Roots Quest: Inside America’s Genealogy Boom

In this wide-ranging monograph, sociology professor Hogan examines the passions and preoccupations of a growing community of American genealogy enthusiasts. She argues that globalization, secularization, hypermobility, and the virtualization of social life have destabilized individual and collective identities, and that “roots quests” in the U.S. evince a hunger for authenticity and deep connection with anything. Hogan places American genealogical practices in a broader context, drawing comparisons to the ancestral memory customs of other cultures. In comparison to previous periods of popular genealogy practice, Hogan writes, the present boom is scientized: technological developments such as archive digitization have made it easier to trace lineages, and DNA testing services seem to lend the prestige of scientific rigor to these identity quests. The latter also indicate how commoditization has shaped genealogy, through the fanciful promises of research software, the dramatic but ultimately comforting narratives of self-discovery portrayed on ancestry-focused TV shows such as Who Do You Think You Are? and the histories that “roots tourists” encounter on their pilgrimages abroad to their places of origin. Hogan approaches family historians’ increasingly global searches for community, self-knowledge, and a kind of secular immortality with compassion and insight. Readers interested in a scholarly look at memory work, popular understandings of heritage and kinship, or identity formation in consumer society will find much of interest here. (Jan.)