Doctoral Dissertation Research: Genetically Modified Vegetables: Transgenic Agriculture, Contested Knowledge, and Democratic Practice

这项STS博士论文改进资助将支持研究关于转基因（即转基因）粮食作物的科学知识主张是如何产生和争议的，以及不同的知识主张和相关利益是如何在非正式和正式的民主职能场所发生冲突的。该项目将侧重于在印度制定有关转基因蔬菜的政策。研究人员将结合民族志方法（参与者观察、半结构化访谈和生活史信息）和档案研究；将研究多个地点，包括西印度的蔬菜农场、西印度私人种子公司的转基因研究实验室和新德里的反转基因非政府组织。转基因蔬菜的保存与安全知识生产、慎重决策、国家粮食安全和粮食主权问题等关键问题是本研究要解决的。更广泛的影响这项研究的结果将阐明民主在实践中是如何运作的，特别关注从参与和问责的理想角度来看，转基因粮食作物政策制定的趋同或分歧。这项研究可以通过揭示在科学和民主参与者的生活中实际谈判政治问题的困难程度，为有关粮食安全和粮食主权的政策提供信息。

Project Overview This STS Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant will support research to examine how scientific knowledge claims about transgenic (i.e., genetically modified) food crops are produced and contested, and how different knowledge claims and associated interests clash at informal and formal sites of democratic functions. The project will focus on the development of policies concerning transgenic vegetables in India. Intellectual MeritThe researcher will use a combination of ethnographic methods (participant-observation, semi-structured interviews, and life history information) and archival research; multiple sites will be studied including vegetable farms in west India, transgenic research labs of private seed companies in west India, and anti-transgenic non-governmental organizations in New Delhi. Key issues concerning transgenic vegetables are to be addressed in the study including knowledge production about conservation and safety, deliberative decision-making, and questions concerning national food security and food sovereignty. Broader ImpactsThe results of this study will illuminate how democracy works in practice, with particular attention towards the convergence or divergence of policy making for transgenic food crops from the standpoint of the ideals of participation and accountability. The study can inform policies concerning food security and food sovereignty by uncovering how difficult political questions are actually negotiated in the lives of participants in science and democracy.