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Blood in the Time of the Civic

Jacob Copeman and Dwaipayan Banerjee

in Hematologies: The Political Life of Blood in India

This chapter focuses on blood in the time of the civic—that is, blood that is donated voluntarily as a dutiful contribution to civic life, that in turn ensures the continued efficacy and productivity ... More

This chapter focuses on blood in the time of the civic—that is, blood that is donated voluntarily as a dutiful contribution to civic life, that in turn ensures the continued efficacy and productivity of transfusion medicine. These voluntary donations take place according to a seemingly simple biological time map: the biological time of cellular production determines the biomedically mandated three-month gap between donations. The time regime of the repeated voluntary donation emerges from and is mapped upon the lifetime of blood cells. This is in contrast to apparently less civic-minded blood donation modes: the potentially dangerous commercial transaction of paid blood donation and the one-time mode of “replacement” donation, performed in order to release blood for the benefit of one's immediate family member in need of transfusion. As this chapter shows, these modes of donation are characterized by different temporalities. A routine of dutiful repetitive bloodshed structures voluntary blood donation's time of the civic.Less

Hemo Economicus: From Blood Sacrifice to Blood Science?

Jacob Copeman and Dwaipayan Banerjee

in Hematologies: The Political Life of Blood in India

This chapter draws on ethnographic research in Kolkata and Delhi. It follows voluntary blood donor organizations seeking to convey to the janata (people) that the body produces more blood than it ... More

This chapter draws on ethnographic research in Kolkata and Delhi. It follows voluntary blood donor organizations seeking to convey to the janata (people) that the body produces more blood than it needs and that a portion of this excess blood can be given without the body losing anything. This is an insight at odds with conventional understandings of blood excorporation in the region as involving irrecuperable loss, understandings that inform continuing perceptions of blood donation as a sacrificial gesture. To give blood without risking irrecuperable loss would seem to fundamentally undercut the gesture of blood donation as sacrifice. An imagination of blood as excess and surplus thus involves the antisacrificial redescription of blood donation.Less

Collection Regimes and Donor Populations

Kieran Healy

in Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs

This chapter examines how the social organization of the blood supply affect the quantity of blood collected and the character of the donors who give it. The analysis of blood supply and patterns of ... More

This chapter examines how the social organization of the blood supply affect the quantity of blood collected and the character of the donors who give it. The analysis of blood supply and patterns of donation across Europe shows that different collection regimes not only affect the size and shape of the donor pool but also shape the character of donation. An example of this is the high rate of blood donation among students in countries where the Red Cross is in charge of the blood supply.Less

The supply of blood in England and Wales and the United States

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter assesses the supply of blood in England and Wales and the United States. It presents the main national statistics in the increase in blood donation between the introduction of the ... More

This chapter assesses the supply of blood in England and Wales and the United States. It presents the main national statistics in the increase in blood donation between the introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 and 1968. Whereas in some countries at the end of the 1940s blood transfusion services were in an early stage of development, in England and Wales they had been expanded earlier. The effects of the Second World War, particularly the large quantities of blood required to deal adequately with the expected and actual civilian air raid casualties, greatly stimulated the growth of a blood transfusion service on a national scale. Unfortunately, it is not possible to present any series of statistics for the United States similar to those provided for England and Wales. It is not even possible to estimate with any degree of precision the total annual volume of blood collections, transfusions, and wastage.Less

Substantial Activisms

Jacob Copeman and Dwaipayan Banerjee

in Hematologies: The Political Life of Blood in India

This chapter focuses on scenes of hematological activism. These scenes constitute a historically significant genre of political performance, in relation to the ebbs and flows of other modes of ... More

This chapter focuses on scenes of hematological activism. These scenes constitute a historically significant genre of political performance, in relation to the ebbs and flows of other modes of activist signification. Specifically, the chapter suggests that blood donation spectacles act as rituals of verification, in contrast to other modes of political protest such as the fast that are increasingly open to accusations of insincerity and dissembling. Blood extracted on political occasions holds an elusive promise of political transparency: it is promissory matter. Yet as this chapter shows, blood also exposes itself to accusations of dissembling and deception: when used by politicians perceived as corrupt, the communicative medium is drained of its material intimacy with sincerity.Less

The gift

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter looks at the nature of the gift of blood. The gift of blood has certain unique attributes which distinguish it from other forms of gift. The gift of blood takes place in impersonal ... More

This chapter looks at the nature of the gift of blood. The gift of blood has certain unique attributes which distinguish it from other forms of gift. The gift of blood takes place in impersonal situations, sometimes with physically hurtful consequences to the donor. Moreover, the recipient is in almost all cases not personally known to the donor; there can, therefore, be no personal expressions of gratitude or of other sentiments. If the principle of anonymity were generally abandoned, the consequences could be disastrous for givers and receivers as well as for all blood transfusion services. The chapter then presents a classification of the different types of blood donors: the paid donor; the professional donor; the pain-induced voluntary donor; the responsibility fee donor; the family credit donor; the captive voluntary donor; the fringe benefit voluntary donor; and the voluntary community donor.Less

Motivation and the Policy Context

Julian Le Grand

in Motivation, Agency, and Public Policy: Of Knights and Knaves, Pawns and Queens

Considers the impact of the policy context on motivation, asking whether individuals’ motivations are independent of the context in which they operate or whether they are in fact deeply affected by ... More

Considers the impact of the policy context on motivation, asking whether individuals’ motivations are independent of the context in which they operate or whether they are in fact deeply affected by that context. Do market‐oriented policies, such as the introduction of financial incentives for previously voluntary activities such as blood donation, corrupt? Do they turn knights into knaves? Alternatively, does government corrupt—or lead to moral atrophy? The answers are somewhat surprising, with both markets and governments devaluing knightly motivations on occasion but at other times rewarding or revaluing it.Less

Blood donors in the Soviet Union and other countries

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter focuses on blood donors in the Soviet Union and other countries. About half of all blood supplies in the Soviet Union are obtained from unpaid donors at factories, offices, colleges and ... More

This chapter focuses on blood donors in the Soviet Union and other countries. About half of all blood supplies in the Soviet Union are obtained from unpaid donors at factories, offices, colleges and palaces of culture, and other institutions. They are recruited by the Union of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Donors are allowed a day off work to give their donation and a free meal afterwards; they are also given an extra day's holiday which, if they choose, they may add to their annual vacation. Other reports suggest that in some places donors may be rewarded with free public transport for a month, higher priority for housing, and other ‘fringe benefits’. Meanwhile, the other half of all blood supplies comes from paid donors who attend blood-collecting stations. Although they get a day off work for donating, they are not given a free meal or other benefits.Less

A study of blood donor motivation in South Africa

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter looks at a study of blood donor motivation in South Africa, which was commissioned by the Natal Blood Transfusion Service and carried out in Durban. Much of the fieldwork was done by six ... More

This chapter looks at a study of blood donor motivation in South Africa, which was commissioned by the Natal Blood Transfusion Service and carried out in Durban. Much of the fieldwork was done by six trained Bantu graduates which helps to explain the perceptive nature of some of the interview data elicited from poor and semi-literate Bantu workers. The study shows that the Bantu donor is statistically rare. They come mainly from institutional groups such as factories and schools and tend to be younger, better educated, and with higher incomes than the average Bantu adult in Durban. The concepts of blood held by the average manual worker Bantu closely link blood with health and are unfavourable to blood donation. Moreover, in the Bantu population at large there is widespread ignorance about, and fear of, blood donation. A marked characteristic of the Bantu blood donors is that they tend to give blood only once or twice.Less

Bled

Lisa Jean Moore

in Catch and Release: The Enduring Yet Vulnerable Horseshoe Crab

In 1964, Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL), developed from horseshoe crab blood, was discovered as an effective pryogen test. Limulus blood reacts to endotoxins by forming a gel. The LAL test, ... More

In 1964, Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL), developed from horseshoe crab blood, was discovered as an effective pryogen test. Limulus blood reacts to endotoxins by forming a gel. The LAL test, constructed from horseshoe crab amoebocytes, has become the standard test in the United States, Europe, and Asia to test pharmaceutical injectables and pharmaceutical insertables for biomedical and veterinary uses. Without it, endotoxins could contaminate all of our laboratory studies, our bodies, and other nonhuman animal bodies. We’ve made horseshoe crabs indispensable to our human and veterinary biomedicine. We need their blood, and as health care demand grows, we will need more and more. I explain how blood donations are detrimental to the crabs. Furthermore, I explain how the LAL test is a not lifesaving test but is instead used for quality control. Even with all of this information and the viability of a synthetic alternative, the bureaucracy surrounding the procedure for switching to the synthetic alternative will prevent the switch from happening until most of the crabs have died. They are not valued like humans are; they are instead valued for their use to humans and will be valued that way until they are used up. Less

Exchange in Human Goods

Kieran Healy

in Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs

This chapter discusses issues concerning blood and organ donations. It suggests that exchange in human goods does not fit well into the classical account of the gift relationship and explains that ... More

This chapter discusses issues concerning blood and organ donations. It suggests that exchange in human goods does not fit well into the classical account of the gift relationship and explains that the key difference is that it cannot involve a face-to-face transaction between the donor and recipient. This is because blood and organs for donations are collected and distributed by complex organizations. This chapter also provides a summary of the chapters in this volume.Less

The demand for blood in England and Wales and the United States

Richard M. Titmuss

in The Gift Relationship: From Human Blood to Social Policy

This chapter examines the demand for blood in England and Wales and the United States. Between 1948 and 1967, the annual number of donations of blood in England and Wales rose by 269 per cent. Some ... More

This chapter examines the demand for blood in England and Wales and the United States. Between 1948 and 1967, the annual number of donations of blood in England and Wales rose by 269 per cent. Some part of this increase in supply has met the increase in the amount of blood actually demanded and used per 100 patients treated in hospitals. Meanwhile, estimates have been made that 5,100,000 pints of blood were collected in the United States in 1956 and around 6,000,000 pints in 1966–7. Some of the factors responsible for this world trend relate to the major life-saving role of blood. Others are adding yearly to the relatively new role for human blood of acting as a vital preventive and therapeutic agent. Surgery in its many branches has, for example, been given a new lease of life by increases in the volume of blood available and the advent of effective blood transfusion services.Less

Managing Gifts, Making Markets

Kieran Healy

in Last Best Gifts: Altruism and the Market for Human Blood and Organs

This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the exchange of human goods or organs and blood donations. It analyzes whether changes in the logistics of procurement are undermining the moral ... More

This chapter sums up the key findings of this study on the exchange of human goods or organs and blood donations. It analyzes whether changes in the logistics of procurement are undermining the moral order of exchange encapsulated in the idea of the “gift of life” that procurement organizations have worked so hard to establish. This chapter also argues that the short-run logistical demands placed on procurement organizations are in tension with the cultural account of donation that they have produced over the long run.Less

Emotions and Prosociality: Lessons for Blood Donation

Eamonn Ferguson and Barbara Masser

in Affective Determinants of Health Behavior

Without volunteer blood a large proportion of healthcare delivery would not be possible. Blood donation is an archetypal altruistic and prosocial act, but like all altruism may also be motivated by ... More

Without volunteer blood a large proportion of healthcare delivery would not be possible. Blood donation is an archetypal altruistic and prosocial act, but like all altruism may also be motivated by selfish reasons. Key among these are the prosocial and moral emotions (e.g., gratitude, shame, guilt, anger). This chapter shows how blood donation can be used to manage negative emotions (e.g., guilt) and enhance well-being (warm-glow, pride). It also shows how negative emotions such as anger promote prosociality. It draws implications for interventions and develops a model showing how emotions and memory are linked across the donor cycle to influence behavior.Less

Money Talks

Katharine Dow

in Making a Good Life: An Ethnography of Nature, Ethics, and Reproduction

This chapter extends the discussion of surrogacy by focusing on how the people of Spey Bay thought about paying for bodily services and substances and what they felt this said about them as members ... More

This chapter extends the discussion of surrogacy by focusing on how the people of Spey Bay thought about paying for bodily services and substances and what they felt this said about them as members of a community. People in Spey Bay do not think of money as inherently corrupting but hold individuals responsible for their own decisions about how they make and spend it. This chapter analyzes the views of the people of Spey Bay about blood, egg, and sperm donation in order to highlight the connections between community values and reproductive ethics, as well the circulation and meanings of money in their personal and professional lives. In doing so, it revisits questions about the contextual nature of ethics and the broad significance of reproduction in everyday life.Less

the Gift of Life: Blood, Organs, and Viruses

in Law in Crisis: The Ecstatic Subject of Natural Disaster

This chapter is about giving blood, about donating organs, and about spreading disease during and after earthquakes. More particularly, it is about the legal and political narrative of this ... More

This chapter is about giving blood, about donating organs, and about spreading disease during and after earthquakes. More particularly, it is about the legal and political narrative of this postcrisis rearrangement of what has been called “living matter.” Throughout, it argues that when law is called upon to regulate the transfusion of blood, the transplant of organs, and the transmission of disease, the subject of this law is—quite concretely—in ecstasy and off-center. The subject is dismembered Mary Schloendorff. The disaster becomes intelligible when its legal and political subjects are quite physically beside themselves.Less

Generous and Ungenerous America

Beaster-Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson

in The Paradox of Generosity: Giving We Receive, Grasping We Lose

The third chapter examines the extent of Americans’ generous practices. The examination of the relationship between generous practices and positive life well-being in the previous chapter now prompts ... More

The third chapter examines the extent of Americans’ generous practices. The examination of the relationship between generous practices and positive life well-being in the previous chapter now prompts the question: Just how generous are Americans as a people overall? The answer, it turns out, is mixed. Many Americans are indeed quite generous in various ways—and they are more likely to enjoy the happiness, health, and sense of purpose that their generosity tends to produce. But many other Americans, by their own admission, live fairly ungenerous lives. They do not, for example, engage in much or any voluntary financial giving to valued organizations and good causes, nor do they volunteer their time and labor to help others in need.Less

Blood-Borne Viruses

C. Y. William Tong and Mark Hopkins

in Tutorial Topics in Infection for the Combined Infection Training Programme

Blood- borne viruses (BBVs) are viral infections transmitted by blood or body fluid. In practice, any viral infection that achieves a high viral load in blood or body fluid can be transmitted ... More

Blood- borne viruses (BBVs) are viral infections transmitted by blood or body fluid. In practice, any viral infection that achieves a high viral load in blood or body fluid can be transmitted through exposure to infected biological materials. In western countries, the most significant BBVs are human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV1 and HIV2), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). Other viruses that can be transmitted by blood and body fluid include human T cell lymphotropic viruses (HTLV1 and HTLV2), cytomegalovirus, West Nile virus and viruses responsible for viral haemorrhagic fever such as Ebola virus, Lassa virus, and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus. BBVs are transmitted via exposure to blood and body fluid. Some examples of routes of transmission include: ● Sharing needles in people who inject drugs (PWID); ● Medical re-use of contaminated instruments (common in resource poor settings); ● Sharps injuries in healthcare setting, including in laboratories (less commonly through mucosal exposure); ● Transfusion of blood contaminated with BBVs (failure to screen blood donors); ● Transplantation of organs from BBV-infected donors; ● Sexual exposure to BBV-infected body fluid; and ● Exposure to maternal BBV infection: intrauterine, perinatally, or postnatally. If exposure to a BBV is via a needle stick injury in a healthcare setting, immediate first aid needs to be carried out by gently encouraging bleeding and washing the exposed area with soap and water. Prompt reporting of the incident is required so that an assessment can be done as soon as possible to determine if post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is required. The decision may be aided by urgent assessment of source patient infection status. The British Medical Association has issued guidance for testing adults who lack the capacity to consent. In the case of a sexual exposure to a BBV, immediate consultation to a genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinic is warranted. The risk of transmission of BBVs associated with exposure depends on the nature of the exposure and the body fluid involved. The following factors are important in needle stick injuries: ● Deep percutaneous injury. ● Freshly used sharps. ● Visible blood on sharps. Less