Paper short abstract:

Taking a post-human approach to blood donation we consider donated blood as something that is 'made' only when it leaves the body, not simply extracted but constructed through the process of donation. This blood is a different kind of substance that mediates relationships between donor and society.

Paper long abstract:

Many traditional studies of blood donation have looked at the relationship between the individual and the wider society, and corresponding values such gift-giving and social responsibility. However, such perspectives often fail to address the material nature of blood, or more specifically blood once it is outside the body as a substance that is by definition 'ex-human'. In this paper we start off by considering donated blood as something that is 'made' only when it leaves the body; in other words, it is not simply extracted, but is constructed. We go on to focus on the process of donation- the donating body, the instruments of donation and the blood itself. Through donation, as blood is extracted, the donor is increasingly separated conceptually from their body. For staff too, donations are not from persons but from bodies which must fit with the standardized equipment and professional practices. By stripping the person from their blood, the blood is depersonalized, and thereby becomes part of a generalized resource. This presents a different kind of substance; no longer circulating within, but flowing between, actively mediating relationships between donor and society.