A letter in Science arguing for a U.S. commission to discuss and review ethical issues in food an... more A letter in Science arguing for a U.S. commission to discuss and review ethical issues in food and agricultural technology.
Biotechnologies in agriculture and food are increasingly governed by both state and nonstate acto... more Biotechnologies in agriculture and food are increasingly governed by both state and nonstate actors. In this article, we explore emerging tensions and contestations in the United States over how gene-editing technologies in agriculture and food should be governed and by whom. This article is framed theoretically by the literatures examining the politics of state and nonstate governance of the agrifood and biotechnology sectors. We draw on semistructured interviews with 45 key actors in the United States, including representatives of regulatory agencies, commodity groups, consumer and environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), biotechnology and food industry, and scientists. In contrast to assumptions that commodity group and industry actors would share a preference for limited or self-regulation, we find growing contestations, with some calling for novel forms of regulatory oversight. Our findings reveal new tensions, fractures, and realignments between and among government...
Science, Technology and Society (STS) research on the social dimensions of technology development... more Science, Technology and Society (STS) research on the social dimensions of technology development emphasizes how imagined publics who play passive roles in technology systems influence technology design and public engagement. It further documents expert adherence to deficit models for conceptualizing publics' responses to technology development. Building on this literature, this paper examines two related questions that have received little attention. First, how do experts conceptualize publics whose direct participation with technology development, rather than quiescence toward technology development, is framed by experts as mandatory for the technology project's success? Second, given both the prevalence and problematic outcomes of expert and institutional adherence to deficit models, what might an alternative model for conceptualizing publics look like? To address these questions, we draw from a case study of 30 " bioenergy experts " in the Northeastern U.S. and their imagined landowning publics. Our analysis provides two contributions. First, we develop the concept " obligatory publics " to examine expert imaginaries of publics whose direct participation is seen as mandatory for successful renewable energy technology (RET) development. And second, we suggest a " hermeneutic-dialectic " approach, which emphasizes the role of dialogue between experts and publics for achieving new and mutually agreed upon understandings, as one possible alternative to public deficit models.
Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, histor... more Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of which shape the role that biofuels play in individual nations. Although many national governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize growth of the biofuels industry, one key challenge for biofuels sustainability has been concern about its social impacts. In this article, we discuss some of the key social issues and tensions related to the recent expansion of biofuels production in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We argue that a process of ''simplification'' of ecological and cultural diversity has aided the expansion of the biofuels frontier in these countries, but is also undermining their viability. We consider the ability of governments and non-state actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental concerns that affect rural livelihoods as a result of biofuels expansion. We analyze the tensions between global sustainability standards, national level policies for biofuels development, and local level impacts and visions of sustainability. We find that both government and MSI efforts to address sustainability concerns have limited impact, and recommend greater incorporation of local needs and expertise to improve governance.
A letter in Science arguing for a U.S. commission to discuss and review ethical issues in food an... more A letter in Science arguing for a U.S. commission to discuss and review ethical issues in food and agricultural technology.
Biotechnologies in agriculture and food are increasingly governed by both state and nonstate acto... more Biotechnologies in agriculture and food are increasingly governed by both state and nonstate actors. In this article, we explore emerging tensions and contestations in the United States over how gene-editing technologies in agriculture and food should be governed and by whom. This article is framed theoretically by the literatures examining the politics of state and nonstate governance of the agrifood and biotechnology sectors. We draw on semistructured interviews with 45 key actors in the United States, including representatives of regulatory agencies, commodity groups, consumer and environmental nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), biotechnology and food industry, and scientists. In contrast to assumptions that commodity group and industry actors would share a preference for limited or self-regulation, we find growing contestations, with some calling for novel forms of regulatory oversight. Our findings reveal new tensions, fractures, and realignments between and among government...
Science, Technology and Society (STS) research on the social dimensions of technology development... more Science, Technology and Society (STS) research on the social dimensions of technology development emphasizes how imagined publics who play passive roles in technology systems influence technology design and public engagement. It further documents expert adherence to deficit models for conceptualizing publics' responses to technology development. Building on this literature, this paper examines two related questions that have received little attention. First, how do experts conceptualize publics whose direct participation with technology development, rather than quiescence toward technology development, is framed by experts as mandatory for the technology project's success? Second, given both the prevalence and problematic outcomes of expert and institutional adherence to deficit models, what might an alternative model for conceptualizing publics look like? To address these questions, we draw from a case study of 30 " bioenergy experts " in the Northeastern U.S. and their imagined landowning publics. Our analysis provides two contributions. First, we develop the concept " obligatory publics " to examine expert imaginaries of publics whose direct participation is seen as mandatory for successful renewable energy technology (RET) development. And second, we suggest a " hermeneutic-dialectic " approach, which emphasizes the role of dialogue between experts and publics for achieving new and mutually agreed upon understandings, as one possible alternative to public deficit models.
Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, histor... more Across the Americas, biofuels production systems are diverse due to geographic conditions, historical patterns of land tenure, different land use patterns, government policy frameworks, and relations between the national state and civil society, all of which shape the role that biofuels play in individual nations. Although many national governments throughout the Americas continue to incentivize growth of the biofuels industry, one key challenge for biofuels sustainability has been concern about its social impacts. In this article, we discuss some of the key social issues and tensions related to the recent expansion of biofuels production in Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. We argue that a process of ''simplification'' of ecological and cultural diversity has aided the expansion of the biofuels frontier in these countries, but is also undermining their viability. We consider the ability of governments and non-state actors in multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSI) to address social and environmental concerns that affect rural livelihoods as a result of biofuels expansion. We analyze the tensions between global sustainability standards, national level policies for biofuels development, and local level impacts and visions of sustainability. We find that both government and MSI efforts to address sustainability concerns have limited impact, and recommend greater incorporation of local needs and expertise to improve governance.
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Papers by Theresa Selfa