New regional STS research network!

The new Asia-Pacific Science, Technology and Society (STS) Network started off with a bang at a workshop at Victoria University at Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand early December 2008, that I organised with Karen Cronin and Rosemary Du Plessis (see http://apstsnzworkshop.blogspot.com/).

The APSTS Network has just held its very successful inaugural annual meeting at South Bank, Griffith University, Brisbane, 23-25 November 2009.

A report will be posted in mid-January or soooner

Please visit the conference website:
http://www.griffith.edu.au/apsts2009

Keynote speakers included:
Emeritus Professor Ian Lowe (Australia)
A/Professor Yuko Fujigaki (Japan)
A/Professor Wen-ling Tu (Taiwan)
A/Professor Catherine Waldby (Australia)
Mr Bevan Tipene-Matua (New Zealand)
Professor Herbert Gottweis (Austria)
Professor Peter Glasner (UK)

New Genetics and Society Special Issue

Vol. 27, No. 3, September 2008

Guest editors: Richard Hindmarsh and Rosemary Du Plessis

This special issue explores life sciences governance at a moment when the ground rules connecting citizens to the state are in transition,when experiments with science—society dialogue are available for critical analysis, and when new forms of “biological citizenship” are emerging. In looking at the “new civic geography” of the life sciences and the challenges of democratisation, contributors to Life Sciences Governance: Civic Transitions and Trajectories interrogate attempts to engage citizens through both top-down and bottom-up initiatives to debate and dialogue, and contribute to decision-making about the development and use of new biotechnologies.

Latest book!

Edging Towards BioUtopia: A New Politics of Reordering Life & the Democratic Challenge. University of Western Australia Press (UWAP), Crawley, 2008. see: http://www.uwapress.uwa.edu.au/contemporary_issues

Edging Towards BioUtopia is a critical social history of the development and regulation of genetic engineering in Australia, marked by technocratic policy control, suppressed public debate, and environmental issues. It interrogates and dissects the rise of Australian molecular biology within broader global trends, and the historical record of modern science, engineering biology, bioutopian visions and political manoeuvres; signifying the rise of a new politics of reordering life that also features enduring democratic challenge by concerned scientists, bureaucrats, environmental NGOs and citizens.

Significant events, representations, narratives, issues, contestations, and discursive moments that have shaped the environmental release of GMOs in Australia are mapped out and put under the analytical microscope. Overall, the book contributes significantly to the wider dialogue of how society and governance grapples with the profound questions posed by the proposed move to a biosociety underpinned by a biotechnologically reordered nature: the proposed BioUtopia.

Science as Culture review, see: 'Sailing to New Atlantis', 17(3): 335-339 (Coughran, Sept 2008)

Griffith Law Review (17(2): 577-78, Lawson, C., October 2008): "This is not just another governmentality and power analysis, but a detailed critique in the methodological tradition of Foucault, Latour, and so on – the narrative informs the theory in the same way the experiment addresses the hypothesis and the kicked football precedes the goal. This is a significant contribution to the academy."

The Australian 7 June 2008: "THE speed with which scientists and their supporters are "genetically choreographing nature" worries Richard Hindmarsh. He is especially exercised by the way by the biotechnology industry in Australia is effectively self-regulating. In a book that builds on 20 years of research, he outlines dangers in the science and the way the "bio-elite" organises the debate about genetic engineering to suit its interests. Whatever you make of Hindmarsh's argument, there is no denying he has written a readable book on complex public policy."

Science as Culture Special Issue

Vol.14, No.4, December 2005

Guest Editors

Richard Hindmarsh and Herbert Gottweis

Recombinant Regulation: The Asilomar Legacy Thirty Years On

The 1975 Asilomar conference promoted self-regulation of genetic engineering; on this basis, scientists could keep recombinant DNA research free of statutory intervention, maintain influence over the strategic shape of innovation, and normalize it within society. Since then, the biosciences have generally provoked criticism worldwide; moreover, regulatory forms have been as controversial as the innovation that they potentially regulate. Top-down technocratic regulatory regimes have contributed to enduring, extensive civil resistance to life sciences innovation. There have been public calls to deal more appropriately with the ethical, social, environmental and political issues involved. In the light of the Asilomar legacy, this special issue analyses the regulatory strategies deployed in several countries. Articles discusse strategies accommodate and/or act upon scientific debate? likewise upon public attitudes? What ‘policy learning’ has occurred?

Recoding Nature (2004)

Following Altered Genes II (2001, see below), Recoding Nature features 14 essays by Australian and New Zealand writers critiquing the new biology. With a stimulating foreword by Mae-Wan Ho – the UK scientist leading a global attack on genetic engineering as ‘bad science’ – Recoding Nature challenges the assumptions of those preparing the world for a ‘recoded’ DNA future: http://www.unswpress.com.au/isbn/0868407410.htm
See Sheldon Krimsky's review:
http://www.tufts.edu/~skrimsky/PDF/Recoding%20Nature.PDF

Altered Genes II (2001)

Altered Genes II: (Scribe, 2001) is the revised edition of Altered Genes: Reconstructing Nature (Allen & Unwin, Sydney 1998). It offers the first collection of Australian and New Zealand critical or questioning perspectives about genetic engineering and features 12 chapters on diverse topics from agenda setting, to eugenics and genetic testing to molecular farming and bioprospecting. The contributors reflect a number of positions in raising important issues for society to consider. The introduction is written by award-winning scientist David Suzuki, and poses as is an important resource for public awareness and debate. (http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/alteredgenesii)

Altered Genes I (1998)

Selected Publications

Prainsack, B., Reardon, J., Hindmarsh, R., Gottweis, H., Naue, U., Lunshof, J-E. Personal genomes: misdirected precaution', Nature 456(6 November), 34-35, 2008.

Hindmarsh, R., Du Plessis, R. (eds) 2008. Special Issue: 'Life Sciences Governance: Civic Transitions and Trajectories'. New Genetics and Society, 27(3), September.

Hindmarsh, R., Du Plessis, R. 2008. The new civic geography of life sciences governance: perspectives from Australia and New Zealand, New Genetics and Society 27(3): 175-80.

Hindmarsh, R., Du Plessis, R. 2008. GMO regulation and civic participation at the ‘edge of the world’: the case of Australia and New Zealand. New Genetics and Society 27(3): 181-99.

Hindmarsh, R. 008. Investigating Australian biocivic concerns and governance of forensic DNA technologies: confronting technocracy, New Genetics and Society 27(3): 267-84.

Hindmarsh, R. 2008. Edging Towards BioUtopia: A New Politics of Reordering Life & the Democratic Challenge. UWA Press, Crawley, Western Australia.

Hindmarsh, R., 2008. Food and Environmental Security in the Indian Ocean Region: Interrogating the GM Doubly Green Revolution. In T. Doyle and M. Risely(eds) Crucible for Survival: Environmental Security and Justice in the Indian Ocean Region. Rutgers University Press, New Jersey, Ch 6: 182-214.

Hindmarsh, R. 2008. Environment, Water and Energy in the 21st Century: The Role of Deliberative Governance for the Knowledge Society. In Hern, G., Rooney, D., Wright, D. (eds.) Knowledge Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century. Edward Elgar, UK, Ch 15: 189-203.

Edwards, P., Hindmarsh, R., Mercer, H., Bond, M., Rowland, A. 2008. A three-stage evaluation of a deliberative event on climate change and transforming energy, Journal of Public Deliberation: January, Vol. 4: No. 1, Article 6. http://services.bepress.com/jpd/vol4/iss1/art6

Hindmarsh, R., Abu-Bakar, A. 2007. Balancing Benefits of Human Genetic Research Against Civic Concerns: Essentially Yours and beyond - the Case of Australia, Personalized Medicine 4(4): 497-505.

Lawson, C., Hindmarsh, R. 2007. Regulating Genetically Modified Organisms: A Case Study Assessing Regulatory Quality and Performance, Australian Business Law Review, 35(3): 181-203.

Hil, R., Hindmarsh, R. 2007. Body Talk: Genetic Screening as a Device of Crime Regulation. In M. Betta (ed.) The Moral, Social and Commercial Imperatives of Genetic Screening and Testing: The Australian Case. Springer, Dordrecht.

Lawson, C., Hindmarsh, R. 2006. Releasing GM Canola into the Environment—Deconstructing a Decision of the Gene Technology Regulator under the Gene Technology Act 2000 (Cth), Environmental and Planning Law Journal 23(1): 22-59.

Hindmarsh, R. 2005. Genetic Engineering Regulation in Australia: An ‘Archaeology’ of Expertise and Power, in Hindmarsh, R., Gottweis, H. (eds.) Special Issue, Recombinant Regulation, Science as Culture 14(4): 373-92.

Hindmarsh, R., Gottweis, H. 2005. Recombinant Regulation: The Asilomar Legacy 30 Years On, in Hindmarsh, R., Gottweis, H. (eds.) Special Issue, Recombinant Regulation, Science as Culture 14(4): 299-307.

Hindmarsh, R. 2004. GM Policy Networks in Asia: The Discursive Politics of the ‘Doubly Green Revolution’. In N. Stehr (ed.) Biotechnology: Between Commerce and Civil Society. Transaction, USA.
Hindmarsh, R., Lawrence. 2004. Recoding Nature: Deciphering the Script. In R. Hindmarsh, G. Lawrence (eds.) Recoding Nature: Critical Perspectives on Genetic Engineering, UNSW Press, Sydney.
Hindmarsh, R. 2003. Genetic Modification and the Doubly Green Revolution, Society 40(6): 9-19.

Matthews, C., Hindmarsh, R. 2003. Bringing Solar Down to Earth: An Eco-political Critique of the Renewable Energy Industry. In W. Saman, B. Charters & T. Hollands (eds.) International Solar Energy Society 2001 Solar World Congress Proceedings, Australian and New Zealand Solar Energy Society, Adelaide, Australia.

Hindmarsh, R. 2002. Molitor’s Techno-Discourse: Rhetoric Unconvincing, Journal of Futures Studies 6(3): 117-124.

Rogers-Hayden, T., Hindmarsh, R. 2002. Modernity Contextualises New Zealand’s Royal Commission on Genetic Modification: A Discourse Analysis, Journal of New Zealand Studies NS1(1): 41-61.

Hindmarsh, R. 2001. Constructing Bio-Upotia: Laying Foundations Amidst Dissent. In R. Hindmarsh, G. Lawrence (eds.) Altered Genes II: the future? Revised edn. Scribe, Carlton.

Hindmarsh, R. 2000. Problems of Genetic Engineering, Peace Review 12(4): 541-547.

Hindmarsh, R. 1999. Consolidating Control: Plant Variety Rights, Genes and Seeds, Australian Journal of Political Economy 44: 58-78. [http://www.biotech-info.net/consolidating_control.pdf]

Senior Students and Topics

Honours

Angela Willet: Bioprospecting in Australian Indigenous Domains (Hons 1)

Tara Cully: The Sociocultural Implications of Biotechnology for Indian Agriculture & Sustainability (Hons 1)

Tomo Imahashi: Neo-liberalism and its Impacts upon Development and Environmental Reform (Hons 1)

Linda Arefall: The Role of Spiritual Science for Ecological Sustainable Development (Hons 1)

Luke Keogh: Questioning Sustainability Discourses for a Sustainable Future: A Historical Narrative Analytical Approach (Hons 1)

Holly Mercer: Deliberative Design in Australia: An Exploratory Evaluative Scheme and its Application (Hons 1)

Moshumi Smith: Evaluating Cave Management Policy in Australia: An Environmental Sustainability Policy Analysis (Hons 1)

Meghan Bond: Participatory Developments in Australian Governmental Climate Change Adaptation Policy (Hons 1)

Angela Rowland: Public Participation, Environmental Governance, & Sustainable Futures (Hons 2A)

Jamie Richters: The Potential of Deliberative Pathways for Better Water Management in Australia (Hons 1)

Current Honours

Jill Czarnecki: Transition Pathways to Long Term Sustainability

Masters (Hons)

Graham Farebrother: The Role of Corporate Environmental Management Systems in Processes of Ecological Modernisation in Australia

Lenore Taylor: Natural Resource Management and Salinity: Towards Cleaner Production

Linda Brennan: Facilitating Implementation of Sustainable Residential Landscape Design in Southeast Queensland

Jamie Curran: An ESD Policy Analysis of Geosequestration

Doctorates

Giorel Curran: The Social Ecology of Murray Bookchin: The Political Effectiveness of Eco-Anarchism

Adrienne Hallam: Globalisation and the Human Genome Project

Monica Seini: Biotech & Indigenous Flora in Australasia: Contested Ways of Knowing and Owning

Melissa Risely: Politics of Precaution: An Eco-political Investigation of Agricultural Gene Technology Policy in Australia, 1992-2000

Current Doctoral Candidates

Anne Parkinson: The Lost Stakeholder: Risk and Trust Perceptions of Canola Farmers in NSW and the Implications for Policy Making for Biotechnology, Environment and Agriculture (submitted)

Vicki Kelleher: Secondary Science Education: Environment, Risk and Trust

Meghan Bond: Participation, Local Communities, and Climate Change Adaptation in Australia

Rahayu Rahayu: Local Governmental Climate Change Policy Development in Indonesia

Candani Panditharatne: Towards Sri Lanka Climate Change Adaptation Policy

Meuthia Naim: Evaluating Climate Change Adaptation Policy and Measures in Indonesia

Qualifications and Awards

BSc (First Class Honours), School of Australian Environmental Studies (Social Sciences), Griffith University, awarded 1987.

PhD, Faculty of Science and Technology, Griffith University, awarded March 1995 (with distinction), in Science, Technology & Society Studies.

Australian Research Council (ARC) Post-doctoral Research Fellow 1995-1998

Certificate in Research Higher Degree Supervision, Griffith Institute for Higher Education (2006)

Griffith (University) Awards for Excellence in Teaching: Certificate of (High) Commendation: Innovation across the Institution (The AES 'Touchbase' Student Mentors and Leadership Program) 2006

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Teaching and Learning Citations: Dean’s Certificate of Commendation Teaching and Learning 2006

Affiliations

Asia-Pacific Science, Technology and Society (STS) Network (co-convenor)
Society for Social Studies of Science (4S)
The Australian Sociology Association (TASA)
Ecopolitics Association of Australasia (EAA)
Institute of Health and Environmental Research Inc., South Australia