Toxic Subjects: Historical, Legal, Occupational, and Medical Perspectives - II

Abstract

Declared the 2018 “Word of the Year” by Oxford English Dictionary, “toxics” increasingly circulate—both physically and discursively—across various locales, traditions of thought, and communities of practice. From toxic exposure to toxic masculinity, this panel seeks to examine the expansive reach of toxicity. While many scholars of Science and Technology Studies have described the ways in which toxics trouble existing categories, this panel aims to expand theorization on how toxicity is mobilized across legal, scientific, and clinical domains as a source of injury. From courts of law, to the laboratory, to the clinic, how are toxic subjects rendered (il)legible? What are the affordances and complications of claiming toxic injury?

Discussant

• Alison Kenner, Drexel University

Individual Presentations

• A Queer Critical Race Feminist Take On Reproductive Toxicity - Melina Packer, University of California, Berkeley

• Contested Interpretations of Toxic Substances and Marginalized Victims in Korea's Environmental Pollution Relief System - Jinyoung Christine Park, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea

• Extimacies of Cell and Soil: Genomic Science & Insecurity in the Making of Colombia's Post-Conflict - Kasia Kalina, University of Chicago, Department of Anthropology

• Undone Justice: Social Determinants of Health, Routine Toxicological Screenings, and Death Investigations - Lee Nelson, RPI

Session Organizer

• Alli Morgan, RPI