Overview

Although the human genome exists apart from society, knowledge about it is produced through socially-created language and interactions. As such, genomicists’ thinking is informed by their inability to escape the wake of the ‘race’ concept. This book investigates how racism makes genomics and how genomics makes racism and ‘race,’ and the consequences of these constructions. Specifically, Williams explores how racial ideology works in genomics. The simple assumption that frames the book is that ‘race’ as an ideology justifying a system of oppression is persistently recreated as a practical and familiar way to understand biological reality. This book reveals that genomicists’ preoccupation with ‘race’—regardless of good or ill intent—contributes to its perception as a category of differences that is scientifically rigorous.

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9780739148969

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Williams' Decoding Racial Ideology excavates and reveals the many ways in which genomic studies of racial differences are typically grounded in deep-seated common lay assumptions about race. In so doing, he contributes to a growing body of literature that documents how, in this era of Post-Genomics , lay racial thinking persists and remains embedded in much human genetic research. -- Troy Duster, Emeritus Chancellor's Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Williams' Decoding Racial Ideology excavates and reveals the many ways in which genomic studies of racial differences are typically grounded in deep-seated common lay assumptions about race. In so doing, he contributes to a growing body of literature that documents how, in this era of Post-Genomics, lay racial thinking persists and remains embedded in much human genetic research.--Troy Duster, Emeritus Chancellor's Professor, University of California, Berkeley

Author Information

Johnny E. Williams is associate professor of sociology at Trinity College.

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