Understanding the risks, managing life: genetic counselling between biopolitcs and society of control

• Autor(a) principal: Paula, Bruno Lucas Saliba de
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Castelfranchi, Yurij
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Mediações - Revista de Ciências Sociais
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/23260
• topic: Genetic counselling; Eugenics; Biopower; Society of control; Aconselhamento genético; Eugenia; Biopoder; Sociedade de controle

The aim of this paper is to compare the genetic counselling (GC) with the eugenic policies of the early twentieth century. We perform an analysis of how GC is portrayed by the Brazilian press as well as a theoretical discussion about the configurations of biopower in a biotechnological context. Our results indicate that while eugenics was practiced by States that disciplined individual conduct and regulated its populations to "improve the human race", the GC relates to the neoliberal governmentality’s and to the society of control rationalities. It happens because the GC takes place in a context in which government, market and experts modulate the probabilities and risks associated to individuals who, as "entrepreneurs of themselves", need to manage their genetic capital and are considered as customers and stakeholders, and not only patients and citizens.