Science governance and the politics of proper talk: governmental bioethics as a new technology of reflexive government

Abstract

The article examines the emergence of governmental bioethics in Great Britain, France and Germany, i.e. bodies, discourses and procedures meant to guide policy-making in terms of ethical considerations. It argues that governmental bioethics, marked by openness, transparency and participation, can be understood as a form of reflexive government in the realm of science governance. It grew out of the problematization of older forms of science governance based on ideas of effectiveness, scientific expertise and system stability, and operates through structuring and managing proper talk rather than intervening in processes of techno-scientific development. Yet, rather than challenging the commitment to techno-scientific ‘progress’, it stabilizes it through mechanisms of inclusion, involvement and mobilization: within the framework of proper ethical talk, participation can be employed to pursue rather than oppose system stability.     

After the green gold rush: the construction of climate change as a market transition

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence of a representation of climate change amongst business and political elites as an axiomatic frame of long-term economic strategy. In this representation, the rationale for action on climate change is liberated from the premise of an exogenous physical threat, and replaced by incentives endogenous to the market in the form of opportunities in the so-called carbon economy. The relationship between climate science and action upon climate change has in this process become markedly different from common assumptions whereby science is either ignored or obfuscated, or followed faithfully as the evidence base for policy. Strikingly, the abandoning of climate ontology as irrelevant to corporate decision-making has enabled a large-scale investment of capital into the policies nominally designed to tackle climate change.     

Life,reason and history: reading Georges Canguilhem today

This paper outline some of the central feature of the approach to historical epistemology developed by Georges Canguilhem and argues for their contemporary significance in relation to recent changes in the life sciences. It develops this in relation to three lines of enquiry.The first concerns the specific characteristics of scientific reason.The second conerns the relations betweeen knowledge of life and life itself.The third concerns the role that historical work on scientific reason can play within contemporary critical thought.In each area it proposes some developments of Canguilhem's approach, and illustrates this with examples from biology,medicine and psychology.     

Science and the media in South Africa: Reflecting a ‘dirty mirror’

Abstract

The public understanding of science is vital in any society, to counter pseudoscientific claims and quackery. The relationship between scientists and the media (the latter often the only channel through which scientific findings reach the public) was studied within a South African framework. An empirical survey was conducted by means of a comprehensive questionnaire sent to 740 South African scientists and researchers and 360 journalists. Because the media are important in the public understanding of science, the survey tried to establish the depth of and possible reasons for distrust between the two professions and what structures could be put in place to overcome this. This study found some significant differences in the views of scientists and journalists about the role of science in society, how it could be communicated to the public, and the reasons for this dichotomy. Finally, proposals to bridge the gap between scientists and the media are made: the media should give serious attention to raise the standards of science reporting by establishing science desks headed by properly trained science editors and well-trained science reporters. On the other hand, scientists should be trained to communicate better with the media and, therefore, the public.     

Elections and landmark policies in Tanzania and Uganda

Much of the relevant literature on Africa downplays the salience of elections for policy-making and implementation. Instead, the importance of factors such as clientelism, ethnicity, organized interest groups, and donor influence, is emphasized. We argue that, in addition, elections now motivate political elites to focus on policies they perceive to be able to gain votes. This is based on analyses of six landmark decisions made during the last 15 years in the social, productive, and public finance sectors in Tanzania and Uganda. Such policies share a number of key characteristics: they are clearly identifiable with the party in power; citizens are targeted countrywide; and policy implementation aims at immediate, visible results.     

农民专业合作社承担土地整治工作初析

农民专业合作社承担土地整治工作是土地整治实施模式创新的重要方向,也符合国家扶持农民专业合作社发展的政策要求。有关地区关于开展合作社承担土地整治工作的实践探索取得了一定成效,但也面临合作社管理不规范、与现行规定不符合、相关支持政策不配套和实施监管制度不健全等问题,需要从加强制度建设、创新项目管理、做好政策配套、强化监督指导和扩大宣传示范等方面加大支持力度,有序推进农民专业合作社承担土地整治工作,持续创新土地整治实施模式。     

UNDERSTANDING DEVELOPMENT PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION: AN ACTOR‐NETWORK PERSPECTIVE

Development projects are central to international development, yet the actual practice of their implementation is under‐researched. In particular, we know little about how practice affects project performance and about how politics is enacted within such projects. This paper investigates these knowledge gaps through analysis, using actor‐network theory (ANT), of a donor‐funded reform project in the Sri Lankan public sector. By analysing, using mobilisation, interaction and disintegration of the local and global actor‐networks that typically surround such development projects, the paper explains the project's trajectory. These actions represent the practice of politics that must, in turn, be understood in relation to network actor power: not through a static conception of ‘capacitive power’ but through the dynamic enacted concept of ‘associative power’. The paper concludes by reflecting on the contribution and limitations of ANT's local/global networks component in analysing development projects, and in providing insights for development project practice. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

选择性侦查的个体与组织原因探讨

选择性侦查是一种客观存在,其存在有个体原因与组织原因,一味强调选择性侦查而无法律授权,有肆意侦查的可能性,而绝对禁止选择性侦查又是不现实的。从侦查中的委托-代理关系、对侦查人员个体的人性假设和晋升锦标赛式激励等方面,对选择性侦查存在的个体与组织原因进行分析,以加深对选择性侦查的理解。     

中国成都地区汉族群体5个STR基因座的遗传多态性

采用PCR扩增,聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳分析技术,调查中国成都汉族群体DIS1656、D851179、D9S302、D185535及D195253等5个STR基因座的等位基因频率分布。D1S1656检出11个等位基因,35种基因型;DSS1179检出9个等位基因,32种基因型;D95302检出12个等位基因,50种基因型;D185535检出7个等位基因,20种基因型;D195253检出8个等位基因,28种基因型。5个STR基因座基因型频率分布符合Hardy-weinberg平衡（P＞0．05）。个人识别机率（DP）为0．92～0．98。分析了二代3口之家的遗传模式,证明5个STR基因座均符合孟德尔遗传规律。5个STR基因座PCR扩增采用同一条件,方法简单、快速、灵敏、重复性好,可用于法科学亲子鉴定和个人识别。     

Measuring the impact of forensic science in detecting burglary and autocrime offences

As UK investment in forensic science has increased, the government has taken a fresh interest in how far this has led to dividends in terms of the detection of crime and its reduction. The Home Office funded 'Pathfinder Project' sought to monitor and document the complex relationships between the collection and use of forensic material (looking at a range of forensic science techniques) and its impact on crime detection. The project specifically targeted the 'volume' crimes of burglary and vehicle crime. Detailed data was gathered on all stages of the process between the collection and use of forensic material and crime detection. The model falls into two conceptual phases--scene attendance to suspect identification and identification to detection. From the analysis it was found that approximately one third of burglary and autocrime scenes are visited by SOCOs. While scientific identifications are only made in a minority of burglary and autocrime offences overall, it belies their importance. About one in ten of burglary and autocrime cases are cleared up by the police and it is estimated that fingerprints and SGMPlus were a contributory factor in achieving one third of these clear ups.