title: The GMO case in France: politics, lawlessness and postmodernism.
abstract: The GMO debacle in France is analyzed in the light of the balance of forces around this controversy, the changes in position of governments and the opponents' strategic use of intimidation. These factors have caused insurmountable difficulties for scientific experimentations and assessment of the technology, as well as for farmers attempting to grow GM maize in this country. The change from a "modern" to a "postmodern" framing of official public debates and scientific institutions has not appeased confrontations concerning GMOs.
authors.affiliation: a Laboratory Physiologie Cellulaire Végétale (CEA/CNRS/INRA/Université Joseph Fourier, Grenoble) ; Grenoble , France.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kuntz
mesh_terms: D005602:France; D030781:Organisms, Genetically Modified; D033302:Postmodernism
keywords: ANSES, Agence nationale de sécurité sanitaire de l'alimentation, de l'environnement et du travail; CGB, Commission du Génie Biomoléculaire; CRI-REM, Centre de recherche et d'information indépendantes sur les rayonnements électromagnétiques; CRII-GEN, Comité de recherche et d'information indépendantes sur le génie génétique; CRII-rad, Commission de recherche et d'information indépendantes sur la radioactivité; EFSA, European Food Safety Authority; EU, European Union; FNSEA, Fédération Nationale des Syndicats d'Exploitants Agricoles; INRA, Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique; MP, Member of Parliament; anti-GMO activists; environmentalism; field trial; public debate; technological controversy; transgenic plants