Workshop on Interdisciplinarity in EU Studies, University of Bristol, 3
November 2006
Working with Biological Scientists: the EU dimension
Notes by Wyn Grant, University of Warwick
Our project
Our project forms part of the RELU programme and is concerned with the
environmental and regulatory sustainability of biopesticides. These offer alternatives
to chemical pesticides and can be used as part of an integrated pest management
strategy. The collaboration is with biological scientists at Warwick HRI. Key points
to note from an EU perspective are:
1. EU approves ‘active substances’ or ingredients, national regulatory authorities
approve products
2. Some national regulatory authorities are well resourced and experienced,
others are not.
3. Commission admits that ‘mutual recognition’ is not working hence there is no
internal market in these products. These are particularly serious shortcomings
given that these products are typically produced by SMEs who face economy
of scale problems.
4. Revision of 91/414 in progress, introduces concept of ‘eco zones’.
5. I am on steering group of EU policy action Rebeca which involves regulators,
scientists, manufacturers and consultants.
Why politics and biology can relate quite well
My previous experience of interdisciplinary research was principally with economists.
Links between biology and political science:
1. W J M Mackenzie’s classic Politics and Social Science has the first
substantive chapter on ‘The Biological Context’.
2. Punctuated equilibrium models derived from biology.
3. Nature of political science as a junction subject with history of ‘tolerant
eclecticism’ in UK – possibly too tolerant.
4. In so far as biology is concerned with adaptation to environment (e.g., EU as
response to more interdependent world), there is a broad sense that that is also
true of politics.
5. Heightened importance of environmental issues in political science creates
new cooperation opportunities.
6. Methodological problems faced by two disciplines quite similar (elaborated
below)
7. Similar collaboration with physics or chemistry might be more difficult
whereas now embarking on two new projects with biologists.
How we started work
1. Concern about possible partisanship – in fact real differences are between
schools and theories/methodologies in both disciplines.
2. Read and presented articles from each other’s disciplines to develop
familiarity with vocabularies and methodologies.
3. Discursive character of political science articles
Similar methodological challenges
1. Categorisation issues – ‘lumpers’ and ‘splitters’ in biology
2. Both disciplines face challenges in terms of individualistic fallacy and
ecological fallacy (although systems biology offers means of overcoming
individualistic fallacy by aggregating data and use mathematical models)
3. Molecular genetics has resulted in proliferation of ‘bottom up’ science, failure
to address broader questions, similar phenomenon in EU studies
4. Replicated, controlled experiments in biology, model plant (Arabidopis
thlania), no model citizen.
5. Protocols in science less flexible than in semi-structured interviewing, also
rhythms of planting, growing and harvesting offer constraints in plant
sciences.
6. Both disciplines use the comparative method, comparisons between member
states and between EU and USA, use of stimuli and responses in study of
animals.
What each side gains
1. Scientific research poses questions for regulators, e.g., species identity.
2. Need scientific knowledge to participate in what is a highly technical
regulatory debate.
3. Scientists had a considerable amount of knowledge about policy networks and
decision-making processes but had not put this in any systematic framework.
4. Biologists state that they have gained from more theoretical approach of
political science, in applied biology more accustomed to identifying problem
and looking for a solution.
5. Only social scientist in REBECA, but lack of political sophistication of
biopesticides industry a real problem.
Lessons for EU studies
1. Difficulties of cooperation between natural and social sciences may be
exaggerated
2. Given regulatory tasks of EU, a real need for scientific and social science
knowledge to be brought together.
Visit our website
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/pais/biopesticides/