Abstract
This paper aims to broaden the view of the implications of advanced biomedical technology to biopolitical subjectivity through an analysis of the use of DNA profiling for family reunification of immigrants in Finland and Germany. By exploring complicated connections of biological traits to both national and ‘post-national’ modes of citizenship, the paper demonstrates that ‘biology’ plays an important role in decision-making on citizenship rights and inclusion and exclusion in the nation-state even today. In family reunification through DNA testing, biological criteria may back up ‘post-national’ citizenship and the personal rights of the asylum seeker or immigrant, since the biological tie to his or her family (and not to the nation) provides the basis for the right to enter the country and stay there. However, the ways DNA testing is used by immigration authorities tend to narrow down the applicant's rights by demarcating the family to a biological nuclear family model, by focusing DNA testing in an ethnically biased manner, and by potentially jeopardizing the applicant's informational self-determination in collecting DNA samples and in handling DNA information.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
