Overview

New reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization, have been the subject of intense public discussion and debate worldwide. In addition to difficult ethical, moral, personal and political questions, new techniques of assisted conception also raise novel socio-cultural dilemmas. How are parenthood, kinship and procreation being redefined in the context of new reproductive technologies? Has reproductive choice become part of consumer culture? Embodied Progress offers a unique perspective on these and other cultural dimensions of assisted conception techniques. Based on ethnographic research, this study foregrounds the experiences of women and couples who undergo IVF, whilst also asking how such experiences may be variously understood. Using a range of resources, from media accounts of infertility to parliamentary debate of human fertilisation and embryology, Embodied Progress argues for a refashioning of anthropological method, as well as a greater understanding of the unique late twentieth century reproductive dilemmas produced by new forms of choice, technology and scientific progress. It will be invaluable reading to students and lecturers in anthropology, women's studies and medical sociology.

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9780415067669

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Students of medical sociology and anthropology and feminist scholars of the new reproductive technologies should find Franklin's ethnography valuable for its insights into the world of achieved conception. Those interested in cultural production, technology, science studies, and kinship will be rewarded as well, if they appreciate refractory textual approaches such as Franklin has presented in this cultural study of human progress. <br>-Contemporary Sociology <br> A remarkable achievement! Wonderfully written, refreshing and original in its argument, Embodied Progress lends a sympathetic ear to the experience of new reproductive technologies. I am certain that it will easily reach a range of audiences in anthropology, cultural studies and kinship theory. <br>-Faye Ginsburg, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Media, Culture and History, New York University <br>

Students of medical sociology and anthropology and feminist scholars of the new reproductive technologies should find Franklin's ethnography valuable for its insights into the world of achieved conception. Those interested in cultural production, technology, science studies, and kinship will be rewarded as well, if they appreciate refractory textual approaches such as Franklin has presented in this cultural study of human progress. -Contemporary Sociology A remarkable achievement! Wonderfully written, refreshing and original in its argument, Embodied Progress lends a sympathetic ear to the experience of new reproductive technologies. I am certain that it will easily reach a range of audiences in anthropology, cultural studies and kinship theory. -Faye Ginsburg, Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Media, Culture and History, New York University

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