| The dissertation is an experiential trajectory that aligns the nodes where genetics and ethnography, fact and fiction converge, and traces the branching-off points where alternative articulations of science and religion are taking place. Based on two years of ethnographic field research in Egypt, the dissertation traces genes as they move outside science into the religious domain and cultural imaginaries. I examine the ways in which the logic, tools and epistemology of science have been employed in the making of modern Egypt, have been ineffective in assessing the safety of genetically modified food, and have been turned inside out in biodynamic agriculture. Threaded through my presentation is attention to the practical implications of the promises, evaluations and miscalculations of scientific practices as they are expressed in the policy debates over the efficacy of genetically engineered and organic crops. Scientific claims to knowledge and life cannot be separated from the institutional and market contexts within which they are made possible. Egypt's position vis-a-vis the international disputes makes particularly obvious the broader political and socioeconomic issues at stake for the developing world. In addition to looking at the policy and market implications of the ambiguous scientific facts encircling contemporary agriculture, I examine the theoretical consequence of these uncertainties on science itself. |
