Publication: ¿Dónde acaba un objeto? Objetos, fronteras e intimidad en la donación de leche materna
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2020-11-06
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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Abstract
En nuestro artículo queremos explorar la dimensión plástica de los objetos, su relacionalidad, su ser más bien “objeto-frontera” (Leigh Star y Griesemer, 1989) y la forma en la que las relaciones en las que se inserta un objeto modifican su propio estatus, así como el de las personas con las que se ve conectado (Winance, 2019). Para ello, recurrimos a un caso que venimos estudiando desde hace un tiempo: la donación altruista de leche materna a bancos hospitalarios y otras prácticas de lactancia compartida o “distribuida”. Nos centraremos en tres objetos que han tenido una presencia significativa en nuestro trabajo de campo: los cojines de lactancia y otros utensilios similares, como toallas o mantas; los extractores de leche —comúnmente llamados “sacaleches”—; y los medicamentos probióticos. Cada uno de estos tres objetos redefine, en su forma de ensamblarse con las prácticas de lactancia, las fronteras entre la madre lactante y el mundo —la relación con el dolor y el propio cuerpo, las redes sociales, familiares y de amistad, la propia diferencia entre lo vivo y lo inerte, entre cuerpo y medicamento—. Cada uno de estos objetos participa también de forma peculiar en aquello que llamamos cuidado o intimidad y que, al contrario que lo que suele argumentarse desde posiciones humanistas “ingenuas”, no se constituye por oposición a lo técnico/ “artificial”, sino que surge como efecto del modo en el que relaciones heterogéneas —y siempre más-que-humanas— se ven materialmente mediadas (Mol, Moser y Pols, 2010; Latimer y López, 2019).
In our article we want to explore the plastic dimension of objects, their relationality. We use the well-known notion of “boundary-objects” (Leigh Star and Griesemer, 1989) to study the way in which the relationships in which an object is inserted modify its own status, and that of the people with whom it is connected (Winance, 2019). To do this, we turn to a case we have been studying for some time: altruistic donation of breast milk to hospital biobanks and other related practices of shared or "distributed" breastfeeding. We focus on three objects that have had a significant presence in our fieldwork: breastfeeding cushions and other similar tools, such as towels or blankets; breast pumps —popularly known in Spain as sacaleches, “milk extractors”—; and new probiotic drugs. Each of these three objects redefines, through its assemblages with breastfeeding practices, the boundaries between the nursing mother and the world —the relationships with pain and the body itself; social, family and friendship networks; and even the difference between the living and the inert, between body and medication—. Each of these objects also participates in a peculiar way in what we call care or intimacy. An intimacy that, contrary to what is usually argued from “naive” humanist positions, is not constituted in opposition to the technical/“artificial”, but arises instead as an effect of the way in which heterogeneous —and always more-than-human— relations are materially mediated (Mol, Moser and Pols, 2010; Latimer and López, 2019).
In our article we want to explore the plastic dimension of objects, their relationality. We use the well-known notion of “boundary-objects” (Leigh Star and Griesemer, 1989) to study the way in which the relationships in which an object is inserted modify its own status, and that of the people with whom it is connected (Winance, 2019). To do this, we turn to a case we have been studying for some time: altruistic donation of breast milk to hospital biobanks and other related practices of shared or "distributed" breastfeeding. We focus on three objects that have had a significant presence in our fieldwork: breastfeeding cushions and other similar tools, such as towels or blankets; breast pumps —popularly known in Spain as sacaleches, “milk extractors”—; and new probiotic drugs. Each of these three objects redefines, through its assemblages with breastfeeding practices, the boundaries between the nursing mother and the world —the relationships with pain and the body itself; social, family and friendship networks; and even the difference between the living and the inert, between body and medication—. Each of these objects also participates in a peculiar way in what we call care or intimacy. An intimacy that, contrary to what is usually argued from “naive” humanist positions, is not constituted in opposition to the technical/“artificial”, but arises instead as an effect of the way in which heterogeneous —and always more-than-human— relations are materially mediated (Mol, Moser and Pols, 2010; Latimer and López, 2019).