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Biotechnology: the Making of a Global Controversy.

Article Excerpt
BIOTECHNOLOGY: THE MAKING OF A GLOBAL CONTROVERSY MARTIN BAUER AND GEORGE GASKELL (EDS) CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002

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Anyone interested in the conflicts and controversies surrounding the development and use of modern biotechnology will enjoy Biotechnology: The Making of a Global Controversy. This is a book that covers the breadth and depth of the biotechnology movement casting biotechnology as one of the most significant social movements of our time. The emphasis is on the historic trends in the media coverage of biotechnology, the geographical variation in the public perceptions of the risks and benefits of biotechnology, national differences in the regulation and governance of biotechnology, the emergence of local and global advocacy and protest groups mobilised around biotechnology, and the entry of biotechnology into the public sphere. The thirteen chapters deliver a mix of theoretical insights and empirical data derived from extensive quantitative and qualitative research across the nations of the European Union.

Although the subtitle suggests that biotechnology is a global controversy, the focus is on the public acceptance or rejection of biotechnology across the European Union, with some comparisons to the United States and Canada. Much of the data presented by the contributing authors suggest that, far from being a united and universal...