The social translation of nature. Domestication and ungovernability of genes in the controversy over transgenic organisms

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to show that the reality of nature, supposedly most undeniable and unquestionable, is interpreted in very different manners by individual and collective actors, in contemporary western societies. This article addresses one of the key issues raised in relation to the general controversy over the human and environmental feasibility of genetically modified organisms (GMO). Although the initial problem of discovering a unique and true representation of transgenic products seems apparently simple and easy, it later becomes a broader, deeper and more complicated conflict, consisting in establishing the fluctuant natural and social identity of the GMO.