Disentrenching experiment: The construction of GM-crop field trials as a social problem

TY - JOUR

T1 - Disentrenching experiment

T2 - The construction of GM-crop field trials as a social problem

AU - Bonneuil, Christophe

AU - Joly, Pierre-Benoit

AU - Marris, Claire

PY - 2008/3

Y1 - 2008/3

N2 - The paper investigates how field experimentation of genetically modified crops became central to the French controversy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in recent years. Initially constructed in the 1980s as a cognitive endeavor to be preserved from lay interference, field trials of genetically modified crops were reconceived as "an intrusion in the social space," which had to be negotiated with actors from that space. In order to analyze this transformation, the authors suggest that it is necessary to develop an interpretive framework that combines theoretical perspectives from science and technology studies and the sociology of social problems, and emphasizes the importance of the way in which actors compete in a heterogeneous public space, to put forward alternative framings of problems. The authors present a detailed analysis of the interactions and conflicts between actors in diverse social arenas in order to better understand the dynamics of this sociotechnical controversy.

AB - The paper investigates how field experimentation of genetically modified crops became central to the French controversy on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in recent years. Initially constructed in the 1980s as a cognitive endeavor to be preserved from lay interference, field trials of genetically modified crops were reconceived as "an intrusion in the social space," which had to be negotiated with actors from that space. In order to analyze this transformation, the authors suggest that it is necessary to develop an interpretive framework that combines theoretical perspectives from science and technology studies and the sociology of social problems, and emphasizes the importance of the way in which actors compete in a heterogeneous public space, to put forward alternative framings of problems. The authors present a detailed analysis of the interactions and conflicts between actors in diverse social arenas in order to better understand the dynamics of this sociotechnical controversy.

U2 - 10.1177/0162243907311263

DO - 10.1177/0162243907311263

M3 - Article

SN - 0162-2439

VL - 33

SP - 201

EP - 229

JO - Science, Technology and Human Values

JF - Science, Technology and Human Values

IS - 2

M1 - n/a

ER -