Populations as Brands

In Populations as Brands Aaro Tupasela extends the fields of critical data studies and nation branding into the realm of state controlled biobanking and healthcare data. Using examples from two Nordic countries - Denmark and Finland he explores how these countries have begun to market and brand their resources using methods and practices drawn from the commercial sector. Tupasela identifies changes during the past ten years that suggest that state collected and maintained resources have become the object of valuation practices. Tupasela argues that this phenomenon constitutes a novel form of nation branding in which relations between the states, individuals and the private sector are re-aligned. The author locates the historical underpinnings of population branding in the field of medical genetics starting in the early 1960s but transforming significantly during the 2010s into a professional marketing activity undertaken at multiple levels and sites. In studying thisrecent phenomenon, Tupasela provides examples of how marketing material has become increasingly professional and targeted towards a broader audience, including the public. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of critical data studies and nation branding, as well as students of science and technology studies, sociology and marketing.

Engages with critical data studies and nation branding literature Presents a novel concept of population branding to better understand changes taking place in global data markets Invaluable reference for those studying social significance of big data, critical data studies and nation branding Important contribution to policy makers involved in nation branding Provides insight into the working of commercial nationalism in practice

Autorentext

Aaro Tupasela works as a research fellow at the Faculty of Social Science, University of Helsinki. Previously he has held positions at the Faculty of Law and The Centre for Medical Science and Technology Studies (MeST) at the University of Copenhagen.

Klappentext

In Populations as Brands Aaro Tupasela extends the fields of critical data studies and nation branding into the realm of state controlled biobanking and healthcare data. Using examples from two Nordic countries - Denmark and Finland he explores how these countries have begun to market and brand their resources using methods and practices drawn from the commercial sector. Tupasela identifies changes during the past ten years that suggest that state collected and maintained resources have become the object of valuation practices. Tupasela argues that this phenomenon constitutes a novel form of nation branding in which relations between the states, individuals and the private sector are re-aligned. The author locates the historical underpinnings of population branding in the field of medical genetics starting in the early 1960s but transforming significantly during the 2010s into a professional marketing activity undertaken at multiple levels and sites. In studying thisrecent phenomenon, Tupasela provides examples of how marketing material has become increasingly professional and targeted towards a broader audience, including the public. The book will be of particular interest to scholars of critical data studies and nation branding, as well as students of science and technology studies, sociology and marketing.

Inhalt

Chapter 1. IntroductionTurning Populations into Assets.- Chapter 2. Marketing Populations for Biomedical Research.- Chapter 3. Population Branding as Practices of Valuation.- Chapter 4. Constructing Authenticity into Population Brands.- Chapter 5. When the Brand Bites Back.- Chapter 6. Conclusion.