Institutional Imaginaries of Publics in Stem Cell Banking: The Cases of the UK and Spain

Abstract

The UK and Spanish Stem Cell Banks hold politically controversial-but potentially therapeutically beneficial-human embryonic stem cells for distribution to research laboratories globally. The UK bank was the first of its type in the world, opening in 2004, and the Spanish bank used it as a role model in its own development. Both banks structure their operations in response to how their staffs imagine the publics in their nation make trust judgements about their work. Differences between the workings of each bank can be traced to differences in the collective imaginings operating at each bank-termed 'institutional imaginaries'-about how publics think. The UK bank sustains an imaginary in which distance lends legitimacy and disengagement signifies correct moral practice. It conjures a public that values a steady, safe and reliable institution-free from potential conflict of interest-about which the less news the better. This stands in contrast to the Spanish bank that conjures a public that retains an interest in legitimate, ethical guardianship of stem cell material, but which is less worried about conflict of interest in attaining this. Instead, for the Spanish institution, engagement with science and the media through the projection of the bank as cutting edge is deemed crucial for maintaining public support.

Targeting brains, producing responsibilities: The use of neuroscience within British social policy

“…Especially in policies focused on the early years, economic enhancement is one of the main arguments given for intervening in the brain through family and social life. Reports speak of and directly to 'the taxpayer', thereby producing and enrolling a particular sociotechnical imaginary (Jasanoff and Kim, 2009;Pickersgill, 2011;Stephens et al, 2013) to construct and substantiate a vision of society and the technical processes governing it: one within which flows of capital can be anticipated, interpreted and accounted for in terms of their relation to certain kinds of individuals and their amalgamated cost to the state and the individuals (i.e., 'the taxpayers') who finance it. Hence, the reports under consideration construct images of society (and, of course, of the body) through which intervention on the brain 'makes sense'.…”

The political vision of Europe during the ‘refugee crisis’: missing common ground for integration

“…Our analysis of imaginaries reveals underlying perceptions and framings of society and not actual developments of reality (Stephens, Atkinson, and Glasner 2013). However, previous theoretical discussions have pointed at the impact of imaginaries on influencing actual (political) developments (Dobbernack 2010;Levy and Spicer 2013;Ponte and Birch 2014;Stephens, Atkinson, and Glasner 2013). Taylor (2002, 107) explains 'If the understanding makes the practice possible, it is also true that the practice largely carries the understanding. '…”

“…Previous works of other scholars also used interviews and media data for analysing imaginaries (Levy and Spicer 2013;Stephens, Atkinson, and Glasner 2013). We have collected political speeches and interviews published in newspapers as well as quotes in newspaper articles and press releases using Google search.…”

“…These European imaginaries serve as new insights for European integration theory. The concept of imaginary has been widely applied in various contexts, such as social governance, climate change, the biofuel sector and institutional design of stem cell banking (Dobbernack 2010;Levy and Spicer 2013;Ponte and Birch 2014;Stephens, Atkinson, and Glasner 2013), but, thus far, has not been used to make sense of political debates on European integration. In this article, the concept of 'European imaginaries' is developed based on the work of Charles Taylor (2002Taylor ( , 2004.…”

Debating CRISPR/cas9 and Mitochondrial Donation: Continuity and Transition Performances at Scientific Conferences

“…It is characterized by an emphasis on evidential culture (Salter et al 2015), institutionalized ethics (Reubi 2013), and performances of transparency (Jasanoff 2005;Stephens et al 2013). This model has been mobilized most effectively in a succession of embryo research programs, including IVF (Mulkay 1993), human embryonic stem cells (Mikami and Stephens 2016;Salter and Salter 2007), and more recently mitochondrial donation, that seek to enact the UK's global leadership in these areas.…”