Children’s Bioethics: The International Biopolitical Discourse on Harmful Traditional Practices and the Right of the Child to Cultural Identity

Only scant attention has been given to the issue of children’s bioethics. Even when such a discourse took place, it hardly touched upon children as social agents. In this novel work, Maya Sabatello looks at the “body politics” of religious and cultural medical practices - from “harmful traditional practices” to genetic engineering. Building on literature from medical anthropology, cultural studies, disability studies, social sciences, and law, she explores the international discourse on children’s bioethics from a previously uncharted child-centered approach. In light of the existing multiculturalism, she contends that in the discourse on children's bioethics, not only must the medical, social and, anthropological nexus of the child be taken into account, but that incorporating identity claims into the legal discourse is also essential for the child’s voice to be heard.