Doctoral Dissertation Research: Science and Transnational Activism - The Controversy over Genetically Modified Maize in Mexico

科学与跨国行动主义：墨西哥转基因玉米的争议Abby J. Kinchy，博士学位威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校社会学和农村社会学系摘要跨国社会运动如何动员人们抗议新技术的无形威胁，如辐射，有毒污染或农作物的基因污染？ 这些运动是依赖于科学专业知识，还是挑战了认证专家和外行之间的传统权力关系？本学位论文将通过对墨西哥转基因玉米集体行动的扩展案例研究，重建关于科学和社会抗议的社会学理论。关于“转基因流”的潜在影响的科学争论--转基因作物与其未被改造的作物亲属的异花授粉--最近爆发成了一场激烈的公众争论。一个跨国活动家网络已经动员起来，抗议墨西哥进口转基因玉米，并要求保护本土玉米品种。正如许多关于新技术和环境的争论一样，政治抗议与科学辩论密切相关，在不同的时候，活动家和农民直接参与收集和评估科学数据。该项目将通过回答三个主要研究问题来扩展和完善社会运动认知维度的社会学理论：1）运动参与者如何评估科学家的主张并发展关于转基因流发生和影响的信念？2)在什么情况下，运动参与者有助于或改变有关转基因流动的科学辩论？他们的对手如何试图将他们排除在外？3)活动家网络中的社会关系是否再现了全球权力关系和传统的外行-专家鸿沟，或者网络是否挑战了这些权力关系？ 研究方法将包括在墨西哥城和瓦哈卡进行为期七个月的人种学研究（参与者观察和访谈），在美国进行为期三个月的访谈和文献分析。大约70人将接受采访，包括农民，专业活动家，政策制定者和科学家。这项研究提供了一个宝贵的机会，以具体说明社会运动作为知识生产者的方式，并重建和完善现有的科学和集体行动之间的关系的理论。除了对社会学理论的贡献外，该项目还具有重要的社会和政治意义。关于墨西哥玉米的辩论提出了关于全球粮食系统变革以及农民和消费者保护其生计和粮食传统的权利的关键问题。为了促进广泛的公众影响，计划的出版物包括一篇论文以及几篇学术和流行文章。在墨西哥，调查结果将以西班牙文的通俗文章和公开演讲的形式进行分享。该项目还将培养美国和墨西哥研究人员之间的网络和伙伴关系。

Science and Transnational Activism: The Controversy over Genetically Modified Maize in MexicoAbby J. Kinchy, PhD CandidateDepartments of Sociology and Rural SociologyUniversity of Wisconsin-MadisonPROJECT ABSTRACTHow do transnational social movements mobilize people to protest the invisible threats of new technology, such as radiation, toxic pollution, or genetic contamination of crops? Do these movements depend on scientific expertise, or do they challenge traditional power relations between certified experts and laypeople? This dissertation project will reconstruct sociological theories about science and social protest through an extended case study of collective action against genetically modified (GM) corn in Mexico. Scientific debates over the potential effects of "transgene flow"-the cross-pollination of GM crops with their unmodified crop relatives-have recently erupted into an intense public controversy. A transnational network of activists has mobilized to protest the importation of GM corn to Mexico and to demand the protection of native maize varieties. As in many controversies over new technology and the environment, political protest is closely connected to scientific debates, and at various points, activists and farmers have become directly involved in collecting and evaluating scientific data. This project will expand and refine sociological theories of the cognitive dimensions of social movements by answering three main research questions: 1) How do movement participants evaluate the claims of scientists and develop beliefs about the occurrence and effects of transgene flow? 2) Under what circumstances do movement participants contribute to or transform scientific debates about transgene flow? How do their opponents attempt to exclude them? 3) Do social relations within the activist network reproduce global power relations and a conventional lay-expert divide, or does the network challenge those power relations? Research methods will include seven months of ethnographic research (participant observation and interviews) in Mexico City and Oaxaca, Mexico and three months of interviews and documentary analysis in the United States. Approximately seventy individuals will be interviewed, including farmers, professional activists, policymakers and scientists. This study offers a valuable opportunity to specify the ways in which social movements act as knowledge producers and to reconstruct and refine existing theories about the relationship between science and collective action. Beyond contributions to sociological theory, the project has important social and political implications. The debate about Mexican maize raises crucial questions about transformations in the global food system and the rights of farmers and consumers to protect their livelihoods and food traditions. To facilitate a broad public impact, planned publications include a dissertation as well as several scholarly and popular articles. In Mexico, findings will be shared in the form of popular articles and a public presentation in Spanish. This project will also cultivate networks and partnerships between U.S. and Mexican researchers.