Browsing by Author "Takeshita, Chikako"

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    Coordinates of Control: Indigenous Peoples and Knowledges in Bioprospecting Rhetoric
    Takeshita, Chikako (Virginia Tech, 1999-12-15)
    In this thesis, I draw attention to how representations of indigenous peoples and knowledges in the rhetoric of bioprospecting weave the people into multiple coordinates of discursive control. Bioprospecting, or the exploration of biological resources in search of valuable genetic and chemical material for commercial use, is portrayed by proponents as an ideal project which benefit all of its stakeholders. I challenge such perception by exposing the power relationships underlying bioprospecting proposals as well as the various interests built into their rhetoric. My particular interest lies in exploring the implications for indigenous peoples whose appearances in bioprospecting proposals are less than voluntary. I make three claims: (1) that the representation of indigenous peoples as stewards of the environment is a role assigned to them, which is then circulated and mobilized within the bioprospecting rhetoric in order to support its arguments concerning biodiversity conservation; (2) that indigenous knowledges of the environment, of medicinal plants in particular, are taken out of their original socio-cultural contexts, utilized, appropriated, and valorized by bioprospectors who construct the rhetoric; (3) that the visibility of indigenous peoples and knowledges, which was heightened as a result of the increased interest taken in controlling them, opens up new opportunities for the people to resist misappropriation and struggle for self-definition. In short, this project takes indigenous peoples and knowledges as the intersection of forces and interests comprising an intricate web of power relationships, within which any participant can attempt to empower oneself either by resisting or manipulating the control to which one is exposed.
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    Negotiating Acceptability of the IUD: Contraceptive Technology, Women's Bodies, and Reproductive Politics
    Takeshita, Chikako (Virginia Tech, 2004-04-30)
    In this dissertation, I deconstruct the commonly held assumption that the intrauterine device (IUD) is an unsafe and/or obsolete contraceptive method that has been used mostly to impose population control on women in developing countries. Simultaneously, I explore the changing meaning of the device over the last 40 years in varying socio-historical contexts. Capitalizing on the analytical tradition of science and technology studies that regards technology as socially constructed, I analyze the IUD as a technology that transformed through a series of material and discursive negotiations. Negotiations over the IUD took place in multiple layers, most notably in the social and political domains that defined the meaning of the contraceptive technology, but also in the domain of science, in which claims about the device's technical features and its relationship with the biological body were made. This work is divided into the examination of four major domains – global population politics, American contraceptive market, American antiabortion politics, and scientific research – within which the IUD took shape both materially and discursively. The historical development of the scientific research and discourse of IUDs are juxtaposed with the prevailing socio-political background to illustrate the intricate relationship between scientific research of contraceptive technology and the politics of fertility control. The final chapter addresses the agency of IUD users, introducing the ways in which women in developing countries have manipulated the IUD to achieve reproductive self-determination.