The political management of risk: reflections on European and Catalan GMO regulations

Abstract

Conceived as «new risks», agricultural GMOs activate a political and social dynamic with effects over the political-scientific decision-making process. This paper explores this dynamic in a double level, European and Catalan. In the first case, GMOs regulation is analysed, identifying the factors that explain its result. In the second case, the diagnosis of a polarized debate shows the existence of underlying processes, determinant for the discussion. These processes (different languages and debate on the agri-food model) are due to the existence of opposed value systems and they condition the dynamics of the dispute.