66 biotech companies
Life science in society 2010
Program
DRAFT PROGRAM
According to Pierre Bourdieu, “public opinion does not exist”, whereas John Dewey said that “public opinion forms around problems” and Michel Callon has theorized the notion of the “concerned groups” which are commonplace in North America.
Although public opinion now appears to have a major influence on science policies, there is no obvious reason why this should necessarily be the case. The idea behind this first colloquium is to work on the notion of “public opinion” by using illustrative case studies: the public opinion that comes out of opinion polls, public opinion in the blogosphere, concerned groups, militant groups, etc.
We shall then work on changes in the space that the public gives to the life sciences, as characterized by a few major traits: a higher level of education, peer-to-peer information exchange, the erosion of traditional forms of authority, the increasing number of public controversies on scientific issues, etc.
With co-evolution as the unifying thread for this colloquium and those to follow, we shall strive to systematically analyze the interactions between scientific production and the dynamics of public opinion. The discussions will be initiated by researchers who have been particularly involved in the fields concerned.
| 8:30 | Registration | |
| 9:00 | Opening Session and Introduction
Pierre Corvol, Administrator of the Collège de France, President of the Colloquium Pierre Tambourin, Chief Executive of Genopole® Catherine Paradeise, Professor, University Paris Est-Latts, President of IFRIS | |
| 9:30 | SESSION 1 | Concerned groups
patient association initiatives in medical research |
| From muscular dystrophy and AIDS to orphan diseases and cancer, patient associations play an essential role in the medical sector; they collect and redistribute a proportion of the available research funding, help publicize patient issues and constitute a knowledge base and a source of critical expert opinion. Based on the analysis of a few emblematic cases in France, the rest of Europe and the United States, this session will look at how patient association-led initiatives are changing the medical research ecosystem. Are these “concerned groups” enacting a new “technical democracy”? | ||
| Session
Chairperson | Dominique Donnet-Kamel,
Project coordinator Inserm Patients Associations | |
| 9:30 | Nicolas Dodier,
Research Director - Inserm, Study Director - École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales | |
| 10:00 | Vololona Rabeharisoa,
Professor Mines-ParisTech, Researcher - Centre de SocioIogie de l’Innovation/CNRS | |
| 10:30 | Steven Epstein,
Professor of sociology, Northwestern University | |
| 11:00 | Break | |
| 11:15 | General Discussion | |
| 12:00 | SESSION 2
Lunch | Committed groups
Citizen-led initiatives and the controversy surrounding GMOs |
In France and the rest of Europe, the controversy surrounding GMOs has crystallized public debate on economic and societal issues in life sciences and technology. These debates - fueled by uncertainty and scientific controversy concerning the health-related and environmental impacts of GMOs - cover research policies and organizational aspects, as well as the ways in which GMOs should or should not be used.
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| Session
Chairperson | Jean Masson,
Inra | |
| 12:00 | Christophe Bonneuil,
Resarcher-CNRS and associated Inra/SenS, IFRIS | |
| 12:30 | Brian Wynne,
Professor, Lancaster University | |
| 13:00 | Lunch | |
| 14:15 | Pierre-Benoît Joly,
Research Director Inra/SenS, Chief Executive of IFRIS | |
| 14:45 | General Discussion | |
| 15:30 | Break | |
| 15:45 | SESSION 3 | Defining “public opinion” on emerging technologies
the case of synthetic biology |
Partly as a result of the controversy surrounding GMOs, the new message is to organize debate on new technologies far upstream, when various options are still open and investment has not yet created irreversibility. But how can one identify the people and groups concerned by emerging technologies, the impacts of which are by definition unpredictable? To paraphrase John Dewey, can public opinion be formed in the absence of problems? What is the political significance of the process by which public opinion on emerging technologies arises? These questions will be addressed by looking at
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| Session
Chairperson | Jean-Michel Besnier,
Scientific Director of Life Science & Society Sector of French Ministery of Research, Professor of philosophy at University Paris-Sorbonne | |
| 15:45 | Claire Marris,
Senior Research Fellow, Bios, London School of Economics & Inra | |
| 16:15 | Jean-Philippe Cointet,
Researcher Inra/SenS & IFRIS | |
| 16:45 | Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent,
Professor University Paris X, President of Vivagora | |
| 17:15 | General discussion | |
| 18:00 | Conclusions |
