.S. society, and the increasingly normalized practice of clinical trial outsourcing to less developed nations. The findings of this research suggest that within the biopharmaceutical industry, humans are increasingly being used as natural capital and that this form of bodily utilization is highly disproportionate to structurally disadvantaged populations around the world.</p
Omnino: VSU Undergraduate Research Journal. 2012-2013
I am very pleased to introduce volume 3 of Omnino, VSU's under- graduate research journal.This year, Omnino once again offers an impres- sive body of student research, all of which has been rigorously peer-reviewed by VSU faculty members and edited by VSU undergrad- uates. We are particularly proud of the wide array of disciplines repre- sented in our pages. In fact, Omnino received an unprecedented thirty-two student submissions this year, thanks to the hard work of the Omnino managing and student editors who reached out to faculty and students, sent emails, handed out fliers, posted signage, and made nu- merous in-person presentations in classes. This outreach paid off, and we are pleased to publish a robust and diverse array of high-quality un- dergraduate scholarship this year, stemming from nine different disci- plines: Chemistry, Communication Sciences and Disorders, English, Music, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and The- atre/Dance. Next year, we would like to see even more students from more departments submit their work to Omnino. In addition to the hard work of the Omnino managing and student editors, I would also like to extend my sincere gratitude to the dozens of VSU faculty members who read, reviewed, and provided feedback on this year's Omnino submissions. The editors and I appreciate you taking the time out of your already busy schedules to provide this invaluable feedback, without which, none of this would be possible.Dominance: The Study of White Representation in Disney's The Princess and the Frog Ashley M. Miller; Corporate-led Globalization: Colonizing the Last Frontier Micah Pyles; Focalization and Proletarian Gender Dynamics in Steinbeck's "The Chrysanthemums"
Meagan Ellis; American Pop Culture and the Formation of Identity in Hanif Kureishi's The Black Album Laura N. Hanna; The Relationship between the Media and School Shootings in the Past Fifteen Years, with Regards to the Columbine, Virginia Tech, and Newtown Massacres
Jennifer Dandron; They Bleed on Both Sides Charlotte Grady; The Importance of the Themes in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 35, Movement I Alex Lipsky; Fluency and Guided Repeated Oral Reading Sarah Lively; Effects of Collaboration on Academic Performance: Cognitive Load Theory as an Integral Component of Group Learning Rachel L. Bradley; Copper Complexes as a Delivery Agent for Medicinal Agents Melody Sobhani, John Milam, Lakesha Butler, David Jenkins, Iris Rivera, Satilla Johns, Rebekah Graham, Haley Franklin, Dustin Jenkins; The 2012 Charter Schools Constitutional Amendment in Georgia: A County level Analysis of the Election Results
Christopher John May; Effects of Locus of Control and Dream Recall Training on Dreaming Crystal Logan; BOOK REVIEWS The Cambridge Introduction to George Orwell by John Rodden and John Rossi Reviewed by Erica Even; Witches, Wife Beaters, & Whores Common Law and Common Folk in Early America by Elaine Forman Crane Reviewed by Megan Shelton;FACULTY ADVISOR Anne Greenfield MANAGING EDITORS Erica Even Megan Shelton STUDENT EDITORS Ryan Ponsell Alex Tostado ADDITiONAL STUDENT ASSISTANTS Ashley B. Dailey Miranda Shepherd DESIGNER Jennifer Gleaso