The British Journal of Sociology 2018 Volume 69 Issue 3 DNA, reconciliation and social empowerment Yulia Egorova It is my honour to write a commentary on Alondra Nelson’s British Journal of Sociology Lecture, which builds on her seminal acclaimed monograph The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations and Reconciliation after the Genome. The Social Life of DNA has already become a key reference point in the fields of Science and Technology Studies and the study of racial politics. For me personally, Alondra Nelson’s work has for a long time provided inspiration for my research on the use of genetics in reconstructing the history of human migrations, and her recent monograph has served as a key text in my teaching on the ethics and socio-cultural significance of the life science, always stimulat- ing deep and fruitful discussion in the classroom. Nelson’s research dissects brilliantly one of the central problems associated with genetic ancestry research – the appeal that it has for disenfranchised con- stituencies to use it in order ‘to enter into a new political relationship with the past’ (Nelson 2018) and yet the contradictory role that it plays in contempo- rary racial politics, violating issues of privacy, finding its ways into domains that go beyond its original purpose and putting the tested at risk in relation to the criminal justice system. Indeed, it is tempting in some contexts to theorize DNA ancestry research and population based genomic mapping exercises as ‘the weapon of the weak’, which subaltern communities can use as a tool of empowerment in projects of identity arbitration or reconciliation. However, even in those cases where on the surface they are conducted under the banner of the empowerment of the subaltern, they have a strong potential to turn into a tool of subordination, marginalization or oppression. Part of my work has focused on community-based and nation-wide genomic mapping exercises. Such projects are often described by their proponents as initiatives imbued with liberatory potential; however, they often reinforce already existing categories, even if these initiatives stem from the context Egorova (Durham University) © London School of Economics and Political Science 2018 ISSN 0007-1315 print/1468-4446 online. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 101 Station Landing, Suite 300, Medford, MA 02155, USA on behalf of the LSE. DOI: 10.1111//1468-4446.12597