Introduction:BiologizingCulture/CulturingBiology 19
anEpidemic(1999), more recent work by Nikolas Rose on the politics
of life, Henry A. Giroux on the relation of biopolitics and natural
disasters,JosephDumitonpharmaceuticalmarketing,orMichaelDillon
on biology and eschatology plus further research made accessible in
collections such asBiomedicalization (2010) or Beyond Biopolitics
(2011) offer examples of how a Humanities engagement with
biomedical, biotechnological, or bioeconomic issues can add to, even
empower, our understanding of shared material and imaginative
realities. In addition, there is work being done under the auspices of
related disciplines such as those named above plus science journalism,
non-fiction (science) writing, or literary non-fiction as well as other
more loosely defined genres. Taken together, they show that taking a
Humanities approach to an (allegedly) non-cultural subject matter can
amount to more than unprofessional dilettantism. Rather, such research
"displays a relationship between social and biological taxonomies that
affects perceptions of new technologies and provides the context
through which scientific information circulates" (Wald and Clayton ix).
At the same time and more importantly, it highlights how
transformations among cultural practices are themselves catalyzed by
scientificinformationandinnovationsinthebiosector.^13
Thus,thefield biocultures asitpresents itselfatthis particularstage
of disciplinary formation is a good example of the conceptual
achievements of hyphenation, especially the latter's power of
articulation, "across divides, highlighting the transition, the bridge or
passage between, rather than [something] firmly located in any one
culture, place or position" (Chambers 53). In this spirit, the
interdisciplinary field of biocultures is committed to bringing to light
hitherto neglected ways in which biology and culture have always
alreadybeenmutuallyimbricatedingivenareasofhumanpraxis.Inthe
wordsoftwoofitsleadingproponents,bioculturesrestonthe"synthetic
argumentthatthebiologicalwithoutthecultural,ortheculturalwithout
(^13) Itneedsto beacknowledgedthatatthispointwehavereachedadoublebind
or a circular structure: scientific information is of course never "pure science"
but necessarily passes through the archives of culture as it becomes
"information." At the same time, such information then feeds back into the
domainofscientificinquiry(Rabinow,"Representations"234).