Author: Holmes, Christina

Source: Focaal, Volume 2006, Number 48, Winter 2006 , pp. 35-48(14)

Publisher: Berghahn Journals

Abstract:

This article explores the lack of controversy over genetically modified objects (GMOs) in the daily life of a research laboratory in Canada. Scientific perceptions of GMOs and the types of knowledge valued in scientific research contribute toward an absence of discussion on the wider social implications of GMOs. Technical and epistemic knowledge are crucial for the success of a scientific project, whereas discussion of the social values involved may be allocated to particular settings, people, or research stages. GMOs, within scientific circles, are seen as many individual projects with different goals, rather than as a single object. Therefore, according to this view, it is inappropriate to be opposed to or to support GMOs in general, without first ascertaining the specifics of a particular project. How then are scientists engaged in seemingly local, distinct projects seen as globally defending this technology? Scientific expertise unevenly translates into political voice, transforming into silences as well as debates.

Keywords: GENETIC ENGINEERING; GMO DEBATE; LABORATORY SCIENCE; SCIENTIFIC EXPERTISE; SILENCE

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/092012906780646343

Publication date: 2006-12-01

More about this publication?

• Focaal advocates an approach that rests in the simultaneity of ethnography, processual analysis, local insights, and global vision, and is rooted in debates on the ongoing conjunction of anthropology and history and the incorporation of local settings in wider spatial networks of coercion, imagination, and exchange. While encouraging contributions on all world regions, it is unique among anthropology journals for its affiliation with 'anthropology at home' and studies of 'the West', Europe and post-socialism. The journal is also interested in issues of globalization, imperialism, and associated violent and disruptive processes, as well as their ramifications for local research settings and for theory and method.
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