The human body--and its parts--has long been a target for commodification within myriad cultural settings. A discussion of commodification requires that one consider, first, the significance of the body within anthropology and, second, what defines a body "part." After exploring these initial questions, this article outlines dominant theoretical approaches to commodification within anthropology, with Mauss and Marx figuring prominently. The discussion then turns to historically well-documented forms of body commodification: These include slavery and other oppressive labor practices; female reproduction; and the realms of sorcery and endocannibalism. An analysis here uncovers dominant established approaches that continue to drive current studies. The remainder of this article concerns emergent biotechnologies, whose application in clinical and other related scientific arenas marks a paradigmatic shift in anthropological understandings of the commodified, fragmented body. The following contexts are explored with care: reproductive technologies; organ transplantation; cosmetic and transsexual surgeries; genetics and immunology; and, finally, the category of the cyborg. The article concludes with suggestions for an integrated theoretical vision, advocating greater cross-fertilization of analytical approaches and the inclusion of an ethics of body commodification within anthropology.

Transplantation represents in the popular mind the pinnacle of biomedical knowledge and skill. Its feasibility depends upon the management of conflicting cultural values surrounding death and dying, where diverse parties consider bodies and their parts to be personal property, sacred entities, or offerings to the common good. Specifically within the specialized transplant community, viable organs are scarce, socially valuable resources. The ideology that guides transplant professionals, however, is rife with contradictions: close inspection reveals unease over definitions of death and rights to body parts. Ideological disjunction arises from the competing needs to personalize and to objectify organs and bodies. Organ recipients struggle with these contradictory messages as they rebuild their sense of self and self-worth following transplantation. This transformative process is explored by analyzing professional writings and data generated from ethnographic research in the United States. The study ends by examining transformed identity as fictionalized and extended biography.

A pronounced disjunction characterizes symbolic constructions of the cadaveric donor body in the United States, where procurement professionals and surviving donor kin vie with one another in their desires to honor this unusual category of the dead. Of special concern is the medicalized commodification of donor bodies, a process that shapes both their social worth and emotional value. Among professionals, metaphorical thinking is key: death and body fragmentation are cloaked in ecological imagery that stresses renewal and rebirth. Such objectification also obscures the origins of transplantable organs, renders individual donors anonymous, and silences kin who mourn their dead. In response, donor kin have grown increasingly assertive, generating alternative public mortuary forms that exclude professional mediators. In so doing, they challenge the medical assumption that anonymity is central to transplantation's continued success. Through donor quilts and Web cemeteries, they proclaim the personal identities of donors who, at times, may speak beyond the grave, offering critiques of donation as socio-medical process in the United States.

100 consecutive patients routinely attending the contact dermatitis clinic were patched tested to gold sodium thiosulfate (GST). 13 patients had a positive patch test to GST, 11 of whom were female, and 12 had pierced ears. There was no correlation with any other substance in the European standard series, although there was a high incidence of nickel sensitivity in all patients (33%). Eczema on the ring fingers and neck was significantly more common in the group positive to GST. 1/2 of the patients with a positive response to GST had symptoms that they felt could be attributed to gold allergy.

Spirit possession is a common experience shared by many women in northwest Madagascar. In the town of Ambanja, possession by volatile and dangerous Njarinintsy spirits is an affliction which strikes young, adolescent schoolgirls. When Njarinintsy is contrasted with tromba, another well-known class of spirits found in this region, it becomes clear that Njarinintsy possession is a relatively recent phenomenon, and its victims form a discrete and unusual group. These girls are, in essence, young migrants, who have moved alone to town in order to attend school. Close examination of their experiences reveals that these young girls must cope, on their own, with the conflicts and contradictions that plague the shift from rural to town life, and from youth to adulthood. Such problems are further complicated by those associated with educational policy in Madagascar. These children, more than any other members of this community, suffer from the contradictions of a fragmented world. Possession provides them with a means through which to express the chaos inherent in their daily lives.