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9780520270831

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The book is an important contribution to the anthropology of reproduction and Latin American studies, among other fields. -- Amy Cooper * Somatosphere *

The book is an important contribution to the anthropology of reproduction and Latin American studies, among other fields. --Amy Cooper Somatosphere (04/03/2014)

This is surely, really, a book of our times. It offers a skillful ethnography, a quite original cultural analysis, a contribution to science studies as well as medical anthropology, an engaging history of divergent religiosities, and a resource for anyone interested in diverse philosophies of personhood. -- Marilyn Strathern, * Comparative Studies in Society and History * An important contribution to the anthropology of reproduction and Latin American studies, among other fields. * Somatosphere * Roberts contextualizes reproductive assistance in rich ethnographic detail to uncover its diversity of forms including medical, familial, and spiritual. . . . [The book] offers an original analysis of the complicated relationship between technology and religion while encouraging more discussion, including cross-cultural comparisons, on practices of care related to assisted reproduction. An invaluable contribution to medical anthropology, Latin American studies and gender and women's studies, God's Laboratory provides an insightful analysis of the nature of person-making and the role of technology and faith to family formation. * Hemispheric Institute * Roberts's stunning ethnography . . . is the perfect anthropological antidote to the North American evangelical right's fetishization of reproductive material as 'life itself' and to the Vatican's condemnation of IVF as the unnatural production of artificial life and killable embryos. * Current Anthropology * God's Laboratory makes a significant contribution to social science literatures on medicine, reproduction, and the body; it is a must-read for anyone interested in how new reproductive technologies are received and interpreted in developing countries. * Latin American Perspectives * Roberts's rich ethnography makes a worthy addition to the anthropology of reproduction. * American Anthropologist * Based on field research Elizabeth F. S. Roberts conducted between 2000 and 2007, God's Laboratory is a gloriously rich ethnographic account of the experience of infertility and Ecuador's assisted reproductive technology industry. . . . A masterful work of scrupulous research offering deep and original analyses illustrated with beautiful ethnographic material. Its depth and subtlety make it among the most exciting new research in the anthropology of reproduction . . . Roberts's monograph will be of great interest to scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in classes on social and medical anthropology, sociology, gender studies, Latin American studies, international development studies, population studies, and public health. * American Ethnologist *

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Elizabeth Roberts is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Michigan.

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