Robyn Lee |
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02.08.2017-31.08.2017
Bodies and Markets: Buying, Selling, and Sharing Human Milk
The objectives of this project are to analyze the ethical and social implications of human milk exchange practices. This project explores how discourses of risk are constructed and deployed, and how the processing and sale of human milk as a commercial product relates to historical and ongoing debates over commercial formula sales. It will also explore how care work and consumption practices are shaped by processes of commodification, examining how donation of milk and access human milk products are affected by economic inequality, geography, and health policy and practices.
Given that human milk exchange is rapidly growing in popularity and new milk banks are opening all over the world, there is an urgent need for examination of the ethical and social impacts of these practices. This project will provide much needed analysis of the gendered impacts of human milk exchange on consumption and care practices, as well as exploring the risks of exploitation of women and exacerbation of existing inequalities in access to human milk.