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Have we seen the geneticisation of society?: Expectations and evidence

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Have we seen the geneticisation of society? Expectations and evidence. / Weiner, Kate; Martin, Paul; Richards, Martin et al.
In: Sociology of Health and Illness, Vol. 39, No. 7, 01.09.2017, p. 989-1004.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Weiner, K, Martin, P, Richards, M & Tutton, R 2017, 'Have we seen the geneticisation of society? Expectations and evidence', Sociology of Health and Illness, vol. 39, no. 7, pp. 989-1004. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12551

APA

Weiner, K., Martin, P., Richards, M., & Tutton, R. (2017). Have we seen the geneticisation of society? Expectations and evidence. Sociology of Health and Illness, 39(7), 989-1004. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9566.12551

Vancouver

Weiner K, Martin P, Richards M, Tutton R. Have we seen the geneticisation of society? Expectations and evidence. Sociology of Health and Illness. 2017 Sept 1;39(7):989-1004. Epub 2017 Mar 8. doi: 10.1111/1467-9566.12551

Author

Weiner, Kate ; Martin, Paul ; Richards, Martin et al. / Have we seen the geneticisation of society? Expectations and evidence. In: Sociology of Health and Illness. 2017 ; Vol. 39, No. 7. pp. 989-1004.

Bibtex

@article{c1dc6b87959d45c0a3d96457c59aa6b7,
title = "Have we seen the geneticisation of society?: Expectations and evidence",
abstract = "Abby Lippman's geneticisation thesis, of the early 1990s, argued and anticipated that with the rise of genetics, increasing areas of social and health related activities would come to be understood and defined in genetic terms leading to major changes in society, medicine and health care. We review the considerable literature on geneticisation and consider how the concept stands both theoretically and empirically across scientific, clinical, popular and lay discourse and practice. Social science scholarship indicates that relatively little of the original claim of the geneticisation thesis has been realised, highlighting the development of more complex and dynamic accounts of disease in scientific discourse and the complexity of relationships between bioscientific, clinical and lay understandings. This scholarship represents a shift in social science understandings of the processes of sociotechnical change, which have moved from rather simplistic linear models to an appreciation of disease categories as multiply understood. Despite these shifts, we argue that a genetic imaginary persists, which plays a performative role in driving investments in new gene-based developments. Understanding the enduring power of this genetic imaginary and its consequences remains a key task for the social sciences, one which treats ongoing genetic expectations and predictions in a sceptical yet open way.",
keywords = "cloning, genetics, new genetics, STS (Science and technology studies) Biomedicine",
author = "Kate Weiner and Paul Martin and Martin Richards and Richard Tutton",
year = "2017",
month = sep,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1111/1467-9566.12551",
language = "English",
volume = "39",
pages = "989--1004",
journal = "Sociology of Health and Illness",
issn = "0141-9889",
publisher = "Blackwell Publishing Ltd",
number = "7",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Have we seen the geneticisation of society?

T2 - Expectations and evidence

AU - Weiner, Kate

AU - Martin, Paul

AU - Richards, Martin

AU - Tutton, Richard

PY - 2017/9/1

Y1 - 2017/9/1

N2 - Abby Lippman's geneticisation thesis, of the early 1990s, argued and anticipated that with the rise of genetics, increasing areas of social and health related activities would come to be understood and defined in genetic terms leading to major changes in society, medicine and health care. We review the considerable literature on geneticisation and consider how the concept stands both theoretically and empirically across scientific, clinical, popular and lay discourse and practice. Social science scholarship indicates that relatively little of the original claim of the geneticisation thesis has been realised, highlighting the development of more complex and dynamic accounts of disease in scientific discourse and the complexity of relationships between bioscientific, clinical and lay understandings. This scholarship represents a shift in social science understandings of the processes of sociotechnical change, which have moved from rather simplistic linear models to an appreciation of disease categories as multiply understood. Despite these shifts, we argue that a genetic imaginary persists, which plays a performative role in driving investments in new gene-based developments. Understanding the enduring power of this genetic imaginary and its consequences remains a key task for the social sciences, one which treats ongoing genetic expectations and predictions in a sceptical yet open way.

AB - Abby Lippman's geneticisation thesis, of the early 1990s, argued and anticipated that with the rise of genetics, increasing areas of social and health related activities would come to be understood and defined in genetic terms leading to major changes in society, medicine and health care. We review the considerable literature on geneticisation and consider how the concept stands both theoretically and empirically across scientific, clinical, popular and lay discourse and practice. Social science scholarship indicates that relatively little of the original claim of the geneticisation thesis has been realised, highlighting the development of more complex and dynamic accounts of disease in scientific discourse and the complexity of relationships between bioscientific, clinical and lay understandings. This scholarship represents a shift in social science understandings of the processes of sociotechnical change, which have moved from rather simplistic linear models to an appreciation of disease categories as multiply understood. Despite these shifts, we argue that a genetic imaginary persists, which plays a performative role in driving investments in new gene-based developments. Understanding the enduring power of this genetic imaginary and its consequences remains a key task for the social sciences, one which treats ongoing genetic expectations and predictions in a sceptical yet open way.

KW - cloning

KW - genetics

KW - new genetics

KW - STS (Science and technology studies) Biomedicine

U2 - 10.1111/1467-9566.12551

DO - 10.1111/1467-9566.12551

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85014609514

VL - 39

SP - 989

EP - 1004

JO - Sociology of Health and Illness

JF - Sociology of Health and Illness

SN - 0141-9889

IS - 7

ER -