Organs for sale

Transplantation is one of the last centuries’ most important medical breakthroughs. It prolongs and saves lives in ways that previously were not only medically unfeasible but also culturally unthinkable. However, medicine's success has led to a paradox: it creates a growing need for new cells, tissues and organs.

Today's society is thus facing a series of new challenges. One such challenge is how to deal with the shortage of body parts such as organs. Another is that the human body is now, more than ever, a valuable resource and with organs’ increased value come their potential profitability, fuelling desire with people to trade, traffic and sell. Transplant travel is an illustrative example of a new form of global economy that involves human bodies.

Susanne Lundin is a professor of ethnology in the Department of Arts and Cultural Sciences, Lund University, Sweden. Her main research areas are cultural analysis of medical praxis with regard to new regenerative medicine such transplantations, stem cell research, and reproductive medicine. She has numerous publications on these subjects. Her most recent book Organ till salu (Natur & Kultur 2014) is published in English, Organs for sale (Palgrave 2015, in press).

The lecture is hosted by UiB Global, Bergen Resource Centre and NNHSH.