Potentializing the Research Piglet in Experimental Neonatal Research

Abstract

This paper explores the socio-moral-material practices by which the piglet is imbued with potential for human health by making it a substitute for the preterm infant in need of treatment. Based on fieldwork in a Danish perinatal pig laboratory, we view the experimental practice as a sacrifice and argue that it is characterized by two forms of exchange: a calculative exchange that defines an absolute moral difference between humanity and animality and constitutes the piglet as a raw material of science, and a corporeal exchange by which the piglet appears as a sentient substitute belonging to the same collective as the researchers. By focusing on the interaction between these forms of exchange, we highlight the existential aspects of the sacrificial practice and illuminate the many identities of both piglets and researchers produced in the interwoven processes of making, unmaking, and remaking piglets. We suggest that creating space for corporeal exchange and yet taming its power is essential to potentializing piglets.