Back to the Future? The Emergence of a Geneticized Conceptualization of Race in Sociology

Bibliographic Data

ID5741599
AuthorsReanne Frank (0000-0003-1993-0315, The Ohio State University, corresponding author)
Year2015
Volume661
Issue1
Pages51-64
Publication date2015-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-7162 • E-ISSN: 1552-3349
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0002716215590775
OpenAlexW2281693509
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited39

Discoveries in human molecular genetics have reanimated unresolved debates over the nature of human difference. In this context, the idea that race has a discrete and measurable genetic basis is currently enjoying a resurgence. The return of a biologized construction of race is somewhat surprising because one of the primary pronouncements to come out of the Human Genome Project was one of human genetic similarity (i.e., humans are over 99.9 percent similar at the molecular level). Perhaps even more surprising is that genetically based notions of race have not been restricted to the biomedical sciences but have recently emerged within the social sciences, specifically sociology, to explicitly challenge a socially constructed understanding of race. Drawing on existing critiques, this article describes problems in recent sociological scholarship and the potential role of social scientists in future work occurring at the intersection of race and genetics. I argue that recent scholarly work meant to challenge the notion of race as a social construction actually makes a powerful case for its continued utility

Biology · Conceptualization · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Human science · Intersection (aeronautics) · Political science · Race (biology) · Scholarship · Social constructionism · Social science · Sociology · Gender Studies · Law · Race, Genetics, and Society