Choosing One’s Past: Genetic Heritage and Identity Perforance

Abstract

The development of commercial consumer genomics services in Russia has had an impact on how people interact with their past: they turn to such services to fill gaps in family historical narratives and construct their own identities. As we show based on a combination of social media analysis and a series of in-depth interviews, users perceive genetic data as “objective” and stable foundations of identity, and the results of genetic analysis as a resource for identity performance. However, not all genetic data are subject to preservation and care as “heritage.” They become “genetic heritage” either if their interpretation is consistent with existing family historical narratives, or if these data are perceived by users as unique and capable of serving as the basis for identity performance. A sense of data scarcity and the possibility of various ways of interpreting it stimulates collective efforts to create and preserve a shared genetic heritage in the quest for kinship, local or ethnic solidarity.