scholarly journals Perfecting Bodies: Who Are the Disabled in Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca?

Philosophies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Chia Wei Fahn

This paper will examine the impact of genetic technologies on the corporeal and economical aspects of human lives while emphasizing the ambiguity of disability under these subversive circumstances. In 2013, the world was introduced to CRISPR genetic editing technology, followed by the controversial announcement in 2018 from Chinese scientist He Jiankui, who claims to have genetically engineered twins that were born HIV-immune. The possible social outcome of genetic treatment leading to the alteration of human embryos to create physically and intellectually superior offspring, as well as its impact on the social treatment of disabled bodies, is clearly illustrated in Andrew Niccol’s directive debut Gattaca. Here, I will discuss Niccol’s utilization of disabled characters in interrogating the employment of disabled characters as a narrative vehicle to reflect upon social paradigms. I examine both the subversion and expansion of the social construct of disability in Gattaca’s narrative, emphasizing the film’s portrayal of economic differences as a disabling factor in a world of augmentative technology.

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 886-892
Author(s):  
Angela M. Haeny ◽  
Samantha C. Holmes ◽  
Monnica T. Williams

With the increased desire to engage in antiracist clinical research, there is a need for shared nomenclature on racism and related constructs to help move the science forward. This article breaks down the factors that contributed to the development and maintenance of racism (including racial microaggressions), provides examples of the many forms of racism, and describes the impact of racism for all. Specifically, in the United States, racism is based on race, a social construct that has been used to categorize people on the basis of shared physical and social features with the assumption of a racial hierarchy presumed to delineate inherent differences between groups. Racism is a system of beliefs, practices, and policies that operate to advantage those at the top of the racial hierarchy. Individual factors that contribute to racism include racial prejudices and racial discrimination. Racism can be manifested in multiple forms (e.g., cultural, scientific, social) and is both explicit and implicit. Because of the negative impact of racism on health, understanding racism informs effective approaches for eliminating racial health disparities, including a focus on the social determinants of health. Providing shared nomenclature on racism and related terminology will strengthen clinical research and practice and contribute to building a cumulative science.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paulo Ivo Garrido

The central aim of this text is to show the impact institutions have on the performance of the health sector in Mozambique. The text shows that of the social determinants of health, institutions play a central role in the performance of the Mozambican health sector—and, through it, economic and social development—particularly for the poorer and more vulnerable, such as children, women, the disabled, and the elderly. It is also argued that the deficiencies and inefficiencies of the operation of the health sector in Mozambique are largely the result of the fact that the institutions with influence on the health sector are controlled by a minority of privileged people who do not give the appropriate priority to the basic health needs of the majority of the population. Finally, it is argued that the most important institutional measures for improving the state of health of Mozambicans are the revision of the Constitution of the Republic, the strengthening of the National Health System (particularly the National Health Service), and the reduction of poverty and economic and social inequality.


2001 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-467
Author(s):  
Dayna Bowen Matthew

In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a “War on Poverty.” By 1965 Congress had enacted several key weapons in that war, including two massive revisions to the Social Security Act designed to provide broad access to healthcare for if. the elderly, the disabled and poor, uninsured pregnant women and infants. The current Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs, along with the State Children's Health Insurance Program, provide health insurance and thus, access to healthcare, for 60% of people living in poverty. Medicaid alone pays for half of all nursing home care in this country. Medicare pays for hospital care for over 32.4 million elderly Americans, and for 3.7 million disabled Americans. Medicare and Medicaid have been called the “lynch pin” in the nation's strategy to assure access to healthcare for low income Americans. In short, the War on Poverty is not effective without the access to healthcare Medicare and Medicaid afford to the poor, elderly and disabled.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 309-320
Author(s):  
Fred Bedell

This essay will be divided into three parts – Slavery, Segregation, and Past and Recent Events that will document the impact on the social, political, and economic fabric of marginalized communities. It will focus on the social construct theory of domination and subordination and the caste system that subjugated African Americans under the guise of white supremacy


1994 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-582 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas H. Murray

AbstractAssessment of the impact of genetic technologies requires an understanding of the ethical issues that such technologies raise, which in turn requires an understanding of the social context of genetics. This article discusses 10 factors that characterize the social context of contemporary genetics, and considers two presumptions that usually are unquestioned—first, that more choice is always better; second, that what can be improved should be improved. Recent experience with genetic screening and testing to increase reproductive choice indicates that it is sometimes an ambiguous good. Prenatal testing, which has been guided by an ideology of nondirective counseling, will become increasingly problematic as the menu of possible genetic tests grows longer, because nondirectiveness offers no way to distinguish between significant disease and parental whim. In the realm of reproduction, more choice may also come to mean increasing parental responsibility to have genetically “healthy” offspring. Technologies intended to improve health outcomes may also be used for non-health-related goals—such as to increase athletic performance or to capitalize on social prejudices. Genetic technologies increasingly will challenge the troubled distinction between therapy and enhancement.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umberto Grandi ◽  
Jérôme Lang ◽  
Ali Ozkes ◽  
Stéphane Airiau

We consider a set of voters making a collective decision via simultaneous vote on two binary issues. Voters' preferences are captured by payoffs assigned to combinations of outcomes for each issue and they can be nonseparable: a voter's preference over an issue might be dependent on the other issue. When the collective decision in this context is reached by voting on both issues at the same time, multiple election paradoxes may arise, as studied extensively in the theoretical literature. In this paper we pursue an experimental approach and investigate the impact of iterative voting, in which groups deliberate by repeating the voting process until a final outcome is reached. Our results from experiments run in the lab show that voters tend to have an optimistic rather than a pessimistic behaviour when casting a vote on a non-separable issue and that iterated voting may in fact improve the social outcome. We provide the first comprehensive empirical analysis of individual and collective behavior in the multiple referendum setting.


2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Testé ◽  
Samantha Perrin

The present research examines the social value attributed to endorsing the belief in a just world for self (BJW-S) and for others (BJW-O) in a Western society. We conducted four studies in which we asked participants to assess a target who endorsed BJW-S vs. BJW-O either strongly or weakly. Results showed that endorsement of BJW-S was socially valued and had a greater effect on social utility judgments than it did on social desirability judgments. In contrast, the main effect of endorsement of BJW-O was to reduce the target’s social desirability. The results also showed that the effect of BJW-S on social utility is mediated by the target’s perceived individualism, whereas the effect of BJW-S and BJW-O on social desirability is mediated by the target’s perceived collectivism.


2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Garate-Serafini ◽  
Jose Mendez ◽  
Patty Arriaga ◽  
Larry Labiak ◽  
Carol Reynolds

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