Providing a comparison the most important instances of public engagement with biotechnology in Europe in recent years, this book provides a theoretically reflected and empirically grounded study of the opportunities and obstacles for a thorough democratization of technological development through processes of public engagement.
Author(s): Janus Hansen
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2010
Language: English
Pages: 261
Cover......Page 1
Contents......Page 6
List of Tables, Figures and Box......Page 9
Acknowledgements......Page 10
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms......Page 12
Introduction: Managing the Tension between Science and Democracy – the Case of Public Engagement Processes......Page 14
Outline of the argument......Page 17
Biotechnological controversies as objects of sociological investigation......Page 20
Social research in a polarised controversy......Page 22
Biotechnology and the public in surveys and qualitative research......Page 24
‘Risk as proxy’ – the development of biotech governance......Page 33
2 Discourses of Public Engagement......Page 41
Challenges to the technocratic model – the emergence of technology assessment......Page 42
Exploring the intellectual underpinnings of participatory technology assessment......Page 44
A new role for society in contemporary knowledge production......Page 47
Expert knowledge and lay knowledge......Page 52
PTA as deliberative democracy in practice......Page 55
Organisational features of participatory technology assessment – an initial classification......Page 57
3 Analysing PTAs in a Polycontextual Society......Page 61
Axiomatic basis: systems of communication and their environments......Page 62
Modernity as functional differentiation......Page 65
Observing technology through systems theory......Page 69
Risk and danger......Page 70
Trust as a complexity-reducing social mechanism......Page 73
Observing the public......Page 76
Functional differentiation and public engagement......Page 79
PTAs as forums for intersystemic mediation......Page 81
An operational approach to analysing PTAs......Page 84
Studying PTAs empirically......Page 85
4 Engaging the Public in Denmark – The Problem of Resonance......Page 90
Biotech policy in Denmark prior to 1996......Page 91
Re-emergence of controversy around commercialised biotechnology......Page 94
Public engagement experiences in Denmark......Page 95
The consensus conference format......Page 97
The 1999 consensus conference on GM food and crops......Page 99
Impacts of the consensus conference......Page 102
The BioTIK commission......Page 104
Uptake of ‘ethics’ by the political system......Page 108
The BioTIK secretariat......Page 109
Danish policy subsequent to the consensus conference and BioTIK......Page 111
Analytical features of public engagement in Denmark......Page 113
The problem of resonance......Page 118
Setting the scene......Page 124
The public understanding of science discourse in the UK......Page 125
Policy failure, intransparency and the decline in public trust......Page 126
A new mood for consultation and public participation......Page 127
Public participation in biotechnology in the UK......Page 129
The UK regulatory framework......Page 130
The decision to have a public debate......Page 133
The framing of the debate......Page 137
The debate process......Page 142
Debate outcomes......Page 145
Analytical features of the ‘GM Nation?’ procedure......Page 147
Operationalising the public for debate......Page 149
The role of science in the procedure......Page 153
The effects of the ‘GM Nation?’......Page 157
The problem of inclusion......Page 162
6 Engaging the Public in Germany – The Problem of Mediation......Page 165
The emergence and shaping of biotechnology as a regulatory issue in Germany......Page 166
Organised participatory assessments of biotechnology in Germany......Page 169
Diskurs Grüne Gentechnik – a participatory procedure in a corporatist setting......Page 172
The preparatory phase......Page 175
The discourse phase......Page 179
Effects of Diskurs Grüne Gentechnik......Page 183
Analytical features of Diskurs Grüne Gentechnik......Page 185
The problem of mediation......Page 191
7 Procedures and Challenges Compared......Page 194
Construction of representativeness......Page 195
Construction of competence......Page 202
Links to policy-making......Page 209
8 Conclusion......Page 215
Appendix: Interviews Conducted......Page 226
Notes......Page 228
References......Page 241
Index......Page 251
