B. Simpson - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by B. Simpson

The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1997

One of the main objectives of this article is to explore local responses to these changes in the ... more One of the main objectives of this article is to explore local responses to these changes in the creative and performative dimensions of community life and identity It is thus, at one level, an essay on the dynamics of social and cultural change, an attempt to get to grips with a ...

American Anthropologist, 2002

Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China. Cai Hua. Translated by Asti Hustvedt. New Y... more Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China. Cai Hua. Translated by Asti Hustvedt. New York: Zone Books, 2002. 506 pp.

HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 2017

In the United States, the “common law,” that regulates ethics review is being overhauled. We ask ... more In the United States, the “common law,” that regulates ethics review is being overhauled. We ask how UK University Research Ethics Committees (U-RECs), following the American model, have been able to shape social-science research without much commotion, and whether it is time for change.Despite the misbehavior of some ethnographic researchers, most social science research is valued for and motivated by its expert engagement with moral questions regarding discrimination, unfairness, exploitation, and so on, at home and abroad: knowledge of and sensitivity to the complexities around the violation of socio-economic, political, and cultural norms and values are carried high in the social science banner. Yet, since the 1990s, social science research projects in the Anglo-American world have increasingly entrusted research ethics to the scrutiny of U-RECs.This ethical delegation gives a mandate to U-RECs, often without suitable expertise, to vet research projects in a bureaucratic and tim...

Ethnos, 2011

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2004

The ethical concerns generated by transactions in human tissue touch on fundamental ideas of the ... more The ethical concerns generated by transactions in human tissue touch on fundamental ideas of the body, society, and the nature of giving. These issues have generally been discussed using Euro-American terms of reference. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Sri Lanka, this article describes the ways in which a distinctively Theravada Buddhist notion of giving and charity has been linked to the development of strategies to encourage the donation of human tissue. Eye and blood donation are used as illustrations of the linkages that have been forged between religious duty, other-wordly aspirations, and nationalist sentiment in the development of national donation services. The key question which is then addressed is how these distinctive beliefs and values inform attempts to frame donations of sperm and ova which are now beginning to take place in Sri Lanka. In religious and cultural terms the candidacy of sperm and ova as gifts appears to be evaluated very differently. Explaining these differences opens up the possibility of a more thoroughgoing anthropological critique of bioethics and the manner of its diffusion both within and beyond the Euro-American context. In his 1986 Malinowski lecture,Jonathan Parry (1986) made some insightful observations regarding Mauss's seminal account of the gift in human society. The first of these was Parry's suggestion of an intellectual archaeology in which Mauss's inspiration for the 'spirit of the gift' is linked explicitly to South Asian sources (1986: 486). The second was his attempt to unearth an evolutionary model, implicit in Mauss, which contrasts giving in tribal religions with giving in world religions and developed economies. In the latter, the idea of pure, unreciprocated, and unreciprocatable gifts is consonant with salvation strategies in which the giver benefits in terms of'unseen fruits' (1986: 462). These ideas were subsequently carried further forward in Laidlaw's reevaluation of the significance of the 'free gift'; this work challenges the proposition that acts which do not appear to extend social relations are of no interest to anthropologists (Laidlaw 2000). These observations have provided important refinements in attempts to theorize the wide-ranging objects, connections, and intentions which are to be found under the umbrella of'the gift'. This article has two main aims. First, I wish to reinforce the observations made by Parry and Laidlaw regarding the importance of South Asian conceptions of giving in our attempts to understand Mauss's ambitious, inspiring, but ultimately partial theorizations of the place of the 'gift' in human society. My focus here are the beliefs and practices of Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Second, and more importantly, I wish to extend these insights to the growing ? Royal Anthropological Institute 2004.

New Genetics and Society, 2005

To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advan... more To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advances in reproductive and genetic technology outside of Europe and North America. This article reports on a survey carried out among doctors (n ¼ 278) and medical students (n ¼ 1256) in Sri Lanka to find out more about their responses to novel interventions in human reproduction such as In-Vitro Fertilization, Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis and genetic engineering. In the first part of the paper comparisons are drawn between this survey and a survey carried out in 1985 which also considered issues surrounding amniocentesis and therapeutic termination. The second part of the paper deals with more recent developments. The analysis reveals high levels of support for the use of new technologies in treating infertility and identifying genetic disorders. However, differences are apparent among the major religious communities represented in the sample and these are particularly in evidence in relation to prenatal genetic diagnosis. An important theme throughout both surveys is the continuing tension surrounding State policy on termination of pregnancy and the implications this has for the development of screening and counseling services where genetic disorders are concerned.

The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003

The Back Pages contents viewpoint 658 news Ljubly Ljubljana WONCA Europe, Slovenia. 659 flora med... more The Back Pages contents viewpoint 658 news Ljubly Ljubljana WONCA Europe, Slovenia. 659 flora medica ... the journals in June 660 postcards What is a father? Bob Simpson 662 essay Practice, supervision, consultancy and appraisal: a continuum of learning John Launer With commentaries by Mike Pringle, Eileen Hutton 666 digest and reflection Macnaughton on Domain Field Gordon on Carol Shield's Unless Schatzberger at Cruel and Tender Heath on a great Slovene, plus hannay on The end of general practice 670 matters arising June UK Council 671 diary plus goodman in Scotland 672 our contributors plus willis on the PolyPill® Reconciling the head and the heart 'I UNDERSTAND all that, but he's such a dear little chap'-the typical reaction of an intelligent father who has read the evidence on the safety and efficacy of the combined MMR vaccine, but then looks at his baby and finds his courage has deserted him. How can this impasse between the head and the heart, intellect and emotion be resolved? Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measured in the same units. No amount of logical argument, data and expert opinion will touch the heart, any more than tears, pleading and emotive headlines will change Department of Health (DoH) policy or convince researchers that 'there must be something in it because there's no smoke without fire'. Information goes to the head for intellectual consideration. Information there must be and information about the MMR vaccine there is aplenty, including leaflets, websites, packs for parents and telephone helplines. But information is not enough. I have watched parents in postnatal groups absorbing the video made by Health Promotion England and I have concluded that a video is a talking leaflet. At the end, the questions the parents ask me have just been answered on the tape. Their heads have all the information they need to understand that the MMR vaccine is safe, but they are not really asking for more information. They want something extra that goes to their hearts to give them the confidence to believe in what they have just heard. Where does confidence come from? Confidence comes when both the head and heart are in accord. Providing fodder for the head is relatively simple, but how can the heart be won over? I believe that this is achieved when we talk to someone we trust, either because we know them or can identify with them. People who are ill-informed, who hesitate or fudge their words, do not inspire confidence, even if we know them well. People we don't know, or who we can't identify with, although they may be knowledgeable, give facts but not feelings. To transmit confidence, both elements-information (for the head) and trust (for the heart)-must be present.

Ceylon Medical Journal, 2011

Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Survey... more Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Surveys conducted in Sri Lanka among doctors and medical students in 1986 supported a change in law in favour of pregnancy termination when gross genetic defects are detected antenatally. A new generation of prenatal tests has focused attention again on the topic of termination and under what circumstances it might be legally done. The present survey contributes to the debate by means of a survey of doctors and medical students. Method A self-administered questionnaire given to doctors and medical students. Results Ninety three per cent of doctors and 81% of students accept pregnancy termination as an appropriate course of action if a gross genetic defect is detected antenatally, and 87% of doctors and 80% of students support a change in the law to allow termination of the pregnancy. The corresponding figures in previous surveys were 80%, 69% and 96%, 88% respectively. Conclusions A majority of doctors and medical students support a change in law in favour of liberalising pregnancy termination when a genetic defect is detected antenatally.

Anthropology Today, 2009

... RAI: Hilary Callan Editor: Gustaaf Houtman Editorial Consultant: Sean Kingston Sub-Editor: Ra... more ... RAI: Hilary Callan Editor: Gustaaf Houtman Editorial Consultant: Sean Kingston Sub-Editor: Rachel Gomme Artist consultant: Sean Weisgerber Design ... Meierhenrich 13 The transformation of lieux de mémoire: The Nyabarongo River in Rwanda, 1992-2009 Akbar Ahmed and ...

Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Survey... more Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Surveys conducted in Sri Lanka among doctors and medical students in 1986 supported a change in law in favour of pregnancy termination when gross genetic defects are detected antenatally. A new generation of prenatal tests has focused attention again on the topic of termination and under what circumstances it might be legally done. The present survey contributes to the debate by means of a survey of doctors and medical students. Method A self-administered questionnaire given to doctors and medical students. Results Ninety three per cent of doctors and 81% of students accept pregnancy termination as an appropriate course of action if a gross genetic defect is detected antenatally, and 87% of doctors and 80% of students support a change in the law to allow termination of the pregnancy. The corresponding figures in previous surveys were 80%, 69% and 96%, 88% respectively. Conclusions A majority of doctors and medical students support a change in law in favour of liberalising pregnancy termination when a genetic defect is detected antenatally.

The British Journal of General Practice, 2003

Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measu... more Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measured in the same units. No amount of logical argument, data and expert opinion will touch the heart, any more than tears, pleading and emotive headlines will change Department of ...

Body & Society, 2009

Blood is now essential for a widening repertoire of therapies and with this comes new forms of re... more Blood is now essential for a widening repertoire of therapies and with this comes new forms of regulation and governmentality focused on the collection, use and storage of blood. Here blood begins to lose its 'natural' underpinnings as it is drawn into the realms of the ...

Insecure Times: Living with Insecurity in Contemporary …, 1999

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1997

The idea of the nuclear family household has provided a central theme in academic as well as popu... more The idea of the nuclear family household has provided a central theme in academic as well as popular thinking about society and personal relationships in Western industrialized societies. The nuclear family itself is often characterized, to borrow Lasch's classic ...

Colombo SRI LANKA Address for correspondence: email: robert.simpson@durham.ac.uk, in recent decad... more Colombo SRI LANKA Address for correspondence: email: robert.simpson@durham.ac.uk, in recent decades, research in the biomedical sciences has been increasingly located in settings outside of the global north (1). Much of this research arises out of transnational collaborations made up of sponsors in richer countries (pharmaceutical industries, aid agencies, charitable trusts) and researchers and research subjects in poorer ones. A recent workshop on the ethics of international collaboration, held in Sri Lanka,* confirmed that in addition to the usual concerns about the protection of human subjects in biomedical research, these engagements raise a host of new ones.

The global spread of clinical trials activity is accompanied by a parallel growth in research gov... more The global spread of clinical trials activity is accompanied by a parallel growth in research governance and human subject protection. In this paper we analyse how dominant ideas of the 'human subject' in clinical trials are played out in countries that are deemed to be scientifically underdeveloped. Specifically , we show how rhetorics of individualism, rationality and autonomy implicit in international ethical guidelines governing human subject research are operationalised and localised. We give insights into the ways in which new knowledge forms become embedded in practice. Using the recent upsurge in clinical trials in Sri Lanka as a case study, based on interviews with 23 doctors and researchers carried out during ethnographic fieldwork between 2008-2009, this article explores the tensions that arise for doctors involved with the promotion of bioethics and the attempts to bring local research governance up to international standards. The doctors and researchers intercept, interpret and critique the notions of human subject implicit in new forms of research governance. From their accounts we have identified two concerns. The first is a critique of dominant ideas of the 'human subject' that is informed by ideas of patiency rooted in paternalistic notions of the doctor-patient relationship. Second, 'human subjects' are seen as gendered, and located within family relationships. Both of these bring into question the research subjects' ability to give informed consent and compromise the ideal of an autonomous subject.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Social Science & Medicine, 2014

Ethical review by expert committee continues to be the first line of defence when it comes to pro... more Ethical review by expert committee continues to be the first line of defence when it comes to protecting human subjects recruited into clinical trials. Drawing on a large scale study of biomedical experimentation across South Asia, and specifically on interviews with 24 ethical review committee [ERC] members across India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, this article identifies some of the tensions that emerge for ERC members as the capacity to conduct credible ethical review of clinical trials is developed across the region. The article draws attention to fundamental issues of scope and authority in the operation of ethical review. On the one hand, ERC members experience a powerful pull towards harmonisation and a strong alignment with international standards deemed necessary for the global pharmaceutical assemblage to consolidate and extend. On the other hand, they must deal with what is in effect the double jeopardy of ethical review in developing world contexts. ERC members must undertake review but are frequently made aware of their responsibility to protect interests that go beyond the 'human subject' and into the realms of development and national interest [for example, in relation to literacy and informed consent]. These dilemmas are indicative of broader questions about where ethical review sits in institutional terms and how it might develop to best ensure improved human subject protection given growth of industry-led research.

New Genetics and Society, 2005

To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advan... more To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advances in reproductive and genetic technology outside Europe and North America. This article reports on a survey carried out among doctors (n=278) and medical students (n=1256) in Sri Lanka to find out more about their responses to novel interventions in human reproduction such as In-Vitro Fertilization, Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis and genetic engineering. In the first part of the paper comparisons are drawn between this survey and a survey carried out in 1985 which also considered issues surrounding amniocentesis and therapeutic termination. The second part of the paper deals with more recent developments. The analysis reveals high levels of support for the use of new technologies in treating infertility and identifying genetic disorders. However, differences are apparent among the major religious communities represented in the sample and these are particularly in evidence in relation to prenatal genetic diagnosis. An important theme throughout both surveys is the continuing tension surrounding State policy and termination of pregnancy and the implications this has for the development of screening and counseling services where genetic disorders are concerned.

The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1997

One of the main objectives of this article is to explore local responses to these changes in the ... more One of the main objectives of this article is to explore local responses to these changes in the creative and performative dimensions of community life and identity It is thus, at one level, an essay on the dynamics of social and cultural change, an attempt to get to grips with a ...

American Anthropologist, 2002

Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China. Cai Hua. Translated by Asti Hustvedt. New Y... more Society without Fathers or Husbands: The Na of China. Cai Hua. Translated by Asti Hustvedt. New York: Zone Books, 2002. 506 pp.

HAU: Journal of Ethnographic Theory, 2017

In the United States, the “common law,” that regulates ethics review is being overhauled. We ask ... more In the United States, the “common law,” that regulates ethics review is being overhauled. We ask how UK University Research Ethics Committees (U-RECs), following the American model, have been able to shape social-science research without much commotion, and whether it is time for change.Despite the misbehavior of some ethnographic researchers, most social science research is valued for and motivated by its expert engagement with moral questions regarding discrimination, unfairness, exploitation, and so on, at home and abroad: knowledge of and sensitivity to the complexities around the violation of socio-economic, political, and cultural norms and values are carried high in the social science banner. Yet, since the 1990s, social science research projects in the Anglo-American world have increasingly entrusted research ethics to the scrutiny of U-RECs.This ethical delegation gives a mandate to U-RECs, often without suitable expertise, to vet research projects in a bureaucratic and tim...

Ethnos, 2011

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, ... more The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 2004

The ethical concerns generated by transactions in human tissue touch on fundamental ideas of the ... more The ethical concerns generated by transactions in human tissue touch on fundamental ideas of the body, society, and the nature of giving. These issues have generally been discussed using Euro-American terms of reference. Drawing on fieldwork carried out in Sri Lanka, this article describes the ways in which a distinctively Theravada Buddhist notion of giving and charity has been linked to the development of strategies to encourage the donation of human tissue. Eye and blood donation are used as illustrations of the linkages that have been forged between religious duty, other-wordly aspirations, and nationalist sentiment in the development of national donation services. The key question which is then addressed is how these distinctive beliefs and values inform attempts to frame donations of sperm and ova which are now beginning to take place in Sri Lanka. In religious and cultural terms the candidacy of sperm and ova as gifts appears to be evaluated very differently. Explaining these differences opens up the possibility of a more thoroughgoing anthropological critique of bioethics and the manner of its diffusion both within and beyond the Euro-American context. In his 1986 Malinowski lecture,Jonathan Parry (1986) made some insightful observations regarding Mauss's seminal account of the gift in human society. The first of these was Parry's suggestion of an intellectual archaeology in which Mauss's inspiration for the 'spirit of the gift' is linked explicitly to South Asian sources (1986: 486). The second was his attempt to unearth an evolutionary model, implicit in Mauss, which contrasts giving in tribal religions with giving in world religions and developed economies. In the latter, the idea of pure, unreciprocated, and unreciprocatable gifts is consonant with salvation strategies in which the giver benefits in terms of'unseen fruits' (1986: 462). These ideas were subsequently carried further forward in Laidlaw's reevaluation of the significance of the 'free gift'; this work challenges the proposition that acts which do not appear to extend social relations are of no interest to anthropologists (Laidlaw 2000). These observations have provided important refinements in attempts to theorize the wide-ranging objects, connections, and intentions which are to be found under the umbrella of'the gift'. This article has two main aims. First, I wish to reinforce the observations made by Parry and Laidlaw regarding the importance of South Asian conceptions of giving in our attempts to understand Mauss's ambitious, inspiring, but ultimately partial theorizations of the place of the 'gift' in human society. My focus here are the beliefs and practices of Theravada Buddhists in Sri Lanka. Second, and more importantly, I wish to extend these insights to the growing ? Royal Anthropological Institute 2004.

New Genetics and Society, 2005

To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advan... more To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advances in reproductive and genetic technology outside of Europe and North America. This article reports on a survey carried out among doctors (n ¼ 278) and medical students (n ¼ 1256) in Sri Lanka to find out more about their responses to novel interventions in human reproduction such as In-Vitro Fertilization, Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis and genetic engineering. In the first part of the paper comparisons are drawn between this survey and a survey carried out in 1985 which also considered issues surrounding amniocentesis and therapeutic termination. The second part of the paper deals with more recent developments. The analysis reveals high levels of support for the use of new technologies in treating infertility and identifying genetic disorders. However, differences are apparent among the major religious communities represented in the sample and these are particularly in evidence in relation to prenatal genetic diagnosis. An important theme throughout both surveys is the continuing tension surrounding State policy on termination of pregnancy and the implications this has for the development of screening and counseling services where genetic disorders are concerned.

The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 2003

The Back Pages contents viewpoint 658 news Ljubly Ljubljana WONCA Europe, Slovenia. 659 flora med... more The Back Pages contents viewpoint 658 news Ljubly Ljubljana WONCA Europe, Slovenia. 659 flora medica ... the journals in June 660 postcards What is a father? Bob Simpson 662 essay Practice, supervision, consultancy and appraisal: a continuum of learning John Launer With commentaries by Mike Pringle, Eileen Hutton 666 digest and reflection Macnaughton on Domain Field Gordon on Carol Shield's Unless Schatzberger at Cruel and Tender Heath on a great Slovene, plus hannay on The end of general practice 670 matters arising June UK Council 671 diary plus goodman in Scotland 672 our contributors plus willis on the PolyPill® Reconciling the head and the heart 'I UNDERSTAND all that, but he's such a dear little chap'-the typical reaction of an intelligent father who has read the evidence on the safety and efficacy of the combined MMR vaccine, but then looks at his baby and finds his courage has deserted him. How can this impasse between the head and the heart, intellect and emotion be resolved? Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measured in the same units. No amount of logical argument, data and expert opinion will touch the heart, any more than tears, pleading and emotive headlines will change Department of Health (DoH) policy or convince researchers that 'there must be something in it because there's no smoke without fire'. Information goes to the head for intellectual consideration. Information there must be and information about the MMR vaccine there is aplenty, including leaflets, websites, packs for parents and telephone helplines. But information is not enough. I have watched parents in postnatal groups absorbing the video made by Health Promotion England and I have concluded that a video is a talking leaflet. At the end, the questions the parents ask me have just been answered on the tape. Their heads have all the information they need to understand that the MMR vaccine is safe, but they are not really asking for more information. They want something extra that goes to their hearts to give them the confidence to believe in what they have just heard. Where does confidence come from? Confidence comes when both the head and heart are in accord. Providing fodder for the head is relatively simple, but how can the heart be won over? I believe that this is achieved when we talk to someone we trust, either because we know them or can identify with them. People who are ill-informed, who hesitate or fudge their words, do not inspire confidence, even if we know them well. People we don't know, or who we can't identify with, although they may be knowledgeable, give facts but not feelings. To transmit confidence, both elements-information (for the head) and trust (for the heart)-must be present.

Ceylon Medical Journal, 2011

Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Survey... more Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Surveys conducted in Sri Lanka among doctors and medical students in 1986 supported a change in law in favour of pregnancy termination when gross genetic defects are detected antenatally. A new generation of prenatal tests has focused attention again on the topic of termination and under what circumstances it might be legally done. The present survey contributes to the debate by means of a survey of doctors and medical students. Method A self-administered questionnaire given to doctors and medical students. Results Ninety three per cent of doctors and 81% of students accept pregnancy termination as an appropriate course of action if a gross genetic defect is detected antenatally, and 87% of doctors and 80% of students support a change in the law to allow termination of the pregnancy. The corresponding figures in previous surveys were 80%, 69% and 96%, 88% respectively. Conclusions A majority of doctors and medical students support a change in law in favour of liberalising pregnancy termination when a genetic defect is detected antenatally.

Anthropology Today, 2009

... RAI: Hilary Callan Editor: Gustaaf Houtman Editorial Consultant: Sean Kingston Sub-Editor: Ra... more ... RAI: Hilary Callan Editor: Gustaaf Houtman Editorial Consultant: Sean Kingston Sub-Editor: Rachel Gomme Artist consultant: Sean Weisgerber Design ... Meierhenrich 13 The transformation of lieux de mémoire: The Nyabarongo River in Rwanda, 1992-2009 Akbar Ahmed and ...

Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Survey... more Introduction Prenatal diagnosis and pregnancy termination generate complex ethical issues. Surveys conducted in Sri Lanka among doctors and medical students in 1986 supported a change in law in favour of pregnancy termination when gross genetic defects are detected antenatally. A new generation of prenatal tests has focused attention again on the topic of termination and under what circumstances it might be legally done. The present survey contributes to the debate by means of a survey of doctors and medical students. Method A self-administered questionnaire given to doctors and medical students. Results Ninety three per cent of doctors and 81% of students accept pregnancy termination as an appropriate course of action if a gross genetic defect is detected antenatally, and 87% of doctors and 80% of students support a change in the law to allow termination of the pregnancy. The corresponding figures in previous surveys were 80%, 69% and 96%, 88% respectively. Conclusions A majority of doctors and medical students support a change in law in favour of liberalising pregnancy termination when a genetic defect is detected antenatally.

The British Journal of General Practice, 2003

Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measu... more Like all dilemmas, the issue boils down to the weighing up of two things that can't be measured in the same units. No amount of logical argument, data and expert opinion will touch the heart, any more than tears, pleading and emotive headlines will change Department of ...

Body & Society, 2009

Blood is now essential for a widening repertoire of therapies and with this comes new forms of re... more Blood is now essential for a widening repertoire of therapies and with this comes new forms of regulation and governmentality focused on the collection, use and storage of blood. Here blood begins to lose its 'natural' underpinnings as it is drawn into the realms of the ...

Insecure Times: Living with Insecurity in Contemporary …, 1999

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1997

The idea of the nuclear family household has provided a central theme in academic as well as popu... more The idea of the nuclear family household has provided a central theme in academic as well as popular thinking about society and personal relationships in Western industrialized societies. The nuclear family itself is often characterized, to borrow Lasch's classic ...

Colombo SRI LANKA Address for correspondence: email: robert.simpson@durham.ac.uk, in recent decad... more Colombo SRI LANKA Address for correspondence: email: robert.simpson@durham.ac.uk, in recent decades, research in the biomedical sciences has been increasingly located in settings outside of the global north (1). Much of this research arises out of transnational collaborations made up of sponsors in richer countries (pharmaceutical industries, aid agencies, charitable trusts) and researchers and research subjects in poorer ones. A recent workshop on the ethics of international collaboration, held in Sri Lanka,* confirmed that in addition to the usual concerns about the protection of human subjects in biomedical research, these engagements raise a host of new ones.

The global spread of clinical trials activity is accompanied by a parallel growth in research gov... more The global spread of clinical trials activity is accompanied by a parallel growth in research governance and human subject protection. In this paper we analyse how dominant ideas of the 'human subject' in clinical trials are played out in countries that are deemed to be scientifically underdeveloped. Specifically , we show how rhetorics of individualism, rationality and autonomy implicit in international ethical guidelines governing human subject research are operationalised and localised. We give insights into the ways in which new knowledge forms become embedded in practice. Using the recent upsurge in clinical trials in Sri Lanka as a case study, based on interviews with 23 doctors and researchers carried out during ethnographic fieldwork between 2008-2009, this article explores the tensions that arise for doctors involved with the promotion of bioethics and the attempts to bring local research governance up to international standards. The doctors and researchers intercept, interpret and critique the notions of human subject implicit in new forms of research governance. From their accounts we have identified two concerns. The first is a critique of dominant ideas of the 'human subject' that is informed by ideas of patiency rooted in paternalistic notions of the doctor-patient relationship. Second, 'human subjects' are seen as gendered, and located within family relationships. Both of these bring into question the research subjects' ability to give informed consent and compromise the ideal of an autonomous subject.

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, a... more JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

Social Science & Medicine, 2014

Ethical review by expert committee continues to be the first line of defence when it comes to pro... more Ethical review by expert committee continues to be the first line of defence when it comes to protecting human subjects recruited into clinical trials. Drawing on a large scale study of biomedical experimentation across South Asia, and specifically on interviews with 24 ethical review committee [ERC] members across India, Sri Lanka and Nepal, this article identifies some of the tensions that emerge for ERC members as the capacity to conduct credible ethical review of clinical trials is developed across the region. The article draws attention to fundamental issues of scope and authority in the operation of ethical review. On the one hand, ERC members experience a powerful pull towards harmonisation and a strong alignment with international standards deemed necessary for the global pharmaceutical assemblage to consolidate and extend. On the other hand, they must deal with what is in effect the double jeopardy of ethical review in developing world contexts. ERC members must undertake review but are frequently made aware of their responsibility to protect interests that go beyond the 'human subject' and into the realms of development and national interest [for example, in relation to literacy and informed consent]. These dilemmas are indicative of broader questions about where ethical review sits in institutional terms and how it might develop to best ensure improved human subject protection given growth of industry-led research.

New Genetics and Society, 2005

To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advan... more To date, relatively little is known about the ethical, legal and social responses to recent advances in reproductive and genetic technology outside Europe and North America. This article reports on a survey carried out among doctors (n=278) and medical students (n=1256) in Sri Lanka to find out more about their responses to novel interventions in human reproduction such as In-Vitro Fertilization, Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis and genetic engineering. In the first part of the paper comparisons are drawn between this survey and a survey carried out in 1985 which also considered issues surrounding amniocentesis and therapeutic termination. The second part of the paper deals with more recent developments. The analysis reveals high levels of support for the use of new technologies in treating infertility and identifying genetic disorders. However, differences are apparent among the major religious communities represented in the sample and these are particularly in evidence in relation to prenatal genetic diagnosis. An important theme throughout both surveys is the continuing tension surrounding State policy and termination of pregnancy and the implications this has for the development of screening and counseling services where genetic disorders are concerned.