IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v61y2005i3p731-740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Forecasting science futures: Legitimising hope and calming fears in the embryo stem cell debate

Author

Listed:
  • Kitzinger, Jenny
  • Williams, Clare

Abstract

Controversies about biotechnologies often centre not so much on present scientific facts as on speculations about risks and benefits in the future. It is this key futuristic element in these arguments that is the focus of this article. We examine how competing visions of utopia or dystopia are defended through the use of diverse vocabularies, metaphors, associations and appeals to authority. Our case study explores how these rhetorical processes play out in the debate about embryo stem cell research in UK national press and TV news media. The findings show how predictions from those in favour of embryo stem cell research are supported by both hype and by anti-hype, by inconsistent appeals to the technologies' innovative status and by the selective deconstruction of concepts such as 'potential' and 'hope'. The debate also mobilises binary oppositions around reason versus emotion, science versus religion and fact versus fiction. This article highlights how traditional assertions of expertise are now combined with ideas about compassion and respect for democracy and diversity. It also highlights the fact that although news reporters are often responding to topical events the real focus is often on years, even decades ahead. Close attention to how images of the future are constructed, and the evolution of new strategies for legitimation are, we suggest, important areas of on-going research, particularly in discussions of scientific and medical developments and policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kitzinger, Jenny & Williams, Clare, 2005. "Forecasting science futures: Legitimising hope and calming fears in the embryo stem cell debate," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 731-740, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:3:p:731-740
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00113-9
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Petersen, Alan, 2001. "Biofantasies: genetics and medicine in the print news media," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 52(8), pages 1255-1268, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Steven Kettell, 2010. "Rites of Passage: Discursive Strategies in the 2008 Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill Debate," Political Studies, Political Studies Association, vol. 58(4), pages 789-808, October.
    2. James Painter & J. Scott Brennen & Silje Kristiansen, 2020. "The coverage of cultured meat in the US and UK traditional media, 2013–2019: drivers, sources, and competing narratives," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 162(4), pages 2379-2396, October.
    3. Wainwright, Steven P. & Williams, Clare & Michael, Mike & Farsides, Bobbie & Cribb, Alan, 2006. "From bench to bedside? Biomedical scientists' expectations of stem cell science as a future therapy for diabetes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(8), pages 2052-2064, October.
    4. Parry, Sarah, 2006. "(Re)constructing embryos in stem cell research: Exploring the meaning of embryos for people involved in fertility treatments," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 2349-2359, May.
    5. Inhorn, Marcia C. & Birenbaum-Carmeli, Daphna & Patrizio, Pasquale, 2017. "Medical egg freezing and cancer patients’ hopes: Fertility preservation at the intersection of life and death," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 25-33.
    6. Shepherd, Richard & Barnett, Julie & Cooper, Helen & Coyle, Adrian & Moran-Ellis, Jo & Senior, Victoria & Walton, Chris, 2007. "Towards an understanding of British public attitudes concerning human cloning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 377-392, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ozgun, Burcu & Broekel, Tom, 2021. "The geography of innovation and technology news - An empirical study of the German news media," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    2. Miller, Fiona Alice & Ahern, Catherine & Smith, Christopher A. & Harvey, Erin A., 2006. "Understanding the new human genetics: A review of scientific editorials," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(10), pages 2373-2385, May.
    3. Racine, Eric & Gareau, Isabelle & Doucet, Hubert & Laudy, Danielle & Jobin, Guy & Schraedley-Desmond, Pamela, 2006. "Hyped biomedical science or uncritical reporting? Press coverage of genomics (1992-2001) in Québec," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(5), pages 1278-1290, March.
    4. Kuo, Wen-Hua, 2011. "Techno-politics of genomic nationalism: Tracing genomics and its use in drug regulation in Japan and Taiwan," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(8), pages 1200-1207.
    5. Shepherd, Richard & Barnett, Julie & Cooper, Helen & Coyle, Adrian & Moran-Ellis, Jo & Senior, Victoria & Walton, Chris, 2007. "Towards an understanding of British public attitudes concerning human cloning," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 377-392, July.
    6. Waters, Erika A. & Ball, Linda & Gehlert, Sarah, 2017. "“I don’t believe it.” Acceptance and skepticism of genetic health information among African-American and White smokers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 153-160.
    7. Regan de Bere, Sam & Petersen, Alan, 2006. "Out of the dissecting room: News media portrayal of human anatomy teaching and research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 76-88, July.
    8. Mejía, Cristian & Kajikawa, Yuya, 2019. "Technology news and their linkage to production of knowledge in robotics research," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 114-124.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:61:y:2005:i:3:p:731-740. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.