Genetics 4 Vols

Scientific developments have always been central to conceptions of society at particular historical moments. However, the rise of molecular biology and the new genetic knowledge in the twentieth century, pose particular challenges to our notions of the individual, our sense of past and future, and our relationships with the body, nature and the family. As a number of authors have suggested, the meanings of 'life itself' may be in the process of subtle transformation, and many of these reconfigurations are occurring more rapidly than our ability to fully grasp their social and cultural implications. In the last fifteen years, a vigorous analysis of the context and broader consequences of these new kinds of understanding and technology has begun to emerge from within the social sciences. From various intellectual starting points, including philosophy, sociology, anthropology, geography, and science/technology studies, a new multi-disciplinary field is beginning to be constituted. These studies and the debates they have generated are creating new approaches to the analysis of scientific cultures and cultures of science, while at the same time reconstructing the original disciplinary subject areas and boundaries from which they came. A fascinating work, the first volume in this collection sets out the background to the scientific developments, the social responses to them and the constitution of science and technology as subjects for sociological analysis. The following volumes explore the interactions between biotechnology and the politics of the environment, the cultural context in which science is practiced, and the broader social consequences which it may be expected to have. A general introduction maps key approaches and controversies, highlighting particular theoretical and methodological perspectives, and each individual volume is introduced by a specialist in the field.