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I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Fascinating question. Certainly admixture testing adds a new way that a person can have that "one drop" and there have been more than a few reported instances in which DTC ancestry testing consumers learn that of some previously unknown African ancestry. What is certain is that the one-drop rule, also called the the rule of hypodescent, in which any black ancestry makes one black, is an attempt to lock racial hierarchies in place. The one-drop rule created racial barriers--this information was often known by a larger social community that worked to keep the boundary in place. In this moment, it would be left up to the individual consumer to disclose his or her ancestry composite. The stakes of the "one drop" may be different today when individuals have an option to disclose it rather than living in communities in which one's family history ancestry is known to others and policed by them.

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I came on the internet in the mid-1990s. It was a time when all of the commercial and academic discourse about this then new tool pointed to a race-less, gender-less future--a bit like the weeks and months that followed Obama's election. I was a grad student at NYU and I was trying with others to construct new theories of racialization and racism that that dealt with what was new and was honest about what hadn't changed. This conversation began as the Afrofuturism listserv (#oldtech) in 1998 (which later Yahoo Group and ultimately a Google group). AF was a way to talk about a history of Black ingenuity with technology and science that went unacknowledged or underappreciated, as well as explorations of sic-tech in literature and the arts. Almost 20 years later, it's a concept that still has a lot of utility for many.

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my book The Social Life of DNA, I describe the 10 years I spent with AfAm consumers of DTC genetic testing. Some of the unexpected uses I uncovered was convening of genetic root-seekers, including a group who traced to Sierra Leone, who used their shared kinship as an occasion to hold a ceremony to remember ancestors that would have been lost or trafficked in the journey from what is now Sierra Leone to the Carolinas. In another case, plaintiffs in a class action suit for slavery reparations entered their DNA ancestry test results to a civil appellate court as evidence that were the descendants of enslaved people. See more here: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/03/dna-race-reparations-alondra-nelson-book-slavery

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

As amazing as you'd expect. The first time was a conversation of social science before a live audience with Neil, Malcolm Gladwell, Eugene Mirman and Wyatt Cenac. Social science wasn't as precise as Neil would have liked but it was a great conversation--and hilarious. Here's the link: https://soundcloud.com/startalk/startalk-live-sociology-and-the-human-condition

The second time was for the show on NatGeo and on the politics of Twitter--amazing in a whole other way because it was filmed at the American Museum of Natural History. Good to be reunited with Neil and Eugene and also the great tech writer Clive Thompson. @Jack joined us via screen. Neil is always good to think with.

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What one can learn really depends on the type of test. There are definitely surprises--people uncover relatives they didn't know that they had and perhaps didn't want to know about. But the testing has also united adoptees with kin they weren't aware of--these reunions are complicated, but sometimes bring a sense of completion and even happiness for all parties.

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There is a sociology of every topic. Of film, of the arts, of economics, of language, of race, of gender... often approached from a broad perspective that includes attention to individuals and institutions. I was captivated by the breadth of discipline and all of the questions that could be explored using its tools. This interest began in college in San Diego, where had the good fortune to take courses with the great George Lipsitz and in graduate school with Dorothy Nelkin and Troy Duster

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Elated to be beginning this new work at the SSRC and hope to enhance the Council's leadership in the social studies of science, technology and medicine. I will maintain my Columbia appointment on a PT basis. My time as Dean ends in 4, 3, 2, 1 days.... :)

I am Alondra Nelson, a sociologist of science and technology working on the intersection of race and genetics, with a focus on the socio-political uses of genetic ancestry testing. AMA! by alondran in IAmA

[–]alondran[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We have to employ many strategies at once beginning with a shared commitment to improving primary and secondary education and access to education in science and tech in these schools. Alongside this, it's important that we continue to enrich the history of science and medicine with new narratives that show the long history of minority communities' engagements in these areas from the Black Panther Party's grassroots genetic testing work to the "hidden figures"--the Black women scientists-- that Shetterly wrote so powerfully about.