Strategies of dealing with the risks of genetic engineering: Lessons from a participatory technology assessment in Germany

摘要

The debate about the risks posed by genetic engineering is the latest rn a long line of social controversies over modern technology, which have come to dominate political debate more and more in the last two decades or so. Politically, these controversies take the form of a criticism of risk, but in fact they are an expression of objections which extend far beyond the stated aim of averting danger. As the example of the anti-nuclear movement has shown, resistance to technology fs fuelled by fundamental reservations about value systems in our society, which culturally favour technological modernization, moral utilitarianism, political pragmatism, instrumental activism, and the individualism that governs economic life. The conflicts about technology address the classical themes of political struggle: social inequality, the objectives of social development, the distribution of power, and the scope of democratic participation.