title: Racial taxonomy in genomics.
abstract: This article examines the reflexive, biosocial nature of genomic meaning making around race, drawing on discourse analysis of 732 articles on genomics and race published from the years 1986-2010, in-depth interviews with 36 of the world's most elite genomics researchers, interviews with 15 critics, policymakers, and trainees involved in debates over race, and participant observation at a core genotyping facility that specializes in ancestry estimation. I reveal how biomedical researchers identify with, value, and make sense of the taxonomies they construct. My analysis goes beyond a consideration of instrumental rationales to analyze the experiential and political motivations that shape how researchers get involved in racial ethical dilemmas. I theorize taxonomic practice as a reflexive form of biosociality, a conscious shaping of social notions about biology and race to produce a future that researchers themselves want to live in. I demonstrate how reflexive biosociality paradoxically leads researchers to advance social explanations for race while investing in genomics as a solution to racial quandaries.
authors.affiliation: Brown University, Africana Studies, 155 Angell St Box 1904, Providence, RI 02912, United States. Catherine_Bliss@brown.edu
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bliss
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada; D023281:Genomics; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008875:Middle Aged; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000235:genetics*; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000523:psychology; D014481:United States