Below is the text of my presentation for today's annual SMF Research Symposium hosted by the Sexuality, Marriage, and Family Studies department at St. Jerome's University/University of Waterloo. I post it here to facilitate better accessibility. Territorial acknowledgement I am a philosopher who primarily works in women’s and gender studies. Much of the content of my research in reproductive ethics has to do with access: Who has access to fertility? To what treatments and technologies? To … [Read more...]
Human rights and the family
When people describe their workplace or community group as if they're "like family," my neck hair rises. I am suspicious, and immediately skeptical about the stability of the organization being described. If I were a Kelpien, my threat ganglia would extend whenever someone made this kind of reference. Let me be clear: I am not anti-family. I love families! Yay families! I'm just skeptical that family structures are good models for social or political groups to adopt. Arendt's critique of … [Read more...]
The myth of a simple surrogacy
The call to better regulate surrogacy highlights the need to reduce possibilities for exploitation and other harms. Jessica Allen's experience as a surrogate reminds me that surrogacy will always be unpredictable. Yes, we need better regulation (in Canada and elsewhere). But surrogacy won't be simple. Superfetation, a rare occurrence in human pregnancy On October 25, the New York Post reported about a surrogacy that went wrong in an unexpected way: Allen conceived while gestating an embryo for … [Read more...]
Reflections on accountable research in philosophy
What is a philosopher's accountability for their research? To whom am I accountable as a researcher? My philosophical research tends to focus on current social and political issues (for example, Canadian policy and surrogacy or organizational diversity). Despite being embedded philosophically in applied problems, I'm still attracted to "armchair philosophy." This term often refers to a philosopher who primarily relies on their intuitions rather than information about the world. I imagine this … [Read more...]
Equality, Diversity, and the Family
This past weekend I attended the Organizing Equality conference at Museum London in London, Ontario. This conference brought together activists, academics, and community members to discuss various aspects of building more just worlds. This post shares the presentation I gave with my friend and collaborator, Dr. Rita A. Gardiner, on family as an organizational structure and diversity. Rita is a scholar and teacher of Critical Policy, Equity and Leadership Studies in the Faculty of Education at … [Read more...]