Molyneux-Hodgson, S and Balmer, A (2013) Synthetic Biology, Water Industry and the Performance of an Innovation Barrier. Science and Public Policy. ISSN 0302-3427
Abstract
This paper analyses the performance of a research programme that sought to address issues of innovation in the water industry through the application of synthetic biology approaches to water problems. We use this analysis to re-imagine the problem of innovation in the UK water sector. Using textual, observational and interview data, we examine how a series of discourses have, over time, become firmly connected in the context of water innovation. Discourses include: 1) conceptualisation of public actors as consumers who are ignorant of the complexities of water and its true value; and 2) the primacy of market-based mechanisms to produce innovation. We show how these discourses shaped the expectations of academic and industry actors as they sought to use synthetic biology as a solution to industrial problems. Expecting innovation barriers of a certain form, these actors performatively helped to construct the very thing they sought to dismantle.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2013 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | sociology of synthetic biology, ethnography, water governance, water consumers |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Social Sciences (Sheffield) > Department of Sociological Studies (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/H023488/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 07 May 2014 13:34 |
Last Modified: | 07 May 2014 13:34 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/scipol/sct074 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Oxford University Press |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1093/scipol/sct074 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:78846 |