Veranstaltungen

Conference organized by the Centre for African Studies and the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Basel on behalf of the Swiss Society for African Studies with financial support from the Swiss Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities. and the Freiwillige Akademische Gesellschaft Basel.

Convenor: Henri Michel Yéré, Centre for African Studies and Department of Social Sciences, University of Basel

When, where: 1−3 September 2025, University of Basel, Switzerland

In this conference, we would like to begin to understand how issues of identity and ethnicity play out in genomics research at an interdisciplinary level. Together with this objective we want to consider the ways in which colonial history has had an impact on how the ‘African genome’ is defined and used. We are particularly interested in the mutual influence of lay and scientific epistemologies on the ways in which we think about ethnicity within Africa and in genomics.

We contend that genomics can no longer afford to ignore the reality that it needs to regard itself not just as a natural science, but as a practice whose reach goes beyond the strict space of scientific practice. We are interested to explore the possibility of bringing genomics as a scientific practice towards asking its own questions differently: at a practical and material level (e.g. concerning sampling strategies), at a political level (e.g. with regard to health equities and questions of scientific sovereignty), but also at an epistemological level (concerning the very classificatory practices and genealogies of knowledge on which contemporary genomics rest). Whereas divergences may at first glance appear insurmountable at an epistemological level, by virtue of the larger, traditional “divide” between natural and social science and humanities scholarship, points of convergence may come forward during exchanges between natural scientists and social scientists/humanities scholars when it comes to the practical and ethical dimensions of engaging with patients over sample donation. In recent years, there has been a move towards projects that seek to overcome this divide, including the collaborative platform The Asthma Files (https://theasthmafiles.org.) What is striking in these initiatives is that they do not follow an additive or perspectivist approach but seek to be transdisciplinary and thus transformative on a more fundamental level.

Fourteen scholars from Universities in Europe, Africa, North America, and Asia will present their insights from several disciplines and reflect at the intersection of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities.

Registration: Auditors are invited to register by 28 August 2025 by email to sekretariat@cluttersgas-ssea.ch.

Venue: Kollegienhaus der Universität Basel, Petersplatz 1, Room 119, 1^st floor