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Family, kinship, memory and temporality in the age of the new genetics

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  • Finkler, Kaja

Abstract

The new genetics has now become an integral part of contemporary biomedicine, promising great advances in alleviating disease. Like any scientific endeavor, beliefs in the new genetics tend to give new meanings to people's lives and therefore have significant implications for people's lived experience. Drawing on fieldwork in the USA and research in various literatures, the aim of this article is to explore the role the new genetics plays in mainstream American society as revealed in people's narratives of their families' medical histories. An anthropological analysis of these narratives illuminates multilayered cultural meanings of genetic inheritance and the role biomedical conceptualizations play not only in explaining disease etiologies and treatment, but also in addressing concerns that bear on the postmodern experience of family, kinship, choice, memory, time-space, relatedness, sociality and immortality.

Suggested Citation

  • Finkler, Kaja, 2005. "Family, kinship, memory and temporality in the age of the new genetics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(5), pages 1059-1071, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:5:p:1059-1071
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Everett, Margaret, 2003. "Response to Rich's letter regarding "the social life of genes: Privacy, property and the new genetics"," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(12), pages 2473-2473, December.
    2. Finkler, Kaja & Skrzynia, Cécile & Evans, James P., 2003. "The new genetics and its consequences for family, kinship, medicine and medical genetics," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(3), pages 403-412, August.
    3. Billings, Paul R. & Beckwith, Jonathan & Alper, Joseph S., 1992. "The genetic analysis of human behavior: A new era?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 227-238, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chilibeck, Gillian & Lock, Margaret & Sehdev, Megha, 2011. "Postgenomics, uncertain futures, and the familiarization of susceptibility genes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(11), pages 1768-1775, June.

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