Preface (1999) Preface (1990) 1. Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire I. 'Women' as the Subject of Feminism II. The Compulsory Order of Sex/Gender/Desire III. Gender: The Circular Ruins of Contemporary Debate IV. Theorizing the Binary, the Unitary and Beyond V. Identity, Sex and the Metaphysics of Substance VI. Language, Power and the Strategies of Displacement 2. Prohibition, Psychoanalysis, and the Production of the Heterosexual Matrix I. Structuralism's Critical Exchange II. Lacan, Riviere, and the Strategies of Masquerade III. Freud and the Melancholia of Gender IV. Gender Complexity and the Limits of Identification V. Reformulating Prohibition as Power 3. Subversive Bodily Acts I. The Body Politics of Julia Kristeva II. Foucault, Herculine, and the Politics of Sexual Discontinuity III. Monique Wittig - Bodily Disintegration and Fictive Sex IV. Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions Conclusion - From Parody to Politics

Postmodern Subjects, Postmodern BodiesThinking Fragments: Psychoanalysis, Feminism, and Postmodernism in the Contemporary WestYearning: Race, Gender, and Cultural PoliticsGender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity

This paper attempts to deconstruct the free speech defense of the publications of cartoons offensive to many Muslims in Denmark and elsewhere in Europe in order to highlight the deep philosophical tensions between the characterizations of religion and race, between free speech and hate speech, and between the freedoms of expression and of religion. A scrutiny of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (“ECtHR”) reveals the difficulties inherent in defining permissible limits on expression, particularly as it involves the identification and prioritization of interests that are worthy of protection under a state's law. The struggles over the characterization of certain interests as fundamental rights, in turn, raise questions over the ‘fundamental-ness' of rights and the valuation of foundational social and political values that the rhetoric of rights presumes as incontrovertible. This study seeks to advance the argument that fundamental rights, such as the freedom of expression, are legal constructs whose value is contingent on the ends they are employed to serve in a given socio-political environment. While the contingency of fundamental rights is palpable in debates over their definition and over what they include or exclude, it is most clearly visible in the clash of fundamental rights, in particular the freedoms of expression and religion.

The Fundamentalism of Liberal Rights: Decoding the Freedom of Expression Under the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms

Second, communication within the audience segments is repeatedly acknowledged as the basis of transformation of labeled sets into classes, types into categories, and concepts into forms. One needs to clarify this communication process, describe it, and understand it. Prior ecological works presumed that the classification task was incumbent to the observer, raising questions about the validity, existence, and durability of the categories and forms (e.g., Durand 2006). Undoubtedly, the formalization of diverse audiences’ comparative categorization proposed in the book represents a major reconceptualization, but the societal hierarchies, verticalities, and conflicts need to be part of the communication basis. Third, although the fourth part of the book deals with organizational change, loyal to the core assumptions of ecology theory, the organizations and their spokespersons do not seem able to influence the evolution of the fields, industries, or populations. Organizations hardly possess intentions, governance characteristics, or market and non-market resources to do better than adapt a multimeaning multi-audience reality, to wit to shape, carve, and influence the very selection criteria that rule the fields where they operate. Finally, more than the possibility of categorization, the ontological nature of forms and population is a question looming around the entire population ecology story, old and new style. Yesterday imposed by the ecologist as erudite observer, today forms and populations are “decentralized” to audiences. This displacement fills a caveat of the former version of population ecology. The next question worth investigation nevertheless lies in the epistemological nature and ontological status of concepts, categories, forms, and populations. Does the linguistic turn of organizational ecology open the Pandora’s box for a neo-constructivism, a post-realism about forms and populations? Organizational ecologists have long avoided the too-human considerations of politics and ideologies. However, the decentralization of categorization processes, the evanescence of group membership, and the importance given to (social and cultural) codes imply that beliefs, causal associations, and discursive elaboration are to integrate the newly refounded ecological corpus. Overall, I applaud the conceptual details, thorough definitions, and meticulous demonstrations of this book. Readers of the book will appreciate differently this new theorization of known themes, from full acceptance to some resistance. One may regret certain minimal or backhanded references to extant literature (in particular on social categorization, status construction, and organizational identity). One may reject premises (having a more political theory of legitimacy, a more controversial social positioning of audiences, and a more classificatory argument of audiences’ habitus). But everyone can make up their mind by reading and appreciating the conceptual qualities of this book.

Rethinking ExpertiseRethinking Expertise, by CollinsHarry and EvansRobert. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. 159 pp. $37.50 cloth. 0226113604.

Rethinking Informed Consent in Bioethics

Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran, by Ziba Mir-Hosseini. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1999. xx + 305 pages. Bibl. to p. Index to p. $55 cloth; $18.95 paper. Ziba Mir-Hosseini has produced a well-informed book, based largely on her discussions a few years ago with involved ulama (notables) in Qom, concerning their positions on questions of women and gender. Some of the book, quoting or summarizing her discussions with representative conservative or liberal ulama, may be of interest mainly to those who wish to follow these developments closely; however, Mir-Hosseini's introduction and her discussion of the very different reformers, `Abdolkarim Soroush and the cleric Mohsen Sa`idzadeh, should interest anyone concerned with the process of change in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has been most dramatic in the sphere of gender relations. As part of the discussion of Soroush, Mir-Hosseini translates the widely-accepted sayings and writings of Imam `Ali, Nahj al-Balagha, indicating from what traditions Shi`a reformers must start in gender reform (similar things are found in Sunnism): "Women are deficient in Faith, deficient in shares and deficient in intelligence...So beware of the evils of women. Be on your guard from those of them who are (reportedly) good. Do not obey them even in good things so that they may not attract you to evils" (p. 221). In the same work, `Ali is cited as writing to his son, the future Imam, "Do not consult women because their view is weak and their determination is unstable...If you can manage that they should not know anyone other than [you,] do so..." (p. 223). Starting from such concepts, from a few Qur'anic verses that favor men, and from a long legal tradition that favors men even more, the road of reformers who wish to move toward greater gender equality is a difficult one. Mir-Hosseini recognizes that the role of the Mama and of Islamically-oriented males is only one thread in the changing perception of women's roles and rights that has occurred since the 1979 revolution, but she knows that this thread has been underreported as compared to women's writings and activities and actual reform achievements, and she successfully fills in this gap. Mir-Hosseini's discussions lead her and her reader to see that even many of the apparently traditional ulama have been influenced by women's struggles and by their public and political role to put women on their agenda in ways they never were before, and to write about women in new ways. For the moderate Islamic reformers, the writings of the late Ayatollah Motahhari remain a touchstone, but several have expanded on his words in ways that recognize women's roles and rights more than did earlier writings by ulama, if still far from any idea of gender equality. Mir-Hosseini found that, to discuss such matters with ulama, she had to learn much more than she knew about Islamic law, or fiqh, and she appears to think that such knowledge of fiqh is very important for further advancing women's rights in the Islamic republic. …

Islam and Gender: The Religious Debate in Contemporary Iran

Biobanks have evolved, and their governance procedures have undergone important transformations. Our paper examines this issue by focusing on the perspective of the professionals working in management or scientific roles in research-based biobanks, who have an important impact on shaping these transformations. In particular, it highlights that recent advances in molecular medicine and genomic research have raised a range of ethical, legal and societal implications (ELSI) related to biobank-based research, impacting directly on regulations and local practices of informed consent (IC), private-public partnerships (PPPs), and engagement of participants. In our study, we investigate the ways that these concerns influence biobanking practices and assess the level of satisfaction of the cross-national biobanking research communities with the ELSI related procedures that are currently in place. We conducted an online survey among biobankers and researchers to investigate secondary use of data, informing and/or re-contacting participants, sharing of data with third parties from industry, participant engagement, and collaboration with industrial partners. Findings highlight the need for a more inclusive and transparent biobanking practice where biobanks are seen in a more active role in providing information and communicating with participants; the need to improve the current IC procedures and the role of biobanks in sharing of samples and data with industry partners and different countries, and the need for practical, tangible and hands-on ethical and legal guidance.

https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/bitstream/123456789/51119/1/Data_in_question_a_survey_of_European_biobank_professionals_on_ethical_legal_and_societal_challenges_of_biobank_research_2019.pdf

Data in question: A survey of European biobank professionals on ethical, legal and societal challenges of biobank research.

While there is consensus on the essential importance of public engagement in further developments of biobanking, the related investigation of public views predominantly focused on the concerns expressed by the publics, and the concrete format of public engagement, without delving into the ways these concerns are constituted. In this paper, we synthetize recent research on public engagement in order to describe the constitution of respective concerns as ‘engagement of knowledges’. By shifting from ‘publics’ to ‘knowledges’, we draw attention to the interaction dynamic through which citizens embed the new knowledge they receive during expert interactions into the stock of knowledge they already possess. Analyzing our recent investigation of public views on biobanking in the form of citizen-expert panels (CEPs) in the Austrian infrastructure of biobanks (BBMRI.at), we trace this dynamic through citizens’ recurrent concerns that the research and consent practices related to biobanking should be “appropriate”.

From engaging publics to engaging knowledges: Enacting "appropriateness" in the Austrian biobank infrastructure.

With the advance of genomics, specific individual conditions have received increased attention in the generation of scientific knowledge. This spans the extremes of the aim of curing genetic diseases and identifying the biological basis of social behaviour. In this development, the ways knowledge is produced have gained significant relevance, as the data-intensive search for biology/sociality associations has repercussions on doing social research and on theory. This article argues that an in-depth discussion and critical reflection on the social configurations that are inscribed in, and reproduced by genomic data-intensive research is urgently needed. This is illustrated by debating a recent case: a large-scale genome-wide association study (GWAS) on sexual orientation that suggested partial genetic basis for same-sex sexual behaviour (Ganna et al. 2019b). This case is analysed from three angles: (1) the demonstration of how, in the process of genomics research, societal relations, understandings and categorizations are used and inscribed into social phenomena and outcomes; (2) the exploration of the ways that the (big) data-driven research is constituted by increasingly moving away from theory and methodological generation of theoretical concepts that foster the understanding of societal contexts and relations (Kitchin 2014a). Big Data Soc and (3) the demonstration of how the assumption of ‘free from theory’ in this case does not mean free of choices made, which are themselves restricted by data that are available. In questioning how key sociological categories are incorporated in a wider scientific debate on genetic conditions and knowledge production, the article shows how underlying classification and categorizations, which are inherently social in their production, can have wide ranging implications. The conclusion cautions against the marginalization of social science in the wake of developments in data-driven research that neglect social theory, established methodology and the contextual relevance of the social environment.

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Moving back to the future of big data-driven research: reflecting on the social in genomics

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being applied in medicine to improve healthcare and advance health equity. The application of AI-based technologies in radiology is expected to improve diagnostic performance by increasing accuracy and simplifying personalized decision-making. While this technology has the potential to improve health services, many ethical and societal implications need to be carefully considered to avoid harmful consequences for individuals and groups, especially for the most vulnerable populations. Therefore, several questions are raised, including (1) what types of ethical issues are raised by the use of AI in medicine and biomedical research, and (2) how are these issues being tackled in radiology, especially in the case of breast cancer? To answer these questions, a systematic review of the academic literature was conducted. Searches were performed in five electronic databases to identify peer-reviewed articles published since 2017 on the topic of the ethics of AI in radiology. The review results show that the discourse has mainly addressed expectations and challenges associated with medical AI, and in particular bias and black box issues, and that various guiding principles have been suggested to ensure ethical AI. We found that several ethical and societal implications of AI use remain underexplored, and more attention needs to be paid to addressing potential discriminatory effects and injustices. We conclude with a critical reflection on these issues and the identified gaps in the discourse from a philosophical and STS perspective, underlining the need to integrate a social science perspective in AI developments in radiology in the future.

Melanie Goisauf

Papers

Data in question: A survey of European biobank professionals on ethical, legal and societal challenges of biobank research.

From engaging publics to engaging knowledges: Enacting "appropriateness" in the Austrian biobank infrastructure.

Moving back to the future of big data-driven research: reflecting on the social in genomics

Ethics of AI in Radiology: A Review of Ethical and Societal Implications

Situationsbericht & Empfehlungskatalog: Zwangsverheiratung und arrangierte Ehen in Österreich mit besonderer Berücksichtigung Wiens