Politics of the Life Sciences in an ‘Age of Biological Control’

VITAL POLITICS III
The Politics of the Life Sciences in an ‘Age of Biological Control’
6-18 September 2009
London School of Economics and Political Science
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/BIOS/vital_politicsIII.htm

CALL FOR PAPERS
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The BIOS Centre for the Study of Bioscience, Biomedicine, Biotechnology and Society is organizing an international conference on 16-18 September 2009 at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The aim of the conference is to provide a comparative and global perspective on present forms of practice in the life sciences. The Organizing Committee welcomes proposals for individual papers which seek to make empirically based and conceptually innovative contributions to the exploration of the character and genealogy of transformations in health, illness, vitality, pathology and politics.  We particularly welcome papers that relate to the themes below, however we are also happy to consider contributions which address the topic of the conference but may not align with these themes.

Biological Citizenship in a Global Political Economy
This theme includes biosocial identities and solidarities at the global scale, especially relating to global health inequalities or orphan diseases; the sustainable and democratic governance of the life sciences, and the challenges of public policy making in conditions of uncertainty; the impact of these policies on the formation (and transformation) of biological citizenships, in particular relating to identity, gender, or ethnicity; analyses of the pharmaceutical industry, its management and regulation in a globalized world.

Identities & Power in a Neuro-Age
This theme includes explorations of the ways in which recent developments in neuroscience such as psychiatric genetics, psychopharmacology, neuroimaging and other brain technologies are changing power dynamics between state, industry, expertise and consumers, patients, children, parents, employees and offenders; analyses of the role of neuro-expertise, the problems of uncertainty and strategies of risk assessment in the context of regulation and control of the neuro-technologies and the rise of ‘neuro-markets’; examinations of the impact of neuroscience on categorization in psychiatric disorders, and on shifting patterns in ‘normalcy’ and ‘pathology’. 

Biopolitics in an Age of Regenerative & Synthetic Technologies
This theme includes explorations of politics and ethics in relation to synthetic biology and regenerative medicine; research on the ways in which developments in these areas are changing conceptions of self, identity and embodiment; analyses of the political and ethical frameworks guiding biomedical research and interventions in the ‘age of regeneration’ and in the light of concerns about biosecurity; research on the socio-political and ethical aspects related to biosecurity, bioengineering and the markets for DNA, tissues, organs and other synthetic devices.

Please submit abstracts (250-300 words) by e-mail to
Deadline for abstract submissions: 1 December 2008
For further information:
http://www.lse.ac.uk/collections/BIOS/vital_politicsIII.htm