Governing molecules : the discursive politics of genetic engineering in Europe and the United States / Herbert Gottweis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gottweis, Herbert, 1958- author.

Series:

Inside technology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Genetic engineering--Government policy--Europe.

Genetic engineering.

Genetic engineering--Government policy--United States.

Genetic engineering--Government policy.

United States.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (viii, 397 pages) : illustrations.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, [1998]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

Scientists, investors, policymakers, the media, and the general public have all displayed a continuing interest in the commercial promise and potential dangers of genetic engineering, In this book, Herbert Gottweis explains how genetic engineering became so controversial. Beginning with a clear exposition of poststructuralist theory and its implications for research methodology, Gottweis offers a novel approach to political analysis, emphasizing the essential role of narratives in the development of policy under contemporary conditions.

Drawing on more than eighty in-depth interviews and extensive archival work, Gottweis traces today's controversy back to the sociopolitical and scientific origins of molecular biology, paying particular attention to its relationship to eugenics. He argues that a number of mutually reinforcing political and scientific strategies have attempted to turn genes into objects of technological intervention -- to make them "governable". Gottweis argues that it was the struggle over boundaries and representations of genetic engineering, politics, and society that defined the political dynamics of the drafting of risk regulations in these countries. In a key chapter on biotechnology research, industry, and supporting technology policies, Gottweis demonstrates that the interpretation of genetic engineering as the core of a new "high technology" industry was part of a policy myth and an expression of identity politics. He suggests that under postmodern conditions a major strategy for avoiding policy failure is to create conditions that ensure tolerance and respect for the multiplicity of socially available policy narratives and reality interpretations.

Notes:

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

ISBN:

9780262274142

0262274140

0585076111

9780585076119

OCLC:

42855913

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.