Polina Vlasenko | Indiana University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Polina Vlasenko
The development of vitrification techniques has increased the use of donor ova by allowing for th... more The development of vitrification techniques has increased the use of donor ova by allowing for their cryopreservation, storage, and international transportation. However, the implications of egg banking for the valuation of eggs remain little studied. Building on ethnographic fieldwork in a Ukrainian egg bank, in this article I examine different mechanisms and calculations that allow the bank to transform vitrified ova-the products with volatile outcomes-into valuable but uncertain commodities. This article reveals how the bank staff can never completely secure their profits because of the variability of the egg quality assessment and unpredictability of their expenses. I demonstrate how the dilemmas that arise when the egg banking industry tries to turn oocytes into commodities trigger certain efforts for the development of quality control in vitrification techniques and donor selection, as well as classification and accounting schemes related to oocyte quality.
The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 2014
Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technolo... more Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technologies in different cultural and political settings, the implementation of ART in Ukraine was left without deserved attention. However, this sphere requires investigation due to the social and theoretical problems at its heart. Firstly, Ukraine's recently emerging market of commercial infertility services is rapidly developing, becoming a target of transnational fertility travel and challenging the procreative imagery of society. Secondly, there is little reporting on the local, lived experiences of how infertile women negotiate the gendered discursive practices of assisted conception in Ukraine. In this article I will examine how the subjectivities of infertile women undergoing IVF procedures are constructed in discourses about ART in Ukraine and which power rationalities are involved in production of these subjectivities.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2015
on swinging, bearding and transgender rumours illustrates the fact that public black celebrities ... more on swinging, bearding and transgender rumours illustrates the fact that public black celebrities who insist on a private life are configured as queer in popular culture through ‘looking suspect’. Suspicion as popular panopticism taken up by the subjugated rather than the dominant, regulates queer and black bodies through fandom’s consumptive pleasures in which economies of looking regulate the stars and their fans. ‘Epilogue: Down-Low Diasporas’ asks us to notice how biopolitics invisibly regulates speech and behaviour. However, the devalued and unsanctioned discourses of popular culture such as rumour and gossip allow us to glimpse the outline of the glass closet’s epistemologies and practices of regulation through the hypervisibility of black male sexualities.
There is a large amount of research accumulated with regard to cultural, political and social asp... more There is a large amount of research accumulated with regard to cultural, political and social aspects of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in Western academia. However, the implementation of ART in Ukraine is left without deserved attention. Likewise, I am not aware of any reports about Ukrainian infertile women's experience of negotiating assisted conception.
Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technolo... more Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technologies in different cultural and political settings, the implementation of ART in Ukraine was left without deserved attention. However, this sphere requires investigation due to the social and theoretical problems at its heart. Firstly, Ukraine's recently emerging market of commercial infertility services is rapidly developing, becoming a target of transnational fertility travel and challenging the procreative imagery of society. Secondly, there is little reporting on the local, lived experiences of how infertile women negotiate the gendered discursive practices of assisted conception in Ukraine. In this article I will examine how the subjectivities of infertile women undergoing IVF procedures are constructed in discourses about ART in Ukraine and which power rationalities are involved in production of these subjectivities.
The development of vitrification techniques has increased the use of donor ova by allowing for th... more The development of vitrification techniques has increased the use of donor ova by allowing for their cryopreservation, storage, and international transportation. However, the implications of egg banking for the valuation of eggs remain little studied. Building on ethnographic fieldwork in a Ukrainian egg bank, in this article I examine different mechanisms and calculations that allow the bank to transform vitrified ova-the products with volatile outcomes-into valuable but uncertain commodities. This article reveals how the bank staff can never completely secure their profits because of the variability of the egg quality assessment and unpredictability of their expenses. I demonstrate how the dilemmas that arise when the egg banking industry tries to turn oocytes into commodities trigger certain efforts for the development of quality control in vitrification techniques and donor selection, as well as classification and accounting schemes related to oocyte quality.
The Journal of Social Policy Studies, 2014
Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technolo... more Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technologies in different cultural and political settings, the implementation of ART in Ukraine was left without deserved attention. However, this sphere requires investigation due to the social and theoretical problems at its heart. Firstly, Ukraine's recently emerging market of commercial infertility services is rapidly developing, becoming a target of transnational fertility travel and challenging the procreative imagery of society. Secondly, there is little reporting on the local, lived experiences of how infertile women negotiate the gendered discursive practices of assisted conception in Ukraine. In this article I will examine how the subjectivities of infertile women undergoing IVF procedures are constructed in discourses about ART in Ukraine and which power rationalities are involved in production of these subjectivities.
Ethnic and Racial Studies, 2015
on swinging, bearding and transgender rumours illustrates the fact that public black celebrities ... more on swinging, bearding and transgender rumours illustrates the fact that public black celebrities who insist on a private life are configured as queer in popular culture through ‘looking suspect’. Suspicion as popular panopticism taken up by the subjugated rather than the dominant, regulates queer and black bodies through fandom’s consumptive pleasures in which economies of looking regulate the stars and their fans. ‘Epilogue: Down-Low Diasporas’ asks us to notice how biopolitics invisibly regulates speech and behaviour. However, the devalued and unsanctioned discourses of popular culture such as rumour and gossip allow us to glimpse the outline of the glass closet’s epistemologies and practices of regulation through the hypervisibility of black male sexualities.
There is a large amount of research accumulated with regard to cultural, political and social asp... more There is a large amount of research accumulated with regard to cultural, political and social aspects of assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in Western academia. However, the implementation of ART in Ukraine is left without deserved attention. Likewise, I am not aware of any reports about Ukrainian infertile women's experience of negotiating assisted conception.
Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technolo... more Despite the large amount of research accumulated on the subject of assisted reproductive technologies in different cultural and political settings, the implementation of ART in Ukraine was left without deserved attention. However, this sphere requires investigation due to the social and theoretical problems at its heart. Firstly, Ukraine's recently emerging market of commercial infertility services is rapidly developing, becoming a target of transnational fertility travel and challenging the procreative imagery of society. Secondly, there is little reporting on the local, lived experiences of how infertile women negotiate the gendered discursive practices of assisted conception in Ukraine. In this article I will examine how the subjectivities of infertile women undergoing IVF procedures are constructed in discourses about ART in Ukraine and which power rationalities are involved in production of these subjectivities.