Genetyka, esencjalizm i tożsamość
Genetics, Essentialism and Identity

Summary/Abstract: One of the symptoms of modernity is deconstruction of identity understood as a solid and objective category. Consequently, as individuals lack points of firm reference, identity itself becomes fluid: it requires permanent (re)construction and (re) negotiation. For some individuals, this may result in a turn towards genetics, which for many becomes a source of empowerment. Because genes are ascribed responsibility for many diseases, behaviours and personality traits, essentialist thinking about human identity is reinforced, which again becomes rooted in human biology. Thus, geneticization of identity makes a construction of one’s self as ‘genetic self’ possible. This paper aims to describe how the rhetoric of identity that is present in genetic discourse shapes the essentialist thinking about human being on three levels: the individual, the collective and the species. By analyzing three types of sources (press articles, scientific papers and advertising materials from biotechnological companies which offer personalized genetics services), I will show that thinking in terms of genetic essentialism is not generated solely by the media and that there are many other actors who are engaged in the process of geneticization of identity. This article concludes with a brief discussion of the social implications of geneticization of identity.

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