Necessary Evils? Opening up Closings in Sociology and Biotechnology

This paper argues for an opening up of the theoretical and empirical closure on issues related to biotechnology. It argues that the real differences between issues and approaches in the disparate areas where genetic modification is used, from medicine to food production, have tended, for specific reasons, to be treated as though they could all be subsumed within a common set of issues and theoretical perspectives. Using examples from the existing sociological work in medicine and food, the paper presents an argument against the commonly assumed theoreticýprimacy of scientific discourses, often focussed on common issues of risk, and the related assumption thatýresistance to the introduction of gm products is best addressed by providing information and education. It argues rather that we need to treat each area as a very particularýresearch topic, and to maintain a clearýnotion of the variety of perspectives needingýto be employed in treating quite distinct applications of these varied technologies.