Abstract
Drawing on an ethnographic research with Witness patients and physicians in Berlin between 2010 and 2012, in this article I propose to look at an overtly visible and apparently familiar but at the same time understudied religious community of Jehovah’s Witnesses, and particularly embodied medical experiences of ordinary Witnesses. Abiding by the biblical directive to “abstain from blood” that applies to consumption, storage, and transfusion of blood in its entirety and its major components have caused clashes with many physicians. Following recent scholarship on blood and blood transfusions as an index of relationality as well as scholarship on bioidentity, blood and/or organ transplantations allows me to address an intersecting area of medical anthropology, the anthropology of Christianity, and the new anthropology of kinship. I argue that hand in hand with the biblical directive, goes not only the mistrust in medicine’s ability to identify “clean” blood, the understanding of blood as an “alien” body but also a fear of contamination by blood that carries traits of a donor that may influence patient’s Christian identity
References
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Besier Gerhard, Vollnhals Clemens 2003, Repression und Selbstbehauptung. Die Zeugen Jehovas unter der NS- und der SED-Diktatur, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin
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Côté Pauline, Richardson James T. 2001, Disciplined litigation, vigilant litigation, and deformation: dramatic organization change in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 40, issue 1, s. 11‒25
Delille Gérard 2013, The shed blood of Christ. From blood as metaphor to blood as bearer of identity, [w:] Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, red. Ch. H. Johnson, B. Jussen, D. W. Sabean i S. Teuscher, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford, s. 125‒143
Douglas Mary 2007[1966], Czystość i zmaza, PIW, Warszawa
Franklin Sarah 2013, From blood to genes, [w:] Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, red. Ch. H. Johnson, B. Jussen, D. W. Sabean i S. Teuscher, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford, s. 285‒306
Garriot William, O’Neill Kevin Lewis 2008, Who is a Christian? Toward a dialogic approach in the anthropology of Christianity, Anthropological Theory, vol. 8, issue 4, s. 381–398
Hann Chris 2007, The anthropology of Christianity per se, European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européenes de Sociologie, vol. 48, issue 3, s. 383–410
Johnson Christopher H., Jussen Bernhard, Sabean David Warren, Teuscher Simon (red.) 2013, Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford
Keane Webb 2007, Christian moderns. Freedom and fetish in the mission encounter, California University Press, Berkeley
Kelly Kimberly, Nichter Mark 2012, The politics of local biology in transnational drug testing: creating (bio)identities and reproducing (bio)nationalism through Japanese “ethnobridging” studies, East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal, vol. 6, issue 3, s. 379–399
Knox Zoe 2011, Writing Witness history: the historiography of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Journal of Religious History, vol. 35, issue 2, s. 157‒180
Lederer Susan E. 2008, Flesh and blood. Organ transplantation and blood transfusion in twentieth-century America, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Lock Margaret 1995, Encounters with aging. Mythologies of menopause in Japan and North America, University of California Press, Berkeley
Lock Margaret, Kaufert Patricia 2001, Menopause, local biologies, and cultures of aging, American Journal of Human Biology, vol. 13, issue 4, s. 494–504
Lock Margaret, Nguyen Vinh-Kim 2010, An anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA
Muramoto Osamu 2001, Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovah’s Witnesses, British Medical Journal, vol. 322, s. 37–39
Penton James M. 1985, Apocalypse delayed. The story of Jehovah’s Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Rajtar Małgorzata 2009, Searching for a purpose of life: conversion to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Eastern Germany, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers Series, no. 114, Halle/S
Rajtar Małgorzata 2013, Bioethics and religious bodies. Refusal of blood transfusions in Germany, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 98, s. 271–277
Rajtar Małgorzata 2014, Serce i krew. Rodziny świadków Jehowy wobec zespołu Downa, [w:] Etnografie biomedycyny, red. M. Radkowska-Walkowicz i H. Wierciński, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa, s. 259–275
Robertson Jennifer 2012, Hemato-nationalism: the past, present, and future of “Japanese blood”, Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, vol. 31, issue 2, s. 93–112
Robbins Joel 2003, What is a Christian? Notes toward an anthropology of Christianity, Religion, vol. 33, s. 191–199
Roux Jean-Paul 2013, Krew. Mity, symbole, rzeczywistość, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków
Schmidt Michael, Nguyen Xuan Duc, Hourfar Michael Kai, Klüter Harald, Müller Marcus M., Sireis Walid, Seifried Erhard 2010, Nebenwirkungen bei der Anwendung von Blutprodukten, Hämotherapie 14, s. 24–37
Schwarz Maureen Trudelle 2009, Emplacement and contamination: mediation of Navajo identity through excorporated blood, Body and Society, vol. 15, issue 2, s. 145–168
Sharp Lesley A. 1995, Organ transplantation as a transformative experience: anthropological insights into the restructuring of the self, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol. 9, issue 3, s. 357–389
Singelenberg Richard 1990, The blood transfusion taboo of Jehovah’s Witnesses: origin, development and function of a controversial doctrine, Social Science and Medicine, vol. 31, issue 4, s. 515‒523
Starr Douglas 1998, Blood. An epic history of medicine and commerce, Warner Books, London
Titmuss Richard M. 1997[1970], The gift relationship. From human blood to social policy, The New Press, New York
Tokarska-Bakir Joanna 2008, Legendy o krwi. Antropologia przesądu, Wydawnictwo WAB, Warszawa
Waldby Catherine, Rosengarten Marsha, Treloar Carla, Frazer Suzanne 2004, Blood and bioidentity: ideas about self, boundaries and risk among blood donors and people living with hepatitis C, Social Science and Medicine, vol. 59, s. 1461–1471
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 2012, Jahrbuch der Zeugen Jehovas, Wachtturm-Gesellschaft, Selters/Taunus
Besier Gerhard, Vollnhals Clemens 2003, Repression und Selbstbehauptung. Die Zeugen Jehovas unter der NS- und der SED-Diktatur, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin
Bialecki Jon, Haynes Naomi, Robbins Joel 2008, The anthropology of Christianity, Religion Compass, vol. 2, issue 6, s. 1139‒1158
Cannell Fenella 2006, Introduction, [w:] The anthropology of Christianity, red. F. Cannell, Duke University Press, Durham, s. 1–50
Carsten Janet 2011, Substance and relationality: blood in contexts, Annual Review of Anthropology, vol. 40, s. 19–35
Copeman Jacob 2009, Introduction: blood donation, bioeconomy, culture, Body & Society, vol. 15, issue 2, s. 1–28
Côté Pauline, Richardson James T. 2001, Disciplined litigation, vigilant litigation, and deformation: dramatic organization change in Jehovah’s Witnesses, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 40, issue 1, s. 11‒25
Delille Gérard 2013, The shed blood of Christ. From blood as metaphor to blood as bearer of identity, [w:] Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, red. Ch. H. Johnson, B. Jussen, D. W. Sabean i S. Teuscher, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford, s. 125‒143
Douglas Mary 2007[1966], Czystość i zmaza, PIW, Warszawa
Franklin Sarah 2013, From blood to genes, [w:] Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, red. Ch. H. Johnson, B. Jussen, D. W. Sabean i S. Teuscher, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford, s. 285‒306
Garriot William, O’Neill Kevin Lewis 2008, Who is a Christian? Toward a dialogic approach in the anthropology of Christianity, Anthropological Theory, vol. 8, issue 4, s. 381–398
Hann Chris 2007, The anthropology of Christianity per se, European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européenes de Sociologie, vol. 48, issue 3, s. 383–410
Johnson Christopher H., Jussen Bernhard, Sabean David Warren, Teuscher Simon (red.) 2013, Blood and kinship. Matter for metaphor from ancient Rome to the present, Berghahn Books, New York–Oxford
Keane Webb 2007, Christian moderns. Freedom and fetish in the mission encounter, California University Press, Berkeley
Kelly Kimberly, Nichter Mark 2012, The politics of local biology in transnational drug testing: creating (bio)identities and reproducing (bio)nationalism through Japanese “ethnobridging” studies, East Asian Science, Technology and Society: an International Journal, vol. 6, issue 3, s. 379–399
Knox Zoe 2011, Writing Witness history: the historiography of the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Journal of Religious History, vol. 35, issue 2, s. 157‒180
Lederer Susan E. 2008, Flesh and blood. Organ transplantation and blood transfusion in twentieth-century America, Oxford University Press, Oxford
Lock Margaret 1995, Encounters with aging. Mythologies of menopause in Japan and North America, University of California Press, Berkeley
Lock Margaret, Kaufert Patricia 2001, Menopause, local biologies, and cultures of aging, American Journal of Human Biology, vol. 13, issue 4, s. 494–504
Lock Margaret, Nguyen Vinh-Kim 2010, An anthropology of Biomedicine, Wiley-Blackwell, Malden, MA
Muramoto Osamu 2001, Bioethical aspects of the recent changes in the policy of refusal of blood by Jehovah’s Witnesses, British Medical Journal, vol. 322, s. 37–39
Penton James M. 1985, Apocalypse delayed. The story of Jehovah’s Witnesses, University of Toronto Press, Toronto
Rajtar Małgorzata 2009, Searching for a purpose of life: conversion to Jehovah’s Witnesses in Eastern Germany, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology Working Papers Series, no. 114, Halle/S
Rajtar Małgorzata 2013, Bioethics and religious bodies. Refusal of blood transfusions in Germany, Social Science & Medicine, vol. 98, s. 271–277
Rajtar Małgorzata 2014, Serce i krew. Rodziny świadków Jehowy wobec zespołu Downa, [w:] Etnografie biomedycyny, red. M. Radkowska-Walkowicz i H. Wierciński, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, Warszawa, s. 259–275
Robertson Jennifer 2012, Hemato-nationalism: the past, present, and future of “Japanese blood”, Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, vol. 31, issue 2, s. 93–112
Robbins Joel 2003, What is a Christian? Notes toward an anthropology of Christianity, Religion, vol. 33, s. 191–199
Roux Jean-Paul 2013, Krew. Mity, symbole, rzeczywistość, Wydawnictwo Znak, Kraków
Schmidt Michael, Nguyen Xuan Duc, Hourfar Michael Kai, Klüter Harald, Müller Marcus M., Sireis Walid, Seifried Erhard 2010, Nebenwirkungen bei der Anwendung von Blutprodukten, Hämotherapie 14, s. 24–37
Schwarz Maureen Trudelle 2009, Emplacement and contamination: mediation of Navajo identity through excorporated blood, Body and Society, vol. 15, issue 2, s. 145–168
Sharp Lesley A. 1995, Organ transplantation as a transformative experience: anthropological insights into the restructuring of the self, Medical Anthropology Quarterly, vol. 9, issue 3, s. 357–389
Singelenberg Richard 1990, The blood transfusion taboo of Jehovah’s Witnesses: origin, development and function of a controversial doctrine, Social Science and Medicine, vol. 31, issue 4, s. 515‒523
Starr Douglas 1998, Blood. An epic history of medicine and commerce, Warner Books, London
Titmuss Richard M. 1997[1970], The gift relationship. From human blood to social policy, The New Press, New York
Tokarska-Bakir Joanna 2008, Legendy o krwi. Antropologia przesądu, Wydawnictwo WAB, Warszawa
Waldby Catherine, Rosengarten Marsha, Treloar Carla, Frazer Suzanne 2004, Blood and bioidentity: ideas about self, boundaries and risk among blood donors and people living with hepatitis C, Social Science and Medicine, vol. 59, s. 1461–1471
Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania 2012, Jahrbuch der Zeugen Jehovas, Wachtturm-Gesellschaft, Selters/Taunus