Papers by Laura Winocur
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
ABSTRACT Secularism has become a popular and controversial topic in discussions of politics and c... more ABSTRACT Secularism has become a popular and controversial topic in discussions of politics and culture. However, secularism itself is a nebulous concept that has manifested in diverse iterations in diverse terrains. This paper aims to elucidate the distinctions among different conceptions of the secular state. It first defines secularism itself through detailed exploration of the concept through history, then applies this definition to identify secular nations. I will evaluate previous scholarly efforts to compare different approaches to secularism, and propose two distinct “schools” of secularism in the modern world: laïcité and separation of church and state, using the United States and Canada as exemplars of “separation” states, and France and the Turkish Republic as laïcité countries. The litmus test to distinguish between a separation and laïcité nation lies in the language of its constitution. The French and Turkish constitutions explicitly state that the country is a secular (“laic”) nation; the constitutions of the United States and Canada contain no such provision, but instead guarantee freedom of religion. I address how the practice of secularism is informed by the interplay of historical, geographical, cultural, psychological, economic, demographic, and other elements, which create the situation of a particular nation’s secularism. Finally, by analyzing court cases, legislative initiatives, and public response to various controversies, I explore how both forms of secularism inform a country’s approach to freedom of expression, the treatment of minorities, government interference in religious affairs, and other potential sites of debate.
This presentation aims to explore the ethics of animal euthanasia by examining the role that perv... more This presentation aims to explore the ethics of animal euthanasia by examining the role that pervasive ableism plays in influencing medical care for both nonhuman and human animals. I will frame the issue by telling the story of the life and death of my dog, Troy, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 15. I will contrast the approaches of two different veterinarians that my family saw for Troy’s care: one who pushed to euthanize him when he had a leg injury, and one who recommended surgery instead. I will discuss the motivations that I believe underlie each veterinarian’s approach, and extrapolate this analysis to theorize about paradigms concerning animal care generally. I intend to take special note of the dominance of ableist thought in veterinary care, and the tendency to view animals through a utilitarian lens. I will then compare this with my experiences with my late father, who had multiple disabilities and received an organ transplant in 2006. Organ allocation for transplant...
This paper aims to evaluate the role that personal appeals for organ donations have played throug... more This paper aims to evaluate the role that personal appeals for organ donations have played throughout the history of transplantation, with particular attention to the diverse relationships such appeals have had with public policy regarding organ transplantation—at times seeming to animate policy developments, while at other times assuming an antagonistic role vis-à-vis the medical and legal establishments—and the further ethical issues implicated by the advent of social media as a tool to facilitate these exchanges. In Part I, I will recount the history of modern treatment for kidney disease, and how its development set up a paradigm that deeply entwined the federal government and the medical establishment. I will discuss the complex history of the earliest widely-used treatment for kidney failure—dialysis—paying special attention to the issues of scarcity and allocation that have complicated this treatment since the opening of the first long-term dialysis clinics in the early 1960s. I will discuss how the success of kidney transplantation created new problems of supply and demand that resemble those associated with dialysis in the past. I will recount the history of legislation related to kidney disease and organ donation, including a discussion of the role that personal emotional appeals have played in shaping public policy related to the treatment of kidney disease, even before transplantation became the preferred method of treatment. In Part II, I will provide statistics to illustrate the gravity of the issues that characterize our current system of regulating organ transplantation. Then, I will describe the values that motivate our organ donation and allocation system, and the conflicts they can engender. In Part III, I aim to further elucidate the profound moral issues implicated in organ transplantation by discussing the experience of having end stage renal disease, and relating the reality of this experience to an analysis of the rhetoric surrounding kidney transplantation in the United States. Part IV will address various issues concerning directed donations from living organ donors. First, I will discuss the notable absence of regulation with regard to organ donations from living donors, explaining why this regulatory gap exists, and how it has led to further controversy and dysfunction within the organ transplantation system. Second, I will discuss concerns unique to living kidney donation, and how the medical and legal establishments have responded to these concerns in crafting the transplant process as it operates today. Next, I will analyze trends in living donation, specifically the increasing popularity of non-related directed donations. I will discuss the ethical issues implicated in this trend, including the permissibility of directed donation, how certain types of directed donation conflict with the values that constitute the backbone of our current organ transplantation system, and the question of risk to both donor and recipient. I will then specifically address the role of social media and the Internet in facilitating this trend, and the ways in which new social media platforms to facilitate living donation may serve to exacerbate inequalities in organ allocation. In Part V, I will propose a way to harness the power of social media in order to facilitate increased donation, and make several suggestions for improving our policy regarding living organ donation.
Conference Presentations by Laura Winocur
This presentation aims to explore the ethics of animal euthanasia by examining the role that perv... more This presentation aims to explore the ethics of animal euthanasia by examining the role that pervasive ableism plays in influencing medical care for both nonhuman and human animals. I will frame the issue by telling the story of the life and death of my dog, Troy, who passed away in 2010 at the age of 15. I will contrast the approaches of two different veterinarians that my family saw for Troy’s care: one who pushed to euthanize him when he had a leg injury, and one who recommended surgery instead. I will discuss the motivations that I believe underlie each veterinarian’s approach, and extrapolate this analysis to theorize about paradigms concerning animal care generally. I intend to take special note of the dominance of ableist thought in veterinary care, and the tendency to view animals through a utilitarian lens. I will then compare this with my experiences with my late father, who had multiple disabilities and received an organ transplant in 2006. Organ allocation for transplantation in the United States is determined by a host of troublingly ableist factors, which I will explore in depth. Finally, I aim to assert that the same kind of ableist thought motivates much of the emphasis on euthanasia as the “right thing to do” so frequently for sick or disabled animals.
I will also discuss the ethics of personally choosing euthanasia for a pet, completing Troy’s narrative and discussing the ethical implications of the decisions my family and I made concerning his care. Next, I will briefly discuss differing legal approaches to animal euthanasia, noting the lack of regulation in the United States and relating it to animals’ legal status as property under the law, and touching on laws in other countries intended to address some of the ethical problems implicated by the euthanasia of companion animals. I will end the presentation with a series of discussion points and questions, including whether and how the legal system should address animal euthanasia, the link between ableism and problematic aspects of veterinary care, the special nature of the relationship between dogs and humans and whether that implies extraordinary duties, and the roles of ableism and speciesism in influencing how we care for our pets.
Drafts by Laura Winocur
In this paper, I present an analysis of the unique and storied history of End Stage Renal Disease... more In this paper, I present an analysis of the unique and storied history of End Stage Renal Disease treatment in the United States. Framed through the recounting of my own father’s experiences with the disease and his eventual kidney transplant, I attempt to construct a narrative that accurately portrays the unique aspects of living with ESRD, particularly the sense of “persistent liminality” that it engenders, and how these aspects have come to shape the course of political, scientific, medical, and social approaches to ESRD and its treatment. I aim to portray the unique “ESRD experience” in order to properly contextualize information about current practices with regard to its treatment, including Medicare policies, dialysis, and kidney transplantation.
This paper also aims to evaluate the role that personal appeals for organ donations have played throughout the history of treatment for ESRD and of organ transplantation, with particular attention to the diverse relationships that such appeals have had with public policy regarding organ transplantation—at times seeming to animate policy developments, while at other times assuming an antagonistic role vis-à-vis the medical and legal establishments—and the further ethical issues implicated by the advent of social media as a tool to facilitate these exchanges. In Part I, I will recount the history of modern treatment for kidney disease, and how its development set up a paradigm that deeply entwined the federal government and the medical establishment. I will discuss the complex history of the earliest widely-used treatment for kidney failure—dialysis—paying special attention to the issues of scarcity and allocation that have complicated this treatment since the opening of the first long-term dialysis clinics in the early 1960s. I will discuss how the success of kidney transplantation created new problems of supply and demand that resemble those associated with dialysis in the past. I will recount the history of legislation related to kidney disease and organ donation, including a discussion of the role that personal emotional appeals have played in shaping public policy related to the treatment of kidney disease, even before transplantation became the preferred method of treatment. In Part II, I will provide statistics to illustrate the gravity of the issues that characterize our current system of regulating organ transplantation. Then, I will describe the values that motivate our organ donation and allocation system, and the conflicts they can engender. In Part III, I aim to further elucidate the profound moral issues implicated in organ transplantation by discussing the experience of having end stage renal disease, and relating the reality of this experience to an analysis of the rhetoric surrounding kidney transplantation in the United States. Part IV will address various issues concerning directed donations from living organ donors. First, I will discuss the notable absence of regulation with regard to organ donations from living donors, explaining why this regulatory gap exists, and how it has led to further controversy and dysfunction within the organ transplantation system. Second, I will discuss concerns unique to living kidney donation, and how the medical and legal establishments have responded to these concerns in crafting the transplant process as it operates today. Next, I will analyze trends in living donation, specifically the increasing popularity of non-related directed donations. I will discuss the ethical issues implicated in this trend, including the permissibility of directed donation, how certain types of directed donation conflict with the values that constitute the backbone of our current organ transplantation system, and the question of risk to both donor and recipient. I will then specifically address the role of social media and the Internet in facilitating this trend, and the ways in which new social media platforms to facilitate living donation may serve to exacerbate inequalities in organ allocation. In Part V, I will propose a way to harness the power of social media in order to facilitate increased donation, and make several suggestions for improving our policy regarding living organ donation.
Short fiction exploring themes of love, mortality, self-awareness, maturity, family, and "giftedn... more Short fiction exploring themes of love, mortality, self-awareness, maturity, family, and "giftedness."
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Papers by Laura Winocur
Conference Presentations by Laura Winocur
I will also discuss the ethics of personally choosing euthanasia for a pet, completing Troy’s narrative and discussing the ethical implications of the decisions my family and I made concerning his care. Next, I will briefly discuss differing legal approaches to animal euthanasia, noting the lack of regulation in the United States and relating it to animals’ legal status as property under the law, and touching on laws in other countries intended to address some of the ethical problems implicated by the euthanasia of companion animals. I will end the presentation with a series of discussion points and questions, including whether and how the legal system should address animal euthanasia, the link between ableism and problematic aspects of veterinary care, the special nature of the relationship between dogs and humans and whether that implies extraordinary duties, and the roles of ableism and speciesism in influencing how we care for our pets.
Drafts by Laura Winocur
This paper also aims to evaluate the role that personal appeals for organ donations have played throughout the history of treatment for ESRD and of organ transplantation, with particular attention to the diverse relationships that such appeals have had with public policy regarding organ transplantation—at times seeming to animate policy developments, while at other times assuming an antagonistic role vis-à-vis the medical and legal establishments—and the further ethical issues implicated by the advent of social media as a tool to facilitate these exchanges. In Part I, I will recount the history of modern treatment for kidney disease, and how its development set up a paradigm that deeply entwined the federal government and the medical establishment. I will discuss the complex history of the earliest widely-used treatment for kidney failure—dialysis—paying special attention to the issues of scarcity and allocation that have complicated this treatment since the opening of the first long-term dialysis clinics in the early 1960s. I will discuss how the success of kidney transplantation created new problems of supply and demand that resemble those associated with dialysis in the past. I will recount the history of legislation related to kidney disease and organ donation, including a discussion of the role that personal emotional appeals have played in shaping public policy related to the treatment of kidney disease, even before transplantation became the preferred method of treatment. In Part II, I will provide statistics to illustrate the gravity of the issues that characterize our current system of regulating organ transplantation. Then, I will describe the values that motivate our organ donation and allocation system, and the conflicts they can engender. In Part III, I aim to further elucidate the profound moral issues implicated in organ transplantation by discussing the experience of having end stage renal disease, and relating the reality of this experience to an analysis of the rhetoric surrounding kidney transplantation in the United States. Part IV will address various issues concerning directed donations from living organ donors. First, I will discuss the notable absence of regulation with regard to organ donations from living donors, explaining why this regulatory gap exists, and how it has led to further controversy and dysfunction within the organ transplantation system. Second, I will discuss concerns unique to living kidney donation, and how the medical and legal establishments have responded to these concerns in crafting the transplant process as it operates today. Next, I will analyze trends in living donation, specifically the increasing popularity of non-related directed donations. I will discuss the ethical issues implicated in this trend, including the permissibility of directed donation, how certain types of directed donation conflict with the values that constitute the backbone of our current organ transplantation system, and the question of risk to both donor and recipient. I will then specifically address the role of social media and the Internet in facilitating this trend, and the ways in which new social media platforms to facilitate living donation may serve to exacerbate inequalities in organ allocation. In Part V, I will propose a way to harness the power of social media in order to facilitate increased donation, and make several suggestions for improving our policy regarding living organ donation.
I will also discuss the ethics of personally choosing euthanasia for a pet, completing Troy’s narrative and discussing the ethical implications of the decisions my family and I made concerning his care. Next, I will briefly discuss differing legal approaches to animal euthanasia, noting the lack of regulation in the United States and relating it to animals’ legal status as property under the law, and touching on laws in other countries intended to address some of the ethical problems implicated by the euthanasia of companion animals. I will end the presentation with a series of discussion points and questions, including whether and how the legal system should address animal euthanasia, the link between ableism and problematic aspects of veterinary care, the special nature of the relationship between dogs and humans and whether that implies extraordinary duties, and the roles of ableism and speciesism in influencing how we care for our pets.
This paper also aims to evaluate the role that personal appeals for organ donations have played throughout the history of treatment for ESRD and of organ transplantation, with particular attention to the diverse relationships that such appeals have had with public policy regarding organ transplantation—at times seeming to animate policy developments, while at other times assuming an antagonistic role vis-à-vis the medical and legal establishments—and the further ethical issues implicated by the advent of social media as a tool to facilitate these exchanges. In Part I, I will recount the history of modern treatment for kidney disease, and how its development set up a paradigm that deeply entwined the federal government and the medical establishment. I will discuss the complex history of the earliest widely-used treatment for kidney failure—dialysis—paying special attention to the issues of scarcity and allocation that have complicated this treatment since the opening of the first long-term dialysis clinics in the early 1960s. I will discuss how the success of kidney transplantation created new problems of supply and demand that resemble those associated with dialysis in the past. I will recount the history of legislation related to kidney disease and organ donation, including a discussion of the role that personal emotional appeals have played in shaping public policy related to the treatment of kidney disease, even before transplantation became the preferred method of treatment. In Part II, I will provide statistics to illustrate the gravity of the issues that characterize our current system of regulating organ transplantation. Then, I will describe the values that motivate our organ donation and allocation system, and the conflicts they can engender. In Part III, I aim to further elucidate the profound moral issues implicated in organ transplantation by discussing the experience of having end stage renal disease, and relating the reality of this experience to an analysis of the rhetoric surrounding kidney transplantation in the United States. Part IV will address various issues concerning directed donations from living organ donors. First, I will discuss the notable absence of regulation with regard to organ donations from living donors, explaining why this regulatory gap exists, and how it has led to further controversy and dysfunction within the organ transplantation system. Second, I will discuss concerns unique to living kidney donation, and how the medical and legal establishments have responded to these concerns in crafting the transplant process as it operates today. Next, I will analyze trends in living donation, specifically the increasing popularity of non-related directed donations. I will discuss the ethical issues implicated in this trend, including the permissibility of directed donation, how certain types of directed donation conflict with the values that constitute the backbone of our current organ transplantation system, and the question of risk to both donor and recipient. I will then specifically address the role of social media and the Internet in facilitating this trend, and the ways in which new social media platforms to facilitate living donation may serve to exacerbate inequalities in organ allocation. In Part V, I will propose a way to harness the power of social media in order to facilitate increased donation, and make several suggestions for improving our policy regarding living organ donation.