Public Feminism in Times of Crisis
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this week's review uncovers the connections between present and past displays of public feminism.
Posted on in Review of the Week
Engineering Perfection
Happy Disability Pride Month! This week's review critiques the commercialization of "perfectionist technologies," instead embracing bodily diversity and human vulnerability.
Posted on July 11, 2022 in Review of the Week
Engineering Perfection: Solidarity, Disability, and Well-being
Purcell, Elyse. Lexington Books, 2021
196p bibl index, 9781793624116 $95.00, 9781793624123 $45.00
Advances in medical technologies appear to offer new opportunities for improving the human condition—especially for future generations. Purcell (SUNY Oneonta) explains how the notion that such technologies are tools that can protect humans from vulnerability is not only mistaken but also harmful. Framing her discussion within the context of her experience with fertility treatments and the process of adoption, Purcell provides an insightful critique of the commercialized and economic distortions affecting notions of the quality of life and what people owe one another and their children. The chapters focus consecutively on five dimensions of human vulnerability: aging, illness, death, misfortune, and suffering. In response to the aspirations of perfectionist technologies to eliminate human fragility, Purcell argues for a reconceptualization of quality of life in terms of respect for diversity, relational authenticity, empowered self-direction, and mutual recognition. Thus, achieving well-being for future generations needs more than the mere application of technology, requiring a reworking of society toward humility and mutual respect. Purcell’s style is clear and engaging, and her argument is not only cogent and persuasive but also an important call for reflection as current scientific developments threaten to outpace the human capacity for moral understanding.
Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.
Reviewer: C.D. Kay, emeritus, Wofford College
Subject: Science & Technology
Choice Issue: Jun 2022
Enjoy this week’s review? Check out more reviews of related titles:
- The Business of Birth: Malpractice and Maternity Care in the United States
- Trans Medicine: The Emergence and Practice of Treating Gender
- How People Matter: Why it Affects Health, Happiness, Love, Work, and Society
- Black Aliveness, or A Poetics of Being
- Think Least of Death: Spinoza on How to Live and How to Die
Related Posts
-
-
Counter-narratives of Muslim American Women
Examining the prevalence of Islamophobia in education, this week's review "underscores the need for MusCrit" as a subset of critical race theory
Posted on in Review of the Week
-
Spinsters, Widows and Chars
Catch the Oscars last night? This week's review analyzes how aging women are depicted in British cinema.
Posted on in Review of the Week
-
Women, Subalterns, and Ecologies in South and Southeast Asian Women’s Fiction
Happy Women's History Month! This week's review analyzes South and Southeast Asian women's fiction, uncovering the "relationships between the human, animal, and nonhuman in the face of eco-disasters and climate crises."
Posted on in Review of the Week