The Cryopolitics of Reproduction on Ice: A New Scandinavian Ice Age

Charlotte Kroløkke
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Thomas Søbirk Petersen
University of Roskilde, Denmark

Janne Rothmar Herrmann
University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Anna Sofie Bach
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

Stine Willum Adrian
Aalborg University, Denmark

Rune Klingenberg
University of Roskilde, Denmark

Michael Nebeling Petersen
University of Southern Denmark, Denmark


Product Details
Format:
Hardback
ISBN:
9781838670436
Published:
Publisher:
Emerald Publishing Limited
Dimensions:
192 pages - 152 x 229mm
Series:
Emerald Studies in Reproduction, Culture and Society
List price £72.99 List price €82.99 List price $104.99
Categories:
Reproduction has entered a new ice age: the ability to cryopreserve reproductive cells, tissue and embryos are fundamentally changing our understanding of what it means to be a reproductive citizen. This book explores the ways in which visions of desirable reproductive futures entangle with advances in freezing technologies, with the authors situating their discussions of cryo-fertility within the Scandinavian region, asking: 

• How does cryopreservation help mobilize particular understandings of reproductive time, reproductive rights and reproductive autonomy?  
• What values are embedded within Scandinavian laws that seek to regulate cryo-technologies?  
• How are frozen states enacted in clinical settings and how do the women and men who freeze imagine the preservation of reproductive parts? 

These questions demand a collaborative approach. The authors empirically cut across the arenas of bioethics/law, practices/experiences, and culture/commerce in order to pin down often complex and far-reaching answers.

Introduction 
Chapter 1. the Market in Ice 
Chapter 2. Disease: On the Use of Freezing on Medical Indication 
Chapter 3. Delay: On the Use of Freezing for Non-Medical Reasons 
Chapter 4. Death and Destruction 
Chapter 5. Disturb Conclusion
Charlotte Kroløkke is Professor with Special Responsibilities in Cultural Analyses of Reproduction in the Department for the Study of Culture at the University of Southern Denmark.  
Thomas Søbirk Petersen is Professor with Special Responsibilities of Ethics at Roskilde University.  
Janne Rothmar Herrmann is Professor with Special Responsibilities in Health Law and Technology at the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen. 
Anna Sofie Bach is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department for the Study of Culture at the University of Southern Denmark. 
Stine Willum Adrianis an Associate Professor in Techno-Anthropology at Aalborg University. 
Rune Klingenberg is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Communication and Arts at Roskilde University. 
Michael Nebeling Petersen is Associate Professor at the Department for the Study of Culture, University of Southern Denmark.
‘If cryopolitics is defined as the harnessing of low temperature to make live and not let die, then a cryopolitical analysis must account for its role transforming reproduction—human and otherwise. The Cryopolitics of Reproduction on Ice represents a landmark contribution to this project. The authors draw on recent critical theory to examine how such transformations have unfolded in Scandinavia. In doing so, they reveal how legal notions of the family shape and are shaped by this new ice age.’ - Joanna Radin, Associate Professor, Section of the History of Medicine, Yale

'The Cryopolitics of Reproduction on Ice offers a brilliant and empirically rich account of how the cryopreservation of reproductive material in Scandinavian countries (and beyond) is entangled with social imaginaries, moral expectations and gendered narratives. Engaging in a truly interdisciplinary dialogue that brings together feminist theory, cultural studies, medical sociology, science and technology studies, reproductive law and applied ethics, the book is an essential contribution to critically investigate current cryopolitical regimes.' - Thomas Lemke, Professor of Sociology with Focus on Biotechnologies, Nature and Society, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany

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