Doctoral Dissertation Research: Politics and Meanings of Genetically Modified Foods in the United States, France and Japan

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The dissertation seeks to explain divergent policy developments regarding genetically modified (GM) foods in the Unites States, France and Japan. Building on an observation that definitions of GM foods (e.g., whether and how they are defined as different from traditional foods) constitute crucial components of policy orientations, the dissertation seeks to identify different understandings of GM foods in the three countries, and to investigate the processes through which these nationally distinct understandings emerged and interacted with policy developments. It asks: 1) How are GM foods defined in each country's policy framework today? 2) What are the important differences in the terms of public debate surrounding GM foods among the three countries today? 3) How have these different understandings of GM foods in both policy and public discourse emerged? and 4) How have these different understandings shaped, and been shaped by, policy developments? This comparative project uses a variety of data and methods for each country: a review of journalistic and historical accounts, as well as industry, NGO and government documents, to construct historical narratives; content analysis of mass media coverage of the GM food issue, relevant laws, policy statements and policy debates to examine how GM foods are defined and framed, and how such definitions and frames emerged and changed over time; and in-depth interviews with key actors to both supplement my historical narratives and explore various actors' understandings of GM foods in a more subtle way than is possible with content analysis. The project promises theoretical contributions in cultural and political sociology by explicitly exploring how culture and politics interact. It addresses the still unclear processes through which certain meanings become dominant over others as political actors struggle to advance their terms of debate. It also examines how and to what extent discourse matters to politics and policy developments. Furthermore, the project promises broader social contributions by facilitating understandings of policy formation processes surrounding GM foods in three leading industrialized nations. Given that the application of agricultural biotechnology is a highly contested global issue that holds immense implications for the future of the food supply system, such insights should prove valuable as they help us assess the current policy frameworks and guide future policymaking.