KALFOU | VOLUME 5 | ISSUE 1 | SPRING 2018 Concluding Remarks Social Justice Requires Biocritical Inquiry Terence D. Keel I would like to address some aspects of our dialogue that have important con- sequences for future discussions of genetics, race, and social justice. Social constructionism is an organizing principle for many scholars working on race and science. As a guiding concept—based on the premise that human di fer- ences are shaped (if not entirely then at least partly) by social conventions, prac- tices, and institutions—it draws together scholars across the social sciences, law, history, ethnic studies, philosophy, religion, and health sciences. Tese various felds have trained us in particular ways, shaping how we account for the di fer- ences within the social body. Tus the color of social constructionism—which is to say how this organizing principle afects our research agenda—changes ac- cording to our disciplinary training. For some, political and economic relation- ships are of utmost importance. For others, history, culture, and belief require unique attention. Tere are some of us who look to the sociological dimensions of knowledge and practice. Our debate put these varying priorities on display. Despite this intellectual diversity, a social constructionist approach does not mean an opposition to science or to genetics in particular. As scholars working in the wake of the UNESCO “Statements on Race” in the 1950s–1960s, the sub- sequent debates in the 1970s and 1990s over IQ and sociobiology, and then the sequencing of the human genome in 2000, social constructionists recognize that humans are genetically more similar than they are diferent and that social def- nitions of race do not actually describe the biology of living people. 1 We recog- nize this partially because of the research and developments within the biological sciences. Tis is a point ofen forgotten in debates with geneticists who wrongly claim that social constructionists ignore the work of scientists. In the last two decades there have been more discoveries by biologists disproving the notion that race is a direct factor in health and behavior than there have been studies demonstrating causal connections among genes, race, health, and behavior. 2 If we were to generalize, we could say that social constructionism involves being suspicious of correlations between race and genetics for reasons that are Kalfou, Volume 5, Issue 1 (Spring 2018). © 2018 by the Regents of the University of California. ISSN 2151-4712 (print). ISSN 2372-0751 (online). http://dx.doi.org/10.15367/kf.v5i1.201. All rights reserved