Social By Nature: The Promise And Peril Of Sociogenomics

Sociogenomics has rapidly become one of the trendiest sciences of the new millennium. Practitioners view human nature as the result of genetic and social factors, and some say that our genes can determine a wide range of personality traits and life outcomes. However, the claim that genetic similarities cause groups of people to behave in similar ways is not new. In Social by Nature, Catherine Bliss exposes the shocking parallels between sociogenomics and long-discredited sciences that reduce human nature to a mere sequence of genes. Over the last decade, sociogenomics has enjoyed a largely uncritical rise to prominence and acceptance in popular culture. Researchers have published a stream of studies showing that things like educational attainment, gang membership, and life satisfaction are encoded in our DNA long before we say our first word. What's strange is that, unlike the racial debates over IQ scores in the '70s and '90s, sociogenomics has not received any major backlash. In the midst of the global charge for interdisciplinary research, Bliss recognizes the promise of this young science. But she reminds us that its current emphasis on genetic inheritance perpetuates a narrow view of human identity, and that a dark history of eugenics cautions us to question its implications for the future. By tracing the history of sociogenomics' emergence onto the global stage, Bliss makes a powerful case for researchers to approach their work in more socially responsible ways. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to critically engage in scholarship that impacts how we see ourselves and our society.

• | Author: Catherine Bliss
• | Publisher: Stanford University Press
• | Publication Date: Jan 16, 2018
• | Number of Pages: 304 pages
• | Language: English
• | Binding: Hardcover/Social Science
• | ISBN-10: 0804798346
• | ISBN-13: 9780804798341