Promissory Scientific Discourses, the Precautionary Principle and Research Policy

• In Event: Future of Politics and Politics of the Future - II

Abstract

The promise of science is a powerful discourse that plays an essential role in shaping research policy. Promissory scientific discourses are generally framed within the themes of decline and control, which imply some notion of risk, either the threat of increasing risk (decline) or the promise of mitigating risk (control). In this presentation I argue that the concept of risk framed in promise of science discourses elicits precautionary research policy action in the form of funding for promising fields of science that envision diverse socio-economic benefits. While the precautionary approach is generally associated with uncertainty surrounding threats to the environment and public health, it has recently seen expanded applications in other areas of governance and public policy. Promissory scientific discourses are characterized by multiple dimensions of uncertainty: There is the uncertainty inherent in scientific knowledge, the uncertainty of anticipated outcomes of research and the overarching uncertainty of the future, which combined make the causal link between science and socio-economic benefits tenuous, at best. However, the risks of missing out on those envisioned socio-economic benefits warrant the policy decisions to support promising science.
Using the creation of Genome Canada as a case study, I analyze promise of genomics discourse that envisioned a future where Canada was at risk of losing out on the socio-economic benefits promised by genomics unless it made significant investments in genomics research. I argue that the promise of genomics discourse elicited precautionary policy action intended to mitigate those risks through a federal investment that established Genome Canada.

Author

• Margaret A Lemay, University of Guelph