Deceased Organ Donation and an Ethics of Sustainability

• In Event: Diagnosing Death: Critical STS Perspectives - I

Abstract

This paper draws upon Braidotti’s (2010) discussion of biopower and her call for an ethics of sustainability to explore the history and current practices of organ donation in the province of Ontario, Canada. Braidotti’s (2010) essay seeks to dissolve the distinction between zoe and bios in order to think through the generative capacities of life and death. Deceased organ donation offers an ideal case study to consider an “ethics of sustainability” as the death of one individual is considered in the contemporary rhetoric of organ donation as a “gift of life” that benefits potentially multiple others. One of our critiques of the current organ donation system in Ontario is its shallow informed consent process for potential organ donors and a lack of transparency concerning the technological orchestration of death that enables organ harvesting. Our critique further questions the types of social obligations created by the publicly funded organ donation network and how an emphasis on donor anonymity severs potential linkages between donor families and transplant recipients. Building upon Braidotti (2010) we offer suggestions for how an “ethics of sustainability” could be used to reform the organ donation system to be more transparent and for the generation of new communities of care between donor families and transplant recipients. This paper draws upon observations of organ donation in Ontarian hospitals and discourse analysis of the organ donation network in Canada.

Authors

• Carlos Novas, Carleton University

• Amanda van Beinum, Carleton University