Professor Yulia Egorova yulia.egorova@durham.ac.uk
Professor
The substance that empowers? DNA in South Asia
Egorova, Yulia
Authors
Abstract
Drawing on two ethnographic examples of the sociocultural aspects of populations genetic research in India, the article explores in what ways tests aimed at assessing ‘genetic differences’ between populations can be viewed as enabling or disempowering for individuals, communities or nations subjected to such tests. The first builds on a response to DNA research demonstrated by the leaders of the Jewish Bene Ephraim community of Andhra Pradesh, a Dalit group who in the late 1980s declared their descent from the Lost Tribes of Israel. The second focuses on the Indian Genome Variation Consortium, a research network established in India in 2003 with the aim of mapping the country's human genetic diversity. Building upon Prainsack and Toom's theoretical concept of situated dis/empowerment, I suggest that in both case studies empowering and disempowering elements of DNA testing appear to co-constitute and co-produce each other, as they both reinforce reductionist accounts of human sociality and serve as rhetorical tools for social and political liberation.
Citation
Egorova, Y. (2013). The substance that empowers? DNA in South Asia. Contemporary South Asia, 21(3), 291-303. https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2013.826627
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Sep 9, 2013 |
Deposit Date | Jan 23, 2015 |
Publicly Available Date | Mar 29, 2024 |
Journal | Contemporary South Asia |
Print ISSN | 0958-4935 |
Electronic ISSN | 1469-364X |
Publisher | Taylor and Francis Group |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 21 |
Issue | 3 |
Pages | 291-303 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1080/09584935.2013.826627 |
Keywords | Population genetics, India, Dalits, Bene Ephraim, Genomic Sovereignty. |
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Copyright Statement
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in Contemporary South Asia on 09/09/2013, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09584935.2013.826627.
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