The politics of race and colonialism are conspicuously absent from discussions about the medicalisation of male circumcision in eastern and southern Africa. In the wake of Africa's most ambitious global health intervention based on surgeries, Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision (VMMC) for HIV prevention, the legacies of British and American circumcisers present a challenge for ethnographic interpretation and critique of existing circumcision practices. How is Whiteness now implicit in circumcision practices in Kenya? What implications does race and colonialism hold for the future(s) of such practices? Using ethnographic and historical materials, this talk aims to widen the discussion about the bioethics of medicalised male circumcision in global health HIV interventions.

 

---

Please join in for an informal lunch with the presenter, staff and students beforehand 12.00 to 13.00 – bring your own lunch. Non-alcoholic drinks, nibbles and tea/coffee with biscuits are provided. All welcome!)

Location: G10, Department for Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol 43, Woodland Road, BS8 1UU, ground floor.
Access information: https://www.accessable.co.uk/university-of-bristol/access-guides/43-woodland-road