Paper short abstract:

Contrary to unambiguous rhetoric of rescuing others by donating blood, it seems that representations of bodies and strategies of actors to make sense of the experience are more complex. This communication focus on various considerations when giving, treating and receiving blood in Liège, Belgium.

Paper long abstract:

The rhetoric about blood donation generally insists on the irreplaceable gift of bodily fluid that saves life and heals victims. Nevertheless, is this idea of restoring/repairing the body by transfusion the only operative one in the world of blood transfusion ?

Do donors see themselves as a "repairers" of other's body ? Do they consider the donation as threat to their health ? On the opposite, is it a proof of strength and a mean of increasing their own health ? How does recipients experience the reincorporation of other people's blood into their body and how do they consider it before and after a transfusion? Do professionals of blood collections and transfusion share those concerns ?

Through ethnographic cases, I will explore different points of view on the body changed by transfer of blood. I will use my current thesis work in anthropology, which aims to retrace the “social life” of blood in its different stages between a donor and a recipient in Liège, Belgium. This approach allows to associate and compare voices of different actors dedicated to the collection, treatment and administration of blood. The focus will be on different experiences of blood donation and transfusion and its effects on the body, which can be repaired, complexified, damaged or increased.

The presentation will be based on analyses and field materials to explore how actors are making sense of the intimate and bodily experience of blood transfer in an ultra moralized and medicalized environment such as blood donation.