Political biology : science and social values in human heredity from eugenics to epigenetics / Maurizio Meloni, Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, UK.

  • Meloni, Maurizio, 1971-
Date:
2016
  • Books

About this work

Description

"This book explores the socio-political implications of human heredity from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present postgenomic moment. It addresses three main phases in the politicization of heredity: the peak of radical eugenics (1900-1945), characterized by an aggressive ethos of supporting the transformation of human society via biological knowledge; the repositioning, after 1945, of biological thinking into a liberal-democratic, human rights framework; and the present postgenomic crisis in which the genome can no longer be understood as insulated from environmental signals. In Political Biology, Maurizio Meloni argues that thanks to the ascendancy of epigenetics we may be witnessing a return to soft heredity - the idea that these signals can cause changes in biology that are themselves transferable to succeeding generations. This book will be of great interest to scholars across science and technology studies, the philosophy and history of science, and political and social theory" -- From the publisher.

Publication/Creation

Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York, NY : Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

Physical description

xi, 284 pages : back and white illustrations ; 23 cm

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Political biology and the politics of epistemology -- Nineteenth century: from heredity to hard heredity -- Into the wild: the radical ethos of eugenics -- A political quadrant -- Time for a repositioning: political biology after 1945 -- Four pillars of democratic biology -- Welcome to postgenomics: reactive genomes, epigenetics, and the rebirth of soft-heredity -- Conclusions: the quandary of political biology in the twenty-first century.

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Where to find it

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    M30474

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Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9781137377715
  • 1137377712
  • 9781349677368
  • 1349677361