How the French GM controversy led to the reciprocal emancipation of scientific expertise and policy making

Claire Marris , Pierre-Benoît Joly , Stéphanie Ronda , Christophe Bonneuil (1, 2)

1 CAK-CRHST - Centre Alexandre Koyré - Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques
2 TSV - Transformations Sociales et Politiques liées aux Vivants

This paper examines the role that the precautionary principle (PP) has played in the transformation of the French regulatory landscape for genetically modified organisms used in food and agriculture over the last decade. Despite few explicit references to the PP, we argue that this principle has been instrumental. The changes do not result from a linear top-down process, as in the application of a new law. Instead, the PP has acted as a point of articulation between debates occurring in different public arenas, and that it is through these debates that the PP has been progressively translated into pragmatic actions and practices. New boundaries have been drawn between risk assessment and risk management practices. This has facilitated the progressive emergence of a distinct arena of scientific expertise and opens the possibility for a reciprocal emancipation of public decision and scientific expertise.

Mots clés: Genetically Modified Organisms; Genetic Engineering; Ag Biotech; controversy; France; Expertise; Regulation

Domaines: Histoire, Philosophie et Sociologie des sciences; Histoire; Sociologie; Biotechnologies; Biotechnologie

Claire Marris, Pierre-Benoît Joly, Stéphanie Ronda, Christophe Bonneuil. How the French GM controversy led to the reciprocal emancipation of scientific expertise and policy making. Science and public policy, 2005, vol. 32 (n°4), pp.301-308. ⟨hal-00175989⟩