Against a Regulated Market in Human Organs
Ethical Arguments and Ethnographic Insights from the Organ Trade in Bangladesh
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 18982015 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Monir Moniruzzaman (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 77 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 323-335 |
| Publication date | 2018-12-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Organization (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7259 • E-ISSN: 1938-3517 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.17730/0018-7259.77.4.323 |
| OpenAlex | W2902524028 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
While organ transplantation is often highly successful in saving lives, it has created an illicit, but thriving, trade in human organs, including kidneys, livers, and corneas sourced from living bodies of the desperate poor. Based on challenging ethnographic fieldwork with seventy organ sellers, along with a group of recipients, brokers, and doctors, this article explains how organ trade results in violence, exploitation, and suffering against the vulnerable, who sell their live organs on the black market of Bangladesh. In opposition to allowing a “regulated organ market,” I argue that such a market is not a magic bullet that by itself would eliminate deception, coercion, and corruption that exist in the illegal trade of vital organs, nor would it ensure equity, rights, and justice to organ sellers. Instead, a regulated market would exacerbate, institutionalize, and normalize violence, exploitation, and suffering against impoverished populations. I, therefore, conclude that organ trade needs to be condemn
Black market · Coercion (linguistics) · Criminology · Economics · Equity · Ethnography · Opposition (politics) · Organ donation · Organ transplantation · Political science · Social science · Sociology · Thriving · Law · Medicine · Organ Donation and Transplantation · Transplantation
| Citations per year | 0.57 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2019 - 2024 (6) |
| Highly cited | No |