Organs for Sale: An Ethnographic Examination of the International Organ Trade

"Susanne Lundin does a wondrous job of uncovering the ethically fractured world of human organ sales on a global scale. Lundin is a gifted ethnographer, and her keen eye, balanced approach, and moral sensitivity are evident on every page. Not since Dorothy Nelkin and Lori Andrews published Body Bazaar (2001) have we had such an accessible and deeply nuanced portrayal of the moral challenges, dilemmas, and circumventions that plague entwined clinical and social realms where human body parts are understood as scarce commodities essential to saving the lives of some while placing others at grave risk. This is, unquestionably, both important and dangerous research that exposes themes of longing and desire, economic desperation, coercion, medical violence, fear, and death among organ buyers, sellers, and activists in a host of nations and across several continents. Indeed, non-Swedish speakers are most fortunate to have access to this translation by Anne Cleaves of Lundin's heart-rending ethnographic odyssey, one that tracks the global proliferation of transplant tourism, commerce, and trafficking in the twenty-first century." - Lesley A. Sharp, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College, USA, and Senior Research Scientist in Sociomedical Sciences, Columbia University, USA.