Testing Fate: Tay-Sachs Disease and the Right to Be Responsible
Shelley Z. Reuter
Abstract
Testing Fate looks at the racialized history of Tay-Sachs in the US and UK in its construction as a Jewish disease from the late-nineteenth century through to the present era of geneticization, where people are increasingly expected to make the “right” kinds of medical-genetic choices, including the choice to be screened for genetic disease. Taking Tay-Sachs as its exemplar and with a view to exploring what these developments have come to mean for human agency, the book demonstrates that authentic, free choice in genetic-decision-making on one hand, and responsible biocitizenship in a context ... More
Testing Fate looks at the racialized history of Tay-Sachs in the US and UK in its construction as a Jewish disease from the late-nineteenth century through to the present era of geneticization, where people are increasingly expected to make the “right” kinds of medical-genetic choices, including the choice to be screened for genetic disease. Taking Tay-Sachs as its exemplar and with a view to exploring what these developments have come to mean for human agency, the book demonstrates that authentic, free choice in genetic-decision-making on one hand, and responsible biocitizenship in a context of exclusion on the other, are a contradiction of terms.
Keywords:
Tay-Sachs Disease,
Biocitizenship,
Medical Racialism,
Racialization,
Specularism,
Ethics,
Genetics,
Genetic Screening,
Immigration,
Medical Malpractice
Bibliographic Information
| Print publication date: 2016 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780816699957 |
| Published to Minnesota Scholarship Online: May 2017 |
DOI:10.5749/minnesota/9780816699957.001.0001 |
