Camisha Russell, "The Assisted Reproduction of Race" (Indiana UP, 2018)
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What is the central focus of Camisha Russell’s book on assisted reproduction and race?
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Hello, and welcome to New Books and Philosophy, a podcast channel with the New Books Network. I'm Sarah Tyson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Denver. and I'm co-host of the channel along with Carrie Figdor, Robert Talese, and Alexis McLeod. Together, we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books, drawing from a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Kamisha Russell, assistant professor of philosophy and affiliated faculty in disability studies at the University of Oregon. Her book, The Assisted Reproduction of Race, is just out from Indiana University Press. Assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs, such as in vitro fertilization and surrogacy, have been critically examined within philosophy, particularly by feminists and bioethicists.
But the role of race, both in how the technologies are used and in the effects that they are having, has received less attention. In the assisted reproduction of race, Kamisha Russell undertakes this critical analysis. While there is a robust scientific consensus that there is no meaningful genetic basis for race, Russell's analysis of the role of race in ARTs reveals that when it comes to producing kinship, race is still doing a great deal of work. Further, by arguing that race itself is a technology, Russell shows how race is both produced and productive, historically, as well as in everyday practices, techniques, and choices. While this analysis focuses on what race does in the contemporary realm of ARTs, it illuminates the role of race in the past and now in constructing social reality.
Hello, Kamisha. Welcome to New Books and Philosophy. Hi, thank you for having me. It's great to have you here. So, will you start out by telling us a bit about yourself, about your background as a philosopher, and your interests philosophically?
Sure. Yeah. So my interests are in critical philosophy of race, bioethics and feminism. And I sort of came to philosophy with a focus or through things intended towards diversity. So one of the things that I did that helped me decide to go to grad school was to go to the Rutgers Summer Institute in Philosophy for Minority Students. And while I was there, women were actually really underrepresented among not only the students that were attending, but also the people who presented to us, the faculty members who were drawn from around the country. So, yeah, in an interesting way, even while kind of at a diversity institute, I was also noticing other problems with representation. So I sort of joined philosophy...
in spite of some of the things that I saw or that I thought were, um, or just perhaps driven to, uh, to join it because of that.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the central focus of Camisha Russell’s book on assisted reproduction and race?
0:00–8:38
2
How does Russell describe her philosophical background and the problem‑based approach that led to the book?
8:38–15:54
3
Why does Russell shift the discussion from ‘what race is’ to ‘what race does’ in assisted reproductive technologies?
15:54–25:11
4
What does the ‘color‑blind’ Good Morning America story reveal about race labeling in surrogacy?
25:11–35:36
5
How does Russell argue that race functions as a technology in contemporary ART practices?
35:36–47:15
6
What historical insights does the book provide about the development of race theory and its link to eugenics?
47:15–58:05
7
In what ways do insecurities shape reproductive markets and the ethical dilemmas they create?
58:05–1:07:33
8
What future projects is Russell pursuing and how do they extend the analysis of race and reproductive justice?
1:07:33–1:17:35
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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