The Social Life of Blood, Milk & Sperm

15 Pages Posted: 1 Jun 2016

See all articles by Martha M. Ertman

Martha M. Ertman

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law

Date Written: May 31, 2016

Abstract

In Banking on the Body, Kara Swanson exhaustively documents Americans’ long and varied history buying and selling blood, mothers’ milk, and sperm. By mapping the social life of these things as they have moved in and out of the market from the late nineteenth century until the present day, she debunks the myth that human bodies (and their components) have remained outside of the market since the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. No longer can any reasonable person claim that an impermeable barrier separates things that are for sale from those that are not.

Keywords: book review, commoditization, blood banks, sperm banks, Zelizer, hostile worlds, civic property, body fluids

Suggested Citation

Ertman, Martha M., The Social Life of Blood, Milk & Sperm (May 31, 2016). 51 Tulsa Law Review 393 (2016), U of Maryland Legal Studies Research Paper No. 2016-28, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2787023

Martha M. Ertman (Contact Author)

University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law ( email )

500 West Baltimore Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1786
United States

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
88
Abstract Views
770
Rank
616,270
PlumX Metrics