Fields of conflict: How are new breeding techniques shaping agricultural discourse and rural land use in the UK and in Germany?
Political Science
Final Report Abstract
The results of the project show how past conflicts over genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can inform understandings of possible trajectories of emerging conflicts over new breeding techniques (NBTs) such as CRISPR/Cas genome editing. On the one hand, conflicts over NBTs run through the same repertoire of issues that were raised during previous conflicts over the use of GMOs in agriculture. On the other, current NBT conflicts are still low-level in Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), in rural areas and beyond, and will certainly intensify when decisions have been made by governments about the use of the products of NBTs by farmers, and about their consumption. Conflicts about first generation GMOs escalated when a high level of national and international interest in the topic coincided with the visible and tangible presence of the controversial organisms in the, mostly rural, landscape. Location-specific interlinkages between discursive and material dimensions gave rise to different pathways of conflict. In NBT conflicts in Germany and the UK, the actor coalitions are very similar to previous conflicts about GMOs; with opponents of NBTs in civil society organizations on one side and a powerful pro-NBT lobby of agribusiness organizations on the other, while the farming community remains divided and some politicians search for a ‘middle way’. In addition, arguments about the pros and cons of NBTs are very similar to those heard in debates over GMOs. Moreover, similar as in previous conflicts, there are debates around whether NBTs will really fulfil the promises that have been made for them. In the case of NBTs, although intensive research is taking place, as well as lobbying in favour of their use, the techniques are still a long way from commercial application in both Germany and the UK. Conflict takes place in the realm of research and regulation and is far removed from everyday life, also in rural spaces. The future of NBTs in both Germany and the UK is still open, and the divergence of regulatory frameworks, especially after Brexit, could lead to the development of the UK being a ‘NBT hotspot’ provoking an escalation of conflict in areas where commercial application takes place. In Germany, there are already the first signs of a possible shift of the conflict to the areas where products of NBTs are likely to be used by farmers, provided they will be used at in this country, and in some regions, NBTs are already on the agenda of those actors that were opposed to GMOs.
Publications
- Pathways of Conflict: Lessons from the Cultivation of MON810 in Germany in 2005–2008 for Emerging Conflicts over New Breeding Techniques. Sustainability 2020, 12, 144
Friedrich, B.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.3390/su12010144)
