Aristeidis Panagiotou is a researcher at the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV), Greece.
Acknowledgements; List of Abbreviations; 1. A Holistic Approach to the GM Controversy; 2. Rethinking Science, Technology & Society Relations: Definitions, Boundaries and Underlying Theoretical Problems; 3. Science and Technology Studies: A Critical Overview of the Field; 4. Benton, Mouzelis, Stones: Some Key Advances in Contemporary Sociology; 5. A Holistic Framework for the Study of Agricultural Biotechnology 6. The Rothamsted GM Wheat Trials (I): Technology and Appropriation; 7. The Rothamsted GM Wheat Trials (II): Ideology; 8. What is the GM Controversy? Science, Politics and Prospects; 9. Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Index.
Structure, Agency and Biotechnology argues for the significance of sociological theory and highlights the insights it can offer to the study of agricultural biotechnology. Cautioning against a simplistic reading of the GM controversy as merely a debate of science versus politics, Aristeidis Panagiotou suggests that the discussion should be embedded in the wider social, political, economic and cultural contexts. Structure, Agency and Biotechnology assesses the 2012 Rothamsted GM wheat trials and proposes that the tension underlying GM technology should be resolved through sustained dialogue, public involvement and broad scientific consensus.