DNA, Race, and Reproduction

DNA, Race, and Reproduction helps readers inside and outside of academia engage with the current genomic landscape. The volume brings together experts in law, medicine, religion, history, anthropology, philosophy, and genetics to investigate how scientists, medical professionals, and laypeople use genomic concepts to construct racial identity and make reproductive decisions. It interrogates how DNA figures in the reproduction of racialized bodies and the racialization of reproduction and examines the privileged position from which genomic knowledge claims to speak about human bodies, societies, and activities. The book begins from the premise that reproduction forces a confrontation between biomedical, scientific, and popular understandings of genetics, and that those understandings are often racialized. It therefore centers reproduction as both a site of analysis and an analytic lens.

“Rather than approaching DNA, race, and reproduction as isolated topics, this collection integrates insights from various disciplines to offer a holistic perspective. It challenges conventional assumptions about race and genetics and exposes the flaws in using racial, ethnic, and ancestral categories as proxies for genetic variation.” — KIMBERLY ZAYHOWSKI, Assistant Professor at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

“Expertly tackles the troublesome relationship between our genes and our race. Merging critical scientific and humanistic perspectives, this book provides much-needed insights into how society can better construct identity and heredity, as well as re-envision our fundamental understanding of mind and body.” — RINA BLISS, Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers University and author of Rethinking Intelligence and What’s Real about Race?

EMILY KLANCHER MERCHANT is Associate Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the University of California, Davis. She is the author of Building the Population Bomb.

MEAGHAN O’KEEFE is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and leads the Medical Humanities Program at the University of California, Davis.