Subjects of Speculation: Emergent Life Sciences and Market Logics in the United States and India

This article traces systems of exchange concerning the life sciences and capital and how they configure subjectivity in the United States and India. This is done through case studies concerning the emergence of personalized medicine in the two locales. In the U.S. case, I argue for the configuration...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inAmerican anthropologist Vol. 107; no. 1; pp. 19 - 30
Main Author Rajan, Kaushik Sunder
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford, UK American Anthropological Association 01.03.2005
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
Subjects
Anthropology
Biological Sciences
Biology
Business structures
Capital
Capitalism
Case studies
Consumers
Emergence
Genetic diseases
Genetic research
Genetics
Genomes
Genomics
Human subjects
In Focus: Ethnographic Emergences
India
Keywords
Life sciences
Market
Market Economy
Medical genetics
Medical treatment
Medicine
Research subjects
Science
Speculation
Start up firms
Subjectivity
U.S.A
United States of America
United States > US
India
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Summary:This article traces systems of exchange concerning the life sciences and capital and how they configure subjectivity in the United States and India. This is done through case studies concerning the emergence of personalized medicine in the two locales. In the U.S. case, I argue for the configuration of the subjects of personalized medicine as sovereign consumers; in the Indian case, I argue for their configuration as experimental subjects. I situate these arguments in the context of epistemologies of genomics and the consolidation of systems of speculative capitalism.
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ISSN:0002-7294
1548-1433
DOI:10.1525/aa.2005.107.1.019