| The rapid introduction of genetically modified (GM) crops has had important effects on the social and political landscape of agriculture in Saskatchewan. While there has been much public debate about the potential benefits and risks of agricultural biotechnology, sufficient attention has not been paid to its potential to alter the power structure of agriculture. Here, a critical social science analysis is applied to the origins, nature, and implications of this technological change. Placing GM crops in social context requires examining competing and ideological definitions of ‘biotechnology’, and understanding the historical and social roots of molecular biology.; Both an effective public debate, and effective forms of resistance to GM crops require a better grasp of issues of power at play. Such an understanding reveals that technological change is not inevitable and benign, but inherently political, and therefore negotiable. There is hope then for an agenda for technological change in agriculture directed by concerned farmers, citizens and consumers, one that might point to a sustainable alternative to the genetic-industrial model of agriculture. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
