Squashed dreams and rare breeds: ableism and the arbiters of life and death

The week beginning 29 June 2015 is not just historic for the closure of the Independent Living Fund in the United Kingdom, but for me was the week they decided that my life is not worth investing in; they being NHS England, NICE and, with them, the Department of Health. They chose not to support the enzyme replacement therapy that has been not only keeping me alive, but giving me a quality of life – enabling me to return to finish my Disability Studies PhD exploring how Christian leaders explain disability, where ethics have become the main topic, and to rebuild my career – or so I thought.     

《烟草路》中的帝国优生学

《烟草路》成书于优生学运动在美国发展的高潮时期,以优生学的视角观察美国南方贫穷白人佃农的生活,将“白垃圾”的畸形、弱智和堕落等问题都归因于其劣等的遗传因素,其中的医学话语不仅掩饰了南方贫困佃农遭受的经济剥削和他者化的不平等待遇,还粉饰了帝国统治中的地域差异、文化压迫和强制绝育等问题。小说使优生学成为帝国话语的一部分,巩固了帝国的意识形态及统治。     

进化论在社会科学中的应用及其问题

由于达尔文进化论所描述的进化过程没有明确的目标,因而它承担不了说明和指导道德行为的重任。在生物学决定论问题上,社会生物学提出的问题没有考虑到在实际中很难分清到底是遗传还是环境塑造了人的品性。当今对人类独特性的刻意标榜与人类主体性意识的极度膨胀是互为因果的。只有将人类当做自然的一个环节,才有望避免由于人的主体性意识的无限膨胀而造成的种种不良恶果。那种将进化当成是一个从低级到高级的前进发展过程的观点,既不是达尔文的进化论,也不是现代的科学成果,而不过是启蒙运动以来所一直信奉的乐观主义进步论而已。     

基因技术应用于优生学的伦理争议

基因技术赋予优生学强大的力量 ,也给优生学带来新的伦理困境。在解决基因技术应用于优生学引起的伦理困境过程中 ,在公众广泛参与的基础上兼顾个人和社会两方面的利益应该成为基本原则     

A Perspective on Critical Social Work

This paper articulates a perspective on critical social work that draws from poststructuralism and critical theory. Arguing that the critique of positivism, the unreliability of generalizations about humans, and the influence of new social movements have undermined the credibility of mainstream social work practice and theory, the author advocates the need for social work theory and practice that is predicated on social justice. The paper offers a critique of structuralist approaches to practice and then seeks to embed social work practice in epistemic responsibility and communicative responsibility.     

秦简《日书》与秦汉社会的生命意识

本文根据睡虎地秦简《日书》和秦汉文献史料，系统阐述了秦汉时代优胜劣汰、自强不息的生命意识，其中包括秦汉社会对男女婚配体质、年龄谐调的重视；对授精受孕时间季节的选择；对胎养、胎教、幼育及新生婴儿的把握与抉择等。并揭示了秦汉社会的优生意识的时代价值特征。     

优生学与女性主义——英美女性主义文学经典再解读

优生学于19世纪末到20世纪30年代在英美风行一时,渗透于政治、文化等各个知识领域,构成英美现代话语的重要“范式”之一。英美女性主义第一次浪潮恰与优生学发展鼎盛时期交叉重叠,以吉尔曼和伍尔夫为代表的女性主义先驱作家不仅将优生学思想的有益方面纳入女性主义,还将这种科学话语拓展到文学的想象空间。文章从优生学视角入手,对吉尔曼和伍尔夫的女性主义经典之作《黄色糊墙纸》、《女儿国》、《一间自己的屋子》进行分析,探讨优生学与女性主义的交融在特定历史背景下的内涵和使命,以及对当下女性主义文学和批评的重要启示。     

优生学发展述评

概述优生学史发展的三个阶段(1)前科学阶段,从远古到1880年;(2)优生学建立时期,高尔顿的生平及其贡献;(3)科学时期,本世纪初到现代.牢记优生学的历史教训十分重要.     

‘Resistance: Which Way the Future?’ A dual-screen installation related to the theme of disability and eugenics

This paper reports the part findings of an evaluation of a dual-screen installation entitled ‘Resistance: Which Way the Future?’ by the writer and director Liz Crow. Central to the installation is the experience of disabled people during the Holocaust period, the values underpinning this neglected period of history and how this relates to understanding the experiences of disabled people today. Simultaneously, this paper raises issue with a previous comment which suggested that disabled people and eugenics are a form of ‘emotive rhetoric’. On the contrary, this paper asserts that the link between eugenics and disability cannot be overstated, and is a significant moment in history where the lived experiences of disabled people – people described as having ‘learning difficulties’, surviving artefacts, and recorded testimonies – have still yet to be explored.     

Hopeless Cases: Queer Chronicities and Gertrude Stein’s “Melanctha”

ABSTRACT

For this contribution to the special issue on “Mapping Queer Bioethics,” the author offers a reflection on the nature of the literary, written word as the ethically fraught site of queer bioethics. By invoking the historical tendencies and tropes of the clinical case history alongside a seminal text by Gertrude Stein, the author at once asks if we should liberate a queer bioethics from biomedical discourse via mainstream narrative; or if we should see this strategy as unavoidably housed in narrative forms of storytelling because it echoes the tropes and stakes of the clinical, pathologized case history as regards queer sensibilities.