Anne Loeber

Agro-food Crises: Institutional and Discursive Changes in the Food Scares Era

When dioxins were found in milk in the Netherlands in the late 1980s, the issue was framed in the media as an ‘environmental scandal’ (Eberg, 1997). Waste incineration plants in the vicinity of cattle were identified as the cause of the pollution, and measures were taken in the domain of environmental policy to resolve the matter. When, some 10 years later, the carcinogenic substance was found again, now in animal feed, and made the Dutch headlines again, the dioxin issue was designated a ‘food scare’ (Laurent, 2006) that put food safety and consumer health at risk. If we assume that the risks associated with the dioxins remained the same during the time elapsed, then apparently a change occurred in the language and categorisations for making sense of the events. The question is why? Perhaps an answer can be found in the fact that in the same period of time, an entirely new regulatory system for food safety control was set up in Europe. For instance, the UK established a Food Standards Agency, the Netherlands a Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. Germany established two new institutes, one for food risk assessment and one for food risk management. In addition, the EU established the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Science as Culture Vol. 20, No. 2, 147–155, June 2011

Designing for phronèsis: experiences with transformative learning on sustainable development

Abstract Since regular modes of knowledge production run the risk of reiterating and reinforcing current practices of unsustainable growth, the ambition of a sustainable development implies the need to design novel modes for ‘knowing what to do next.’ This article explores the notion of phronèsis as a potential heuristic for developing relevant knowledge generating practices. Three principles of phronètic knowledge production are outlined on the basis of the Aristotelian concept and Gadamers theory of Philosophical Hermeneutics. The practical implications of these principles are explored by relating them to experiences gained with a Dutch experimental programme on stimulating sustainable development (dubbed NIDO), and its evaluation. The article relates how the research approach in the evaluation shifted from ‘exegetic hermeneutics’ to a dialogical design for interpretive research. It is argued that with this shift the evaluation project was bound to trigger what Forester (1999) dubs ‘transformative learning ‘ in a similar way the NIDO programme did. Because of the transformative powers inherent in a dialogical form of understanding, and the claims on revolutionary societal change inherent in the notion of sustainability, the articles concludes that designing knowledge production practices which F yield phronèsis may well prove quintessential in any attempt at stimulating fundamental, sustainable change.

Governance through learning: making corporate social responsibility in dutch industry effective from a sustainable development perspective

Abstract An increasing number of firms try to implement corporate social responsibility (CSR) from the perspective of sustainable development. This article considers these efforts in the light of the changing relation between the state, society and the corporate sector, as a result of which governance increasingly takes the shape of a society-centred practice. The article focuses on stimulating governance through initiating learning processes among companies as a strategy for implementing CSR. It analyses the conditions under which learning may take place and may translate into action. To that end, it draws from the experiences of a comprehensive programme on CSR organized by the Dutch National Initiative for Sustainable Development (NIDO) which set out to accelerate transformation processes towards sustainable business by (i) facilitating learning among company representatives, (ii) assisting them to convey the insights gained to their respective companies, and (iii) influencing the contextual conditions that may incite companies to adopt CSR. The article argues that the ability to induce processes of learning and structural change renders the approach developed in the NIDO programme a viable contribution to realizing public policy ambitions by tapping into the dynamics of private organizations.

Stop looking up the ladder: analyzing the impact of participatory technology assessment from a process perspective

Alongside the gradual increase in use of participatory technology assessment (PTA), a tool to democratize decision-making on controversial technologies, a growing body of literature on how to assess the impact of PTA has developed. A distinction can be made between two generations of impact assessment studies. The first generation includes evaluations of the effects of PTAs on the state as a bounded unit of political decision-making. The second generation of assessment studies acknowledges a wider range of loci to study impact. However, neither provides insights into how a PTA impacts the relationships between the multiple arenas of political influence and political judgment. This paper develops a framework for impact assessment from a dynamic, process-oriented perspective. It draws on the ‘dynamics of contention’ theory proposed by McAdam et al. in Dynamics of Contention (Cambridge University Press, 2001). The framework is applied to three cases of PTA on controversial medical technologies: xenotransplantation (in the Netherlands and Switzerland) and genetic testing (in Austria). Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.

The food chain reforged: novel food risk arrangements and the metamorphosis of a metaphor

In the past decade, an entirely new regulatory framework for food safety control has emerged in Europe. Characteristic of the new institutional arrangements is the ‘farm-to-fork’ managerial perspective as a basis for risk management. The latter perspective is a genuine institutional innovation, cutting across long-standing borders between the traditionally separate regulatory domains of agriculture and public health. How can we understand the design of this new institutional setting? Answers formulated from a realist perspective that focus on assumed ontologically novel characteristics of ‘new’ risks fall short of explaining why and how the framework developed in the final decade of the twentieth century. A perspective that builds on the idiom of co-production sheds a light on the co-evolving processes of meaning-making over food risks, in particular regarding BSE, and food risk control. The eventual design can be understood as efforts to gain control of food risks under conditions of institutional ambiguity through a discursive reforging of the food chain metaphor. It was reshaped into a horizontally defined chain which runs from ‘farm to fork’. In the resulting framework, food risks can be defined at the level of the production chain in addition to the individual product, which broadens the range of potential strategies for dealing with the newly framed food risks.

Naar een oplossing voor het afwikkelen van massaclaims op de financiële markten: inzichten uit een responsieve evaluatie

The discussion on how to resolve mass disputes stemming from faulty financial products among banks, insurance companies and other stakeholders in the Netherlands ended in deadlock. While diligent action is considered imperative, parties shy away from discussing options for settling damages suffered by consumers for fear of triggering mass claims themselves. To contribute to a new framework for resolving mass disputes, a responsive evaluation was conducted between 2011 and 2015. In such evaluation, the way stakeholders make sense of the situation serves as an organizing principle in knowledge production. This article discusses the methodical challenges implied in adapting the methodological guidelines for such inquiry to fit the ill-structured, controversial and complex legal issue and its highly politicized context. Because of a careful handling of confidentiality in the inquiry and a focused selection of participants on the basis of their proximity to the issue, the evaluation resulted in insight in options for resolving mass disputes that are supported by various parties. Furthermore, the evaluation itself served, it is argued, as a vehicle to overcome the deadlock by sensitizing stakeholders to the fact that they all aspire similar practical objectives and all acknowledge the need for cooperation on the issue.