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Paper short abstract:

This paper focus on socio-technical dimensions at stake in the logistic behind blood donation and transfusion. It is based on my current thesis work, which aims to retrace the “social life” of donated/collected blood. It will rely on fieldwork with drivers in charge of delivering blood to hospitals.

Paper long abstract:

In a context of constant need for blood products and a shrinking pool of potential donors, the Red Cross must be inventive to stimulate donations, while ensuring efficiency of the collection and redistribution system, as blood is valued and has a limited shelf life. Blood donations are first centralized, then re dispatched after treatments and analysis to hospitals in French-speaking Belgium. I will mobilize the concept of "vital mobilities" (Sodero 2018), to explain how daily events or crises challenge these mobilities in a Belgian context.

In this communication, I will explore some socio-technical questions raised by the transport of blood which is symbolically invested and essential for healthcare. How is the transfer of blood between people organized from a practical point of view? How does the aim to be nationally blood self-sufficient combine with the delivery of blood components from abroad and to industries elsewhere? How to articulate the altruistic rhetoric about blood donation with the monetary aspects of it? Indeed, the transport of blood raises specific socio-technical questions while being carried out by both professionals and volunteers. This association of actors at the very heart of this supply logistics may reveal the complex and ambivalent nature of the phenomenon.

This communication will be based on my thesis work in progress which aims to follow the blood between a donor and a recipient in Belgium. I will particularly mobilize my field materials developed with the drivers who deliver blood orders to hospitals, with whom I’ve shared the road.