European Kinship in the Age of Biotechnology

Published by Berghahn Books 2009

European Kinship in the Age of Biotechnology

Edited by: Jeanette Edwards and Carles Salazar

Volume 14 in the series Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality: Social and Cultural Perspectives

https://doi.org/10.1515/9781845458928

Overview
Contents

About this book

Interest in the study of kinship, a key area of anthropological enquiry, has recently reemerged. Dubbed ‘the new kinship’, this interest was stimulated by the ‘new genetics’ and revived interest in kinship and family patterns. This volume investigates the impact of biotechnology on contemporary understandings of kinship, of family and ‘belonging’ in a variety of European settings and reveals similarities and differences in how kinship is conceived. What constitutes kinship for different publics? How significant are biogenetic links? What does family resemblance tell us? Why is genetically modified food an issue? Are ‘genes’ and ‘blood’ interchangeable? It has been argued that the recent prominence of genetic science and genetic technologies has resulted in a ‘geneticization’ of social life; the ethnographic examples presented here do show shifts occurring in notions of ‘nature’ and of what is ‘natural’. But, they also illustrate the complexity of contemporary kinship thinking in Europe and the continued interconnectedness of biological and sociological understandings of relatedness and the relationship between nature and nurture.

Author / Editor information

Jeanette Edwards is Professor of Social Anthropology at Manchester University. She has published widely on the implications of new reproductive technologies for kinship both ethnographically and theoretically. She is author of Born and Bred: Idioms of Kinship and New Reproductive Technologies in England (Oxford University Press, 2000), co-author of Technologies of Procreation: Kinship in the Age of Assisted Conception (Routledge 2nd ed., 1999) and co-editor of Recasting Anthropological Knowledge: Inspiration and Social Science (Cambridge University Press 2011). She directed the European-funded project ‘Public Understanding of Genetics: a Cross- Cultural and Ethnographic Study of the “new genetics” and social identity’.

Carles Salazar is Lecturer in Social Anthropology at the University of Lleida. He received his PhD from the University of Cambridge and has carried out ethnographic fieldwork in Ireland and Catalonia (Spain). His publications include A Sentimental Economy (1996, Berghahn) and Anthropology and Sexual Morality (2006, Berghahn) and a number of articles on kinship, sexuality, reproduction and Irish ethnography.

Jeanette Edwards is Professor of Social Anthropology at Manchester University. She has published widely on the implications of new reproductive technologies for kinship both ethnographically and theoretically. She is author of Born and Bred: Idioms of Kinship and New Reproductive Technologies in England (Oxford University Press, 2000), co-author of Technologies of Procreation: Kinship in the Age of Assisted Conception (Routledge 2nd ed., 1999) and co-editor of Recasting Anthropological Knowledge: Inspiration and Social Science (Cambridge University Press 2011). She directed the European-funded project ‘Public Understanding of Genetics: a Cross- Cultural and Ethnographic Study of the “new genetics” and social identity’.

Reviews

“This superb anthology extends the emphasis on technology that has become such a prominent feature of much recent anthropological work on kinship…In this richly ethnographic text, the most familiar problems produce the most unusual answers…Each chapter brilliantly combines kinship as a matrix with kinship as a tool, using ethnographic examples that leap off the page.” · Journal of Anthropological Research

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
CONTENTS Publicly Available Download PDF	v
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Introduction: The Matter in Kinship Jeanette Edwards Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Knowing and Relating: Kinship, Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the New Genetics Joan Bestard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	19
2. Imagining Assisted Reproductive Technologies: Family, Kinship and ‘Local Thinking’ in Lithuania Auksuolė Čepaitienė Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	29
3. Eating Genes and Raising People: Kinship Thinking and Genetically Modified Food in the North of England Cathrine Degnen Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
4. The Family Body: Persons, Bodies and Resemblance Diana Marre and Joan Bestard Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
5. The Contribution of Homoparental Families to the Current Debate on Kinship Anne Cadoret Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
6. Corpo-real Identities: Perspectives from a Gypsy Community Nathalie Manrique Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
7. Incest, Embodiment, Genes and Kinship Enric Porqueres i Gené and Jérôme Wilgaux Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
8. ‘Loving Mothers’ at Work: Raising Others’ Children and Building Families with the Intention to Love and Take Care Enikő Demény Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	128
9. Adoption and Assisted Conception: One Universe of Unnatural Procreation. An Examination of Norwegian Legislation Marit Melhuus and Signe Howell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
10. Fields of Post-human Kinship Ben Campbell Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	162
11. Are Genes Good to Think With? Carles Salazar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
Notes on Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	197
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
Author Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Subject Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	221

Language: English
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 232
Keywords: Medical Anthropology

eBook

Published: March 1, 2009
ISBN: 9781845458928