Att (åter)skapa "det normala" : Bröstoperationer och brännskador i plastikkirurgisk praktik

Sammanfattning: This PhD dissertation explores how the normal is made and remade in the medical practice of plastic surgery. The thesis also question what "the normal" is that is remade. The empirical field is breast reconstruction, breast reduction, and burn injuries.Drawing on Donna Hataway' s concepts material-semiotic practices andproduction apparatuses, it is shown that the normal is remade in complex ways in plastic surgery, even though the discourse is monovocal. The author found, as in Science and Technology Studies, that the practice is heterogeneous, and as in emancipatory studies that medicine is monovocal. Different voices, situated knowledges, and competing articulations was however not found, as is suggested theoretically in STS studies. Nor was a singular normality found, as the use of the concepts medicalization, inscription, and the gaze would suggest.The thesis further explore the concept of "the normal," and examine theconcepts "medicalization," "inscription," and "the gaze" as they have been used in relation to cosmetic surgery and rehabilitation of the disabled. In analyzing plastic surgergy the author use, critizise and expand the very same concepts.