ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of biomedicalization, presenting some major developments in social theory and research. It looks at what biomedicalization is and how it relates to other social processes, such as geneticization and pharmaceuticalization. The chapter discusses emerging developments in molecular science and the characterization of risk, emerging avenues in social movements and identity politics, and the rise of consumer genomics. Biomedicalization is a concerted focus on health, risk, and surveillance. The field of genomics has not only adhered to these constructions, but the field's leaders have pushed for minority inclusion in genomic research with a heightened attention to racial identity. Feedback loops form between health activism, research on human variation, and individuals' own struggles to learn how to manage the array of "probabilities, predictions, and preventative interventions" arising from genomic knowledge. The chapter concludes with a look at how biomedicalization entwines with broader forms of capitalism and sociality in the New Millennium.
