Hidden Histories of the Dead: Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research

Elizabeth T. Hurren

doi:10.1017/9781108633154

In this discipline-redefining book, Elizabeth T. Hurren maps the post-mortem journeys of bodies, body-parts, organs, and brains, inside the secretive culture of modern British medical research after WWII as the bodies of the deceased were harvested as bio-commons. Often the human stories behind these bodies were dissected, discarded, or destroyed in death. Hidden Histories of the Dead recovers human faces and supply-lines in the archives that medical science neglected to acknowledge. It investigates the medical ethics of organ donation, the legal ambiguities of a lack of fully-informed consent and the shifting boundaries of life and re-defining of medical death in a biotechnological era. Hurren reveals the implicit, explicit and missed body disputes that took second-place to the economics of the national and international commodification of human material in global medical sciences of the Genome era. This title is also available as Open Access.

‘This is an exceptional book. Incredibly well researched, exhaustive and compelling, Hurren engages powerfully with the shifting ethics of anatomical ‘ownership’, identity and use and brings to the fore the complex history and status of the corpse. As Hurren demonstrates, these issues are as pressing now as they were in the last three hundred years or so.’

Julie-Marie Strange - Professor in Modern British History, Durham University

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Contents

Hidden Histories of the Dead
pp i-ii
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Hidden Histories of the Dead - Title page
pp iii-iii
Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research
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Copyright page
pp iv-iv
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Dedication
pp v-vi
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Contents
pp vii-vii
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Illustrations
pp viii-ix
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Figures
pp x-xi
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Tables
pp xii-xii
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Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xv
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Abbreviations
pp xvi-xvii
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Ethical Note
pp xviii-xviii
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Part I - Relocating the Dead-End
pp 1-100
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Introduction: A Consignment for the Cul-de-Sac of History?
pp 3-19
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1 - Disputed Bodies and Their Hidden Histories
pp 20-48
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2 - Res Nullius – Nobody’s Thing
pp 49-70
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3 - The Ministry of Offal
pp 71-100
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Part II - Disputing Deadlines
pp 101-250
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4 - Implicit Disputes
pp 103-149
Mapping Systems of Implied Consent
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5 - Explicit Disputes
pp 150-204
‘The Balance of Probability’ in Coronial Cases
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6 - Missed Disputes
pp 205-250
Brainstorming Neuroscience
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Part III - Death Sentences Delayed
pp 251-273
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7 - Conclusion
pp 253-273
Flesh Is a Dead Format? – Remapping the ‘Human Atlas’
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Bibliography
pp 274-294
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Index
pp 295-302
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Hidden Histories of the Dead

Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research

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Contents

Hidden Histories of the Dead
pp i-ii

Hidden Histories of the Dead - Title page
pp iii-iii

Copyright page
pp iv-iv

Dedication
pp v-vi

Contents
pp vii-vii

Illustrations
pp viii-ix

Figures
pp x-xi

Tables
pp xii-xii

Acknowledgements
pp xiii-xv

Abbreviations
pp xvi-xvii

Ethical Note
pp xviii-xviii

Part I - Relocating the Dead-End
pp 1-100

Introduction: A Consignment for the Cul-de-Sac of History?
pp 3-19

1 - Disputed Bodies and Their Hidden Histories
pp 20-48

2 - Res Nullius – Nobody’s Thing
pp 49-70

3 - The Ministry of Offal
pp 71-100

Part II - Disputing Deadlines
pp 101-250

4 - Implicit Disputes
pp 103-149

5 - Explicit Disputes
pp 150-204

6 - Missed Disputes
pp 205-250

Part III - Death Sentences Delayed
pp 251-273

7 - Conclusion
pp 253-273

Bibliography
pp 274-294

Index
pp 295-302

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Hidden Histories of the Dead

Disputed Bodies in Modern British Medical Research

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