The Politics of Genetically Modified Organisms in the United States and Europe

verfasst von: Kelly A. Clancy

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

Enthalten in: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

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Über dieses Buch

This book examines the puzzle of why genetically modified organisms continue to be controversial despite scientific evidence declaring them safe for humans and the environment. What explains the sustained levels of resistance? Clancy analyzes the trans-Atlantic controversy by comparing opposition to GMOs in the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, and the United States, examining the way in which science is politicized on both sides of the debate. Ultimately, the author argues that the lack of labeling GMO products in the United States allows opponents to create far-fetched images of GMOs that work their ways in to the minds of the public. The way forward out of this seemingly intractable debate is to allow GMOs, once tested, to enter the market without penalty—and then to label them.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter

Chapter 1. Introduction

Abstract

The first chapter provides an introduction to the book and reviews the major controversies over genetically modified foods. Why is the science of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) so hotly contested? What do scientists understand about the health and environmental safety of the technology? The second controversy is over regulatory politics—whether GMOs should be regulated like conventional food, as it is in the USA, or subjected to separate regulation and labeling, as is the case in Europe.

Kelly A. Clancy

Chapter 2. The Story of Genetically Modified Organisms in the United States and Europe

Abstract

This chapter explores five GMO battlegrounds: the UK, Germany, Poland, Spain, and the USA. These countries represent the range of policy, public opinion, and cultural orientations toward GMOs. Spain has the highest levels of GMO growth as well as the highest level of support for GMOs among the public. Germany initially had some public support for GMOs but the public turned against them in the early 2000s. The UK was initially extremely opposed to GMOs, but opposition has softened somewhat in recent years. Poland has been steadfastly opposed to GMOs, concerned that the technology will threaten the strong agricultural industry in the country. In the USA, which grows the most GMOs and has the least regulation, the opposition has increased considerably over time.

Kelly A. Clancy

Chapter 3. The Ideology of Sound Science and Its Defense

Abstract

This chapter explores the construction and deployment of the “sound science” defense of GMOs: examining the way in which proponents of GMOs use the supremacy of science as a means to silence critiques of the technology. Whereas political constraints force antagonists of GMOs to resort to alternative, and in some respects innovative, rhetorical strategies in order to politicize the issue of GM, proponents of GMOs adopt a discourse of “sound science,” which professes itself as a neutral, objective mechanism to evaluate GMOs. By refusing to label products as containing GMOs, producers and manufacturers of the technology attempt to render the product invisible through a political and rhetorical strategy to “depoliticize” the debate over the technology. ¹

Kelly A. Clancy

Chapter 4. Strategies of Resistance: Visual Depictions of Genetically Modified Organisms

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the way in which visuals are used to depict GMOs in Europe and the USA. This chapter analyzes the cultural level of resistance to sound science, particularly focusing on the images used by opponents of GMOs. The images critique sound science by indicting the process, product, and implications of GMOs. The product of GMOs cannot be seen: it is visually indistinguishable from its conventional counterparts, and, in the USA, is not labeled, so its commercial presence is opaque as well. Thus, part of the strategy of GMO producers and manufacturers is to render the product invisible. The counterstrategy is to make GMOs visible while critiquing the process of their production, the product itself, and implications of their introduction to the environment.

Kelly A. Clancy

Chapter 5. Conclusions and Implications

Abstract

This chapter concludes and offers recommendations. Proponents of GMOs almost exclusively operate in the global, rational realm. They advance a universal “depoliticized” defense of GMOs that advocates science and free trade as objective means to adjudicate disputes over the technology. The strategy of GMO resistance is to circumnavigate the logic of rationality adopted by the proponents of GMOs and to substitute a synecdochical reasoning—a logic of association—in its place. These images thus use a logic of association to communicate a diffuse narrative of mistrust toward scientific logics. The way forward out of the seemingly intractable debate between GMO opponents and proponents is to allow GMOs, once tested, to enter the market without penalty—and then to label them.

Kelly A. Clancy

Backmatter

Titel: The Politics of Genetically Modified Organisms in the United States and Europe
verfasst von: Kelly A. Clancy
Verlag: Springer International Publishing
Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-33984-9
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-33983-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33984-9