Women’s Biocapital. The uses and abuses by technology and the market
The human body has long been the object of economic use and commodification. The novelty in contemporary capitalism is that market value is created from biological body components which generate profit, and are thus transformed in “biocapital”. New bio-markets are possible because technological advancements enable fragmentation, conservation, stockage and transportation of organs, cells, fluids, tissues. Female bodies are particularly interesting lands of investment for new bio- markets. Their body parts are increasingly demanded: genetic medicine needs cord blood stem-cells; advancements in reproductive technology have increased demand of gametes and gestational services; mother milk is extracted, frozen, and delivered transnationally; placenta and foetal material are used in pharmaceutical industry; women’s hair is traded for cosmetic purposes. Whilst certain body parts are still protected from self-commodification, other biological components are heavily affected by a cultural shift encouraging individuals to sell them. In this workshop, we will explore how developments of technology have transformed female body components in economic resources and objects for transaction, and we will try to raise some of the most important implications for women, inequality and contemporary societies.