Domesticating Organ Transplant

"This superbly crafted ethnography draws readers deeply into the domain of organ transplantation in Guadalajara, Mexico. Megan Crowley-Matoka lays bare the ubiquitous moral and social consequences, tragic and joyful, associated with kidney transfer from one family member to another, that reverberate for years among extended family members, transplant teams, and society at large. These findings have implications for all forms of medical manipulation involving the procurement and transfer of bodily material among humankind."  - Margaret Lock, author of The Alzheimer Conundrum: Entanglements of Dementia and Aging

"Domesticating Organ Transplant is an insightful, ethnographically rich, and original work that adds to the growing corpus of anthropological scholarship on human organ transfer. Megan Crowley-Matoka's in-depth work with families, firm grounding in bioethics, and ability to interweave key analytical concepts—such as bioavailability, domesticity, blame, and materiality—is compelling. Crowley-Matoka's profound observations and analyses in this beautifully written and heartfelt book took my breath away." - Lesley A. Sharp, author of The Transplant Imaginary

"Crowley-Matoka’s semiotic-inspired approach successfully offers new insights into a growing body of anthropological work on organ transplantation." - Parsa Bastani, Somatosphere

"Crowley-Matoka’s ethnographic evidence is compelling, and her sensitive examination of what are very often matters of life and death makes clear how intimate experiences reveal a good deal about life in contemporary Mexico and the politics of transplantation more generally." - Lauren A. Wynne, Medical Anthropology Quarterly

"If it is the duty of ethnography to complicate our understanding of the world, then Crowley-Matoka has more than fulfilled her responsibility.... The book’s great strength is the depth of interview material, often acquired under very difficult circumstances, and the modesty that the author brings to her own role as reporter." - Donald Joralemon, Journal of Anthropological Research

"Domesticating Organ Transplant is an engaging and compelling ethnography that makes important contributions to the anthropology of transplant and medical anthropology." - Cristina T. Bejarano, Anthropological Quarterly

"A remarkably well-written work of anthropology, enriched throughout with well-balanced, reflexive, and theoretically challenging insights.”

"Based on extensive fieldwork with patients, Crowley-Matoka offers a fascinating insight into how notions about motherhood, miracles and mestizos shape the ways in which lives are transformed by transplantation, and how the social and familial consequences reverberate for many years thereafter." - Gavin O'Toole, Latin American Review of Books

"A beautifully written and theoretically perceptive exploration of both the biological and existential realms, Crowley-Matoka’s study deserves a wide readership. It makes a significant contribution to scholarly literature on medical anthropology, bioethics, and moral politics in Mexico.... The book is a must-read for anyone interested in medical anthropology in Latin America." - Steven J. Bachelor, The Latin Americanist

"A compelling ethnographic account of the cultural and biopolitical nature of kidney donation and transplantation in Mexico. . . . Given its ethnographic richness and depth of analysis, this book will appeal to multiple audiences, especially those interested in anthropological studies of health and biomedical practices in Latin America and the growing literature on organ transplant and its corporeal and cultural implications. This book is a robust, yet refined addition, to both these areas of inquiry." - Shana Harris, Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology