The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political & Social Science

Race, Racial Inequality, and Biological Determinism in the Genetic and Genomic Era

The current volume provides a critical interdisciplinary discussion of the relationship between race, racial inequality, and biological determinism in the developing era of genetics and genomics. This special issue examines how biological deterministic arguments influence the study of racial inequality in the current era.  Importantly, the contributing authors provide needed sociohistorical context to describe the flaws of such limited perspectives of social issues, and how this line of research can actually increase and justify inequality. The issue contains four themes binding the chapters together to examine (1) the theoretical and methodological approaches that solidify under the banner of biological determinism; (2) recent research that arguably racializes genes and influences perspectives of science and health; (3) the implications of genetic and genomic research on racial health disparities discussions; and (4) biological determinism in everyday life. Overall, these four themes provide a broad-reaching discussion of important issues concerning the complex arguments of race, science, and inequality.