The realness of risk: Gene technology in Germany
Author
Robins, RDate
2002-02-01Source Title
SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCEPublisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTDUniversity of Melbourne Author/s
ROBINS, ROSEMARYAffiliation
History And Philosophy Of ScienceMetadata
Show full item recordDocument Type
Journal ArticleCitations
Robins, R. (2002). The realness of risk: Gene technology in Germany. SOCIAL STUDIES OF SCIENCE, 32 (1), pp.7-35. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312702032001002.Access Status
This item is currently not available from this repositoryDescription
C1 - Journal Articles Refereed
Abstract
This paper examines the material relations of risk within a dispute about the hazards of manufacturing human insulin using gene technology, and the rôle played by the referent 'real risk' in the technical performance of risk in that dispute. It draws on recent work in science and technology studies that extends actor-network theory to examine the performance of reality in scientific practice. The multiplicity of risks in the dispute, and the links made and unmade between them, are examined. I argue that in the dispute, risks were contingently linked and separated around a referent 'real risk' that emerged within the recombinant DNA debate of the late 1970s. I contrast my account of risk with realist and relativist accounts, each of which values risk as an abstract entity. In my account, risk's value is contingent upon sets of material relations that link hazards and procedures for their minimization. Risk's realness emerges as some risks are linked and others separated, working a multiple/singular relation in an ontological politics of risk.
Keywords
History and Philosophy of Science and Technology ; Studies in Human SocietyExport Reference in RIS Format
Endnote
- Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format" and choose "open with... Endnote".
Refworks
- Click on "Export Reference in RIS Format". Login to Refworks, go to References => Import References