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Publics, Scientists and the State: Mapping the Global Human Genome Editing Controversy

Part of: Gordon White Prize Winning Papers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2021

Ya-Wen Lei Open the ORCID record for Ya-Wen Lei [Opens in a new window]
Ya-Wen Lei*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA. Email: yawenlei@fas.harvard.edu.
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Abstract

Literature on scientific controversies has inadequately attended to the impact of globalization and, more specifically, the emergence of China as a leader in scientific research. To bridge this gap in the literature, this article develops a theoretical framework to analyse global scientific controversies surrounding research in China. The framework highlights the existence of four overlapping discursive arenas: China's national public sphere and national expert sphere, the transnational public sphere and the transnational expert sphere. It then examines the struggles over inclusion/exclusion and publicity within these spheres as well as the within- and across-sphere effects of such struggles. Empirically, the article analyses the human genome editing controversy surrounding research conducted by scientists in China between 2015 and 2019. It shows how elite scientists negotiated expert–public relationships within and across the national and transnational expert spheres, how unexpected disruption at the nexus of the four spheres disrupted expert–public relationships as envisioned by elite experts, and how the Chinese state intervened to redraw the boundary between openness and secrecy at both national and transnational levels.

摘要

摘要

鉴于研究科学争议的文献尚未将全球化以及中国在全球科研的领导地位纳入分析，本文提出一个理论框架以分析与中国有关之跨国科学争议。此框架指出四个重叠的话语领域：中国的公共领域、中国的专家领域、跨国的公共领域与跨国的专家领域。本文建议检视行动者如何在这些领域凸显自己的能见度、排除或接纳其他行动者参与讨论，以及探讨这些行为在这四个话语领域的影响。本文进一步分析中国科学家在2015至2019年间涉及的人类基因编辑争议，经由实证分析，本文檢視中国及国外的菁英科学家如何在中国及跨国的专家领域协商专家与公众间的关系，以及菁英科学家未预见的行为如何在四个话语领域交界处出现，并扰乱菁英科学家对于专家与公众关系的安排；本文亦分析中国政府如何介入科学争论而重塑在中国及跨国的话语领域中公开信息与秘密的界线。

Keywords

public sphereexpert spheretransnational public spheretransnational expert spherescientific controversyhuman genome editing公共领域专家领域跨国公共领域跨国专家领域科学争议人类基因编辑
Type
Special section: “Revisiting the Public Sphere in 20th- and 21st-century China”
Information
The China Quarterly , Volume 246 , June 2021 , pp. 400 - 427
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Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of SOAS University of London

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