Pulsão de Morte e Sublimação: A (Re)invenção da Vida nas Dobras da Racionalidade Técnico-Científica / Death Drive and Sublimation: The (Re)invention of Life in the Folds of Technical-Scientific Rationality / Pulsión de Muerte y Sublimación: (Re)invención de la Vida en las Doblas de la Técnica

O advento das biotecnologias no mundo contemporâneo, em particular das Novas Tecnologias Reprodutivas (NTR's), liberando a sexualidade dos antigos imperativos da procriação, nos oferece uma prova contundente da abertura ilimitada da vida à transformação das condições em que as normas vitais engajam os organismos no processo de individuação. Mais do que isso, evidencia o caráter essencialmente contingente da ligação entre vida, morte e sexualidade. O objetivo deste trabalho é examinar a fecundidade da concepção freudiana de sublimação - lida sob o registro das transformações que a ela se impõem com o advento do conceito de pulsão de morte (1920) - em subsidiar uma reflexão ética e política acerca dos efeitos da incidência das Novas Tecnologias Reprodutivas (NTR's) nos campos da reprodução, da sexualidade e do laço social. Nossa hipótese é a de que o fenômeno das biotecnologias desvela, sob a cobertura do temor, tão frequentemente evocado por alguns de nossos contemporâneos, de dilapidação das instituições e dos modos de vida sobre os quais acreditávamos poder fundar nossa fantasmática "humanidade", a infinita potência da vida em recriar-se diante d'isso que quer destruí-la.

The advent of biotechnologies in the contemporary world, particularly New Reproductive Technologies (NTRs), freeing sexuality from the old imperatives of procreation, offers us overwhelming proof of the unlimited opening up of life to the transformation of conditions in which vital norms engage the organisms in the individuation process. Even more so, it highlights the essentially contingent character of the connection between life, death, and sexuality. The aim of this study is, therefore, to examine the fruitfulness of the Freudian conception of sublimation, read under the register of the transformations imposed upon this notion with the advent of the death drive concept (1920), in subsidizing an ethical and political reflection on the effects of the incidence of NTRs in the reproduction, sexuality and social bond fields. Our hypothesis is that the biotechnologies phenomenon reveals, under the cover of fear, so often evoked by some of our contemporaries, of institutional dilapidation and ways of life in which we believed we could establish our fantastic "humanity", the infinite life's power to recreate itself in the face of that which wants to destroy it.

La llegada de las biotecnologías en el mundo contemporáneo, en particular de las Nuevas Tecnologías Reproductivas (NTR's), liberando la sexualidad de los imperativos de la procreación, nos ofrece una prueba contundente de la abertura ilimitada de la vida a la transformación de las condiciones en que las normas vitales capacitan el organismo a la individuación. Más allá de eso, se evidencia el carácter esencialmente contingente de la ligación entre vida, muerte y sexualidad. El objetivo de este estudio es examinar la fecundidad de la concepción freudiana de sublimación - leída bajo el registro de las transformaciones que a ella se imponen con la llegada del concepto de pulsión de muerte (1920) - en subsidiar una reflexión ética y política acerca de los efectos de la incidencia de las Nuevas Tecnologías Reproductivas (NTR's) en los campos de la reproducción, de la sexualidad y del lazo social. Nuestra hipótesis es que el fenómeno de las biotecnologías desvela, bajo la cobertura del temor, tan frecuentemente evocado por algunos de nuestros contemporáneos, de dilapidación de las instituciones y de los modos de vida sobre los cuales creíamos poder fundar nuestra fantasmática "humanidad", la infinita potencia de la vida en recrearse de ante d'eso que quiere destruirla.

Indagações sobre as novas formas de fabricação o humano à luz da noção de dádiiva de marcel mauss / Questions about new forms of human manufacture the light of the notion of dádiiva of Marcel Mauss

Buscaremos articular a lógica implicada nas doações de material de engendramento (sêmen, óvulos e embriões), praticadas no campo das novas tecnologias reprodutivas (NTR), com o sistema de trocas de algumas sociedades arcaicas, descrito por Marcel Mauss em seu célebre artigo Ensaio sobre a dádiva (1924/1974). Esta articulação será também trabalhada a partir de três importantes intérpretes deste ensaio - Lévi-Strauss, Maurice Godelier e George Bataille -, de modo a extrair dela algumas consequências e explicitar alguns questionamentos que as NTR colocam para a psicanálise e vice-versa.

Questioning the new forms of human fabrication in the light of Marcel Mauss's concept of gift. In this article, we will articulate the logic involved in donations from engenderment material (semen, eggs and embryos), practiced in the field of new reproductive technologies, with the system of exchanges of some archaic societies described by Marcel Mauss in his celebrated article Essay on the gift (1924/1974). This articulation will also be crafted from three important interpreters of this essay - Lévi-Strauss, Maurice Godelier and George Bataille - in order to extract some consequences and clarify some questions that the NRT address to psychoanalysis and vice versa.

Indagações sobr as novas formas de fabricação o humano à luz da noção de dádiiva de marcel mauss

Buscaremos articular a lógica implicada nas doações de material de engendramento (sêmen, óvulos e embriões), praticadas no campo das novas tecnologias reprodutivas (NTR), com o sistema de trocas de algumas sociedades arcaicas, descrito por Marcel Mauss em seu célebre artigo Ensaio sobre a dádiva (1924/1974). Esta articulação será também trabalhada a partir de três importantes intérpretes deste ensaio - Lévi-Strauss, Maurice Godelier e George Bataille -, de modo a extrair dela algumas consequências e explicitar alguns questionamentos que as NTR colocam para a psicanálise e vice-versa(AU)

Questioning the new forms of human fabrication in the light of Marcel Mauss's concept of gift. In this article, we will articulate the logic involved in donations from engenderment material (semen, eggs and embryos), practiced in the field of new reproductive technologies, with the system of exchanges of some archaic societies described by Marcel Mauss in his celebrated article Essay on the gift (1924/1974). This articulation will also be crafted from three important interpreters of this essay - Lévi-Strauss, Maurice Godelier and George Bataille - in order to extract some consequences and clarify some questions that the NRT address to psychoanalysis and vice versa(AU)

'Banking time': egg freezing and the negotiation of future fertility.

This paper examines the relatively recent practice of non-medical egg freezing, in which women bank their eggs for later use in conceiving a child. Non-medical egg freezing has only been available for about the last five years, as new vitrification techniques have made the success rates for actual conception more reliable than the earlier method of slow freezing. I draw on interviews with both clinicians and women who have banked their eggs to consider how this novel practice articulates with broader issues about the relationship between sexuality, reproduction and the political economy of household formation. Non-medical egg-freezing provides a technical solution to a number of different problems women face with regard to the elongation of the life course, the extension of education, the cost of household establishment and the iterative nature of relationship formation, thematised by the ubiquity of internet dating among the interviewees. I focus on the ways women used egg freezing to manage and reconcile different forms of time.

O fio cirúrgico da laqueadura é tão pesado!: laqueadura e novas tecnologias reprodutivas / The surgical thread used in tubal sterilization is so heavy!: tubal sterilization and new reproductive technologies

A laqueadura é um método de esterilização cirúrgica feminina, que consiste em cortar cirurgicamente as trompas, que unem os ovários ao útero. É um método considerado seguro, irreversível, cujas taxas dobraram desde 2003, no contexto brasileiro. O presente estudo é pesquisa qualitativa com o objetivo de descrever e analisar os pensamentos e as avaliações acerca da laqueadura entre as mulheres que buscavam auxílio das novas tecnologias reprodutivas para conceber novamente. As entrevistas foram realizadas em um hospital da rede pública de saúde, na região Sudeste do Brasil, São Paulo, com 16 mulheres esterilizadas. Como resultados, as seguintes temáticas emergiram do estudo: o não cuidado com a vida reprodutiva; laqueadura e habitus; e o arrependimento traduzido pela frase proferida por Rosa: “O fio cirúrgico da laqueadura é tão pesado!”. O estudo desvelou a necessidade de que as mulheres sejam mais bem informadas sobre os procedimentos cirúrgicos que desejam aceder: seja à laqueadura, seja a tratamentos na área das novas tecnologias reprodutivas. O acesso às informações pode promover melhor familiaridade com os termos e mais segurança ante as escolhas.

Tubal sterilization is a method of female sterilization, consisting of the surgical severance of the fallopian tubes which connect the ovaries to the uterus. This method, the rates for which have doubled in Brazil since 2003, is considered safe and irreversible. This study is a qualitative research project which seeks to describe and analyze the thought process and assessment of sterilization by women who have subsequently sought the help of new reproductive technologies to enable them to conceive. Sixteen sterilized women were interviewed at a hospital within the public health system in São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. As a result, the following themes emerged from the study: women’s lack of care regarding their reproductive life; sterilization and (constitution) habitus, and the remorse expressed in the phrase proffered by Rosa: “The surgical thread used in tubal sterilization is so heavy!” The study highlighted the need for women to be better informed about the surgical procedures available to them: whether about tubal ligation or about treatments in the field of new reproductive technology. Access to this information can promote greater understanding of the terms and greater confidence in dealing with the choices involved.

Making families: organizational boundary work in US egg and sperm donation.

Egg and sperm donation can create distinct issues for designating family boundaries. These issues come to the forefront as relations between donors, recipients, and donor-conceived children have been shifting from anonymous to more open arrangements in the US and other western countries. In this study, I address US organizational practices and family boundary construction. Fertility clinics, egg donation agencies, and sperm banks are central providers of US gamete donation services. Given the disruptive potential of gamete donation, how do they manage relationships between parties? Through a content analysis of materials from twenty fertility clinics, twenty egg donation agencies, and thirty-one sperm banks, I address three major strategies of organizational boundary work: 1) creating identity categories, 2) managing information, and 3) managing interaction. I ultimately argue that even as many organizations offer opportunities for connections between parties, they exercise social control over donation arrangements through bounded relationships.

Coalition building and public opinion. New reproductive technologies and Canadian civil society.

The process of technology assessment is evolving. The process of policy development for technology is the least understood in the cycle of technology assessment. The process of policy development, which should involve extensive consultation and a broad-based research and evaluation program, is often fraught with difficulties and can cause further analysis or the assessment process to come grinding to a halt. This article reviews some social, political, and ethical issues and the role of civil society in influencing the technology assessment process for new reproductive technologies in Canada. It is written from the perspective of one of the Deputy Directors of Research and Evaluation for the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies and highlights the strengths and difficulties of technology assessment when civil society and technology assessment come face to face. A brief update by a policy analyst in Health Canada on the current situation of legislation on new reproductive technologies has been provided and is included at the end of this article.

A case for permitting altruistic surrogacy.

Canada's Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies rejects all forms of surrogacy arrangement under the rubric of objecting to commercial surrogacy. Noncommercial surrogacy arrangements, however, can be defended against the commission's objections. They can be viewed as cases of giving a benefit or service to another in a way that expresses benevolence, and establishes a relationship between surrogates and prospective 'social' parents that allows mutual understanding and reciprocal personal interaction between them.

A closer look at reproductive technology and postmenopausal motherhood.

Although reproductive technologies have been aimed at young, infertile women, evidence suggests that postmenopausal women are also taking advantage of them. Dr. Eike-Henner Kluge asserts in an article in CMAJ (1994; 151; 353-355) that there are ethical reasons to deny older women access to these technologies. Kluge's comparison of postmenopausal women to prepubescent girls is fallacious. His assertion that older parents harm children by denying them a "normal" childhood is not supported by any empiric data. Kluge's distinction between medical intervention, in offering reproductive technologies to a woman in her reproductive years, and "improving on nature", by offering these technologies to postmenopausal a woman is spurious. Unless technologies that are expensive and minimally successful, such as in-vitro fertilization, are denied to everyone, there are no grounds for denying them to postmenopausal women.