Journal or Publishing Institution: Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
Study: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10806-008-9133-6
Author(s): Meghani, Z.
Article Type: Journal Publication
Record ID: 1544
Abstract: The process of risk assessment of biotechnologies, such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), has normative dimensions. However, the US’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) seems committed to the idea that such evaluations are objective. This essay makes the case that the agency’s regulatory approach should be changed such that the public is involved in deciding any ethical or social questions that might arise during risk assessment of GMOs. It is argued that, in the US, neither aggregative nor deliberative (representative) democracy ought to be used to make such determinations. Instead, participatory (deliberative) democracy should be the means by which members of the polity decide which normative concerns ought to underlie FDA’s assessment of GMOs. This paper uses a hypothetical case involving a new GM seed to make that argument.
Keywords: Agrifood Biotechnologies, Democracy, Genetically Modified Organisms, Normative, Objectivity, Risk Assessment, Scientific Experts; Transgenic Plants, Biotechnology, Food Supply, Normativity (Ethics), Democracy, Essays; Food and Drug Administration Food Code, Agricultural Biotechnology, Food Biotechnology, Politics, Food Policy; Agricultural Policy; Plants, Bioethics, Biosafety, Genetically Engineered Organisms, Participation, Regulations, Seeds, Genetically Engineered Plants, GEOs, GMOs, Rules, Transgenic Organisms, United States of America
Citation: Meghani, Z., 2009. The US Food and Drug Administration, normativity of risk assessment, GMOs, and American democracy. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 22(2), pp.125-139.
