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The «Genetic Body»: Politics of Genetic Reductionism in Contemporary Natural Sciences
 
PIIS023620070007674-8-1
DOI10.31857/S023620070007674-8
Publication type Article
Status Published
Authors
Greg B. Yudin 
Occupation: Senior Researcher, Laboratory for Studies in Economic Sociology; Professor, Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences
Affiliation:
Higher School of Economics
Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences
Address: 11, room 530, Myasnitskaya str., 101000 Moscow, Russian Federation
Journal nameChelovek
EditionVolume 30 Issue №6
Pages100-111
Abstract

Recent rapid developments in genetics result in gradual geneticization of human sociality. A number of studies aims to reduce significant forms of social behavior, such as political attitudes, to genetically conditioned predispositions. This paper addresses three key questions: 1) what is the scientific validity of these reductionist theories? 2) what can be inferred from the expansion of these theories about the changing relationship between the biological and the social? 3) what are the political meaning and consequences of these research programs? Instead of treating political issues from a genetic perspective, this paper adopts a political-philosophical view on genetics. It is argued that 1) the genetic accounts of politics result in naturalization of contingent social facts, such as liberal\conservative distinction; 2) perceiving body as genome produces a «substruction» of the lifeworld, a new mode of experiencing human being; 3) reduction of political conflicts to genetic variation operates as a strategy for externalization of political opponent, for othering that which is «fundamentally different by nature».

Keywordsgenetics, political attitudes, biosociality, body, naturalism, political conflict
Received12.12.2019
Publication date12.12.2019
Number of characters22792
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