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About Genetics: Aspects of Social Structure Worth Considering

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Abstract

The focus of this book — culture, kinship and genes — is of crucial importance. My own sense of this (Stacey 1988) has been confirmed by Marilyn Strathern’s books (1992a, 1992b), the work that she led with colleagues in Manchester (Edwards et al. 1993) and her chapter in this volume. These contributions must have dispelled any lingering doubt a reader may have had of the subject’s importance. In this chapter, I propose to complement the cultural focus by briefly drawing attention to structural aspects, for the applications of the new genetics have social as well as cultural implications. In doing this, I shall attempt to clear up some persistent misunderstandings about ‘society’ and ‘the social’.

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© 1997 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Stacey, M. (1997). About Genetics: Aspects of Social Structure Worth Considering. In: Clarke, A., Parsons, E. (eds) Culture, Kinship and Genes. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25882-6_18

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