Een kwestie van technieken. Over de buitensporigheid van de genetica en de onbestendigheid van ras

Abstract

Abstract: A matter of technology. On the extravagance of genetics and unruliness of race. Technology is at the heart of genome projects, such as the Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP). This paper discusses one such technology, a genetic marker, and unravels its normative content. To do so it follows genetic markers in laboratory practice. Although markers are usually addressed as a variable fragment of DNA, that is, as an object of study, the analysis presented here demonstrates that good markers are more than that. Next to being an object of study, in genetic practice markers become the very technology to visualise such DNA-fragments, as well as the method to analyse these in a population. The paper opens with a discussion of the HGDP, a project aimed at mapping human genetic diversity on a worldwide basis. To reach this goal the HGDP set out to collect samples from five hundred populations and to study their genetic diversity. The project soon became controversial because of a special emphasis placed on ‘isolated populations’, and it was accused of racism and bad science. By contrast the initiators of the HGDP argue that their studies will contribute to the elimination of race and racism. While taking these issues into account, in this paper the attention is turned to technologies and to examine how these might contribute to the elimination, or, the reification of race. Given the large numbers of genetic markers there is no such thing as a population, or a race for that matter. Populations and the boundaries between these can be clustered anew depending on the markers used. Genetics is thus producing population in excess. These versions of population do not map on pre-existing differences based on race. However, given the stickiness of race on the one hand, and the tendency of the HGDP to standardise its technologies and methods on the other, some versions of population may become dominant over others. Even though it could be argued that standardisation could make the political claim against race and racism stronger, genetics should rather bring to the surface the multiplicity of its objects of study. In order to de-nature nature genetics would better comply with its extravagance in practice.