Uncertain Knowledge: The Medicalisation of Intersex People and the Production of Ignorance

Michal Raz
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Abstract

Ignorance is produced through mechanisms related to power relations and socio-cultural context. This article examines whether the theoretical conceptualisation of agnotology may be useful when exploring intersex and the way it has been erased socially and physically. Specifically, based on the work of a PhD in Sociology and History of Science, it proposes categorising three types of mechanisms of ignorance production—cultural, epistemological and physical—with the aim of providing a greater understanding of how medicine, science and technology participate in a continuous process of erasing intersex bodies and lived experiences. Using medical literature, interviews and observations, the article focuses on a specific area of biomedical knowledge and intervention: the prenatal ‘treatment’ of Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) with dexamethasone or ‘prenatal DEX’. It shows how this procedure was pioneered by French doctors and how it continues to be practised in France despite numerous uncertainties and controversies inside and outside of the medical sphere.
不确定的知识:双性人的医学化与无知的产生
无知是通过与权力关系和社会文化背景相关的机制产生的。本文探讨了 "无性论 "的理论概念在探讨双性人及其在社会和生理上被抹杀的方式时是否有用。具体而言,本文以一位社会学和科学史博士的研究成果为基础,提出了三种类型的无知生产机制--文化、认识论和物理--目的是让人们更深入地了解医学、科学和技术是如何参与到抹杀双性人身体和生活经历的持续过程中的。文章利用医学文献、访谈和观察,聚焦于生物医学知识和干预的一个特定领域:用地塞米松或 "产前 DEX "对先天性肾上腺增生症(CAH)进行产前 "治疗"。报告展示了法国医生是如何开创这种治疗方法的,又是如何在医疗领域内外存在诸多不确定性和争议的情况下,继续在法国实施这种治疗方法的。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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