Following on from the post ↓down there↓ about the publication of potentially dangerous results, and as if by magic, into my inbox comes a cfp from the journal Medicine Studies for a special edition about responsibility in biomedical practices.

Details are below the fold.

Special Themed Issue of Medicine Studies (Autumn / Winter 2011)

Guest editors: Silke Schicktanz (University of Goettingen, Medical Ethics and History of Medicine) & Aviad Raz (Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Dept. of Sociology and Anthropology)

Recent developments in medicine open new possibilities for planning and shaping life.  At the same time, this scope of new options and interventions also involves new forms and spheres of responsibility, not only on the part of medical professionals, but also among patients, their families and their social surroundings and even for society in general.  This development of responsibility in the context of biomedical practices has to be explored in an interdisciplinary perspective. 

Scholars from all disciplines are invited to contribute manuscripts to a planned special issue of Medicine Studies on “responsibility in biomedical practices”.  Contributions should analyze and discuss responsibility as a concept that reaches beyond discussions of autonomy to everyday aspects of relational ethics, exploring responsibility as it is being experienced by lay persons and professionals in life-planning situations and in the face of new forms and technologies of biomedical risk in the context of genetic testing, reproductive medicine, end-of-life decisions, transplantation medicine, public health, vaccination, global health etc. Papers highlighting the historical underpinnings, (cross)cultural contexts, regulatory and political dimensions, ethical analysis of the role and limits of the concept as well as philosophical-analytical investigations of  the term  ‘responsibility in medicine’ are welcome.  Medicine can be addressed in its broadest sense, encompassing all aspects from clinical practice to research and development, as well as medicine as a cultural and social practice. 

Manuscripts (max lengths: 9000 words incl. references) should be submitted electronically by August 15, 2011 using Springer’s electronic Editorial Manager System.  All manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer review.

For all other terms and conditions, please check the homepage of Medicine Studies.