
The American Gene
Unnatural Selection Along Class, Race, and Gender Lines
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 17. March 2025
Book
Hardback
228 pages
978-1-032-94600-9 (ISBN)
Description
Biological justification for all forms of inequality has a long history, with the claim that particular groups suffer disproportionately from inherited flaws of ability and character used to explain a remarkably wide variety of inequalities.
Providing an important critique of that biodeterminist history and how the Human Genome Project has inspired some contemporary scientists and economists to follow a similar path of ascribing socioeconomic outcomes to genetic inheritance, The American Gene details new research that suggests that the social and economic environment can affect how genes express themselves in specific human traits and social outcomes. Using the three cases of the American white working class, Black Americans and American women, the authors demonstrate that relying on nature as an explanation is seriously flawed - showing that the socioeconomic inheritance created by the conditions in which these populations worked and lived offer a far better explanation than nature for the stratified results.
This book is the story of an American history rife with unnecessary misery and the waste of human potential, along with the liberating effect of understanding the degree to which its citizens are the product of social inheritance and the potential power of a nurturing economy and society that equality promises.
Providing an important critique of that biodeterminist history and how the Human Genome Project has inspired some contemporary scientists and economists to follow a similar path of ascribing socioeconomic outcomes to genetic inheritance, The American Gene details new research that suggests that the social and economic environment can affect how genes express themselves in specific human traits and social outcomes. Using the three cases of the American white working class, Black Americans and American women, the authors demonstrate that relying on nature as an explanation is seriously flawed - showing that the socioeconomic inheritance created by the conditions in which these populations worked and lived offer a far better explanation than nature for the stratified results.
This book is the story of an American history rife with unnecessary misery and the waste of human potential, along with the liberating effect of understanding the degree to which its citizens are the product of social inheritance and the potential power of a nurturing economy and society that equality promises.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Academic and Undergraduate Advanced
Illustrations
21 s/w Abbildungen, 21 s/w Zeichnungen, 25 s/w Tabellen
25 Tables, black and white; 21 Line drawings, black and white; 21 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
531 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-94600-9 (9781032946009)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Robert Chernomas | Ian Hudson | Gregory Chernomas
The American Gene
Unnatural Selection Along Class, Race, and Gender Lines
E-Book
03/2025
Routledge
€44.99
Available for download

Robert Chernomas | Ian Hudson | Gregory Chernomas
The American Gene
Unnatural Selection Along Class, Race, and Gender Lines
E-Book
03/2025
Routledge
€44.99
Available for download

Robert Chernomas | Ian Hudson | Gregory Chernomas
The American Gene
Unnatural Selection Along Class, Race, and Gender Lines
Book
03/2025
1st Edition
Routledge
€67.70
Shipment within 10-20 days
Persons
Robert Chernomas is a professor of economics at the University of Manitoba. He was also a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and Bucknell University. He is the co-author of Neoliberal Lives: Work, Politics, Nature, Health in the Contemporary United States (2019), The Profit Doctrine: The Economists of the Neoliberal Era (2017) and Economics in the 21st Century: A Critical Perspective (2016).
Ian Hudson is Associate Head of the Economics and Society Stream in the Economics Department at the University of Manitoba. He is the co-author (with Robert Chernomas) of Neoliberal Lives: Work, Politics, Nature, Health in the Contemporary United States (2019), The Profit Doctrine: The Economists of the Neoliberal Era (2017), and Economics in the 21st Century: A Critical Perspective (2016).
Gregory Chernomas is a PhD student researching in Theoretical Epigenetics at the University of Guelph.
Ian Hudson is Associate Head of the Economics and Society Stream in the Economics Department at the University of Manitoba. He is the co-author (with Robert Chernomas) of Neoliberal Lives: Work, Politics, Nature, Health in the Contemporary United States (2019), The Profit Doctrine: The Economists of the Neoliberal Era (2017), and Economics in the 21st Century: A Critical Perspective (2016).
Gregory Chernomas is a PhD student researching in Theoretical Epigenetics at the University of Guelph.
Content
Acknowledgement
Introduction: Why We Are What We Are
1. Biodeterminism: Naturalizing History
2. Unnatural Selection
3. The Economic Inheritance of the White Working Class
4. The Economic and Social Inheritance of Black Americans
5. The Economic and Social Inheritance of American Women
6. COVID: A Case Study in Inequality
Epilogue: A Never-Ending Story
Introduction: Why We Are What We Are
1. Biodeterminism: Naturalizing History
2. Unnatural Selection
3. The Economic Inheritance of the White Working Class
4. The Economic and Social Inheritance of Black Americans
5. The Economic and Social Inheritance of American Women
6. COVID: A Case Study in Inequality
Epilogue: A Never-Ending Story