4. Altering Food, Animals and Environment: Comparing Competing Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Gene Editing
Theresa Selfa, SUNY ESF Environmental Studies; Tomiko Yamaguchi, International Christian University
Posted: February 28, 2022 Accepted Languages: English/Inglés/Inglês, Spanish/Español/Espanhol
Current debates around “disruptive technologies,” such as the use of gene editing technologies for altering food and animals, and mitigating environmental problems, is a fertile entry point to explore important question about how to integrate technological innovation in the functioning and structure of contemporary society. Grounded in the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries that suggest that collective imaginaries have the power to influence the shaping of technology design, and the S&T policy decisions such as allocation of funding and resources. Imaginaries also consider the role of experts and publics in sociotechnical matters, as well as how the decisions for inclusion or exclusion of voices of citizens about future sociotechnical trajectories are justified (Jasanoff 2015).
Questions include but are not limited to:
Which actors create dominant and competing sociotechnical imaginaries for gene editing technologies?
How are symbolic, cultural, material resources and practices used to de/stabilize particular sociotechnical imaginaries within a specific national context?
The proposed panel seeks papers that identify and engage with key sociotechnical imaginaries as well as counter imaginaries related to gene editing across diverse (sub)national contexts, so as to shed light on contestations of competing sociotechnical imaginaries, and the symbolic, cultural and material forces that shape the trajectory of those debates based on the assumption that imaginaries are multiple, contested and commodified.
