Tiia Sudenkaarne
Tiia Sudenkaarne, DrSocSci (VTT), MA (FM) obtained her doctoral degree at University of Turku in September 2021. Her dissertation in the field of philosophy focused on queer and feminist bioethics. She completed her dissertation in the project Technology, Ethics and Reproduction: Controversy in the Era of Normalization funded by Kone Foundation for Tampere University. In July 2021, she joined the Academy of Finland project (no. 324322) Social Study of Antimicrobial Resistance at University of Helsinki. In the project looking at AMR in the contexts of health care, animals and ethics, she will offer a theorethical contribution to the lacuan of AMR ethics from a queer feminist, posthumanist viewpoint.
In addition to these two projects, she is actively involved with the social study of microbes project Microbial Lives: Practices of New Human-Microbial Cultures funded by Kone Foundation. She is a member of the Future of Reproduction network supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation's Argumenta funding. She is a member of the committee steering the Center for the Study of Bioethics in Finland and of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics' (FAB) advisory board. She is the chair of Society of Queer Studies in Finland.
Sudenkaarne has served as co-editor-in-chief for the Society for Queer Studies in Finland’s Journal, including its current issue in progress. She has also co-edited Ethics, Medicine and Public Health journal’s special issue on LGBTQI+ bioethics. She was shortlisted for Feminist Approaches to Bioethics’ Donchin and Holmes essay prize in 2016 and Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize in Healthcare Ethics Research in 2020 (had to withdraw from further proceedings due to the pandemic). In addition to her published work extensive for her career stage, she has presented and chaired at over thirty academic conferences. She has held a salary position in University of Turku Philosophy. She has organized two international conferences, bringing to Finland such trail-blazing academics as Lance Wahlert, a driving force behind queer bioethical theory, and Amrita Pande, one of the first and amogst the most influential ethnographers of surrogacy work in India. She has received several grants for her PhD work and travel, including stipends from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and feminist philosophy’s internationally most acclaimed journal Hypatia.
Supervisors: PhD Supervisor: Helena Siipi, University of Turku, PhD Supervisor: Salla Sariola, University of Helsinki, PhD Supervisor: Lotta Kähkönen, University of Turku, PhD Supervisor, Professor: Eerik Lagerspetz, University of Turku, Research Project PI: Riikka Homanen, Tampere University, and Research Project PI: Salla Sariola, University of Helsinki
In addition to these two projects, she is actively involved with the social study of microbes project Microbial Lives: Practices of New Human-Microbial Cultures funded by Kone Foundation. She is a member of the Future of Reproduction network supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation's Argumenta funding. She is a member of the committee steering the Center for the Study of Bioethics in Finland and of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics' (FAB) advisory board. She is the chair of Society of Queer Studies in Finland.
Sudenkaarne has served as co-editor-in-chief for the Society for Queer Studies in Finland’s Journal, including its current issue in progress. She has also co-edited Ethics, Medicine and Public Health journal’s special issue on LGBTQI+ bioethics. She was shortlisted for Feminist Approaches to Bioethics’ Donchin and Holmes essay prize in 2016 and Mark S. Ehrenreich Prize in Healthcare Ethics Research in 2020 (had to withdraw from further proceedings due to the pandemic). In addition to her published work extensive for her career stage, she has presented and chaired at over thirty academic conferences. She has held a salary position in University of Turku Philosophy. She has organized two international conferences, bringing to Finland such trail-blazing academics as Lance Wahlert, a driving force behind queer bioethical theory, and Amrita Pande, one of the first and amogst the most influential ethnographers of surrogacy work in India. She has received several grants for her PhD work and travel, including stipends from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and feminist philosophy’s internationally most acclaimed journal Hypatia.
Supervisors: PhD Supervisor: Helena Siipi, University of Turku, PhD Supervisor: Salla Sariola, University of Helsinki, PhD Supervisor: Lotta Kähkönen, University of Turku, PhD Supervisor, Professor: Eerik Lagerspetz, University of Turku, Research Project PI: Riikka Homanen, Tampere University, and Research Project PI: Salla Sariola, University of Helsinki
less
Uploads
Articles and essays by Tiia Sudenkaarne
A prominent view, both in bioethical research and in the ethical evaluation of medical practices, systems, and policies, is the so-called principlist approach. This has two subfields: the view that principles are grounded in moral theory, and the view that they are based on a common morality. In my dissertation, I offer a critique of both views. In both cases, however, principles are thought to abstract morally salient elements that should guide bioethical analyses. The most prominent principles are, in nonhierarchical order: respect for autonomy; nonmaleficence (not to cause harm); beneficence (to provide benefits, and to balance benefits against risks); and justice (as the fair distribution of benefits and risks—in my view an insufficient definition of justice).
In my dissertation, I discuss how cis- and heteronormativity can affect bioethical analyses, including the definition and application of principles. Cis- and heteronormativity refers to the categorization of gender and sexual variance through the binaries of male/female and homo/hetero, which are constructed hierarchically. My work is informed by the theoretical backdrops of feminist philosophy, feminist bioethics, and queer bioethics. I conclude that gender and sexual variance should replace cis- and heteronormativity in bioethical analyses, including principlist approaches.
My dissertation consists of four articles and an introduction. The introduction contextualizes, bridges, evaluates, and further develops the argumentation presented in the articles. In article I, “Considering Unicorns: Queer Bioethics and Intersectionality” (Sudenkaarne 2018a), I discuss queer bioethics via concept analysis in relation to intersectionality, the prominent notion that there are several overlapping axes of oppression. This philosophical discussion reveals some persistent issues that I call the problem of identity, the problem of relativism, and the problem of essentialism, which are also framed by my inquiry in the introduction. In article II, “Queering Bioethics: A Queer Bioethics Inventory of Surrogacy” (Sudenkaarne 2018b), I offer a queer bioethical analysis of ethical guidelines for surrogacy treatment, applying the queer bioethical methodology known as the queer bioethics inventory (QBI). I find these ethical guidelines to include cis- and heteronormativity. In article III, “Queering Vulnerability: A Layered Bioethical Approach” (Sudenkaarne 2019), I offer a unique contribution to queer and feminist bioethical theory and methodology by building on the central concepts of QBI and the feminist theory of layered vulnerability to formulate what I call queer vulnerabilities, targeting kinship, intimacy, agency, and ethical sustainability. In article IV, “Queering Medicalized Gender Variance” (Sudenkaarne 2020b), I apply my theory and methodology of queer vulnerabilities to diagnostics of gender variance in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, currently in their 11th and fifth versions respectively. I conclude that despite progress from the previous versions, both are in need of further queer bioethical scrutiny and operate with a confused metaphysics of gender.
Ultimately, I conclude that gender and sexual variance as a norm in the framework for principlist analyses is needed to guarantee the fulfillment of principles, including in LGBTQI+ cases. For this reason, my dissertation aims to offer a queer feminist framework for principles. Further, I seek to formulate queer bioethics as a posthuman moral theory to further enhance a queer feminist approach to bioethics, ethics, and philosophy. Such an approach should be better attuned to intersectionality, and should seek to resolve the imbalance between reproductive rights, reproductive justice, and ecojustice on a global scale.
I find both diagnostic systems to make sense of gender variance through incongruence, dysphoria and desire in bioethically confusing ways. In my treatment, medicalized gender variance does not necessarily entail pathologization. I conclude that medicalized gender variance can be used for balancing access to care and stigma but persist that evaluation of this must be more informed by queer bioethics. Despite progress compared to previous versions of ICD and DSM, both are still in need of further queer bioethical scrutiny. This includes a thorough evaluation of queer vul-nerabilities in gender diagnostics, currently building on convoluted definitions of incongruence, desire and dysphoria. This convolution confuses medical ethics of gender and sexual variance. Further, it can trigger moral harms, including cascading queer vulnerabilities.
Queer-bioetiikkaa ja historiantutkimusta yhdistävä analyysi osoittaa, että menneisyydestä
välittyy yhtäältä erilaisia hetero- ja cis-normatiivisuuteen pohjaavia ja aikaansa sidottuja
arvotuksia, mutta toisaalta myös queer-toimijuutta mahdollistavia ja eettisesti kestäviä
toimintatapoja.
Certain intersectional approaches share key queer bioethical imperatives in exposing how seemingly neutral antidiscrimination discourses rely on bias and privilege. Both powerfully demonstrate how ostensibly objective methodologies are often inadequate for addressing socially sanctioned bias or for unpacking oppressive habits of the mind. Intersectionality interrupts narrative norms and disrupts easy binaries, such as male/female or homo/hetero. Because it is practice-oriented and has a social justice mission, intersectionality approaches analysis and advocacy as necessarily linked, which corresponds to queer bioethics arising from LGBTQI activism. However, establishing intersectional queer bioethics requires further investigation into cases of race, sexual and gender diversity with queer bioethics as the background moral theory, formulation of which I suggest should be inspired by feminist metaphysical advances.
yliopistossa pervoja parantumisia ja parantamisia lokakuussa 2016, esillä olivat sekä kriittiset, toiveikkaat että muutokseen pyrkivät queer-tulkinnat terveyden, hyvinvoinnin ja sairauden määritelmistä ja parantamisen teknologioista, parantumisen (väli)tiloista ja kulttuureista. Seminaaripäivien keskusteluista liikkeelle lähtien tämä SQSJ:n Pervojen parantumisten ja parantamisten teemanumeron esipuhe sekä lehden muut tekstit jatkavat ja laajentavat aiheen pohdintaa.
Miten queer-bioetiikan avulla voidaan kyseenalaistaa cis- ja heteronormatiivisuus hyvän elämän välttämättömänä ehtona sekä medikalisoituna merkitysjärjestelmänä? Artikkeli lähestyy tätä kysymystä polkuja raivaten ja mahdollisuuksia kartoittaen. Artikkelissa pohditaan lisäksi queer-bioetiikan suhdetta muuhun tutkimuskenttään sekä sukupuolen ja seksuaalisuuden moninaisuuden kysymysten asemaa bioetiikassa.
Kansainvälisesti tarkasteltuna homo-, lesbo- ja queer-tutkimus sekä trans- ja intersukupuolentutkimus ovat pyrkineet kyseenalaistamaan bioeettistä ymmärrystä sukupuolen ja seksuaalisuuden normatiivisuudesta vuosikymmenten ajan. Esimerkiksi kysymykset transsukupuolisten henkilöiden sterilisaatiopakosta ja intersukupuolisten lasten ruumiillisesta koskemattomuudesta ovat vakiinnuttaneet asemansa julkisessa keskustelussa vasta viime vuosina. Artikkelin tavoite on osallistua aktivisti- ja kokijanäkökulmien nostamiseen pysyväksi osaksi suomalaista bioeettistä ja yleistä eettis-filosofista tutkimuskenttää.
Papers by Tiia Sudenkaarne
https://www.perheyhteiskunta.fi/2020/10/26/kuka-saa-lisaantya/
A prominent view, both in bioethical research and in the ethical evaluation of medical practices, systems, and policies, is the so-called principlist approach. This has two subfields: the view that principles are grounded in moral theory, and the view that they are based on a common morality. In my dissertation, I offer a critique of both views. In both cases, however, principles are thought to abstract morally salient elements that should guide bioethical analyses. The most prominent principles are, in nonhierarchical order: respect for autonomy; nonmaleficence (not to cause harm); beneficence (to provide benefits, and to balance benefits against risks); and justice (as the fair distribution of benefits and risks—in my view an insufficient definition of justice).
In my dissertation, I discuss how cis- and heteronormativity can affect bioethical analyses, including the definition and application of principles. Cis- and heteronormativity refers to the categorization of gender and sexual variance through the binaries of male/female and homo/hetero, which are constructed hierarchically. My work is informed by the theoretical backdrops of feminist philosophy, feminist bioethics, and queer bioethics. I conclude that gender and sexual variance should replace cis- and heteronormativity in bioethical analyses, including principlist approaches.
My dissertation consists of four articles and an introduction. The introduction contextualizes, bridges, evaluates, and further develops the argumentation presented in the articles. In article I, “Considering Unicorns: Queer Bioethics and Intersectionality” (Sudenkaarne 2018a), I discuss queer bioethics via concept analysis in relation to intersectionality, the prominent notion that there are several overlapping axes of oppression. This philosophical discussion reveals some persistent issues that I call the problem of identity, the problem of relativism, and the problem of essentialism, which are also framed by my inquiry in the introduction. In article II, “Queering Bioethics: A Queer Bioethics Inventory of Surrogacy” (Sudenkaarne 2018b), I offer a queer bioethical analysis of ethical guidelines for surrogacy treatment, applying the queer bioethical methodology known as the queer bioethics inventory (QBI). I find these ethical guidelines to include cis- and heteronormativity. In article III, “Queering Vulnerability: A Layered Bioethical Approach” (Sudenkaarne 2019), I offer a unique contribution to queer and feminist bioethical theory and methodology by building on the central concepts of QBI and the feminist theory of layered vulnerability to formulate what I call queer vulnerabilities, targeting kinship, intimacy, agency, and ethical sustainability. In article IV, “Queering Medicalized Gender Variance” (Sudenkaarne 2020b), I apply my theory and methodology of queer vulnerabilities to diagnostics of gender variance in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, currently in their 11th and fifth versions respectively. I conclude that despite progress from the previous versions, both are in need of further queer bioethical scrutiny and operate with a confused metaphysics of gender.
Ultimately, I conclude that gender and sexual variance as a norm in the framework for principlist analyses is needed to guarantee the fulfillment of principles, including in LGBTQI+ cases. For this reason, my dissertation aims to offer a queer feminist framework for principles. Further, I seek to formulate queer bioethics as a posthuman moral theory to further enhance a queer feminist approach to bioethics, ethics, and philosophy. Such an approach should be better attuned to intersectionality, and should seek to resolve the imbalance between reproductive rights, reproductive justice, and ecojustice on a global scale.
I find both diagnostic systems to make sense of gender variance through incongruence, dysphoria and desire in bioethically confusing ways. In my treatment, medicalized gender variance does not necessarily entail pathologization. I conclude that medicalized gender variance can be used for balancing access to care and stigma but persist that evaluation of this must be more informed by queer bioethics. Despite progress compared to previous versions of ICD and DSM, both are still in need of further queer bioethical scrutiny. This includes a thorough evaluation of queer vul-nerabilities in gender diagnostics, currently building on convoluted definitions of incongruence, desire and dysphoria. This convolution confuses medical ethics of gender and sexual variance. Further, it can trigger moral harms, including cascading queer vulnerabilities.
Queer-bioetiikkaa ja historiantutkimusta yhdistävä analyysi osoittaa, että menneisyydestä
välittyy yhtäältä erilaisia hetero- ja cis-normatiivisuuteen pohjaavia ja aikaansa sidottuja
arvotuksia, mutta toisaalta myös queer-toimijuutta mahdollistavia ja eettisesti kestäviä
toimintatapoja.
Certain intersectional approaches share key queer bioethical imperatives in exposing how seemingly neutral antidiscrimination discourses rely on bias and privilege. Both powerfully demonstrate how ostensibly objective methodologies are often inadequate for addressing socially sanctioned bias or for unpacking oppressive habits of the mind. Intersectionality interrupts narrative norms and disrupts easy binaries, such as male/female or homo/hetero. Because it is practice-oriented and has a social justice mission, intersectionality approaches analysis and advocacy as necessarily linked, which corresponds to queer bioethics arising from LGBTQI activism. However, establishing intersectional queer bioethics requires further investigation into cases of race, sexual and gender diversity with queer bioethics as the background moral theory, formulation of which I suggest should be inspired by feminist metaphysical advances.
yliopistossa pervoja parantumisia ja parantamisia lokakuussa 2016, esillä olivat sekä kriittiset, toiveikkaat että muutokseen pyrkivät queer-tulkinnat terveyden, hyvinvoinnin ja sairauden määritelmistä ja parantamisen teknologioista, parantumisen (väli)tiloista ja kulttuureista. Seminaaripäivien keskusteluista liikkeelle lähtien tämä SQSJ:n Pervojen parantumisten ja parantamisten teemanumeron esipuhe sekä lehden muut tekstit jatkavat ja laajentavat aiheen pohdintaa.
Miten queer-bioetiikan avulla voidaan kyseenalaistaa cis- ja heteronormatiivisuus hyvän elämän välttämättömänä ehtona sekä medikalisoituna merkitysjärjestelmänä? Artikkeli lähestyy tätä kysymystä polkuja raivaten ja mahdollisuuksia kartoittaen. Artikkelissa pohditaan lisäksi queer-bioetiikan suhdetta muuhun tutkimuskenttään sekä sukupuolen ja seksuaalisuuden moninaisuuden kysymysten asemaa bioetiikassa.
Kansainvälisesti tarkasteltuna homo-, lesbo- ja queer-tutkimus sekä trans- ja intersukupuolentutkimus ovat pyrkineet kyseenalaistamaan bioeettistä ymmärrystä sukupuolen ja seksuaalisuuden normatiivisuudesta vuosikymmenten ajan. Esimerkiksi kysymykset transsukupuolisten henkilöiden sterilisaatiopakosta ja intersukupuolisten lasten ruumiillisesta koskemattomuudesta ovat vakiinnuttaneet asemansa julkisessa keskustelussa vasta viime vuosina. Artikkelin tavoite on osallistua aktivisti- ja kokijanäkökulmien nostamiseen pysyväksi osaksi suomalaista bioeettistä ja yleistä eettis-filosofista tutkimuskenttää.
https://www.perheyhteiskunta.fi/2020/10/26/kuka-saa-lisaantya/