Genetics and Society: a Different View

Abstract

Some questions that could be asked regarding the revolution of genetics would be the following: what is its real influence on the conceptual network of the social sciences, if any? Are there in the scientific network, social or cultural concepts whose meanings have been modified substantially by this revolution? And, if so, to what extent? A first step in order to answer these questions is to determine what is meant by ‘revolution of genetics’. Once this is answered by the identification of some knowledges and technologies characterizing this scientific phenomenon, we shall demonstrate that the effect of the revolution of genetics on other disciplines – such as the theory of health – causes a conceptual change that should be considered as a Kuhnean shift in a certain way. In this article we explore this connection in a way that differs from other approaches that usually consider the relations between genetics and society in terms of eugenic policies or those of the geneticization process, by focusing on the impact that genetic technologies have on the notions of health and unhealth