"While other books have addressed isolated aspects of recent
developments in the biomedical sciences, Biotechnology: Between
Commerce and Civil Society is the first book tgo engage with the
full range of biotechnology's implications for social science and
for society at large." -Professor Volker Meja
New scientific knowledge is no longer merely the key to
unlocking the secrets of nature and society. It now represents the
"becoming" of a new world. Scientific developments affect the ways
in which we conduct our affairs, as well as how we comprehend the
changes underway as the result of novel technical artefacts and
scientific knowledge. The practical fruits of biotechnology are a
case in point; they have grasped our imaginations, and generated
worldwide debate and concern. Debates on biotechnology shift
between images of utopia and dystopia. The social sciences deserve
a voice in the debate, and can do so through sober examination of
the economic, social, and cultural implications of biotechnology.
Some economists even predict that the importance of biotechnology
as the technology of the future will far exceed that of the
information technologies, in particular the Internet. The
contributors to this volume are drawn from a broad spectrum of the
social sciences, and include Nico Stehr, Gene Rosa, Steve Fuller,
Steve Best and Douglas Kellner, Nikolas Rose, Fred Buttel, Javier
Lezaun, Anne Kerr, Susanna Hornig Priest and Toby Ten Eyck, Martin
Schulte, Alexander Somek, Steven P. Vallas, Daniel Lee Kleinman,
Abby Kinchy and Raul Necochea, Herbert Gottweis, J. Rogers
Hollingsworth, Gysli Plsson, Elizabeth Ettore, Richard Hindmarch
and Reiner Grundmann. The impact of science on society is destined
to be a fundamental concern in the new century. This volume
illustrates the contributions anthropology, law, political science,
and sociology can make to the ongoing discussions about the role of
biotechnology in modern societies. Nico Stehr is senior research
associate, Institut f3r Technikfolgenabschotzung, Forschungszentrum
Karlsruhe and Institut f3r K3stenforschung, GKSS, Germany. He also
is a fellow in the Center for Advanced Cultural Studies in Essen,
Germany, editor of the Canadian Journal of Sociology, and a fellow
of the Royal Society of Canada. Among his recent books are Werner
Sombart: Economic Life in the Modern Age (with Reiner Grundmann,
published by Transaction); The Fragility of Modern Societies:
Knowledge and Risk in the Information Age; Knowledge and Economic
Conduct: The Social Foundations of the Modern Economy; and
Wissenspolitik: Die ?berwachung des Wissens.
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