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The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a social norm embedded in the patriarchal system and is resistant to change due to its roots in the tradition of the practising communities. Despite this difficulty in change, some women succeed in changing their attitudes towards the practice. In trying to understand what makes these women change their attitudes, we identified in a previous study, the critical life events at which change occurs (turning point). These turning points were described with emotions and conflicting feelings based on which we hypothesised that emotion regulation and the resolution of conflicts of loyalty might be possible mechanisms that explain the change of attitudes by the women. In this article, we sought to investigate how the mechanisms interact and how they were at play to explain the change. We, therefore, triangulated our previous data, fifteen women interviewed twice, with the published life stories and public testimonies of 10 women with FGM, and interviews of six experts chosen for their complementary fields of expertise to discuss the emerging concepts and theory, generated by our study. The data were analysed using framework analysis and an element of the grounded theory approach (constant comparison). As a result of our theorisation process, we propose a model of change in five stages (Emotion suppression, The awakening, The clash, Re-appropriation of self, and Reconciliation). This describes the process of a woman’s journey from compliance with FGM and community norms to non-compliance. Our study reveals how the women whose stories were analysed, moved from being full members of their community at the cost of suppressing their emotions and denying their selves, to becoming their whole selves while symbolically remaining members of their communities through the forgiveness of their mothers.

In this issue, Sawai and colleagues (2022) draw a map of the emerging field of brain organoid ethics. The constitution of this field is dependent on the concept of a brain organoid that would be considered as deserving ethical consideration. Brain organoid research in itself is a broad field and many different entities could qualify as brain organoids, from the early self-organizing neural cell cultures (Lancaster 2013) to organoids modeling this or that part of the brain, until complex physiological systems such as assembloids (Birey 2017), and we might also discuss problems raised by brain organoids made from human material, human-animal chimeras, and so on. While the target article reviews the different questions that might be raised for different kinds of entities, the diversity of entities that we group conveniently under the label brain organoid should not be underestimated...

WP1 is dedicated to the exploration of conceptual uncertainties surrounding organoid research and related technologies. This document proposes a typology of the main concepts used in organoid research, in a way that echoes the specific ethical status of each entity. The purpose of the typology is to provide the HYBRIDA project with a shared vocabulary in order to discuss ethical and legislative issues to be raised by organoid research.

This document reviews the main conceptual uncertainties pertaining to the ethical and scientific literature on organoid research. First, we highlight the importance and potentialities of a discussion of concepts before entering the ethical debate. Then we discuss briefly the concept of a hybrid—at the core of the HYBRIDA project—in relation with organoids and chimeras. Finally, we provide a list of conceptual distinctions that have been or will be mobilized to discuss the ontology of the entities generated in the course of organoid research, and we show how these concepts from philosophy, science and common sense can be applied to organoids in future discussions.

This document highlights some conceptual difficulties in the history of organoid research. We do not aim at writing a full history of organoid research, but at raising awareness of some conceptual difficulties when considering the dynamics of research. We sketch a standard narrative that presents organoids as a recent breakthrough in research. The conception of organoids as a recent breakthrough corresponds to a certain vision of history, and also a particular role for ethics. Beyond the standard narrative, different genealogies have been proposed for organoids. We suggest that these historical debates are dependent on current conceptual uncertainty in the scientific nomenclature and that these historical debates and nomenclatural uncertainty have implications for framing the ethical debate on organoid research.

The practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) is a social norm embedded in the patriarchal system and is resistant to change due to its roots in the tradition of the practising communities. Despite this difficulty in change, some women succeed in changing their attitudes towards the practice. In trying to understand what makes these women change their attitudes, we identified in a previous study, the critical life events at which change occurs (turning point). These turning points were described with emotions and conflicting feelings based on which we hypothesised that emotion regulation and the resolution of conflicts of loyalty might be possible mechanisms that explain the change of attitudes by the women. In this article, we sought to investigate how the mechanisms interact and how they were at play to explain the change. We, therefore, triangulated our previous data, fifteen women interviewed twice, with the published life stories and public testimonies of 10 women with FGM, and interviews of six experts chosen for their complementary fields of expertise to discuss the emerging concepts and theory, generated by our study. The data were analysed using framework analysis and an element of the grounded theory approach (constant comparison). As a result of our theorisation process, we propose a model of change in five stages (Emotion suppression, The awakening, The clash, Re-appropriation of self, and Reconciliation). This describes the process of a woman’s journey from compliance with FGM and community norms to non-compliance. Our study reveals how the women whose stories were analysed, moved from being full members of their community at the cost of suppressing their emotions and denying their selves, to becoming their whole selves while symbolically remaining members of their communities through the forgiveness of their mothers.

Ce texte interroge le messianisme de Walter Benjamin, non comme discours venant se superposer à d’autres discours, mais comme arrachement au temps de l’histoire, laquelle noue indissociablement violence et droit sous la tutelle de l’Etat rationnel-légal.

To date, researchers have focused mainly on verbal descriptions of near-death experience (NDE) phenomenology but have not investigated experiencers’ (NDErs’) graphic representations to understand NDE phenomenology through the physical body location and the subjective sense of self-location, that is, the feeling of “where I am” spatially located. Using graphic representations, we explored the topography (spatial features) of 15 NDErs’ recollections of their body locations and self-location positioning. We specifically considered NDErs’ kinematics (movements), visual field of view, and affects during distinct NDE phases. The various paths between successive self-location positions depicted in participants’ drawings suggested specific subjective velocities, directionalities, and temporalities in which the physiological interaction of the visuo-­vestibular and somatosensory signals produce a phenomenon known as vection. These signals act as motor agents in the NDEr’s sense of self-location position and motion. Bodily self-awareness appeared to be transferred affectively to a self-location depending on how much the NDEr’s multisensory integration of the visuo-vestibular and somatosensory signals was altered. Results showed that the kinematic components of the NDEr’s sense of self-location correlated with a specific emotional state and field of view within a specific phase of the NDE sequence and trajectory—for example, self-location motions at extreme speeds associated with a reduced field of view and achromatic textures; self-location motion at standstill associated with an expanded field of view and light textures). During a specific NDE phase, different phenomenal structures and textures occurred together, which we identified as a set of spatio-temporal configurations or “Archi-Textures” for that phase. We identified three distinct Archi-Textures as well as out-of-body experience perceptual patterns.

La pandémie a mis en scène de façon saisissante la nature profondément complexe - à la fois médicale, scientifique, sociale, écologique, économique et politique - des crises sanitaires, de ce qu’est la santé et des actions à entreprendre pour en prendre soin. Les connaissances sur la génétique des virus ont permis de mettre au point, dès le mois de janvier 2020, un test moléculaire permettant de diagnostiquer la maladie et de suivre la circulation du virus. Elles ont, combinées aux savoirs immunologiques, ouvert rapidement la voie au développement de nombreux vaccins et aux premiers essais cliniques. La connaissance des dynamiques épidémiologiques passées d’autre virus et les savoir-faire en matière de modélisation et de simulation ont permis de proposer des prédictions d’évolution de l’épidémie pour informer les décisions stratégiques et politiques. Les médicaments antiviraux ou les régulateurs de la réponse immunitaire ont constitué une réserve de molécules dans laquelle les cliniciens ont puisé pour proposer,en urgence, des premiers protocoles de traitements et lancer les essais cliniques d’évaluation de leur efficacité. Des solutions diagnostiques, thérapeutiques et préventives qui entrent dans le périmètre des innovations biomédicales technoscientifiques ont participé ainsi aux stratégies de lutte et de prévention de la maladie...

Tribune. Le développement et le déploiement remarquablement courts d’un ou de plusieurs vaccins anti-Covid-19 constitueront sans aucun doute une réalisation scientifique mémorable, non seulement dans le contrôle de cette pandémie, mais aussi pour la mise en place de nouvelles plates-formes d’innovations thérapeutiques. En décembre, c’est-à-dire moins d’un an après le début de cette nouvelle émergence virale, plus d’une centaine d’essais cliniques sur des vaccins contre le Covid-19 sont répertoriés sur le site officiel d’enregistrement des essais. Onze d’entre eux sont en phase 3 [la dernière avant la mise sur le marché] et, après des résultats intermédiaires très encourageants, des autorisations d’utilisation en urgence ont été données dans plusieurs pays [le Royaume-Uni a autorisé le vaccin de Pfizer et BioNTech le 2 décembre, les Etats-Unis le 11 décembre]. Toutefois l’urgence ne saurait être une justification pour négliger la science et l’éthique, et ce qui devrait impérativement les relier...

Tribune. La société doit apprendre à vivre avec le virus. La sortie du confinement et la prévention de rebonds épidémiques sont des moments critiques. Ils doivent mobiliser toutes les expertises de la société française. Or la France ne dispose pas d’espace institutionnel pour coordonner le dialogue entre sciences et société. L’efficacité et les conséquences sociales des solutions que proposent sciences et médecine dépendent pourtant du contexte de leur application. L’expérience du terrain et le sens pratique forment aussi un formidable vivier d’idées et de solutions.L’émergence, ces dernières semaines, de nouvelles formes de solidarités en est une illustration pleine de promesses. Des solutions ingénieuses et novatrices apparaissent lorsque les enjeux d’un problème sont pensés ensemble. Ainsi, la production de masques artisanaux, destinés aux personnes saines, est aujourd’hui encadrée par une norme de l’Afnor [Association française de normalisation] et une note interministérielle du 29 mars...

This paper discusses an aspect of empowerment in relation to the central human capabilities for women with FGM/C in the diaspora. Many women who have undergone the practice of FGM/C come from societies where gender inequalities and gender-based discrimination between men and women persist, which compromises their capabilities, and many find themselves in vulnerable positions in their relationships with men, at work and in their everyday-life. The participants in this study however appeared somehow to have been empowered through certain health-promoting activities where they exercised agency in the western social context, they reside in. This paper examines the empowerment gained by the migrant women with FGM/C after participating in health-promoting activities. We compared this form of empowerment to the reinforcement of their capabilities according to Nussbaum's central human capabilities. Drawing on Nussbaum's list as a starting point we explore the relationship between capabilities and empowerment. We found that some central human capabilities appeared to be reinforced through health-promoting activities, whereas issues relating to asylum seeking became a determinant of empowerment in the women's own terms. Although the activities aimed to empower women, the participants themselves felt that they would only truly be empowered if they obtained full citizenship.

La recherche médicale et scientifique, devenue résolument internationale, nécessite une approche multiculturelle avec une perspective de justice sociale. Dans le cadre de collaborations entre pays au développement inégal, les modalités du consentement, conçues par les pays industrialisés, soulèvent un certain nombre de défis. Il apparait important de mener une réflexion en profondeur sur l’éthique du recueil du consentement et de penser la capacité des sujets à faire des choix, localement, lors de leur participation à la recherche biomédicale, quand elle est conduite par des partenaires de pays à la culture et au développement économique différents.

We are facing for seven decades in the Palestinian israelian regionala conflict of narratives that is profoundly inscribed on the body of subjects on both sides of the story . Confronting the utopia of sovereignty , has turned into a dystopic space of conflict for subjects inner and outer frontiers . it is precisely on the impact of outer on inner frontiers of intersubjectivity that I will focus my analysis...

Judith Butler nous offre ici une « interprétation de la non-violence », non comme état pacifique mais comme combat social et politique, en révélant les présupposés normatifs de la violence légitime, notamment de la violence d’Etat. Ce texte illustre la manière dont la philosophe a élargi son champ de réflexion, de la prise en compte des minorités sexuelles à la nécessité d’une résistance non violente à toutes les situations de sujétion, en vue de construire une éthique de la relationalité. En réponse au pouvoir souverain de la Loi, la non- violence résinifie la problématique de l’agir en commun en le situant dans un face à face corporel avec les forces d’oppression et en adoptant ce que Gandhi appelait une « inaction concertée », qui questionne radicalement l’inéluctabilité de la violence légitime. Elle transforme ainsi la non-violence en projet éthique, en opérateur critique et en pratique corporelle. Par la solidarité entre les plus vulnérables, elle nous propose de résister à « l’état d’exception ». Comment ne pas en souligner l’actualité ?.

In this consensus paper resulting from a meeting that involved representatives from more than 20 European partners, we recommend the foundation of an expert group (European Steering Committee) to assess the potential benefits and draw-backs of genome editing (off-targets, mosaicisms, etc.), and to design risk matrices and scenarios for a responsible use of this promising technology. In addition, this European steering committee will contribute in promoting an open debate on societal aspects prior to a translation into national and international legislation.

Lorsque nous invitons Judith Butler à l’Université catholique de Louvain, en septembre 2014, ses travaux font autorité dans de nombreux domaines : celui des « études de genre » bien sûr – dont elle fut l’une des pionnières –, mais aussi celui de la philosophie sociale et politique, de la sociologie et de la théorie sociale. Philosophe engagée, elle apparaît comme l’une des principales voix de la gauche critique américaine, mais aussi comme une personnalité de premier plan sur de nombreuses questions difficiles – à commencer par la politique sécuritaire de l’État d’Israël, qu’elle critique au nom d’une identité juive diasporique, valorisant l’accueil et la « non-appartenance ». Soutien du mouvement Boycotts,Divestments and Sanctions (BDS), elle est au cœur de nombreuses controverses outre-Atlantique. En Europe, les mouvements conservateurs en ont fait une cible privilégiée, en caricaturant ses analyses et en négligeant leur dimension proprement philosophique. Ce livre donne un aperçu de cette rencontre, en proposant une analyse à plusieurs voix de ses réflexions les plus récentes sur la non-violence.

Alors que la notion de féminin semble ne pas avoir reçu en philosophie le statut de concept , quel peut être l'impact philosophique d'un questionnement sur les présupposés de l'entreprise philosophique des lors que l’Éros est envisagé comme condition du logos? le texte de cette intervention invite à s'interroger sur la différence entre le nom et le corps , entre l’Éros et le logos. en partant de l'inversion du visage par la féminité que suggère Levinas on se demandera quel est le statut aujourd'hui de cette inversion? Permet elle d’envisager l'émergence d'un autre logos philosophique?