An EconoTimes perspective

Stella Villarmea

Professor of Philosophy, Complutense University of Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Professor of Philosophy, Complutense University of Madrid, Universidad Complutense de Madrid Areas of specialisation: Epistemology and Feminist Philosophy Field of interest: Philosophy of Birth Stella Villarmea is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Complutense University of Madrid, and Associate Faculty Member in Philosophy at the University of Oxford. She is a main contributor to the emergent field of the Philosophy of Birth. With an expertise in epistemology and feminism, her works address the relation between knowledge and emancipation. She has published on capacity and rationality in birth care, obstetric violence, and the language of birth from an epistemic perspective. In former years, she published research on conceptual innovation and scepticism, as well as on Wittgenstein, Kant, and Levinas. She currently leads a Program of Excellence on the Philosophy of Birth (PHILBIRTH-2), funded by the Government of Madrid (2021-24). She is a research member in the European Project ‘IPOV-Respectful Care’, an International Platform on Obstetric Violence, funded by the European Commission MSCA Staff Exchange Programme. As a Marie S. Curie Fellow at the University of Oxford, she led the research project, ‘Controversies in Childbirth: from Epistemology to Practices (VOICEs), funded by the European Commission (2018-20). As the principal investigator of ‘Philosophy of Birth: Rethinking the Origin from Medical Humanities (PHILBIRTH-1)’, funded by the Ministry of Economy in Spain, she coordinated an interdisciplinary team around birth care (2016-19). Stella Villarmea received the Special Distinction of Excellence for her 20 year-teaching career at her former University, the University of Alcalá. She was Adjunct Professor at University of Saint Louis, Madrid, and Visiting Professor at the Humboldt and Paderborn (Germany), Lund (Sweden), Marie Curie (Poland), Kent and Oxford (United Kingdom). Stella Villarmea serves in the Steering and the Gender Committees of The International Federation of Philosophical Associations (FISP) and has been Speaker of The International Association of Women Philosophers (IAPH), the oldest and most diverse global network of women philosophers. She is a Member of the Institute for Feminist Studies at Complutense University of Madrid. She is the Lead of the Philosophy of Birth Network in The Collaborating Centre for Values-based Practice at St Catherine’s College, Oxford. She volunteers in Childbirth is Ours, the Spanish birth-rights association, and has been recently hired by the European Commission to co-author the report “Obstetric Violence in Spain”. Her career, commitment, and knowledge speak for her ability to contribute to the diversity of philosophical areas, methods, and topics; and to apply the philosophical tools to improve birth-care and citizenship in the labour room.