Sama organised a two-day International Consultation Bio(Medical) Economies Today: Understanding Issues of Ethics, Markets and Labour on 29- 30 May, 2015 in Delhi.
Major themes discussed in the consultation included the processes of co-constitution of economy and biomedical technologies, how women’s reproductive capacity and patients’ participation in clinical trials are giving rise to new discourses on forms of labor and ethical, and regulatory issues emerging due to the inclusion of vitality and regenerative capacity of our body, tissues and cells into the logic of market. Four panel discussions were held over two days of Consultation- a) Locating Labour Today: New Trends and Concerns, b) Technology and Identity, c) Regulation and Ethics, d) Medicalisation and Political Economy.
The Consultation was attended by organisations working on these issues, legal experts, scientists, academicians and researchers. Dr Aditya Bharadwaj from Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Meena Saraswathi Seshu and Aarthi Pai from SANGRAM, Prof Anne Hendrixson from Hampshire College, Dr Kaushik Sunder Rajan from University of Chicago, Dr Melinda Cooper from University of Sydney, Dr Kristin Peterson from University of California-Irvine, Dr Satyajit Rath from National Institute of Immunology, and Adv Veena Johari from Courtyard Attorneys were some of the speakers.