Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Graduate Student, Psicologia Social
PhD candidate in Sociology
About
My research interests encompass sociology of health and illness and sociology and science and technology. I am currently finishing my PhD working on the experiences imbricated in how it is to life with a bariatric bypass - a surgical solution to morbid obesity.
ENACTING 'SPECIFICITIES': GESTIONING METABOLISM IN BARIATRIC BODIES.
Epidemiological diseases and their treatments constitute a central problem in western societies and accordingly it seems obvious to try to develop solutions for this problem. If there is one disease that is becoming more and more an epidemy, that is the obesity and morbid obesity as the worst subtype. The evidence of the general epidemiological defined problem may thus immediately legitimize diverse solution initiatives against the obese and these include drug therapy, behaviour individual therapy and surgery. A common feature allows us to put them in the same label, that is that they want to impact upon a metabolic body which is not properly functioning and stores fat. If the metabolic body functions efficiently, healthiness appears as an aspect of the individual and, extensively, of a society. If morbid obese continue to store fat in their bodies, the set of chemical reactions that occur in their bodies to mantain life is disordered and does not allow them to respond to their environments (they experience 'social discrimination' for example).
In epidemiological models, patient plays a central role in the treatment. Evidently, this means that the person is a powerful agent with regards to employing the various technologies and treatment procedures. The patient plays a decisive role in the treatment as someone who makes a substantial difference in relation to the condition. This implies that the success of a specific technology, procedure or knowledge against morbid obesity is always in the hands of its users. More precisely, in the case of bariatric surgery, morbid obese persons are considered prior candidates (than patients) to a surgery 'that will change their life'. As such, they are evaluated and, when their personal integrity is acknowledged, they move to be patients for a Gastric By-pass.
But the epidemiology does not say anything about how metabolism locally and in practice is a problem for people with morbid obesity. This dissertation therefore begins with the question: what constitutes the problem of morbid obese, concretely in metabolism?. What are the metabolic implications of a surgery that will completely change patient's life? How will this surgery impact upon metabolic bodies?
This dissertation is premised by the posthuman Science, Technology and Society studies (STS). In relation to research this implies that the conception of a dichotomous opposition between patient and treatment is dissolved. This allows us to understand metabolism as a performed practice in the bariatric surgery procedures, as an outcome of associations of human and non-humans actors. The argument that follows is that metabolism is not exclusively happening under our skin. It is not exclusively attached to the condition of active and coherent patient that controls the body. Metabolic practices include other possibilities which scape the individual frame of reference. In this sense, I argue that metabolism needs to be gestioned in a relational manner rather than controlled by the individual. Bariatric surgery enacts metabolism as a drastic way to lose weight in a very short period of time. However, it does not mean that the metabolic remains untouched: it multiplies up to five forms of metabolic gestion (digestion, ingestion, egestion, congestion and indigestion). In other words, surgery complexifies it and makes it more elusive.
In conclusion, this dissertation argues that with a STS disposition one can acquire an understanding where surgery multiplies and leaves metabolism opened to its practicalities. While metabolism in epidemiological models might be unaltered, metabolism in practice is completely at stake and re-shaped in relations in which it is immersed. This process of complexification and multiplying has specific implications both for healthcare and STS audiences. For STS audiences, the metaphor of metabolism reframes notions such as surgery, topology or ontological politics. For healthcare audience, knowing metabolism in practice adds knowledge on the act of 'curing', time and (self)care.
Contact Information
skype: jsanzporras
