Designs on Nature: Science and Democracy in Europe and the United States

by Sheila Jasanoff

Biology and politics have converged today across much of the industrialized world. Debates about genetically modified organisms, cloning, stem cells, animal patenting, and new reproductive technologies crowd media headlines and policy agendas. Less noticed, but no less important, are the rifts that have appeared among leading Western nations about the right way to govern innovation in genetics and biotechnology. These significant differences in law and policy, and in ethical analysis, may in a globalizing world act as obstacles to free trade, scientific inquiry, and shared understandings of human dignity.


In this magisterial look at some twenty-five years of scientific and social development, Sheila Jasanoff compares the politics and policy of the life sciences in Britain, Germany, the United States, and in the European Union as a whole. She shows how public and private actors in each setting evaluated new manifestations of biotechnology and tried to reassure themselves about their safety.


Three main themes emerge. First, core concepts of democratic theory, such as citizenship, deliberation, and accountability, cannot be understood satisfactorily without taking on board the politics of science and technology. Second, in all three countries, policies for the life sciences have been incorporated into "nation-building" projects that seek to reimagine what the nation stands for. Third, political culture influences democratic politics, and it works through the institutionalized ways in which citizens understand and evaluate public knowledge. These three aspects of contemporary politics, Jasanoff argues, help account not only for policy divergences but also for the perceived legitimacy of state actions.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, History, Academic, Nonfiction

392 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2005

About the author

Sheila Jasanoff is an Indian American academic and significant contributor to the field of Science and Technology Studies. She is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School. A pioneer in her field, she has authored more than 130 articles and chapters and is author or editor of more than 15 books, including The Fifth Branch, Science at the Bar, Designs on Nature, The Ethics of Invention, and Can Science Make Sense of Life? Her work explores the role of science and technology in the law, politics, and policy of modern democracies. She founded and directs the STS Program at Harvard; previously, she was founding chair of the STS Department at Cornell. She holds AB, JD, and PhD degrees from Harvard, and honorary doctorates from the Universities of Twente and Liège.

Reviews

[Sharad Pandian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Solid study of the last decades of the 20th century in American, British, and German biopolitics, although it is somewhat tedious to get through (lots of dense facts) and keeps trying to position itself as theoretically groundbreaking somewhat unconvincingly (it came out only in 2005, which is quite late in the social studies of science). Also for an STS book titled "designs on nature", there is shockingly little Science itself, with most of the nitty-gritty science itself mysteriously blackboxed, thereby giving the impression of a uniform science treated differently in different national contexts. [a point made by Rosemary Robins in a book symposium]

Each chapter is somewhat stand-alone, and Chapter 4 was particularly enjoyable because it briskly takes you over how different set-ups were first stabilized by institutions and interests, but then later destabilized by public outcry.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it's a fantastic book on the comparative politics of biotechnology, its overreliance on social constructivism and co-production of knowledge limits its comprehensiveness and downplays the role of competing national coalitions.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

well, read it through. my professor pointed it out to me. I still want to write an essay on toilets, inspired by it.

[Emek Baris Albayrak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read her books for my master thesis. Her writing style creates a better understanding of her vision and concepts.