A Very Scottish Homecoming

15:45 - 16:00

What is Burns' real legacy - his body of work or the social principles he celebrated?

Coming up at: 16:00

Last Word

View full schedule

  1. BBC Radio 4
  2. Programmes
  3. Thinking Allowed
  4. 15/04/2009

15/04/2009

Listen:

Listen now (30 minutes)

Availability:

Available to listen.

Last broadcast on Mon, 20 Apr 2009, 00:15 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts).

Synopsis

Laurie Taylor explores the latest research into how society works.

There is a revolution happening in security and the human body is at the centre of new ways of monitoring and controlling the way we live. From fingerprinting to retinal scans. Laurie Taylor explores the way that the history of biometrics has changed the relationship between the citizen and the state. What are the new measures that are due to be introduced? How are new technological developments likely to change the way we live? Laurie talks to anthropologist Mark Maguire about changes which mean that the body becomes our passport and asks whether the so-called 'securitization of identity' will change the way we think of ourselves.

Plus, is it possible for a social scientist to always remain uninvolved in the world he is studying? When does it become impossible to keep your mouth shut? Laurie talks to two medical sociologists, Charles Bosk and Clare Williams, about the ethical questions they have had to face.

Dr Mark Maguire

Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

The Birth of Biometric Security Anthropology Today
April 2009 – volume 25 – issue 2

Department of Anthropology, National University of Ireland, Maynooth

Professor Charles Bosk

Professor of Sociology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

What Would You Do?: Juggling Bioethics and Ethnography
Publisher: Chicago University Press
ISBN-10: 0226066762
ISBN-13: 978-0226066769

Find out more about Prof. Charles Bosk

Professor Clare Williams

Director of the Centre for Biomedicine & Society (CBAS) Professor of Social Science of Biomedicine in the School of Social Science & Public Policy at King’s College, London

Find out more about Prof. Clare Williams

Broadcasts

  1. Wed 15 Apr 2009
    16:00
  2. Mon 20 Apr 2009
    00:15

More details

A programme from

Duration

30 minutes

More like this

Find related BBC Radio 4 programmes.

Categories

Explore the BBC

This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets (CSS) if you are able to do so.