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Robbins, Peter and Huzair, Farah
(2011).
URL: http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/applied+et...
Abstract
The former soviet states of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) face the challenge of en-gaging civil society and developing frameworks for governance and regulation as they begin to consider the use and consequences of new biotechnologies. A history of under development of the life sciences during communism and state withdrawal from certain policy areas during economic transition, contextualise the problem in a unique way, in that new democratic institutions which could exist in a regional and global context needed to be developed. We review the chapters of this volume and the particular details they add to the context and the nature of the challenge. We find that in these younger democracies, key players, including various dominant civil society actors and experts have a particu-larly strong role to play in shaping policy and where public engagement has taken place it has not appeared to have had an impact on decisions regarding new biotechnologies. Thus, in many respects the biotechnological landscape in CEE is similar to other parts of Europe, but its history of state control and dominance of key actors, combined with a still developing civil society has meant that publics have had even less of a role in determining social futures.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
