Mexican Biosafety as a "performance of seriousness":Distancing and the Transgenic “contamination” of Mexican Maize

Jean Foyer (1) , Christophe Bonneuil (2)

1 ISCC - Institut des Sciences de la Communication du CNRS
2 CAK-CRHST - Centre Alexandre Koyré - Centre de Recherche en Histoire des Sciences et des Techniques

Taking the transgenic “contamination” of Mexican maize as its starting point, this article analyzes Mexican biosafety policies during the 2000s. We show how the issue of genetic “contamination” underwent various “distancing” strategies by different Mexican government authorities, that is, being removed from the agenda or sidelined. This distancing reflects the essentially symbolic character of biosafety policy in Mexico, which uses no concrete mechanism to control the release of GMOs into the environment, and is primarily intended to display ostensible respect for international environmental requirements (the Cartagena Protocol) without hindering the grain trade with the United States.

Mots clés: Biosafety; Mexico; GMO'S; Transgenes; Public Policies

Domaines: Sociologie

Jean Foyer, Christophe Bonneuil. Mexican Biosafety as a "performance of seriousness":Distancing and the Transgenic “contamination” of Mexican Maize: Distancing and the Transgenic “contamination” of Mexican Maize. 2014. ⟨halshs-01092208⟩