Does Genomics Challenge the Social Construction of Race?

Shiao, Bode, Beyer, and Selvig argue that the theory of race as a social construct should be revisited in light of recent genetic research, which they interpret as demonstrating that human biological variation is patterned in "clinal classes" that are homologous to races. In this reply, I...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological theory 2014-09, Vol.32 (3), p.189-207
Main Author: Morning, Ann
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ancestry
Biological variation
Biology
Evolutionary genetics
Genetic research
Genetic variation
Genetics
Genomics
Human genetics
Human populations
Human subjects
Humans
Medical genetics
Population genetics
Population structure
Race
Social construction
Social Constructionism
Sociological theory
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Summary:Shiao, Bode, Beyer, and Selvig argue that the theory of race as a social construct should be revisited in light of recent genetic research, which they interpret as demonstrating that human biological variation is patterned in "clinal classes" that are homologous to races. In this reply, I examine both their claims and the genetics literature they cite, concluding that not only does constructivist theory already accommodate the contemporary study of human biology, but few geneticists portray their work as bearing on race. Equally important, methods for statistically identifying DNA-based clusters within the human species are shaped by several design features that offer opportunities for the incorporation of cultural assumptions about difference. As a result, Shiao et al.'s theoretical distinction between social race and biological "clinal class" is empirically jeopardized by the fact that even our best attempts at objectively recording "natural" human groupings are socially conditioned.
ISSN:0735-2751
1467-9558
DOI:10.1177/0735275114550881