Biogenetic Paradoxes of the Nation

Sakari Tamminen is Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Helsinki, coauthor of Recoding Life: Information and the Biopolitical, and coeditor of Bio-Objects: Life in the Twenty-First Century.

“How do animals and plants ground the making of national natures today, in the age of biotechnology, when we know those natures to be thoroughly social, technical, and economic? Sakari Tamminen's excellent ethnography examines what he arrestingly names as ‘nonhuman nationhood,’ using the case of Finland to show us how histories of animal breeding along with new genres of molecular manipulation are shaping fresh claims and contests over genetic sovereignty.” - Stefan Helmreich, author of (Sounding the Limits of Life: Essays in the Anthropology of Biology and Beyond) “Sakari Tamminen offers a deft combination of field observation and theoretical analysis to persuasively problematize the whole notion of national genetic heritage. Outlining the tension between increasingly energetic claims about indigeneity, originality, and nativeness and the fact that all such claims inevitably rest on construction and wishful thinking, he uses his focus on Finland to illuminate issues of global relevance.” - Harriet Ritvo, author of (Noble Cows and Hybrid Zebras: Essays on Animals and History) "This highly informative study should be widely read." - R. S. Kowalczyk (Choice) "The contribution of the book to critical discussions on the politics of life lies in highlighting the entangled relations between nation-building and biology, and the re-emergence of the nation as a crucial player in biopolitical battles. Furthermore, in a political climate where nations are increasingly interested in strengthening their borders – both physically and discursively – we will do well to remember Tamminen’s message about how new biotechnological relations and the related politics and institutions can expand territories and borders, but also redraw and reinforce existing ones."- Annika Lonkila (New Genetics and Society)

• List of Abbreviations  viiAcknowledgments  ixIntroduction. The New Biopolitics of Nature and the Nature of (Mis)Stakes  11. Finncattle: Biowealth as National Life  382. Alexander and the (Re)Birth of Nation: Apple Trees' Genetic Fingerprinting and the Making of a Molecular Nationhood  843. Stilled Life: Animal Gene Banks and New Infrastructures of Life  1274. Experimental Administration: Genetic Sovereignty and the Institutional (Bio)Politics of Nonhuman Nationhood  173Conclusion. Biogenetic Paradoxes of the Nation  210Notes  223References  237Index  259