182. Possibilities, Opportunities, and Limits of Legacy
Marlaine Figueroa Gray, KPWHRI;
This panel invites contributors to engage with the concept of legacy, broadly conceived. We welcome papers that focus on personal legacies, including the legacy of the self (one's personhood and social roles), impact on present and future others, and impact on the environment. Papers that engage with how considerations of legacy impact life choices, including choices about how one's body interacts with the world and mediates one's legacy– such as choices about medical care, family size, and living location – are especially encouraged. We also warmly welcome papers that consider the legacies created, imposed, and borne by Kanaka Maoli, indigenous communities, and others who have experienced generations of oppression. We encourage engagement with questions such as: what kind of labor does legacy work, and maintaining memory, require, and of whom? What are the obligations of legacy, and the limits of those obligations? What are the limits of legacy? How can considerations of legacy impact equity? What types of legacy goals are made possible or rendered difficult by changes in technology and scientific knowledge?
The chair of this panel is currently leading a study investigating how considerations of legacy affect the choices people living with serious illness make about their medical care. This study considers various definitions of legacy, the link between legacy goals and treatment choices, and the difficulty of attending to legacy in the biomedical model of care. It also points to future opportunities and areas of inquiry that considering legacy offers to scholars and practitioners.
