Spare Parts/Priceless: the anatomy of living organ donation


Matthew Strang, York University

Sustainability, natural resources, and living green are likely terms most would connect to life extension via environmental movements rather than the biotechnology of living organ donation. However, living organ donation is often presented as the “alternative” option to extend some sick folks lives while potentially risking others. My Institutional ethnography investigates the social organization of living organ donation. For this paper I overview what living organ donors have to do in practice to be donors and present preliminary analysis from my interview with living organ donors that point to social relations that create inequities. Some thoughts on my secondary interviews and ongoing investigational pathways are also discussed. Finally, I think through how might living organ donation be connected to broader interrogations of capitalism and the right to life, and how I as a scholar bring my critical lenses to living organ donation. 

This paper will be presented at the following session: