Description
Book SynopsisThe introduction of new technologies can be controversial, especially when they create ethical tensions as well as winners and losers among stakeholders and interest groups. While ethical tensions resulting from the genetic modification of crops and plants and their supportive gene technologies have been apparent for decades, persistent challenges remain. This book explores the contemporary nature, type, extent and implications of ethical tensions resulting from agricultural biotechnology specifically and technology generally. There are four main arenas of ethical tensions: public opinion, policy and regulation, technology as solutions to problems, and older versus new technologies. Contributions focus on one or more of these arenas by identifying the ethical tensions technology creates and articulating emerging fault lines and, where possible, viable solutions. Key features include: Focusing on contemporary challenges created by new and emerging technologies, especially agricultural biotechnology. Identifying a unique perspective by considering the problem of ethical tensions created or enhanced by new technologies. Providing an interdisciplinary perspective by including perspectives from sociologists, economists, philosophers and other social scientists. This book will be of interest to academics in agricultural economics, sociology and philosophy and policymakers concerned with introducing new technology into agriculture.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Ethical Tensions and New Technology: An Overview in the Context of Agricultural Biotechnology PART 1: PUBLIC OPINION AND INTEREST 1: Ethical Tensions from a ‘Science Alone’ Approach in Communicating Genetic Engineering Science to Consumers 2: Against the (GM) Grain: Ethical Tensions and Agrobiotechnology Activism in the USA 3: The Use and Abuse of the Term ‘GMO’ in the ‘Common Weal Rhetoric’ Against the Application of Modern Biotechnology in Agriculture 4: Collaborating with the Enemy? A View from Down Under on GM Research Partnerships PART 2: POLICY AND REGULATION 5: Three Models of Public Opinion and Public Interest for Agricultural Biotechnology: Precautionary, Conventional and Accommodative 6: Genetically Modified Organisms in Food: Ethical Tensions and the Labeling Initiative 7: Ethical Tensions in Regulation of Agricultural Biotechnology and their Impact on Policy Outcomes: Evidence from the USA and India PART 3: TECHNOLOGICAL FIX CRITICISM 8: Technological Pragmatism: Navigating the Ethical Tensions Created by Agricultural Biotechnology 9: Absolute Hogwash: Assemblage and the New Breed of Animal Biotechnology PART 4: NEW VERSUS OLD TECHNOLOGY 10: Nature-identical Outcomes, Artificial Processes: Governance of CRISPR/Cas Genome Editing as an Ethical Challenge 11: New Technology, Cognitive Bias and Ethical Tensions in Entrepreneurial Commercialization: The Case of CRISPR PART 5: MEDIATING ETHICAL TENSIONS 12: New Technology, Ethical Tensions and the Mediating Role of Translational Research
