On ambivalence and risk: Reflexive modernity and the new human genetics

This critical examination of theories of reflexive modernity with respect t o the new human genetics draws on a range of empirical studies and conceptu al critiques. In it we explore the ways in which genetic knowledge and test ing technologies offer new choices, construct new risks and generate public and professional ambivalence. We contrast this with the processes of order ing, reduction and control suffusing these developments. We argue that redu ctionism and determinism continue to infuse genetic theories and methods, t hat scientific and social progress are collapsed anew, and that certitude a nd surveillance remain powerful guiding principles. Within this context, th e reflexive potential of individual choice, personal responsibility and ris k estimation is seriously undermined. Indeed, in the case of the new human genetics, it seems that reflexive modernisation promotes, rather than curta ils, a new modern/counter-modern eugenics. This occurs through the privatis ation of lay ambivalence and professionals' successful institutional reflex ivity. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implications of our reflections for sociology and participatory democracy more broadly.