Regulatory science in ctnbio: technopolitical deliberations and implications for brazilian democracy

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Published: Jul 4, 2019
Keywords:
CTNBio, Regulation, Risk, GMOs

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Paulo F. C. Fonseca
Universidad Federal do Reconcavo da Bahia

Abstract

What are the factors that lead to the "risk assessment technology" of scientific advisory committees becoming an authority among actors involved in political decision-making processes? On the other hand, why do regulatory processes such as these, strongly committed to rational decisions and the use of expert knowledge, so often fail to produce consensus on the use of risk science? This article addresses these questions which, despite having been formulated almost 30 years ago by Sheila Jasanoff in the book The Fifth Branch (1990), are still the subject of current reflection. For this, the National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) is taken as a case study. Through documentary analyses, interviews and observations, the research investigates what and how the processes of legitimisation and delegitimisation of the risk analyses produced by CTNBio take place and, in particular, the regulatory deliberations derived from them. The research analyzes the model adopted for biosafety policies that gave centrality and sovereignty to the commission to indicate how it seeks to resolve the historical tension between technocratic and democratic values that has guided the transgenesis process in Brazil during the last decade. This raises questions not only about the legitimacy of this risk assessment model of GM agriculture, but especially about the risks of this system to Brazilian democracy itself.

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How to Cite
Fonseca, P. F. C. (2019). Regulatory science in ctnbio: technopolitical deliberations and implications for brazilian democracy. Administración Pública Y Sociedad (APyS), (7), 103–118. Retrieved from https://revistas.unc.edu.ar/index.php/APyS/article/view/24477
Issue
No. 7 (2019): Enero - Junio
Section
Dossier Temático
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Author Biography

Paulo F. C. Fonseca, Universidad Federal do Reconcavo da Bahia

Profesor adjunto de UFRB - Universidad Federal de Recôncavo da Bahia, en CECULT - Centro de Cultura, Lenguas y Tecnologías Aplicadas y en NUVEM - Centro de Estudios Interdisciplinarios y Capacitación General, en Santo Amaro da Purificação - BA.
Es licenciado en Física (licenciatura y bachillerato) por la Universidad Federal de Minas Gerais (2004/2005), mestre en Estudios Sociales de Ciencia y Tecnología por la Universidad de Salamanca (2009) y doctor en "Gobernanza, Conocimiento e Innovación", perfil "Impactos sociales de la ciencia y la tecnología (Sociología)", por la Universidad de Coimbra (2014). Fue investigador postdoctoral en "Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad (STS)" de la Universidad de Harvard (2014-2015) y investigador postdoctoral asociado con IRIS - Instituto de Investigación de Riesgos y Sustentabilidad, Departamento de Sociología y Ciencia. Política de la Universidad Federal de Santa Catarina (2015-2017). Tiene experiencia en Estudios de Ciencia, Tecnología y Sociedad, trabajando principalmente en el análisis de políticas, prácticas e implicaciones sociales de tecnologías emergentes y en el análisis de políticas de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación. (Texto informado por el autor)

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