Seminar Series: Abstract

3.00
August 25 2009
Hedley Bull Centre LT 2

Public Lecture - Body politics: technoscience, gender and development
Professor Wendy Harcourt

Technologies have huge implications for gender and development, but it is difficult to know exactly how to think about them. In today's rapidly changing world, how do we know what is science? What is fiction? What is reliable knowledge? Where do feminist concerns with embodiment, gender equality, women’s rights, ecological and social justice fit in this world of high tech, high investment and high costs to peoples’ lives? Are the fears raised by civil society advocacy groups about the food we eat, the medicine we buy, the ethical uses of stem cells, foetal research and the invasion of our bodies valid? How does all of this relate to core concerns about gender and development, living standards, livelihoods, health, wellbeing, environmental security and the rights of men, women and children living in the world’s poorest communities?

Drawing on her recently published book, 'Body Politics in Development', Wendy Harcourt will speak about ‘technoscience, gender and development’ looking at the implications of technoscience (human biotechnology, synthetic biology, assisted reproductive technologies, stem cell research, new techno eugenics) for development.