TY - JOUR

T1 - Citizen-Person

T2 - The “Me” in the “We” in Danish Precision Medicine

AU - Svendsen, Mette N.

AU - Navne, Laura E.

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2022.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - The genome has become a crucial component in precision medicine aimed at tailoring medical treatment to the individual. To the extent that social science studies of genomics have explored questions related to the individual, these studies have focused on how the governance regarding genomes facilitates individuals’ rights, choices, and responsibilities. By contrast, we approach genomic governance by investigating how enactments of the person in precision medicine actualize practices of reciprocity and belonging in a national collective. Based on document analysis and ethnographic fieldwork in Denmark, we show that genomes are treated simultaneously as digital representations of individuals, social resources for a welfare state population, and emblems of public trust. By drawing on classical and contemporary anthropological theories of personhood, we unfold how Danish precision medicine prescribes a moral continuity between person, state, and territory. We argue that Danish precision medicine revitalizes a national politics of belonging and generates socio-spatial orientations through which the “me” of the person shares origin and place with the “we” of the welfare state.

AB - The genome has become a crucial component in precision medicine aimed at tailoring medical treatment to the individual. To the extent that social science studies of genomics have explored questions related to the individual, these studies have focused on how the governance regarding genomes facilitates individuals’ rights, choices, and responsibilities. By contrast, we approach genomic governance by investigating how enactments of the person in precision medicine actualize practices of reciprocity and belonging in a national collective. Based on document analysis and ethnographic fieldwork in Denmark, we show that genomes are treated simultaneously as digital representations of individuals, social resources for a welfare state population, and emblems of public trust. By drawing on classical and contemporary anthropological theories of personhood, we unfold how Danish precision medicine prescribes a moral continuity between person, state, and territory. We argue that Danish precision medicine revitalizes a national politics of belonging and generates socio-spatial orientations through which the “me” of the person shares origin and place with the “we” of the welfare state.

KW - belonging

KW - Denmark

KW - genomics

KW - personhood

KW - precision medicine

U2 - 10.1177/01622439221108535

DO - 10.1177/01622439221108535

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85133319133

VL - 48

SP - 1176

EP - 1198

JO - Science Technology and Human Values

JF - Science Technology and Human Values

SN - 0162-2439

IS - 5

ER -