Naslov
The Body as Flesh: The Paradox of “Breathing Life” into Bodies in US-Based Anatomical Collections

Autori
Watkins, Rachel ; Špoljar Vržina, Sanja

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, sažetak, znanstveni

Izvornik
Caderno de Resumos/Abstract Book 11th IUAES World Congress / Pillar Grossi, Miriam ; Welter, Tania ; Lira Da Silva, Simone - Florianopolis : Eitora Tribo da Ilha, 2018, 1022-1022

ISBN
978-85-62946-89-9

Skup
18th IUAES World Congress. World (of) encounters The past, present and future of anthropological knowledge

Mjesto i datum
Florianópolis, Brazil, 06.07.2018. - 20.07.2018

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Pozvano predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Decolonization, Anatomical Collections

Sažetak
Skeletal studies of anatomical collections are foundational to the scientific conceptualizations of race that remain at the center of discussions and debates about genes, health and identity. However, they do not factor into these discussions as a historical or contemporary point of reference. I argue that this is largely due to continued investments in the production of scientific knowledge, which includes a naturalized positioning of anatomical remains as always already research subjects. Black feminist theory and critiques of science are used to bring attention to how this investment lends to colonized research practices. Sylvia Wynter’s notion of biocentricity is used to illustrate how American anatomical collections are positioned as assemblages for maintaining a racially determined scientific and social order rather than fluid historical texts and agents. Hortense Spillers’ body/flesh distinction is used to deconstruct [our] bioanthropological sense of how we “breathe life into” or “put flesh” on these skeletal remains. I conclude with examples of how these social and scientific theorizations of skeletal remains can guide analyses that reflect the complex subjectivities of the people whose remains we study, as well as our subjectivities as researchers.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Biologija, Javno zdravstvo i zdravstvena zaštita, Integrativna bioetika (prirodne, tehničke, biomedicina i zdravstvo, biotehničke, društvene, humanističke znanosti)

POVEZANOST RADA