The Gene, the Clinic, and the Family: Diagnosing Dysmorphology, Reviving Medical Dominance

256 Pages·2013·2.287 MB·English

by  Joanna Latimer

The Gene, the Clinic and the Family
While some theorists argue that medicine is caught in a relentless process of
‘geneticization’ and others offer a thesis of biomedicalization, there is still little
research that explores how these effects are accomplished in practice. Joanna
Latimer, whose groundbreaking ethnography on acute health care organization
and practice gave us the social science classic T he Conduct of Care, moves her
focus from the bedside to the clinic in this in-depth study of genetic medicine.
A gainst current thinking that proselytises the rise of laboratory science,
Professor Latimer shows how the genetic clinic is at the heart of the revolution in
the new genetics. Tracing how work on the abnormal in an embryonic genetic
science, dysmorphology, is changing our thinking about the normal, T he Gene,
the Clinic and the Family charts new understandings about family, procreation
and choice. Far from medicine experiencing the much-proclaimed ‘death of the
clinic’, this book shows how medicine is both reasserting its status as a science
and revitalising its dominance over society, not only for now but for societies in
the future.
T his book will appeal to students, scholars and professionals interested in
medical sociology, science and technology studies, the anthropology of science,
medical science and genetics, as well as genetic counselling.
Joanna Latimer is Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University School of Social
Sciences, and Professor in the ESRC Centre for the Economic and Social Aspects
of Genomics. She has been researching medical knowledge and practice ethno-
graphically for 30 years. Professor Latimer is editor of S ociology of Health and
Illness , a member of the board of The Sociological Review, and chair of the
Cardiff Ageing, Science and Older People Network.
Genetics and Society
Series Editors:
Ruth Chadwick, D irector of Cesagen, Cardiff University, John Dupré, D irector of
Egenis, Exeter University , David Wield, D irector of Innogen, Edinburgh University ,
and Steve Yearley, Director of the Genomics Forum, Edinburgh University .
The books in this series, all based on original research, explore the social,
economic and ethical consequences of the new genetic sciences. The series is
based at Cesagen, one of the centres forming the ESRC’s Genomics Network
(EGN), the largest UK investment in social-science research on the implications
of these innovations. With a mix of research monographs, edited collections,
textbooks and a major new handbook, the series is a valuable contribution to the
social analysis of developing and emergent bio-technologies.
Series titles include:
New Genetics, New Social Human Cloning in the Media
Formations Joan Haran, Jenny Kitzinger,
Peter Glasner, Paul Atkinson and Maureen McNeil and Kate
Helen Greenslade O’Riordan
New Genetics, New Identities Local Cells, Global Science
Paul Atkinson, Peter Glasner and Embryonic stem cell research
Helen Greenslade in India
Aditya Bharadwaj and Peter Glasner
The GM Debate
Risk, politics and public Handbook of Genetics and Society
engagement Paul Atkinson, Peter Glasner and
Tom Horlick-Jones, John Walls, Margaret Lock
Gene Rowe, Nick Pidgeon,
The Human Genome
Wouter Poortinga, Graham Murdock
Chamundeeswari Kuppuswamy
and Tim O’Riordan
Community Genetics and Genetic
Growth Cultures Alliances
Life sciences and economic Eugenics, carrier testing and networks
development of risk
Philip Cooke Aviad E. Raz
Neurogenetic Diagnoses Gender and Genetics
The power of hope and the limits Sociology of the prenatal
of today’s medicine Kate Reed
C arole Browner and H. Mabel Preloran
Risky Genes
Debating Human Genetics Genetics, breast cancer and
Contemporary issues in public policy Jewish identity
and ethics Jessica Mozersky
Alexandra Plows
The Gene, the Clinic and
Genetically Modifi ed Crops the Family
on Trial Diagnosing dysmorphology,
Opening up alternative futures of reviving medical dominance
Euro-agriculture Joanna Latimer
Les Levidow
Creating Conditions
Forthcoming titles include:
The making and remaking of
a genetic condition Scientifi c, Clinical and
Katie Featherstone and Commercial Development
Paul Atkinson of the Stem Cell
From radiobiology to regenerative
Genetic Testing
medicine
Accounts of autonomy,
Alison Kraft
responsiblility and blame
Michael Arribas-Allyon, Srikant Barcoding Nature
Sarangi and Angus Clarke Claire Waterton, Rebecca Ellis and
Brian Wynne
Regulating Next Generation
Agri-Food Biotechnologies Negotiating Bioethics
Lessons from European, North The governance of UNESCO’s
American and Asian Experiences bioethics programme
Edited by Michael Howlett and Adèle Langlois
David Laycock
Regenerating Bodies
Tissue and cell therapies in the
twenty-fi rst century
Julie Kent
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The Gene, the Clinic and
the Family
Diagnosing dysmorphology, reviving
medical dominance
Joanna Latimer
First published 2013
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2013 Joanna Latimer
The right of Joanna Latimer to be identifi ed as author of this work has been
asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to
infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Latimer, Joanna
The gene, the clinic and the family: diagnosing dysmorphology,
reviving medical dominance / Joanna Latimer
pages cm. — (Genetics and society)
Includes bibliographical references and index
1. Medical genetics. 2. Abnormalities, Human—Genetics aspects. I. Title
RB155.L375 2013
616'.042—dc23 2012050058
ISBN: 978-0-415-69928-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-203-44145-9 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deer Park Productions
F or Rolland and our children Jamie and Arabella, whose own
generation will be much affected by the trends addressed in this
book.
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Contents
List of fi gures xiii
Preface xv
PART I
Introduction and background 1
1 Introduction 3
A new frontier? 4
The alignment of clinical medicine with the new genetics 5
Medicine and its engrossment 6
Identifying the pathological 7
Power and deferral 9
The culture of enhancement 10
Dysmorphology: a study in medical power 11
A revival of medical dominance? 15
An outline of the chapters 16
2 The clinic as the site of science 19
Introduction 19
Medicine and the sick role 21
Medicine as professional dominance 22
Medicalization and the medical gaze 24
Medicine as biopolitics 25
The clinic as science 27
The clinic as a technology of governance 29
Powers of discretion 29
Ordering and reordering science 30
PART II
The gene and medicine 33
3 Medicalizing science 35
Introduction 35