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Genealogy
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What is Genealogy?
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What is Genealogy?

A special issue of Genealogy (ISSN 2313-5778).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 November 2016) | Viewed by 54107

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Philip Kretsedemas

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, MA 02125-3393, USA
Interests: migration studies & immigration policy; race/ethnicity studies; social theory
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The inaugural issue of Genealogy invites essays on the topic, “What is Genealogy?”. The goal of the issue is to offer an introduction to genealogy studies, which is unprecedented in its scope; highlighting the contributions that genealogical theory and methods can make to an interdisciplinary array of research interests. Contributors are asked to explain how genealogical research and/or theory pertains to their discipline or sub-discipline (answering the question “What is Genealogy?”, as viewed from this disciplinary standpoint). The inaugural issue also seeks to provide a more rigorous theoretical foundation for genealogy studies and invites contributions that aim to strengthen the theoretical and/or epistemological framework for genealogy studies. The editorial team is especially interested in essays addressing the following topics:

  • New frontiers for genealogy studies in key areas of inquiry (including, but not limited to: family studies, migration studies, cultural and literary studies, demography, medical/health studies, legal studies, race-ethnicity studies, science studies, genetic genealogy studies, ).
  • Relevance/applications of genealogical perspectives for historical methodologies (including, but not limited to: the disciplines of history, sociology and political science).
  • Genealogical narratives and the social construction of family lineage, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and/or national identity.
  • Genealogy and spatial analysis (with special interest in advances in the discipline of geography).
  • Genealogy and narrative theory (including, but not limited to: the disciplines of anthropology, literary studies, media studies, psychology and sociology).
  • Genealogy and theories of time/duration (with special interest in Bergsonian theory).
  • Evolutionary perspectives on genealogy.
  • Comparative discussions of key philosophical perspectives on genealogy.

Transdisciplinary perspectives on genealogy (including meta-theory on genealogy and essays focusing on transdisciplinary research questions or dilemmas that pertain to a specific cluster of disciplines).

Dr. Philip Kretsedemas
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

 

 

Keywords

The conceptual breadth of the inaugural issue does not lend itself to a tidy list of keywords, but here are some suggestions:

  • Genealogy
  • Genealogical theory
  • Genealogical method
  • Transdisciplinary
  • Interdisciplinary
  • Epistemology

Published Papers (8 papers)

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161 KiB  
Editorial
What Is Genealogy? Introduction to the Inaugural Issue of Genealogy
by Philip Kretsedemas
Genealogy 2017, 1(2), 10; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1020010 - 05 Jun 2017
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6247
Abstract
The inaugural issue of Genealogy offers an ambitious selection of essays which provide several answers to the question “What is Genealogy?” Each essay could easily have appeared in a different journal, specializing in philosophy, family studies and communication, race and ethnicity studies, political [...] Read more.
The inaugural issue of Genealogy offers an ambitious selection of essays which provide several answers to the question “What is Genealogy?” Each essay could easily have appeared in a different journal, specializing in philosophy, family studies and communication, race and ethnicity studies, political sociology or the cultural study of science and technology.[...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
239 KiB  
Article
What Is Genealogy? An Anthropological/Philosophical Reconsideration
by Bruce M. Knauft
Genealogy 2017, 1(1), 5; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1010005 - 17 Jan 2017
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 9183
Abstract
Genealogical analysis in the present begs reconsideration of Nietzschean and Foucauldian precursors in relation to the ethical subject position of the subject, on the one hand, and application to concrete contexts of lineal connection asserted diversely across cultural time and space, on the [...] Read more.
Genealogical analysis in the present begs reconsideration of Nietzschean and Foucauldian precursors in relation to the ethical subject position of the subject, on the one hand, and application to concrete contexts of lineal connection asserted diversely across cultural time and space, on the other. This paper considers how the relation between genealogy and history has emerged in anthropologically relevant ways since Foucault, including comparisons and contrasts with selected recent philosophical treatments, with implications for contemporary understandings of subversion, resistance, and the critical assessment of truth claims, including concerning veridiction itself. Developments in anthropology resonate with many features associated with genealogical analysis in Foucault’s latter works. In selected respects, the subversive process of problematizing received accounts of historical and cultural development articulates with the subversive process of ethnographic investigation, whereby received Western or other assumptions are defamiliarized by being thrown into contrastive cultural relief. The more general relation between genealogical analysis and the critical understanding of modernity is discussed, including in relation to contemporary political genealogy and ‘inter-genealogical’ analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
2523 KiB  
Article
Foucault’s Darwinian Genealogy
by Marco Solinas
Genealogy 2017, 1(2), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1020009 - 23 May 2017
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6593
Abstract
This paper outlines Darwin’s theory of descent with modification in order to show that it is genealogical in a narrow sense, and that from this point of view, it can be understood as one of the basic models and sources—also indirectly via Nietzsche—of [...] Read more.
This paper outlines Darwin’s theory of descent with modification in order to show that it is genealogical in a narrow sense, and that from this point of view, it can be understood as one of the basic models and sources—also indirectly via Nietzsche—of Foucault’s conception of genealogy. Therefore, this essay aims to overcome the impression of a strong opposition to Darwin that arises from Foucault’s critique of the “evolutionistic” research of “origin”—understood as Ursprung and not as Entstehung. By highlighting Darwin’s interpretation of the principles of extinction, divergence of character, and of the many complex contingencies and slight modifications in the becoming of species, this essay shows how his genealogical framework demonstrates an affinity, even if only partially, with Foucault’s genealogy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
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181 KiB  
Article
Genealogical Relatedness: Geographies of Shared Descent and Difference
by Catherine Nash
Genealogy 2017, 1(2), 7; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1020007 - 30 Mar 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 6745
Abstract
This paper explores genealogy through a focus on what I describe as the idea of genealogical relatedness. This is a model of human relations which emphasizes relationships between people defined through the reckoning of connections based on birth and parentage. I offer a [...] Read more.
This paper explores genealogy through a focus on what I describe as the idea of genealogical relatedness. This is a model of human relations which emphasizes relationships between people defined through the reckoning of connections based on birth and parentage. I offer a geographical analytical framework for exploring both popular genealogy and ideas of genealogical relatedness, shared descent and difference. It is one that both attends to the variety of ways that collective identity is defined or explored through genealogy and is alert to the troubling nature of genealogical categorizations and differentiations especially those which are figured in terms of concepts that seem to be most progressive, including ideas hybridity, diversity, and universal humanity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
183 KiB  
Article
What Is Genealogy? Philosophy, Education, Motivations and Future Prospects
by Bruce Durie
Genealogy 2017, 1(1), 4; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1010004 - 10 Jan 2017
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 9280
Abstract
This article is a first attempt to generate discussion and academic analysis of the modus operandi of genealogy and genealogists. Genealogy is on the verge of becoming a recognised profession and an academic discipline, with one or more qualification routes. This article summarises [...] Read more.
This article is a first attempt to generate discussion and academic analysis of the modus operandi of genealogy and genealogists. Genealogy is on the verge of becoming a recognised profession and an academic discipline, with one or more qualification routes. This article summarises the author’s philosophy, motivations and experiences in establishing educational/training courses and qualifications in a University context. Definitions of genealogy and related concepts are discussed, in the light of an epistemological analysis. Such philosophical considerations are rarely discussed among professional genealogists. It is hoped this article will be a stimulus to more enlightened debate of the epistemological and philosophical bases of family history-type genealogy. There is also a dearth of research into the motivations of amateur and professional genealogists, and almost no scholarly scrutiny of genealogy as an academic discipline. Nor can it be dismissed as “a branch of history”; genealogy and history are related but separate disciplines with overlapping skills-sets. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
161 KiB  
Article
Family Genealogy and Family Communication: Finding Common Ground
by Amy M. Smith
Genealogy 2017, 1(1), 6; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1010006 - 22 Jan 2017
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 5638
Abstract
The intersection between family genealogy and family communication is an area ripe for scholarly research within the field of communication studies, as well as the broader area of genealogy studies. The opportunity and desire to conduct family genealogical research continues to grow as [...] Read more.
The intersection between family genealogy and family communication is an area ripe for scholarly research within the field of communication studies, as well as the broader area of genealogy studies. The opportunity and desire to conduct family genealogical research continues to grow as the services and tools making such research become more affordable and user friendly. In reflecting upon the ways in which genealogy research and family communication interact with one another, this article seeks to make a case for ongoing and increased scholarship regarding the impact of genealogy data upon family communication patterns, family narrative, and family identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
210 KiB  
Article
The End of a Line: Care of the Self in Modern Political Thought
by Alexandre Lefebvre
Genealogy 2017, 1(1), 2; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1010002 - 13 Dec 2016
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 6042
Abstract
This article examines the reasons why Foucault thought that morality based on the care of the self died out in the modern age. I pay special attention to his contention that modern political thought was a key player in bringing about this demise. [...] Read more.
This article examines the reasons why Foucault thought that morality based on the care of the self died out in the modern age. I pay special attention to his contention that modern political thought was a key player in bringing about this demise. The essay consists of two parts. In Part One, I overview Foucault’s conception of the care of the self and situate it within his later work on ancient philosophy and culture. In Part Two, I turn to his remarks on the incompatibility between the ancient tradition of the care of the self and an ascendant modern political philosophy based on the notions of rights and the juridical subject. To conclude, I suggest that while Foucault may have overstated this compatibility he opened the door to consider how the care of the self could be taken up in the context of modern and contemporary political theory. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
180 KiB  
Article
Problematizing the Chinese Experience in America
by William Wei
Genealogy 2017, 1(1), 3; https://doi.org/10.3390/genealogy1010003 - 20 Dec 2016
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4374
Abstract
The essay addresses the question “What is Genealogy?” through a consideration of the value of traditional genealogical narratives of families for the Chinese state and society, and the implications of their absence for those caught up in the 19th century diaspora to America. [...] Read more.
The essay addresses the question “What is Genealogy?” through a consideration of the value of traditional genealogical narratives of families for the Chinese state and society, and the implications of their absence for those caught up in the 19th century diaspora to America. Using genealogy as a method of critical inquiry, however, enables scholars to begin studying the significance of this phenomenon in the lives of Chinese immigrants and the centrality of family in safeguarding their legacy. It does this through an examination of the lives of two Chinese community leaders in Denver’s Chinatown. It concludes with a call for a horizontal genealogical study of community leaders in order to have a better understanding of who they were and the role they played in Chinese America. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue What is Genealogy?)
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