Seminar paper given at the Biopolitics of Science Network seminar series by Deborah Lupton, 16 May 2012 at the University of Sydney.

1. Configuring maternal, foetal and
infant embodiment in the
context of biopolitics
Deborah Lupton, Department of
Sociology and Social Policy, University
of Sydney

2. My related research
• Biopolitical dimensions of medicine and public health
• Risk and everyday life
• First-time parenthood: women’s experiences of
pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and infant care
• Mothers’ concepts of health in their infants and young
children
• Emotion and maternal carework
• Infant embodiment:
representations, meanings, practices
• The social worlds of the preborn organism

3. Time magazine heralds the advent of
IVF

5. Embryo at 7 weeks of gestation

6. 7-week embryo specimen from ectopic
pregnancy, Wikipedia

7. The Visible Embryo Project

8. The commodification of preborn body
images

9. ‘Embryo Princess’ from the animation
series ‘Adventure Time’

10. Lennart Nilsson pic 1

11. Lennart Nilsson pic 2

12. Lennart Nilsson pic 3

13. 3/4D obstetric ultrasound

14. Pro-life pic 1

15. Pro-life pic 2

16. Angel foetuses with embryos

17. God’s Little Ones

18. Pro-life display dolls

20. BodyWorlds Exhibition

21. Misbehaving Mums to Be

26. US Time magazine, 21 May 2012

27. Theoretical perspectives
• Risk society, reflexive
modernisation, individualisation (Beck and
Beck-Gernsheim)
• Biopolitics, governmentality and
pregnancy/motherhood: ‘reproductive
asceticism’ (Weir, Ettore, Ruhl)

28. Theoretical perspectives 2
• Gendered
embodiment, permeability, liquidities, ambig
uity, Self/Other
(Grosz, Shildrick, Kristeva, Young, Longhurst)
• Visualising culture, technologies and the
preborn body
(Duden, Petchesky, Hartouni, Casper)

29. Blurring of boundaries of
bodies/selves
maternal body/self
child/infant/foetus/embryo/
pre-conceived embryo