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Acta Sociologica
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When Scientists Meet Film-Makers

Inventing a Swedish Approach to Public Engagement with Biotechnology

Mark Elam

Gothenburg University, Sweden

The new interest in staging public engagements with science, and the biosciences in particular, has been widely associated with a 'democratic turn' in the public understanding of science movement. This article seeks to bring this association under closer scrutiny by focusing on the development of public engagement with biotechnology in Sweden. It analyses the production and dramatic composition of a two-part film documentary entitled Life at Stake, financed by the Swedish research community and broadcast on public service television. Particular attention is paid to the actions of the new non-profit organization Scientists Meet Film-Makers, and the crucial mediating role this organization played in creating the conditions of possibility for Life at Staketo be financed, produced and broadcast. In conclusion, rather than supporting a new logic of deliberation, Life at Stakeis discussed as more concerned with symbolization and spectacle in its use of images of suffering and hope as the touchstone of truth about biotechnology in society. In this way, science communicators appear to be displaying a willingness to learn from the media practices of environmental organizations and other protest groups, who have long appreciated the importance of contesting symbolic codes and schemes of meaning in society.

Key Words: biotechnology • public engagement • science film • science in society • Sweden

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 48, No. 3, 237-251 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699305056565
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