Governing Discourses of Stem Cell Research: Actors, Strategies, and Narratives in the United Kingdom and South Korea

Abstract

A state's stem cell policy characteristically reflects its general approach to governance. This article studies the different trajectories of stem cell policy in the United Kingdom and South Korea from 1997 to 2009, with special attention to the legitimation of stem cell research practices and the response to public opinion. Although the two states had a common aim of promoting stem cell research within an acceptable ethical framework, divergent discourses and strategies emerged from differences in preliminary conditions, in the governments' self-perception, in the interactions of government officials, in the roles assumed by scientists and other experts, and in the methods used to persuade the citizenry. As a result, the United Kingdom has made far more progress toward legitimating stem cell research in the public mind, while South Korea has yet to overcome traumatic experiences with scientific misconduct and public protests.

Keywords:

• United Kingdom
• South Korea
• stem cell research
• governance
• discourse

Acknowledgments

A preliminary draft of this paper was presented in the 2010 annual meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S). Professors Daiwie Fu and Ruey-Lin Chen offered insightful ideas that markedly improved the paper. I also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their precious comments.

Notes

1 In South Korea the government investment in biotechnology for 2005 amounted to approximately $600 million, whereas private investment totaled less than $400 million.

2 A link for audio and slides for the conference, including Willis's talk, is available at www.genomicsnetwork.ac.uk/forum/publications/egneventreportsvideospresentations/title,8496,en.html.

3 The BBSRC Delivery Plan, 2011–2015: Maximising Economic Growth in the Age of Bioscience (Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council 2006) explicitly acknowledges the need for the state to shift to more concrete economization of bioscience in the era of economic turmoil. Successive study to track the evolution of British policy and terminologies used for governance should be carried out.