Mitochondrial Eve and the Affective Politics of Human Ancestry.

This article explores a scientific technology—mitochondrial analysis—that underlies contemporary technoscientific phenomena such as genetic ancestry tests, ethnic diversity projects, and national genome projects. The article focuses on the figure of "Mitochondrial Eve," the most recent common matril...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society Vol. 40; no. 3; pp. 747 - 773
Autor principal: Oikkonen, Venla
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: University of Chicago Press Spring2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=101535010&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ssf
    uiTerm: 101535010
    longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson)
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        00979740
        SIG
      jtl: Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society
      issn: 00979740
      maglogo: N
    pubinfo:
      dt: Spring2015
      vid: 40
      iid: 3
      pid: 415
      pub: University of Chicago Press
    artinfo:
      ui:
        101535010
        10.1086/679527
      ppf: 747
      ppct: 26
      formats:
        fmt:
          – @attributes:
              type: T
              db: hlh
              ui: 101535010
          – @attributes:
              type: P
              db: hlh
              ui: 101535010
      tig:
        atl: Mitochondrial Eve and the Affective Politics of Human Ancestry.
      aug:
        au: Oikkonen, Venla
        affil: Department of Philosophy, History, Culture and Art StudiesUniversity of Helsinki
      su:
        Race
        Gender
        Heterosexuality
        Human origins
        Human genetics
        Mitochondrial DNA
        Genomics
        Human evolution
      sug:
        subj:
          Race
          Gender
          Heterosexuality
          Human origins
          Human genetics
          Mitochondrial DNA
          Genomics
          Human evolution
      ab: This article explores a scientific technology—mitochondrial analysis—that underlies contemporary technoscientific phenomena such as genetic ancestry tests, ethnic diversity projects, and national genome projects. The article focuses on the figure of "Mitochondrial Eve," the most recent common matrilineal ancestor of modern humans, who lived in Africa a few hundred thousand years ago. Introduced by Rebecca Cann, Mark Stoneking, and Allan Wilson in 1987, Mitochondrial Eve became the object of an intense scientific and cultural debate, appearing in numerous journal articles and on the cover of Newsweek magazine, as well as in media commentaries on gender roles and popular culture. Through a critical reading of the press coverage of the mitochondrial debate between 1987 and 2000, this article explores an evolving set of cultural emotions, including hope, celebration, suspicion, and anxiety that shaped the idea of human ancestry during the debate. The article argues that the introduction of "Y-chromosome Adam" in 1995 marked a key shift in these affective negotiations, as it engendered a strictly heteronormative and symbolically white dynamic that rendered safe the feminist and multicultural potential suggested in early commentaries. The article concludes by considering how the affective politics of the mitochondrial debate inform the affective politics of today's biotechnologies.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
    refInfo:
    copyright:
      @attributes:
        flag: N
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N