This talk examines the relationship between scientific innovation and social inequity. Drawing on work that investigates how racial and caste distinctions shape genomic science in Mexico, South Africa, India, and the US, Dr. Benjamin argues that it is the epistemic and normative dexterity of the field — not its strict enforcement of social hierarchy — that makes it powerful, problematic and, for some, profitable. Linking this insight to a range of contemporary issues at the nexus of data and democracy, Dr.

Putting Winsor McCay's iconic comic strip The Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend into conversation with the federal government's reorganization of consumable goods into toxic, intoxicating and medicinal substances at the turn of the twentieth century, this talk reconsiders the narrative of progressive-era governmental benevolence - in particular the Food and Drug Act of 1906 - to consider where and how affective form and materiality became aligned with the racialized carcerality.