Inequality, Democracy and the New Human Biotechnologies
By Richard Hayes
| 07. 15. 2004
Presentation at Inequality, Democracy and the New Human Biotechnologies: A Threshold Challenge for the 21st Century, New York, NY [PDF Version]
The new technologies of human genetic modification are among
the two or three most profoundly consequential technologies
of the 21st century. They have the potential for both great
good and great harm. They are being developed at an extraordinary
pace. There is little public oversight and control of their
development and use.
If these technologies are developed and used in the prevailing
context of free-market competition and individualist social
values, they could greatly exacerbate existing inequalities
in health and social power, and existing modes of discrimination
and exploitation. In addition, certain applications of these
technologies could open the door to a new high-tech eugenics
that would undermine the foundations of democratic civil society.
The dynamics of inequality, democracy and the new human biotechnologies
works the other way as well: at this moment, inequalities of
power and influence are themselves subverting democratic decision-making
concerning the development and use of the new human biotechnologies.
Surveys show that Americans are...
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