The Library
Territory, ancestry and descent : the politics of sickle cell disease
Tools
Carter, Bob and Dyson, Simon (2011) Territory, ancestry and descent : the politics of sickle cell disease. Sociology, Vol.45 (No.6). pp. 963-976. doi:10.1177/0038038511416159 ISSN 0038-0385.
Research output not available from this repository.
Request-a-Copy directly from author or use local Library Get it For Me service.
Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0038038511416159
Abstract
Sociologists have long questioned the naturalness and stability of ‘ethnic groups’, suggesting that a concern with how they are socially constituted is more appropriate. However, the example of genetically based medical conditions appears to challenge this by suggesting that, in certain cases, ancestry, territorial affiliation and identity may be linked objectively by genetics. The article uses the example of sickle cell disease (SCD) to examine this claim. After reviewing the difficulties associated with notions of ethnicity, the article develops an account of how SCD came to be seen as an ‘ethnic disease’, and how it came to play a major role in the stabilization of particular forms of group identity. It concludes by emphasizing the need for a critical view of popular notions of territory and group identification.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine R Medicine > RC Internal medicine |
||||
Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Sociology | ||||
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Sickle cell anemia -- Genetic aspects, Heredity, Human, Health and race, Ethnic groups -- Diseases | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Sociology | ||||
Publisher: | Sage Publications Ltd. | ||||
ISSN: | 0038-0385 | ||||
Official Date: | 2011 | ||||
Dates: |
|
||||
Volume: | Vol.45 | ||||
Number: | No.6 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 963-976 | ||||
DOI: | 10.1177/0038038511416159 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
Request changes or add full text files to a record
Repository staff actions (login required)
View Item |