Against the background of public dismay and controversy in Ireland about the uncared-for dead bodies of women and children who died in so-called Mother and Baby Homes, in recent years and in collaboration with others my research has searched for ways of thinking about human remains that trouble prevailing intellectual frameworks. These include challenges to “remains as resources” thinking in modern medicine and the seemingly limitless bioeconomy. Our collaborative research is also concerned with our collective amnesia about modern medicine’s origins in and ongoing careless reliance on exploitation and appropriation of the bodies of the dispossessed, and the urgent need for speculation about more socially just and careful healthcare practices.
Interdisciplinarity has been a feature of my ongoing education and research. Together with a wonderful group of scholars from UCC and beyond, currently I am researching the history and legacies of a troubling collection of 19th century French wax moulages in the UCC bioarchive. Once widely used in medical education, many wax moulages were crafted in painful and exploitative processes using the bodies of stigmatised and incarcerated women. This research has opened up new, exciting and inspiring scholarship in radical science and technology studies, post-humanism, feminist technoscience, and decolonial studies. Researching the collection of wax moulages has led to the establishment of many international research links with researchers, archivists, artists and museum professionals and activists. Additionally, it prompted us to become actively involved in networks such as the COST Action CA20134 - Traces as Research Agenda for Climate Change, Technology Studies, and Social Justice (TRACTS).
Together with Rosie Meade, Fiona Dukelow and Heather Laird, I co-edit the Cork University Press book series Síreacht. Longings for Another Ireland (see http://sireacht.ie/). I also have a long association with the Community Development Journal published by Oxford University Press. With my great friend Rosie Meade, I was the journal’s co-editor from 2017 to 2022. I have co-edited two special issues of the journal on “the commons”. These include contributions from commons scholars and activists (such as Silvia Federici and Gustavo Esteva) that consider radical and realisable alternatives to consumer capitalism's ways of thinking and being.
Visiting scholarships and research residencies have contributed enormously to my on-going learning. These have included spells at the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Social Science Research, the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and participation on the Yale–Hastings Center Visiting Scholar Program in Bioethics. In 2019 and again in 2023 I had research residencies at the Swiss Brocher Foundation for research on the ethical, legal and social implications of medical research and biotechnologies.
Biography
I am a feminist scholar, and my research and teaching are centrally concerned with the history and cultural authority of science and medicine, and social movement struggles involving confrontations between Western scientific and other knowledges. Currently my work is focused on reckoning with the histories and legacies of universities as colonial institutions and their entanglements with patriarchal militarism and global biocapitalism.Against the background of public dismay and controversy in Ireland about the uncared-for dead bodies of women and children who died in so-called Mother and Baby Homes, in recent years and in collaboration with others my research has searched for ways of thinking about human remains that trouble prevailing intellectual frameworks. These include challenges to “remains as resources” thinking in modern medicine and the seemingly limitless bioeconomy. Our collaborative research is also concerned with our collective amnesia about modern medicine’s origins in and ongoing careless reliance on exploitation and appropriation of the bodies of the dispossessed, and the urgent need for speculation about more socially just and careful healthcare practices.
Interdisciplinarity has been a feature of my ongoing education and research. Together with a wonderful group of scholars from UCC and beyond, currently I am researching the history and legacies of a troubling collection of 19th century French wax moulages in the UCC bioarchive. Once widely used in medical education, many wax moulages were crafted in painful and exploitative processes using the bodies of stigmatised and incarcerated women. This research has opened up new, exciting and inspiring scholarship in radical science and technology studies, post-humanism, feminist technoscience, and decolonial studies. Researching the collection of wax moulages has led to the establishment of many international research links with researchers, archivists, artists and museum professionals and activists. Additionally, it prompted us to become actively involved in networks such as the COST Action CA20134 - Traces as Research Agenda for Climate Change, Technology Studies, and Social Justice (TRACTS).
Together with Rosie Meade, Fiona Dukelow and Heather Laird, I co-edit the Cork University Press book series Síreacht. Longings for Another Ireland (see http://sireacht.ie/). I also have a long association with the Community Development Journal published by Oxford University Press. With my great friend Rosie Meade, I was the journal’s co-editor from 2017 to 2022. I have co-edited two special issues of the journal on “the commons”. These include contributions from commons scholars and activists (such as Silvia Federici and Gustavo Esteva) that consider radical and realisable alternatives to consumer capitalism's ways of thinking and being.
Visiting scholarships and research residencies have contributed enormously to my on-going learning. These have included spells at the University of Amsterdam’s Institute for Social Science Research, the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and participation on the Yale–Hastings Center Visiting Scholar Program in Bioethics. In 2019 and again in 2023 I had research residencies at the Swiss Brocher Foundation for research on the ethical, legal and social implications of medical research and biotechnologies.
Publications
Peer Reviewed Journals
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2024) | 'University dude walls must fall' O'Donovan, Ó. (2024) 'University dude walls must fall'. Community Development Journal, [Details] | |
| (2023) | '‘Cruel Optimism’ in the Universities: A Discursive-Deconstructive Reading of Promising Promotional Projects of Gender Equality' Meade, R., Kiely, E. and O'Donovan, Ó (2023) '‘Cruel Optimism’ in the Universities: A Discursive-Deconstructive Reading of Promising Promotional Projects of Gender Equality'. Gender Work And Organization, [Details] | |
| (2023) | '“The Irish giant” and the questions haunting medical museums' O'Donovan, Ó (2023) '“The Irish giant” and the questions haunting medical museums'. British Medical Journal, (381):1221-1222 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Wax moulages and the pastpresence work of the dead' O'Donovan, Ó. (2021) 'Wax moulages and the pastpresence work of the dead'. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 46 (2):231-253 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2021) | 'Sympathetic Vibrations: sense-ability, medical performance, and hearing histories of hurt' King, M., McCarthy, J., O'Donovan, Ó, O'Gorman, R and Werry, M. (2021) 'Sympathetic Vibrations: sense-ability, medical performance, and hearing histories of hurt'. Global Performance Studies, 4 (2) [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'A qualitative exploration of the prescribing and use of statins in asymptomatic people in Ireland: A case of medicalisation, biomedicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation' Byrne, P., O'Donovan, Ó., Smith, S. and Cullinan, J. (2020) 'A qualitative exploration of the prescribing and use of statins in asymptomatic people in Ireland: A case of medicalisation, biomedicalisation and pharmaceuticalisation'. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2020) | 'The Pandemic, Patient Advocacy, and the Importance of Thinking. Comment on “The Rise of the Consucrat”' O'Donovan , Ó (2020) 'The Pandemic, Patient Advocacy, and the Importance of Thinking. Comment on “The Rise of the Consucrat”'. International Journal of Health Policy and Management, [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'What is to be done about the enclosures of the academic publishing oligopoly?' O'Donovan, Ó. (2019) 'What is to be done about the enclosures of the academic publishing oligopoly?'. Community Development Journal, 54 (3):363-370 [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Medicalisation, risk and the use of statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a scoping review of the literature' Byrne, P. , O'Donovan, Ó,, Smith, S, and Cullinan, J. (2019) 'Medicalisation, risk and the use of statins for primary prevention of cardiovascular disease: a scoping review of the literature'. Health, Risk and Society, [Details] | |
| (2019) | 'Re-membering water: community water politics and new materialisms' O'Donovan, Ó. (2019) 'Re-membering water: community water politics and new materialisms'. Community Development Journal, 54 (1):1-16 [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Why Do Medical Professional Regulators Dismiss Most Complaints From Members of the Public? Regulatory Illiteracy, Epistemic Injustice, and Symbolic Power' O'Donovan, Ó. and D. Madden (2018) 'Why Do Medical Professional Regulators Dismiss Most Complaints From Members of the Public? Regulatory Illiteracy, Epistemic Injustice, and Symbolic Power'. Journal Of Bioethical Inquiry, 1872-4353 [DOI] [Full Text] [Details] | |
| (2018) | 'Ireland’s Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. A Critical Discourse Analysis of Industry and Public Health Perspectives on the Bill' Calnan, S., M. Davoren, I. Perry and O’Donovan (2018) 'Ireland’s Public Health (Alcohol) Bill. A Critical Discourse Analysis of Industry and Public Health Perspectives on the Bill'. Contemporary Drug Problems, 45 (3):107-126 [Details] | |
| (2015) | 'Conversing on the commons: An interview with Gustavo Esteva-Part 1' O'Donovan Ó. (2015) 'Conversing on the commons: An interview with Gustavo Esteva-Part 1'. Community Development Journal, 50 (3):529-534 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2015) | 'Conversing on the commons: An interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 2' O'Donovan Ó. (2015) 'Conversing on the commons: An interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 2'. Community Development Journal, 50 (4):742-752 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2014) | 'The commons, the Battle of the Book and the cracked enclosures of academic publishing' O'Donovan, O (2014) 'The commons, the Battle of the Book and the cracked enclosures of academic publishing'. Community Development Journal, 49 :21-30 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2014) | 'From Europeanization to European Construction The role of European patients' organizations in the shaping of health-care policies' Rabeharisoa, V. and O'Donovan, O. (2014) 'From Europeanization to European Construction The role of European patients' organizations in the shaping of health-care policies'. European Societies, [Details] | |
| (2014) | 'Assembling dementia care: Patient organisations and social research' Moreira, T,O'Donovan, O,Howlett, E (2014) 'Assembling dementia care: Patient organisations and social research'. BioSocieties, 9 :173-193 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2013) | 'Tracking Transformations in Health Movement Organisations: Alzheimer’s Disease Organisations and their Changing ‘Cause Regimes’' O'Donovan, O. Moreira, T. and Howlett, E. (2013) 'Tracking Transformations in Health Movement Organisations: Alzheimer’s Disease Organisations and their Changing ‘Cause Regimes’'. Social Movement Studies, [Details] | |
| (2010) | 'Classic texts: Ivan Illich's Limits to Medicine' O'Donovan, O; (2010) 'Classic texts: Ivan Illich's Limits to Medicine'. Community Development Journal, [Details] | |
| (2010) | ''Prohibiting or 'managing' conflict of interest? A review of policies and procedures in three European drug regulation agencies' Lexchin, J; O'Donovan, O; (2010) ''Prohibiting or 'managing' conflict of interest? A review of policies and procedures in three European drug regulation agencies'. Social Science & Medicine, [Details] | |
| (2009) | 'Private health insurance as a technology of solidarity? The myth of ‘community’ in irish healthcare policy' McDonnell O.;O’Donovan O. (2009) 'Private health insurance as a technology of solidarity? The myth of ‘community’ in irish healthcare policy'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 17 (2):6-23 [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2009) | 'Book review of 'Pharmaceuticals and Society. Critical Discourses and Debates' O'Donovan, O. ; (2009) 'Book review of 'Pharmaceuticals and Society. Critical Discourses and Debates'. Health Sociology Review, [Details] | |
| (2007) | 'Corporate colonization of health activism? Irish health advocacy organizations' modes of engagement with the pharmaceutical industry' O'Donovan, O.; (2007) 'Corporate colonization of health activism? Irish health advocacy organizations' modes of engagement with the pharmaceutical industry'. Intl. Jnl. Health Services, 37 (4):711-733 [Details] | |
| (2004) | 'Researching the political and cultural influence of the transnational pharmaceutical industry in Ireland' O'Donovan O. and K. Glavanis-Grantham; (2004) 'Researching the political and cultural influence of the transnational pharmaceutical industry in Ireland'. Administration, 52 (3):21-42 [Details] | |
| (2003) | 'Book review of Family and Community in Ireland' O. O'Donovan; (2003) 'Book review of Family and Community in Ireland'. Community Development Journal, 38 (3):269-272 [Details] | |
| (2002) | 'Editorial introduction: Corporatism and the ongoing debate about the relationship between the state and community development' Meade, R. and O'Donovan, O; (2002) 'Editorial introduction: Corporatism and the ongoing debate about the relationship between the state and community development'. Community Development Journal, 37 (1):1-9 [Details] | |
| (2000) | 'Re-theorising the interactive state - reflections on a popular participatory initiative in Ireland' O'Donovan, O.; (2000) 'Re-theorising the interactive state - reflections on a popular participatory initiative in Ireland'. Community Development Journal, 35 (3):224-232 [Details] | |
| (1997) | 'The Plan for Women's Health and the politics of knowledge' O'Donovan, O.; (1997) 'The Plan for Women's Health and the politics of knowledge'. UCG Women's Studies Review, 5 :159-162 [Details] | |
| (1996) | 'Converting Patients into Consumers: Consumerism and the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients' O'Donovan, O. and D. Casey; (1996) 'Converting Patients into Consumers: Consumerism and the Charter of Rights for Hospital Patients'. Irish Journal of Sociology, 5 :43-66 [Details] | |
| (1996) | 'Networks of Women's Groups and Politics: What (Some) Women Think' Ward, E.; O'Donovan, O.; (1996) 'Networks of Women's Groups and Politics: What (Some) Women Think'. UCG Women's Studies Review, 4 :1-20 [Details] | |
| (1992) | 'Book review of Women and Employment in Rural Areas' O.O'Donovan; (1992) 'Book review of Women and Employment in Rural Areas'. Journal of Rural Studies, 8 (1):125-126 [Details] |
Edited Books
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2019) | Water, anti-privatisation struggles and the commons Patrick Bresnihan, Mark Garavan and Órla O'Donovan (Ed.). (2019) Water, anti-privatisation struggles and the commons London: Oxford University Press. [Details] | |
| (2014) | Commons Sense. New Thinking about an Old Idea McDermott, M., O'Connell, T. and O'Donovan, Ó (Ed.). (2014) Commons Sense. New Thinking about an Old Idea Commons Sense. New Thinking about an Old Idea. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Special Supplement to the Community Development Journal). [Details] | |
| (2010) | Mobilising Classics: Reading Radical Writing in Ireland Dukelow, F; O'Donovan, O (Ed.). (2010) Mobilising Classics: Reading Radical Writing in Ireland Mobilising Classics: Reading Radical Writing in Ireland. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details] | |
| (2008) | Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals O'Donovan, O. and K. Glavanis-Grantham (Ed.). (2008) Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details] | |
| (2002) | Ireland, Corporatism and Community Development Meade, R. and Ó. O'Donovan (Ed.). (2002) Ireland, Corporatism and Community Development Ireland, Corporatism and Community Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press. [Details] |
Book Chapters
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2024) | 'Medical wax moulages and regimes of looking and overlooking' O'Donovan, Ó. and R. O'Gorman (2024) 'Medical wax moulages and regimes of looking and overlooking' In: Unearthing Collections: Archives, Time and Ethics. London: UCL. [Details] | |
| (2017) | 'Transformations in the Irish ADHD Disorder Regime - from a Disorder 'You Have to Fight to Get' to one 'You Have to Wait to Get'' Edwards, C. and O'Donovan, O. (2017) 'Transformations in the Irish ADHD Disorder Regime - from a Disorder 'You Have to Fight to Get' to one 'You Have to Wait to Get'' In: Bergey, M, Filipe, A., Conrad, P. and Singh, I (eds). Global Perspectives on ADHD: Social Dimensions of Diagnosis and Treatment in 16 Countries. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press. [Details] | |
| (2014) | 'The entanglement of scientific and political claims: Towards a new form of patients’ activism' Akrich, M, O'Donovan, Ó. and Rabeharisoa, V. (2014) 'The entanglement of scientific and political claims: Towards a new form of patients’ activism' In: Wehling, P, Viehover and Koenen, S (eds). The Public Shaping of Medical Research. Patient associations, health movements and biomedicine. London & New York: Routledge. [Details] | |
| (2012) | 'Patients' organisations and patient empowerment' O'Donovan, Orla (2012) 'Patients' organisations and patient empowerment' In: Politics of Medicines Encyclopaedia. Amsterdam: Health Action International. [Details] | |
| (2011) | 'The irish health service's expert advisory groups: Spaces for advancing epistemological justice?' O'Donovan O. (2011) 'The irish health service's expert advisory groups: Spaces for advancing epistemological justice?' In: Democratizing Health: Consumer Groups in the Policy Process. [Details] | |
| (2010) | 'Ivan Illich's Tools for Conviviality' O'Donovan, O.; (2010) 'Ivan Illich's Tools for Conviviality' In: Mobilising Classics. Reading Radical Writing in Ireland. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details] | |
| (2009) | 'Pharmaceuticals, progress and psychiatric contention in early 21st century Ireland' O'Donovan, O. ; (2009) 'Pharmaceuticals, progress and psychiatric contention in early 21st century Ireland' In: Transforming Ireland : Challenges, Critiques, Resources. Manchester: Manchester University Press. [Details] | |
| (2008) | 'The emergence of pharmaceutical drug regulation for competition aka profit in Ireland' O'Donovan,O. ; (2008) 'The emergence of pharmaceutical drug regulation for competition aka profit in Ireland' In: Power, Politics and Pharmaceuticals. Drug Regulation in Ireland in the Global Context. Cork: Cork University Press. [Details] | |
| (2008) | 'Patients' organisations and economic actors: Opposition, instumentalisation, or cooperation?' O. O'Donovan; (2008) 'Patients' organisations and economic actors: Opposition, instumentalisation, or cooperation?' In: The Dynamics of Patient Organizations in Europe. Paris: Presses de l'Ecole des Mines. [Details] | |
| (2008) | 'Alzheimer's disease activism and pharmaceutical policy' O'Donovan, O. ; (2008) 'Alzheimer's disease activism and pharmaceutical policy' In: Ageing and Social Policy in Ireland. Dublin: University College Dublin Press. [Details] | |
| (2005) | 'Networks of women's groups and the women's movement' E. Ward and O. O'Donovan; (2005) 'Networks of women's groups and the women's movement' In: Women Emerging. A Decade of Irish Feminist Scholarship. Galway: NUIG Women's Studies Centre. [Details] | |
| (1999) | 'Networks of women's groups in the Republic of Ireland' O'Donovan, O. and E. Ward; (1999) 'Networks of women's groups in the Republic of Ireland' In: Contesting Politics: Women in Ireland, North and South. Boulder, Colorado: Westview Press. [Details] | |
| (1997) | 'Contesting concepts of care: The case of the home help service in Ireland' O'Donovan, O.; (1997) 'Contesting concepts of care: The case of the home help service in Ireland' In: The Sociology of Health and Illness in Ireland. Dublin: University College Dublin Press. [Details] |
Editorship
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2015) | Conversing on the commons: an interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 1. O'Donovan, O (2015) Conversing on the commons: an interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 1. Editorship [DOI] [Details] | |
| (2015) | Conversing on the commons: an interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 2. O'Donovan, O (2015) Conversing on the commons: an interview with Gustavo Esteva-part 2. Editorship [DOI] [Details] |
Newspaper Articles
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2012) | Phone box. A line to a simpler time. O'Donovan, Ó (2012) Phone box. A line to a simpler time. Newspaper Articles [Details] | |
| (2008) | Medical card fight is worth taking to the streets. O'Donovan, Ó. (2008) Medical card fight is worth taking to the streets. Newspaper Articles [Details] |
Unpublished Reports
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2015) | Qualitative Review of Complaints Submitted to Irish Medical Council (2008-2012). Madden, D. and Ó. O'Donovan (2015) Qualitative Review of Complaints Submitted to Irish Medical Council (2008-2012). Unpublished Reports [Details] | |
| (1997) | Training Carers of Older People: An Advisory Report. O’Donovan, O., M. Hodgins, V. McKenna and C. Kelleher; (1997) Training Carers of Older People: An Advisory Report. Unpublished Reports [Details] | |
| (1995) | Health Service Provision for the Travelling Community in Ireland. O’Donovan, O., V. McKenna, C. Kelleher and P.McCarthy; (1995) Health Service Provision for the Travelling Community in Ireland. Unpublished Reports [Details] |
Professional Activities
Conference Contributions
| Year | Publication | |
|---|---|---|
| (2019) | Death, Dying and Disposal . 14th International Conference on the Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal, O'Donovan, Ó. (2019) Living Well with the Dead - The pastpresence work of wax moulages. [Oral Presentation], Death, Dying and Disposal . 14th International Conference on the Social Context of Death, Dying and Disposal, University of Bath . [Details] | |
| (2018) | International Health Humanities Consortium Conference, Frankenstein @200, O'Donovan, Ó. (2018) Posthumous Conviviality and the Tragedy of the Dead Body Commons. [Oral Presentation], International Health Humanities Consortium Conference, Frankenstein @200, Stanford University . [Details] | |
| (2018) | Are human bodies private property or part of a commons?, O'Donovan, Ó. (2018) Posthumous Conviviality and the Tragedy of the Dead Body Commons. [Invited Lectures (Conference)], Are human bodies private property or part of a commons?, School for Advanced Research, Santa Fe . [Details] | |
| (2018) | Death Matters: Death and Dying in a Queer Context, O'Donovan, Ó. (2018) Death, dying and the commons. [Oral Presentation], Death Matters: Death and Dying in a Queer Context, Linköping University . [Details] | |
| (2014) | Thinkery on the Commons, Esteva, G. and O' Donovan, Ó. and (2014) Conversing on the commons - an interview with Gustavo Esteva. [Other], Thinkery on the Commons, Dublin . [Details] | |
| (2012) | 4S-EASST Annual Conference, O'Donovan, O. and Moreira, T. (2012) Assembling Dementia Care. [Oral Presentation], 4S-EASST Annual Conference, Copenhagen , 17-OCT-12 - 20-OCT-12. [Details] | |
| (2013) | Global Ageing: Rising Challenges, O'Donovan, O. (2013) Ageing, Activism and Alzheimer’s. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], Global Ageing: Rising Challenges, Open University of Catalonia, Barcelona , 05-NOV-13 - 06-NOV-13. [Details] | |
| (2012) | Design and Displacement - social studies of science and technology, O'Donovan, O. and Moreira, T. (2012) Annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST). [Oral Presentation], Design and Displacement - social studies of science and technology, Copenhagen , 17-OCT-12 - 20-OCT-12. [Details] | |
| (2012) | Patients organisations, health movements and medical research, O'Donovan, O. and Rabeharisoa, V. (2012) Europeanisation of and by patients’ organisations’ evidence-based activism – a preliminary analysis. [Invited Lectures (Workshops)], Patients organisations, health movements and medical research, University of Augsburg , 10-MAY-12 - 12-MAY-12. [Details] | |
| (2011) | New Agendas in Social Movement Studies, O'Donovan, O. (2011) (Some) Irish patients’ movements on the move to Europe. [Oral Presentation], New Agendas in Social Movement Studies, National University of Ireland Maynooth , 26-NOV-11 - 26-NOV-11. [Details] | |
| (2010) | EASST Conference 2010 Practising Science and Technology, Performing the Social, O.O'Donovan; (2010) Alzheimer's disease organisations and technologies of independent living: Tracking transformations in patienthood and organisational cause. [Oral Presentation], EASST Conference 2010 Practising Science and Technology, Performing the Social, Trento, Italy , 02-SEP-10 - 04-SEP-10. [Details] | |
| (2008) | International Sociological Association Forum of Sociology, O'Donovan, O. and O. McDonnell; (2008) Private Health Insurance: Governmental Rationality and the Public-Private Mix in the Irish Healthcare System (with Orla McDonnell). [Oral Presentation], International Sociological Association Forum of Sociology, Barcelona , 05-SEP-08 - 05-SEP-08. [Details] | |
| (2007) | The Dynamics of Patient Organisations in the European Area, O¿Donovan, O.; (2007) Patient organisations and economic actors: Opposition, instrumentalisation or cooperation?. [N/A], The Dynamics of Patient Organisations in the European Area, Ecole des Mines, Paris , 10-JUL-07 - 11-JUL-07. [Details] | |
| (2007) | Conference on Pharmaceutical Policy Analysis,, O¿Donovan, O.; (2007) The puzzles of struggles for access to irrational medicines: Making sense of Alzheimer's disease organisations' campaigns for access to do-nothing meds. [Oral Presentation], Conference on Pharmaceutical Policy Analysis,, Zeist, The Netherlands , 19-SEP-07 - 21-SEP-07. [Details] | |
| (2006) | European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop Health Consumer Groups and Policy Making in Europe: A Comparative and Pan-European Perspective, O¿Donovan, O.; (2006) Health Consumer Groups and Policy Making - A Profile of Ireland. [N/A], European Science Foundation Exploratory Workshop Health Consumer Groups and Policy Making in Europe: A Comparative and Pan-European Perspective, Vienna , 16-FEB-06 - 18-FEB-06. [Details] | |
| (2006) | British Sociolofical Association Medical Sociology Annual Conference, O'Donovan, O.; (2006) Articulations of Alzheimer's disease activism: Insights from the NICE controversy about antidementia drugs. [Oral Presentation], British Sociolofical Association Medical Sociology Annual Conference, Edinburgh , 14-SEP-06 - 16-SEP-06. [Details] | |
| (2005) | Royal Irish Academy Third Sector Research Programme conference, Volunteering and Philanthropy - Research from Ireland, North & South, NICVA,, O'Donovan, O.; (2005) The cultures of action of health advocacy organisations in Ireland: Framing friends and foes. [Oral Presentation], Royal Irish Academy Third Sector Research Programme conference, Volunteering and Philanthropy - Research from Ireland, North & South, NICVA,, Belfast , 24-NOV-05 - 24-NOV-05. [Details] | |
| (2005) | Concepts of the Third Sector: The European Debate, ISTR/EMES Conference, O'Donovan, O.; (2005) Time to weed out the astroturf from the grassroots? Exploring the implications of pharmaceutical industry funding of patient advocacy organisations. [Oral Presentation], Concepts of the Third Sector: The European Debate, ISTR/EMES Conference, Paris , 27-APR-05 - 29-APR-05. [Details] | |
| (2005) | British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group 37th Annual Conference, O'Donovan, O.; (2005) Corporate colonisation of health activism? Irish health advocacy organisations' modes of engagement with pharmaceutical corporations. [Oral Presentation], British Sociological Association Medical Sociology Group 37th Annual Conference, University of York, York , 15-SEP-05 - 17-SEP-05. [Details] | |
| (2005) | Health Advocacy Organisations in Europe: Exploring Diverse Cultures of Action, O'Donovan, O.; (2005) Resisting and researching ‘astroturf’ health advocacy organisations. [Oral Presentation], Health Advocacy Organisations in Europe: Exploring Diverse Cultures of Action, Amsterdam School for Social Science Research, Amsterdam , 17-MAY-05 - 17-MAY-05. [Details] | |
| (2004) | Health, Democracy and the Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry: Exploring the Politics of Drug Regulation Internationally and in Ireland, O'Donovan, O.; (2004) The Irish state and the globalised pharmaceutical industry -A pathological partnership?. [Conference Organising Committee Member], Health, Democracy and the Globalised Pharmaceutical Industry: Exploring the Politics of Drug Regulation Internationally and in Ireland, University College Cork, Cork , 16-SEP-04 - 17-SEP-04. [Details] | |
| (2003) | Population Health Summer School, Determinants of Population Health, O'Donovan, O. and K. Glavanis-Grantham; (2003) The Transnational Pharmaceutical Industry, Biomedical Ideology and Health Action International: Accommodation or Resistance? . [Oral Presentation], Population Health Summer School, Determinants of Population Health, University College Cork , 06-SEP-03 - 30-DEC-99. [Details] | |
| (2002) | Richness in Diversity: Reconstructing Civil Society. A conference to launch a National Institute for Community Development. , O'Donovan, O.; (2002) Resisting Homogenising Forms of ‘Democratic Participation' . [Invited Oral Presentation], Richness in Diversity: Reconstructing Civil Society. A conference to launch a National Institute for Community Development. , Dundalk , 28-MAY-02 - 30-DEC-99. [Details] | |
| (2000) | Paper presented at the conference Promoting Oral Health in the 21st Century, 13th September 2000,, O'Donovan, O.; (2000) Sociological critiques of health promotion – their relevance for oral health promotion. [Invited Oral Presentation], Paper presented at the conference Promoting Oral Health in the 21st Century, 13th September 2000,, University College Cork, Cork , 13-SEP-00 - 30-DEC-99. [Details] | |
| (1999) | The Challenge of Power, a conference to mark 25 years of ADAPT in Limerick, O'Donovan, O.; (1999) The struggle that wasn’t: Ideological order and the public consultation process for the policy on women’s health. [Invited Oral Presentation], The Challenge of Power, a conference to mark 25 years of ADAPT in Limerick, Limerick , 26-NOV-99 - 27-NOV-99. [Details] |
Honours and Awards
| Year | Title | Awarding Body | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Research Fellowship | Brocher Foundation | |
| 2013 | Visiting Scholarship | Yale - Hastings Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics |
Teaching Activities
Teaching Interests
Teaching interests -- the history and cultural authority of science and medicine
- social movements and confrontations between Western scientific and other knowledges
- the commons
- patients' organisations and health social movements
- democratising the production and use of science and technology
- feminism and strategies of resistance
- power and public health
- the university and its colonial inheritances
Contact details
- Orla O'Donovan
Senior Lecturer MRD - NUIG, PHD - NUIG, , BSOCSC - UCC - o.odonovan@ucc.ie
- Ashford
Donovan's Road
University College Cork, Cork - 00353 21 4903069