Recombinant Bovine Somatotropin (rBST) is a biotechnology for increasing milk production in dairy cattle. The purpose of this research was to investigate and to build a better understanding of the complexities and controversies around this product in Canada. To accomplish this, I examined the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestrys inquiry into rBST and the drug approval process. I compared and contrasted the testimony of witnesses and Senators and I uncovered emerging issues, patterns, and themes. This research was an exploratory and qualitative exercise that analyzed how the participants of this Senate inquiry conceptualized and contested the meaning of science, safety, and the states regulatory functions. <p> This research revealed several commonalities between Health Canada management, the human safety panel, and industry representatives. These witnesses argued that the drug approval process must be efficient, standard-driven, and based upon available scientific studies. These witnesses stated that they had confidence in the neutrality and competency of internal standard setting-agencies. They emphasized transparency rather than public participation in the drug approval process. Health and safety were conceptualized as static phenomena to be measured and evaluated by experts. <p>In contrast, Health Canada employees had several commonalities with the Senators, dairy representatives, and witnesses from citizen interest groups. Their testimony supports the argument that health and safety are dynamic social constructs. These actors transformed the boundaries of science to accommodate their precautionary framing of safety. They highlighted several problems with Canadas science-based regulatory framework and demanded that they have a decisive voice in the rBST decision. They challenged the hegemony of industrial capitalism by combining both scientific and lay knowledge to expose the limits and contradictions of industrialized agriculture.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USASK/oai:usask.ca:etd-12112005-192022 |
| Date | 12 December 2005 |
| Creators | Melnyk, Melinda |
| Contributors | Mehta, Michael D., Baber, Zaheer |
| Publisher | University of Saskatchewan |
| Source Sets | University of Saskatchewan Library |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://library.usask.ca/theses/available/etd-12112005-192022/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Saskatchewan or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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