Overview

In genetics laboratories in Latin America, scientists have been mapping the genomes of local populations, seeking to locate the genetic basis of complex diseases and to trace population histories. As part of their work, geneticists often calculate the European, African, and Amerindian genetic ancestry of populations. Some researchers explicitly connect their findings to questions of national identity and racial and ethnic difference, bringing their research to bear on issues of politics and identity. Drawing on ethnographic research in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, the contributors to Mestizo Genomics explore how the concepts of race, ethnicity, nation, and gender enter into and are affected by genomic research. In Latin America, national identities are often based on ideas about mestizaje (race mixture), rather than racial division. Since mestizaje is said to involve relations between European men and indigenous or African women, gender is a key factor in Latin American genomics and in the analyses in this book. Also important are links between contemporary genomics and recent moves toward official multiculturalism in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico. One of the first studies of its kind, Mestizo Genomics sheds new light on the interrelations between ""race,"" identity, and genomics in Latin America. Contributors. Adriana Diaz del Castillo H., Roosbelinda Cardenas, Vivette Garcia Deister, Verlan Valle Gaspar Neto, Michael Kent, Carlos Lopez Beltran, Maria Fernanda Olarte Sierra, Eduardo Restrepo, Mariana Rios Sandoval, Ernesto Schwartz-Marin, Ricardo Ventura Santos, Peter Wade

Full Product Details

Author:   Peter Wade ,  Carlos López Beltrán ,  Eduardo Restrepo ,  Ricardo Ventura Santos
Publisher:   Duke University Press
Imprint:   Duke University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.572kg
ISBN:  

9780822356486

ISBN 10:   0822356481
Pages:   320
Publication Date:   04 April 2014
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

"Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: Genomics, Race Mixture, and Nation in Latin America / Peter Wade, Carlos López Beltrán, Eduardo Restrepo, and Ricardo Ventura Santos Part I. History and Context 1. From Degeneration to Meeting Point: Historical Views on Race, Mixture, and the Biological Diversity of the Brazilian Population / Ricardo Ventura Santos, Michael Kent, and Verlan Valle Gaspar Neto 2. Nation and Difference in the Genetic Imagination of Colombia / Eduardo Restrepo, Ernesto Schwartz-Marín, and Roosbelinda Cádenas 3. Negotiating the Mexican Mestizo: On the Possibility of a National Genomics / Carlos López Beltrán, Vivette García Deister, and Mariana Rios Sandoval Part II. Laboratory Case Studies 4. ""The Charrua Are Alive"": The Genetic Resurrection of an Extinct Indigenous Population in Southern Brazil / Michael Kent and Ricardo Ventura Santos 5. The Travels of Humans, Categories, and Other Genetic Products: A Case Study of the Practice of Population Genetics in Colombia / María Fernanda Olarte Sierra and Adriana Díaz del Castillo H. 6. Laboratory Life of the Mexican Mestizo / Vivette García Deister 7. Social Categories and Laboratory Practices in Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico: A Comparative Overview / Peter Wade, Vivette García Deister, Michael Kent, and María Fernanda Olarte Sierra Conclusion: Race, Multiculturalism, and Genomics in Latin America / Peter Wade Appendix; Methods and Contexts References Contributors Index"

Reviews

[T]he virtues of the book are many: it opens the geographical scope of studies of genomic research and productively engages with contemporary reconfigurations of race and nation. Last, but not least, it demonstrates the enormous value of collaborative transnational research for science and technology studies. -- Edna Suarez-Diaz Journal of Latin American Geography

In this compelling volume, the authors illuminate the complex functions of race in contemporary science, exploring how concepts like biogeographical ancestry resonate with history, and how the notion of the mestizo matters to both national identities and genomic science. Peter Wade's thoughtful concluding analysis brilliantly places these remarkable case studies in conversation with relevant literatures in science studies and the history of science. All in all, a fresh and critical perspective on contemporary genomics research. --M. Susan Lindee, author of Moments of Truth in Genetic Medicine

[T]he virtues of the book are many: it opens the geographical scope of studies of genomic research and productively engages with contemporary reconfigurations of race and nation. Last, but not least, it demonstrates the enormous value of collaborative transnational research for science and technology studies. -- Edna Suarez-Diaz Journal of Latin American Geography Mestizo Genomics makes an important contribution to the study of biology and the human sciences in Latin America... This book will be useful to any scholar interested in science, race, and nation in Latin America as well as those considering how to formulate large-scale interdisciplinary projects. -- Sarah Walsh The Latin Americanist ...this collection is vibrant and exciting, throwing up (without closing down) a finessed repertoire of compelling debates that tantalize with irresistible conceptual nuggets primed for future inquiry... This kind of heuristic analysis looks set to enhance and extend discussions of mestizaje in the twenty-first century, in the academy and beyond. -- Victoria Carroll History All in all, the clarity of the project, the skill of the researchers, and the fine editing of the book as a whole allow for a study of great breadth and significance... Mestizo Genomics will be of great interest to science studies scholars interested in racial science, biology, and genomics. Latin Americanists will find a compelling description of the historic and recent developments in scientific theories of diversity, unity, and homogenous identity in the area, and Latin America's variety and specific taxonomies should be instructive to scholars of U.S. and European genomics. -- Julia Rodriguez ISIS

Author Information

Peter Wade is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Manchester. Carlos López Beltrán is a historian of science and senior researcher in the Instituto de Investigaciones Filosóficas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Eduardo Restrepo is a social anthropologist working in the Department of Cultural Studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Bogotá. Ricardo Ventura Santos is an anthropologist and senior researcher at the National School of Public Health of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro and Associate Professor of Anthropology with the National Museum at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

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