Dissertation Research on Animal Rights and Animal Research: Value Formation and Conflict Escalation

本论文主要研究生物医学研究团体与动物权利团体之间的社会互动。这项研究考察了参与者形成关于什么是动物研究的伦理以及导致冲突升级和降级的因素的意见的过程。这项分析是基于对美国南部一个州两个社区的动物权利活动家和生物医学研究人员在组织会议、专题讨论会和抗议活动中三年的观察。这些数据还补充了对50名参与者的访谈、对媒体报道的审查以及对动物权利和生物医学研究界编写和分发的文献的分析。这项资助将使研究人员能够将他的观察扩展到第二个社区并收集数据。结果将为理解社会运动和涉及科学技术的伦理冲突的出现提供理论和实践贡献。

This dissertation research project studies the social interactions within and between the biomedical research and animal rights communities. The research examines the process by which participants form opinions about what constitutes ethical research with animals and the factors that lead to escalation and deescalation of conflicts. The analysis draws on three years of observations at organization meetings, symposia and protests of animal rights activists and biomedical researchers in two communities in a Southern state of the United States. These data are supplemented with 50 interviews of participants, a review of media coverage, and analysis of literature developed and distributed by the animal rights and biomedical research community. This grant will enable the researcher to extend his observations to and collect data in a second community. Results will provide a theoretical and practical contribution to understanding social movements and the emergence of ethical conflicts involving science and technology.