Biotechnology and the Public Voices of Market Reason in the British Debate on GMOs. Biotecnologia i veus públiques de raons de mercat en el debat britànic sobre organismes genèticament modificats (OGM)

Abstract

The UK GM debate of 2003-2004 demonstrates how difficult genetic modification was to contain as one that could be controlled and directed by expert advice. This article focuses on aspects of the public debate and governance as they were reported and discussed in British newspapers. The biotechnology industry was unsuccessful at dispelling the image of an anachronistic and defensively reactive communications approach, wedded primarily to narratives of economic efficiency and techno-modernist progress. The privileged framing of GM as an agronomic science issue attempted to cleanse the debate of the public’s heterogeneous concerns for wider frames of relevance. The ‘productionist’ rationale of food markets had undergone immense change since the time when first generation GMOs were developed, as had relations of accountability and trust between the regulation of food and the UK public’s willingness to accept change in the food chain without compelling evidence of balanced scientific evaluation.