Open AccessDoes the concept of genetic ancestry reinforce racism?
Author(s) -
Stefan Burmeister
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
zeitschrift für technikfolgenabschätzung in theorie und praxis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2568-020X
pISSN - 2567-8833
DOI - 10.14512/tatup.30.2.41
Subject(s) - genetic genealogy , blame , racism , identity (music) , race (biology) , nationalism , ethnic group , sociology , politics , field (mathematics) , genealogy , gender studies , epistemology , social psychology , political science , anthropology , psychology , law , population , history , aesthetics , demography , philosophy , mathematics , pure mathematics
Genetic ancestry is seen as an alternative to the problematic concept of race and is positioned against abusive racist and nationalist perspectives. The concept of genetic ancestry is nevertheless not free of racial categorizations. Increasingly, it is becoming an integral part of identity politics. Genetic ancestry is promoted as a way to give identity and visibility to marginalized groups but is also rejected as a form of biocolonialism. In xenophobic and racist discourses of right-wing groups, the concept has found fertile ground. The field of genetics is partly to blame for this since it opens the door to problematic identity discourses through a careless use of archaeological, ethnic, and genetic categories.