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Science and governance in Europe: Lessons from the case of agricultural biotechnology

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  • Les Levidow
  • Claire Marris

Abstract

Amid a wider debate over the European Union's democratic deficit, ‘science and governance’ has attracted particular attention. Science and technology have become a special problem because they are routinely cited as an objective basis for policy. Through dominant models of science and technology, policy frameworks serve to promote and conceal socio-political agendas, while pre-empting debate on alternative futures. Technological-market imperatives are invoked to mandate a single path towards economic survival. Expert advice is implicitly equated with ‘science’, in turn invoked as if scientific knowledge were a value-neutral basis for regulatory decisions. This has led to a legitimacy crisis. As governments search for a remedy, rhetorics of openness have been tagged onto the dominant models, rather than superseding them. Consequently, underlying tensions emerge within proposed reforms, as illustrated by the case of agricultural biotechnology. If the aim is to relegitimise decision-making, it will be necessary to change the institutions responsible for promoting innovation and regulating risks, in particular their preconceptions of science, technology and public concerns. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

Suggested Citation

  • Les Levidow & Claire Marris, 2001. "Science and governance in Europe: Lessons from the case of agricultural biotechnology," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 28(5), pages 345-360, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:scippl:v:28:y:2001:i:5:p:345-360
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.3152/147154301781781345
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    Cited by:

    1. Victor Pelaez, 2005. "Science And Governance In The National Systems Of Innovation Approach," Working Papers 0010, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Department of Economics.
    2. Claire Marris, 2001. "La perception des OGM par le public: remise en cause de quelques idées reçues," Économie rurale, Programme National Persée, vol. 266(1), pages 58-79.
    3. Rodríguez, Hannot & Fisher, Erik & Schuurbiers, Daan, 2013. "Integrating science and society in European Framework Programmes: Trends in project-level solicitations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(5), pages 1126-1137.
    4. Abels, Gabriele, 2002. "Experts, Citizens, and Eurocrats Towards a Policy Shift in the Governance of Biopolitics in the EU," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 6, December.
    5. Davies, Ben & Richards, Caspian & Spash, Clive L. & Carter, Claudia, 2004. "Genetically modified organisms in agriculture: social and economic implications," MPRA Paper 38407, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Landel, Pauline, 2015. "Réseaux d’action publique et accès aux connaissances pour la « transition écologique »," Économie rurale, French Society of Rural Economics (SFER Société Française d'Economie Rurale), vol. 347(May-June).

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