The so-called science wars pit science against culture, and nowhere is the struggle more contentious--or more fraught with paradox--than in the burgeoning realm of genetics. A constructive response, and a welcome intervention, this volume brings together biological and cultural anthropologists to conduct an interdisciplinary dialogue that provokes and instructs even as it bridges the science/culture divide.Individual essays address issues raised by the science, politics, and history of race, evolution, and identity; genetically modified organisms and genetic diseases; gene work and ethics; and the boundary between humans and animals. The result is an entree to the complicated nexus of questions prompted by the power and importance of genetics and genetic thinking, and the dynamic connections linking culture, biology, nature, and technoscience. The volume offers critical perspectives on science and culture, with contributions that span disciplinary divisions and arguments grounded in both biological perspectives and cultural analysis. An invaluable resource and a provocative introduction to new research and thinking on the uses and study of genetics, Genetic Nature/Culture is a model of fruitful dialogue, presenting the quandaries faced by scholars on both sides of the two-cultures debate.
Author(s): Alan Goodman (Editor), Deborah Heath (Editor), M. Lindee (Editor)
Edition: 1
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 328
Iillustrations......Page 8
Foreword......Page 10
Preface and Acknowledgments......Page 16
Introduction: Anthropology in an Age of Genetics: Practice, Discourse, and Critique......Page 20
Part 1: Nature/Culture. Section A., Human Populations/Genetic Resources......Page 40
1 Indigenous Peoples, Changing Social and Political Landscapes, and Human Genetics in Amazonia......Page 42
2 Provenance and the Pedigree: Victor McKusickâs Fieldwork with the Old Order Amish......Page 60
3 Flexible Eugenics: Technologies of the Self in the Age of Genetics......Page 77
4 The Commodification of Virtual Reality: The Icelandic Health Sector Database......Page 96
Section B., Race and Human Variation......Page 236
6 For the Love of a Good Dog: Webs of Action in the World of Dog Genetics......Page 130
7 98% Chimpanzee and 35% Daffodil: The Human Genome in Evolutionary and Cultural Context......Page 151
Part 2: Culture/Nature. Section A., Political and Cultural Identity......Page 172
8 From Pure Genes to GMOs: Transnationalized Gene Landscapes in the Biodiversity and Transgenic Food Networks......Page 174
9 Future Imaginaries: Genome Scientists as Sociocultural Entrepreneurs......Page 195
10 Reflections and Prospects for Anthropological Genetics in South Africa......Page 219
11 The Genetics of African Americans: Implications for Disease Gene Mapping and Identity......Page 238
12 Human Races in the Context of Recent Human Evolution: A Molecular Genetic Perspective......Page 253
13 Buried Alive: The Concept of Race in Science......Page 277
14 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Promise and Problems of Ancient DNA for Anthropology......Page 297
Contributors......Page 316
Index......Page 318
